How to fit a handle or haft to a cold steel tomahawk?

M

mannysdad

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Nov 18, 2014
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Can someone tell or show me how to properly fit a handle or haft to a tomahawk? Any videos or you tube vids that you might recommend? I'm having a heck of a time trying to fit these handles to the heads so I don't have to use the set screw. Thank you, MD
 
Slide the head up the handle until you can't anymore, then look at where it's hitting the wood. Take off more wood there. Wash rinse and repeat. It can sometimes be handy to tap the handle down into the eye with a mallet and then back out again and you can see where the eye was digging into the wood.
 
I'll drink to that. It's as simple as 42 describes. You have a tear drop shaped hole which tapers, smaller at the bottom, larger at the top. You make your handle the same shape.
 
What's giving you trouble? Just find the high points that are keeping the head from going further up the handle and then rasp 'em down. Keep on doing it until you're done, then drive the handle into the eye with a few thumbs of a mallet.
 
basically there isn't enough wood on the handle so no matter how much I shape the top the bottoms always wiggle!
 
the handles have been too skinny in spots too allow you to fit them; when I sand down the high spots the head comes off!!!!
 
If it's possible for the top to get fit snug, it's possible for the bottom to similarly get fit snug since the top of the eye is larger than the bottom. Sounds like you're taking off too much wood.
 
Maybe he's getting blanks that are too thin at the bottom of the head from the get-go. In that case he needs larger stock.
 
Where is the head seating itself before you remove any wood? Are these CS replacement handles or from another source?
 
My cold steel spike hawk that I just got in was really bad. The haft was too slim under the swell. It's gotten a bit tighter after a lot of reworking but will never be as tight as it should.
 
mannysdad said:
Square peg said it!
Click to expand...

If the board is too short it doesn't matter how many times you cut it, it'll still be too short.

Since the answer to this thread is, you need a new handle, I can't recommend the House replacement hawk handles based on my CS Pipe Hawk - they look too small to me based on what I've seen in the hardware store. Buy a sledge hammer handle (or whatever) and spend your efforts gainfully from this point forward. If you dick it up, at least you'll have enough material for another one, unless 18" isn't long enough. But I think we can all agree, that's NOT what she said.
 
I cheated on my trail hawk. After trying the proper methods failed I used Gorilla Glue. Ive used it once since . So far so good. I know it'll be fun to remove if I need to replace the handle .
 
Another thing you can do is just build up layers of epoxy on the wood itself, then sand it down to proper fit. That way the fit is tight, but not permanent.
 
I wood(pun intended) rather have a good fitting yellow pine handle in a hawk as opposed to Gorilla Glue any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.. Yellow pine stock in the form of "cheap" 2×4's are available at every home store in the country.
 
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