Anyone interested in a fairly cheap pipe hawk made from good steel?

Liam-
Have you tried calling them to make sure about the shipping? They might be willing to accomodate us on a special order.

Really I've been hanging back, but since I started this thread I guess I aught to try helping you out. I have no idea what's involved with shipping to Canada, so I don't want to stick my neck out too far, but if you'd reimburse me for the shipping costs you can have RE Davis send your order to me & I'll pass it along.

After waiting this long for an opportunity like this myself, I'd hate to see somebody get left out now.
 
the possum said:
Phil-
Glad to hear you found someone. Really I would have liked to offer, but it will probably be halfway through 2007 before I even get to start on my own!
Click to expand...

Thanks I can appreciate that.

I got my finished hawk today.
197311079.jpg


It's not fancy, but it is funtional and historically accurate.
I'll probably post in Gallery as well.
 
QUESTION:
I keep seeing hawk kits for sale, and seems they're usually shown with a bag of what look like BBs. What are those ? Thanks in advance.
 
Win70-
That's the pewter, in the form of casting grain. Most metals destined for casting are offered this way, because it's easier to measure out just how much you need rather than chopping up a big bar, and it melts more evenly for a good casting free of bubbles.

Pewter melts at such a low temperature it can be cast in place directly onto the wooden handle.
 
possum, do you have any links on how to do the pewter inlays? My order is in with RE Davis and I'd like to learn more before it gets here.

Thanks again for bringing this all up possum, I can't wait to get my hands on mine...
 
GibsonFan-
I've never cast pewter onto wood myself, but by everything I've read it's a pretty simple process. I can't find the page I remember right now, but some quick googling turned up something useful. Check here.

Basically you need to make cuts in the wood of the exact shape you want the "inlay". Keep in mind there will be no pins, screws, or glue holding the pewter in place in this example; you need to make sure it will keep itself in place by design. You'd need something like a ring carved around the whole handle so it can't slip off, or grooves, or the bottom of the channel in your wood needs to be wider than the opening in the surface so it holds itself in.

I remember seeing a page where the author cast a pewter ferrule onto the handle of a shop knife. In that case, he wrapped some heavy paper around the wooden handle to form a tube of sorts, and just poured the molten pewter in. I think that method would work well if you wanted a pewter tip on the pipe stem/mouthpiece. (might wanna make sure you use lead free pewter though.)
 
Thanks possum, it might be a couple of weeks until i get the scratch togethor, but I am in for sure. I think money order would be the best method, I could send the cost of the shipping + the items themselves (in american dollars of course).
I'll be in touch,

Liam
 
Liam-
Did you mean you're sending your order to the Davis company, or to me directly? I'd just as soon you sent it to them, so they know to order another head from the foundry.

If you want me to do it, I'll have to send in another check to them as well. Guess I just need to know- drop me an email at the address in my profile. In that case, I'd ask the $35 it cost me, plus actual shipping costs to you.
 
the possum said:
GibsonFan-
I've never cast pewter onto wood myself, but by everything I've read it's a pretty simple process. I can't find the page I remember right now, but some quick googling turned up something useful. Check here.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting link. When I find more I'll post 'em here.

As far as mouthpieces and whatnot... there's a (*ahem*) "tobacco shop" near me, I hear they have that kind of stuff...
 
Hey guys, hes going to ship to Canada, no problem. Seems like a good guy.
Just a quick question, is the strength of the handle affected by the hole through the center?
Later,

Liam Ryan
 
I suppose in theory any time you remove wood from the handle it's gonna get weaker. But really the hole should be so small that it wouldn't effect things in a practical sense. I mean, the handles could break anyway even without a hole. I'd be more concerned that some types of woods will have a greater tendency to split with holes or channels. (especially because of the great swings in heat & humidity from the smoking) I plan to make my haft from Osage Orange, which is extremely strong lengthwise, but splits very easily under these conditions, so I might add some reinforcing ferrules.

Really you don't want the hole very big for the purposes of smoking, either. Otherwise the volume of air within the handle will be too great. In other words, you'll try to draw in a nice drag from the pipe, but your mouth will already be full of air before the smoke even reaches the end of that long handle. And you want some resistance- you don't want the air to just flow through like a snorkel; you want to have to draw on it a bit. On my favorite pipes, the restricting hole in the base of the stem is only like twice the diameter of a paper clip. I plan to make the hole in my handle bigger than that since I can't find a proper drill bit otherwise, but the hole extending from the base of the pipe bowl to the handle should be smaller than the hole through the handle itself. This is to restrict the air flow somewhat as I mentioned above, but also so that if flakes of tobacco fall in & clog things up, they won't get stuck halfway down the handle where they'll be harder to remove. They'll get stuck right there at the bowl where they're easier to reach, via the clean out plug or bowl vent itself. And anything that manages to fall through the vent in the bowl will also fall right out the handle.
 
I was thinking of putting in a brass or steel tube, if I could find on the right size, to make it stronger and for cleaning it, also the end could be tapped for a screw in plug. Not sur eif its worth the bother though
 
I'm not sure it's worth it myself, but of course that's up to you. It probably would make it much easier to clean out, and all that black gunk wouldn't soak into the wood then. If you decide to go that route, I know Small Parts Inc. offers several different kinds of brass and stainless tubing from 3" diameter all the way down to 0.00425". (!) You aught to be able to get an appropriate sized piece for 6 or 7 bucks if you desire. Stainless Hypodermic tubing
 
Hey there, guys. I was just wondering if any of you have had time to work on your hawks yet. If so, let's see some pics!

On a whim, I dropped by the RE Davis website today, and noticed that they are now listing 6150 steel as a standard option on three of their heads! Thought I'd mention it since several of you guys expressed interest in their Faceted Bowl Pipe hawk. Now you can get it in the better steel if you want another project to work on!

0305big.jpg


During the course of emails I exchanged with Tim, I wondered aloud why he didn't offer this steel as a regular item if he could sell them at the same price anyway. Looks like he took my advice! I must've looked at hundreds of pipe hawk designs in this price range during my years long search, and still believe that RE Davis is the only company out there offering pipe tomahawk heads made from worthwhile material.
 
I just got my hawk and handle 2 days ago, it really is a beauty. Does anyone have any pics of some of their hawks in various stages of development?
I cant wait to see the curls pop out on this baby!
 
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