Want to replace handle on my Cold Steel trail hawk, any thoughts?

S

SwatMC

Joined
Mar 26, 2006
Messages
69
Greetings,
I have a Cold Steel Trail Hawk. I spent ONE afternoon with it a while back, and the head got loose. I then ordered a replacement handle... used it like... TWICE and the head got loose.

I am wondering if I can replace the handle with something different (and better) than what Cold Steel offers.

I love the head, it's perfect for what I want... but the handles suck.

Any thoughts?

-Mike
 
Are you fitting the handle to the head? There should be contact all the way around between metal and wood. If it is only touching on a couple of high spots scattered around the circumference, all the stress will be concentrated on them and they will not withstand it. Once they compress a little the handle will loosen. Knock the handle out and look for rub lines on the wood: those are the high spots. Sand them lightly, test fit and sand again. Gradually work them down they until the handle shape matches the eye as much as possible. Sometimes it helps to file down any ridges or raised areas inside the eye of hawk, it should be smooth. You should do this no matter what handle you use. It takes a little time but it's worth it. I have a frontier hawk that gets pounded on and the handle stays very tight.
 
I've had similar problems with CS handles. What I did for my CS Rifleman's Haw was trim down a sledgehammer handle using a power jointer and belt sander to rough it out, then did exactly what Blue Sky describes above to get a good fit, then used some Gorilla Glue just in case, and absolutely saturated the handles in linseed oil (as in soaked the heads in the stuff for a couple of days).

I'm sure they'll come unstuck one of these days, but it's going to take some doing :).
 
If your throwing it you want the handle to be able to slide. If not it will eventually break with repeated throwing. If your not throwing it there are many ways to make it hold, some mentioned above and many others posted previously in this forum. Check out the archives for more info.:)
 
You can also wedge the handle. Take any saw, and cut a notch into the handle. The notch whould be right in line w/ the cutting edge. Cut approximatly 2/3 of the total depth of the eye, then pound in a wooden wedge (bass wood works great). After that, if you want, you can put in 2-3 metal wedges @ 45 degrees to the wooden wedge, so the the wood expands equally in both planes. Your final option could be to pin the head, which is what we have to do for competition chopping axes. They (pins) make rehanging a bitch, but unless you break the handle, it'll never come out.
-Louis
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top