As Brian suggested, the edge on the CS 'Hawks is far from high performance NIB. I did file mine, then put it on a belt sander and later a friend took a grinder to it. Now it has a very nice profile, fully convex, and will out chop the Wildlife Hatchet from Gransfors Bruks. So you can make a decent tool out of it with some work.
In regards to sharpening, if the edge is not visually impacted or otherwise damaged, the first thing I would try is a simple stropping. First on canvas then on leather with a CrO load. This will restore a quality edge that has been dulled by chopping and other misc. cutting. You should be able to do this over and over until you damage the edge by throwing or chopping something you wish you had not.
Once the edge does get actual visible damage, your best bet is to use power equipment if available. If this is not a workable choice, get a decent class file (10" bastard nicksolon), and rework the edge. Since it will be likely convex, just arc over the curvature, work in sections, and alternate the sides. This can take some time, how long obviously depends on the extend of the damage. But even sub mm distortions can take 15+ minutes.
If it is a dedicated throwing Hawk then your best bet is once you have filed the edge back to shape, just give it some light passes on the loaded leather strop to grind off any bits of metal on the edge and leave it be. A higher polish would be nice, but unless you are throwing at 100%, you will do in the edge quickly anyway so it is a lot of effort for only a short term functional gain.
If you do want to work the edge back to a nice polish, which is optimal for chopping with a Hawk, then proceed to finer grits and finish with the loaded strop. If the edge is convex, which it should be, you can either work the curvature manually as you did with the file, or refine the technique by using sandpaper on a soft backing (thick leather) which will conform to the edge curvature.
As usual, periodically outline the edge with a marker to insure than you are sharpening at the right angles.
One final comment, if it is a dedicated throwing Hawk, I would not be greatly inclined to work out every edge distortion/impaction. If this is the case then you will quickly grind away the entire bit. Unless it is a competition class blade of course, and once you are at that level, the edge will only rarely get damaged.
-Cliff
[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 06-20-2001).]
