Vector how are you making those crazy looking handles they look like they are buried under a resin? Whats the core other than a polycarbinate tube?
ooh, loaded question -
rant alert from vector - hehehe!
There really isn't to much resin in them, only what is necessary for strength.
most of the resins in stock composite handles are
polyesters, which are weak but cheap - they are also bad for the environment compared to the epoxy-based stuff that i use, which most composites guys i have talked to are just amazed that i chose for these handles, because it is hard to work with.
it really requires a maniac to make these handles IMHO. as you can see by my passion for hawks, i am qualified.
making these handles takes patience, timing, and hours of concentration.
again and again.
my family won't go near me when i am building them.
they are each my babies, these hawks.
we have a lot of folks receive our hawks in packages and think we shipped an empty box at first - the longer hawks seem really light because of the weight distribution that
increases with length.
what is inside the handles varies, brother - so a straight answer usually would be a lie. - i try to constantly experiment. most of the interior is space on the
Gen 1 Mk 4's - for reasons i will try to explain later.
the hawks you see here have endoskeletal materials that are common in some aircraft, which is one of the places i get my composites experience from; building planes for a very special aerospace design house.
- the handles rely on fiber-aligning technologies instead of a bunch of cheap, heavy, and relatively-weak omni-directional fiberglass splinters and resin moosh
(like what other folks are making) for the handle's strength, so the two structural cavities give me room to develop new additions to the design.
for instance, i love the polycarbonate tube to store my goodies in.
why have a bug-out-bag, when ya can have a bug-out hawk, i reckon...
ultimately, i am going to hybrid a hawk with some ...uh ...other good things....
a very special super-long hawk i am doing for Survival Sheath Systems will have some insulated aluminum internal components.
We are heading towards making a Sectional Hawk.
We want it ALL.
the
Polycarbonate Tube is advantageous because it's physical properties are much like the composite that surrounds it, so if the handles get thermally shocked, stresses don't occur in it when compared other build schedules.
If the handle gets partially interrupted
(it will probably go unnoticed if it follows the pattern we have seen, but if it does not; ), such as from a direct sword impact or a gunshot, the polycarbonate tends to plastify and act like a chain at that point. you just turned your hawk into a
nun-chuck/flail/mace.
i think you might start laughing when that happens. just don't run out of zombies.
especially since we fix or replace your hawk, or cut you a check, at your discretion, forever, so Help Me God. - that's part of our
Happiness Guarantee.
If you are making these yourself how do you keep them straight and true?
well, i am a geek, so i will argue that nothing is truly Straight and True, short of Jesus, brother - hehehe!
that said, we have a lot of ways of proprietarily getting these handles straight, or better yet: slightly pre-stressed in the swing plane for greater strength with less weight. - many old friends from my composite protoypes background have tried to copy the handle and failed miserably. - and these are guys that are the best in the industry IMHO. the only reason i can make them is because i have made so many, and failed so much, without being smart enough to throw in the towel, frankly.
i am just a stinking specialist in this structure.
and this ain't no plastic pole.
the
Gen 1 Mk 4 Handle is a
fiber-aligned, lightweight composite handle with an endoskeletal and exoskeletal structure. Most of it is two air channels: one in the polycarbonate tube, and one in the Strike Plate
(which is the leading rectangular surface of the handle, which can have architecture added to it to make the handle twenty times stronger, at the expense of added weight - think Riot Baton from Hell).
the two composite-sealed cavities in the handle, coupled with the way i lay each fiber, can have some interesting effects on soft tissue, as well as bone, if it ever comes to that.
the hawk head is just the warning.
the handle is the real weapon.
Lastly do you sell them? If so how much for one to fit the CS trail hawk I just ordered! I am fairly new to the forum but I always hangout in the knifemakers area and stumbled in to here and looked around and now I am hooked! I would like a 24" handle if that helps.
sure thing, brother.
all our work is covered with a Happiness Guarantee, and we consider our clientele to be Investors, which they truly are, and our friends.
the whole Hawk Project was meant to be a win-win for everyone involved, and i have tried to keep it that way.
as was suggested, please contact my Erica, and have a chat, she can also tell you what is available in our
IGHs (
Instant
Gratification
Hawks) which could save you a wait on a
Gen 1 Mk 4 hawk, if it is considered a value to you.
ericag@equinoxcoronado.com
tell her i sent ya and that i was on my best behavior, brother.
you'll like her, she's a lot classier than i am.
:thumbup:
HTH.
..........
don't ask me about hawks and tell me not to rant!
har!
i am a hawk addict.
okay, back to the Hawk Dungeon for ol' vec.
vec
