Work Hawk XL with Ipe

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Mar 15, 2016
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Good Evening!

Today I've got a Work Hawk XL with ipe scales. Ipe, sometimes referred to as Brazilian Walnut, is a South American hardwood with extreme hardness, toughness, and durability to weather. While it's not usually thought of as a very attractive exotic, I personally love the handsome tone and feel of ipe. The ipe is finished with a coconut oil and candelilla wax blend I use on all sorts of stuff. It simply darkens the wood and adds some tone; ipe is more than capable of withstanding moisture and weather on its own. The top of the handle scales are carved for added comfort and security in a pinch grip.

The Work Hawk XL is a design created with the basic goal of making my Work Hawk bigger without breaking into a weight class that would invalidate the benefits of a full tang tomahawk. I've added 2" to the handle, .5" to the cutting edge, and tweaked the head design quite a bit to keep weight low for its size. The grind on this XL is a progressive convex. It's an aggressive cutter for its weight, and handles wonderfully in light chores also. It makes quick work of saplings but will cut your taters and onions by the campfire, too.

This Work Hawk XL is finished with gun blue, which I consider a nice compromise tool finish. I took this hawk to a considerably higher finish than I normally do on work hawks before blueing, and I think the work really paid off. The flats are finished at an even 400 grit and I took the bevels to 5K before blueing. I rounded off the aggressive jimping on the hammer poll, making it very comfortable for grips which utilize holding the head.

Some of you may have seen my chopping and carving videos featuring the regular sized work hawk. The XL offers a significant performance increase for the six or so extra ounces it packs. Here's a video of me casually cutting some downed plum with an XL with the same grind:


Steel: 80CRV2 @59RC, 47RC tang
Length: 14.75"
Edge: 4.25"
Weight: 22oz without sheath, 27.5oz with sheath
Handle: Ipe with flared stainless tubes + G-Flex epoxy
Finish: Gun blue tool finish, oiled with Barricade, lightly waxed with candelilla wax.
Sheath: I made a very tight-fitting kydex edge guard sheath for this XL, and I used leather for the retention strap instead of webbing. I honestly wasn't sure how well it would work, but it seems to do a much better job and feels/looks better than nylon, too.

The price for this Work Hawk XL is $SOLD (via Paypal, includes USPS Priority Mail to the CONUS). First "I'll take it" gets it. I will post elsewhere, and go by the timestamp.
You must be 18+ to purchase. You are responsible for compliance with your local laws.
10% discount for active duty MIL/LEO/FF/EMT

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As always, comments and questions are welcome and appreciated. More information about my Work Hawks and other projects can be found in my new subforum, linked in my signature.
Thanks for looking :)
 
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