Cold Steel Rifleman's Hawk transformation

[TimberWolf7.62]

My Cold Steel Rifleman's Hawk transformation - in stock trim:

Much too heavy and ugly, so after a lot of grinding:

Cold blued steel, stained and varnished handle. Drilled a lanyard hole, lined it with a brass tube, then flared the ends to lock it in place.

 

[Stukaman]

Wow I like that wish somebody made a nice quality traditional Tomahawk just cause its cool

 

[Acesn8's]

Wow I like that wish somebody made a nice quality traditional Tomahawk just cause its cool

This guy does quality work,one helluva blacksmith.
Hand Forged Poll Tomahawk | eBay

 

[Dcav]

Nice, I like my Sog Hawk, pretty handy and pretty light weight.

 

[TimberWolf7.62]

The stock CS Rifleman's Hawk is too heavy at 36+ oz but the Trail Hawk and others are too light at about 23 oz. I have this RH at about 30 oz and it is really right. My next hawk (after a cruiser ax project I just ordered a longer handle for) will be a CS Pipe Hawk which comes in at 28 oz.

 

[Stukaman]

A real honest to god battle axe would be cool as well just never was into swords lol

 

[TimberWolf7.62]

Swords probably have the most limited utility of any edged weapon, yet with the highest cost.

 

[equin]

Nice! Really like the paracord wrap and wood stain. What stain did you go with and what did you use to strip the paint from the metal? Also like how the ends look burnt/blackened.

I just got a trail hawk and am gathering ideas for mods. Thinking of going with Birchwood Casey Plum Brown after stripping the paint for an old rustic look, then a reddish brown stained haft with some kind of wrap for contrast/accent. Not sure if I should go with brass or copper wire or synthetic sinew.

 

[TimberWolf7.62]

I started to sand the head down to a mirror finish so I was using a drill with a 100 grit sanding wheel which took the paint off, too. Then I found some of the pits were a little too deep so I went the other way and deliberately etched some lines into it to look like it was hand forged.

The stain is a Minwax red oak that I did go heavier on the ends and wiped most off from the middle. Again going for a used look that was not pristine straight from the factory. Spar varnish to finish it off.

If you google "cold steel trail hawk mods" you'll find a lot of ideas from other people's work. There is some really good work out there.

 

[equin]

Well, yours looks awesome, and thanks for the info on the stain.

I checked out some of the hawk mods on bladeforums.com and was quite impressed. I'm thinking of going with a more rustic look and got the idea of the plum brown barrel coating from this pic:

 

[TimberWolf7.62]

The good thing about the mustard and vinegar finishes is that you can try one and just sand or steel wool it off if you don't like it. I played with some of those finishes on a cheap machete.

 

[Stukaman]

I think I may try my hand at customizing one as they are cheap.

 

[equin]

You should try it! I've already sanded the wood and am in the middle of stripping the paint off hawk blade. Kind of fun thinking of ideas on how to mod it.

 

[cdhknives]

You could also start with a good roofer's hammer/axe. I've seen some really cool looking Eastwing conversions.

Whatever you do, grind slow and dunk in water often. The plain carbon steels in these tools will temper out the hardness at surprisingly low temperatures. If you are discoloring as you grind, you're losing hardness.

 

[Stukaman]

I can reharden at my work ol mexican fella who does all are custom fabrication is an old hand at it.

 

[ATX_Shawn]

This guy does quality work,one helluva blacksmith.
Hand Forged Poll Tomahawk | eBay

LOL whats with the sperm worm?

 

[equin]

So far, I stained the haft and "rusted" the blade with the Birchwood Casey Plum Brown. Here's what it looks like for now:

 

[Acesn8's]

LOL whats with the sperm worm?

Well since you mentioned it.
In indian lore that is actually a snake thought to a be silent killer

but hey if ya like the sperm worm thing go for it Lmao

 

[ATX_Shawn]

Well since you mentioned it.
In indian lore that is actually a snake thought to a be silent killer

but hey if ya like the sperm worm thing go for it Lmao

LOL!! okay.. snake makes WAY more sense..

good thing i asked!