Need suggestions on hawk handle wraps

L

Loosearrow

Joined
Apr 14, 2008
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I just got back from the gun show and picked up two new hawks. One for myself, a Long Hunter, and a second for a friend, the Voyager. These hawks are made by the new owner of Two Hawks. I really liked the Voyager but have not had a change to put it through the paces. A friend asked me to pick one up for him. The handles are fairly thin. Kind of like a mouse hawk. He wants a wrap, but does not like paracord. He needs the handle thicker for use. I thought about some type of rawhide wrap or maybe even a coated epoxy on some jute. I haven't done that before. Maybe even some tacking ideas. Any suggestions and pictures , if possible, would be greatly appreciated. Maybe he could then decide what he likes. Might not like what I would do to it, so why put in the extra effort. I thought I would use you guys on the fourm as resouces. Thanks, Loosearrow
 
Sometimes I use jute cord (about 1/8thish). I lay down a bed of carpenters glue on the haft and do a tight wrap, then I coat the cord with glue and rub it in using my hand. You can notch the haft at both ends of the wrap to stop it from rolling and also pass the ends under a few wraps by leaving them loose then tightening the wraps, it locks the wrap in place. You can rub brown shoe polish into the wrap and then burn the hair off the cord.
Works great, looks mountain manish. ;-))
Regards

Robin
 
a small handle can be an advanatge sometimes, if other strutural factors are addressed.

if you want a traditional look, you might make or buy some sueded thongs to wrap around the grip.


enjoy your hawks.

vec
 
Robin
By carpenters glue to you mean Liquid nails or something like Elmers yellow wood glue?
Vec,
I think that a thin haft makes it easier to throw as it slides off the hand. What were your thoughts about it for being thinner. Maybe I can convince him to leave it. I think he wants a more positive grip. I would like to give it a more traditional mountain man look. He would probably buy the suede look with some tacks only if the color was right. Thanks for the info. Regards, Loosearrow
 
Loosearrow
Just regular Elmers wood glue works well. If he wants to wrap leather around the handle he can also dye it to match the haft with leather dye. I use dye to stain all my hafts then match the sheath and wrap to the haft colour. I throw both wrapped and unwrapped hawks, you get used to throwing both.

Regards

Robin
 
Loosearrow said:
Robin
By carpenters glue to you mean Liquid nails or something like Elmers yellow
Vec,
I think that a thin haft makes it easier to throw as it slides off the hand. What were your thoughts about it for being thinner. Maybe I can convince him to leave it. I think he wants a more positive grip. I would like to give it a more traditional mountain man look. He would probably buy the suede look with some tacks only if the color was right. Thanks for the info. Regards, Loosearrow
Click to expand...

if the wood is tough, a thin handle can have more flexibility, and therefore is less prone to breaking, plus you get less feedback in your hand if you hold it correctly. most people hold a proper hawk improperly, tightly and too low.

putting tacks in a handle makes me shudder - you are introducitg weaknesses in to the grain IMHO. - if the handle holds with tacks in it, then it is overweight in order to withstand the grain interrruptions.

if he has to have metal to gussy up the haft, try to convince him to do the suede or leather wrap and anchor the ends of it with some brass wire or something, is my advice.

vec
 
Thanks for the imput all. I just got back from the Goodwill and bought a couple of those braided belts. My thought was to unbraid them, dampen, and stretch to get a uniform set. Heck, 6.00 for a bunch of strip leather is pretty cheap. I can always use the leather as thongs for another project if he doesn't like it. Kind of hard to do something for someone else and hope they like it. Would be best to do mine and see if he likes it. I'm not sure I want a wrap, never used one on my hawks before. Makes changing the handle a mess and all that work down the drain. May work for a wall hanger. You could then hang some feathers off of it, Ha. Regards, Loosearrow
 
Loosearrow said:
I just got back from the gun show and picked up two new hawks. One for myself, a Long Hunter, and a second for a friend, the Voyager. These hawks are made by the new owner of Two Hawks. I really liked the Voyager but have not had a change to put it through the paces. A friend asked me to pick one up for him. The handles are fairly thin. Kind of like a mouse hawk. He wants a wrap, but does not like paracord. He needs the handle thicker for use. I thought about some type of rawhide wrap or maybe even a coated epoxy on some jute. I haven't done that before. Maybe even some tacking ideas. Any suggestions and pictures , if possible, would be greatly appreciated. Maybe he could then decide what he likes. Might not like what I would do to it, so why put in the extra effort. I thought I would use you guys on the fourm as resouces. Thanks, Loosearrow
Click to expand...

Sound's like the making of a You-Tube video for Me
 
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