Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

Welcome to Bladeforums, that's one heckuva first post! :thumbup:

Your work is really impressive.
 
Have any of the members here ever tried to hang a CS hawk on a hatchet style handle?. I want to try this to see if i can get my riflemans hawk to handle better. Thanks in advance for your help.
I believe you would need to turn the head over (upside-down), as the eye (tapered portion) is reversed when compared to a head designed to be used with wedges (axe/hatchet,etc.). One of the main benifits of hawk design is that it's easy to remove/replace a haft vs. an axe/hatchet where the handle is "fixed" to the head via wedges. A head like Trailhawk, with fairly syemetrical shape, might be a good candidate for a hatcha-hawk.
 
Nothing special, stripped head dunked bleach, and then blued . The handle I stripped rubbed one coat of dark walnut danish oil. Then applied 3 coats of beeswax to help with water resistance.

 
I've already modified a trail hawk, and I decided to try out the frontier hawk this time. Nothing particularly fancy, it's going to be a user, just the standard strip, sharpen and refit handle, added some file notches and finished with some cold blue.

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I was very impressed with the cutting performance of the frontier hawk. It cuts much better than my trail hawk ever has. My guess is that the longer bit on the frontier hawk equals a shallower angle behind the edge. The wider cutting edge results in less overstrikes as well.



Bites deep in green wood.

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Sliced right through this hanging grape vine.

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And lopped off this multiflora rose as easily as a machete would.

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I've already modified a trail hawk, and I decided to try out the frontier hawk this time. Nothing particularly fancy, it's going to be a user, just the standard strip, sharpen and refit handle, added some file notches and finished with some cold blue.

DSC01557_zpscjf4gqao.jpg

Did you wedge the haft?
(In the pic showing top of the eye, it looks like there's a wood wedge in the haft, like a hammer or an axe which taper opposite in the eye & haft).
 
Did you wedge the haft?
(In the pic showing top of the eye, it looks like there's a wood wedge in the haft, like a hammer or an axe which taper opposite in the eye & haft).

No. That's just the indentation from the lathe when they made the handle.
 
What's the best way to sharpen the trail hawk? I've got one arriving this week and am looking for an effective way to do so. Is the mousepad and sandpaper the way to go? Should I use a hand file? I've got a set of stones I can use, but not sure how to convex with them

Any advice is great.

VP
 
What's the best way to sharpen the trail hawk? I've got one arriving this week and am looking for an effective way to do so. Is the mousepad and sandpaper the way to go? Should I use a hand file? I've got a set of stones I can use, but not sure how to convex with them

Any advice is great.

VP

Small files are a great start. No need to worry about convexing the edges too much, they usually happens over time with hand sharpening anyway and the standard V edge is pretty effetive as it is.

I've never had any luck or faith in sandpaper, unless it's emery backed it just falls apart and last about 5 seconds before becoming slippery paper.


If you have access to power tools a slack belt on sander or belt grinder and curved back strop motions will round the edge until it is convex or an angle grinder with a flap wheel. (always go slow, gentle and dip in cold water every pass)




I've used an angle grinder for years for fine stuff and sharpening etc and always made jokes that I can polish my finger nails with mine.. untill yesterday when it snagged on a blade and shot the stick tang of the knife into my hand.. leading to a hospital trip! :/
 
I believe you would need to turn the head over (upside-down), as the eye (tapered portion) is reversed when compared to a head designed to be used with wedges (axe/hatchet,etc.). One of the main benifits of hawk design is that it's easy to remove/replace a haft vs. an axe/hatchet where the handle is "fixed" to the head via wedges. A head like Trailhawk, with fairly syemetrical shape, might be a good candidate for a hatcha-hawk.

Nope the eyes are tapered larger toward the top with both hawks and axes. A main difference is axes seat down on a shoulder and get wedged against it and axes are a slip fit.
You could do the same thing with a hawk.
 
Some really beautiful mods y'all have going! I've been sneaking around bladeforums for a while and was inspired by this thread to contribute something for a change. Here are some shots of a couple of customized CS hawks. The handles were ground, belt sanded, charred, re-sanded, and finished off with a few coats of tung oil. The heads were sanded, polished, and the edges convexed, then a light forced patina on the back. If you look close at the last pic you can see the temper line running somewhat parallel to the blade..just above the reflection of the quarter.


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How did you re profile the edge on that ESEE. It looks amazing!
 
Did my first inlay in wood. I knew I wanted to do something on the sides of the tomahawk handle, but I didn't know what. My dad gave me a couple of really worn out buffalo nickels. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics...

Obverse:

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Reverse:

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Filed some finger grooves in the handle for more grippiness.

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Close up shot of the grooves I filed into the handle to frame the nickels:

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Got the snap on the sheath and made a belt loop:

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I ordered some stainless lanyard tube, should be here in a few days. After that, it's pretty much finished.

Outstanding work sir!
 
Well, you guys are a horrible influence. I had a CS Spike Hawk collecting dust before I found this forum. Now, I'm well into the spike mod, with a Frontier just started, and a Trail waiting for attention.

I had issues with the etchant lifting and getting under the paint. I'm not sure if it was my paint/prep, or maybe I had my double hot water bath too hot, but this etch was done in a little less than two hours. I had it completely polished, and the temper(?) line showed up after the etch.

My paw print is a bit off center but not bad for a first try, now for some cordage work, and to clean up the haft...





Wicked work on yours there Bobbo! How did you get that paracord wrap like that, and finish down through the bottom?
Great work!
 
I started this project last year after Christmas. I wanted to give a good friend a gift that I spent a lot of time working on... this certainly fit the bill. I used the flapper wheel/dremel to even out the surface and a cordless drill to make a hole for the star pattern on the opposite side of the set screw. After that I never picked up another power tool until I used the belt sander to bevel the cutting edge. I did all the sanding by hand down to 600 grit.

Naturally, I had to make two (one for him and one for me) so the project was bogged down with double the work. I would sit down and work for decent amounts of time, get tired and bored with the sanding, and not pick it up back up for a month. I didn't document the process because there were enough posts with the before portion of what I started with.

Here is mine, I didn't get a picture of his before I gave it to him.

The details:
CS Spike Hawk
Vine pattern File work
Star pattern file work in set screw hole and opposite side
Acid etch "Poseidon's Trident" (his was etched with his family crest)
Hand sanded to 600
Cold blued finish
Burned and cherry stained haft



How did you do the star pattern? It looks amazing!
 
K
Here is my take on Norse Hawk.

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inlaid malachite

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My first attempt on tooling leather.

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Here is my display box. :)

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You guys are killing me with your amazing work. I'll be ordering some and trying to duplicate some of the outstanding work I've seen here.
 
Well add another to the list. The price came down on these on Amazon, I picked up one last night to build for a buddy's birthday.
 
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