Modded CS Tomahawk

[Draven]

Howdy folks!
Got my Trail Hawk today I picked that one as a matter of heads or tails, after I couldn't decide between it and the Frontier (IIRC).

Firstly, the horrible paint was removed! Nasty stuff, but it wasn't too hard to sand off. Would be much easier with a flap wheel. After that, I used a method for browning detailed here:
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/reply/114978/t/Re-axes.html
In post 17. The overview:
Take 4 parts hydrogen peroxide, saturate with salt (dissolve salt in it til it wont take any more) and add 1 part vinegar. Use in spray bottle on degreased and warmed axe head - it creates this wonderful, thick, frothy foam and after 10 or 20 seconds,rinse off to have instant rust Repeat as necessary! This does create a very fine surface rust, not bubbly cracky rust - removing the rust with a wire brush will leave a dark patina, or you can leave it on and boil in water and the rust will turn a blue-black. Also called rust blueing! I, however, stopped at the rusting, neutralised with bicarb, and gave it a wipe with linseed-soaked wire brush, leaving a dark brown finish - lovely if I do say so m'self

Safety!
Hydrogen peroxide is very dangerous! Do not mix with ANY oils or anything at all flammable - in fact, mix with NOTHING that you have not been told is safe by a trusted source. Hydrogen peroxide is a toxic irritant, it will bleach things and if mixed with the wrong thing, can combust. Hydrogen peroxide will also decompose, giving off Oxygen and turning itself into water - thebuildup of oxygen can cause the container it is stored in to explode, and shower the surroundings in a mix of watery hydrogen peroxide. I stored the small remainder I had wrapped in a carrier bag in the cabinet under the sink, so if it DOES explode, it hopefully won't harm anyone and the cat won't be able to lap it up. And for the record,I used 35% hydrogen peroxide. Ventilate and wear a mask too, it didn't do my sore throat any favours!

Now that's over, pics!

Just after the rusting.

Closeup...

After a bit of oil on the head, and after darkening the handle with a heatgun and oiling it! Oh and shortening it

Another closeup - I really love how this browning looks

To show the grind of the blade - I did thin it down a bit, and it came VERY blunt. No wonder you could hack it through a car door with no edge damage And the illusion of having a hair-on hide is shot now!

Carry! Excuse the belly! The baldric on the knife sheath attaches to a d-ring on the belt loop, which the axe fits into rather nicely! Total accident Will need to work on a rawhide mask..

The handle is TIGHT! I tried removing the grub screw and I was probably smacking the thing with a bit of wood for ten minutes to no avail. I'll probably have to drill it out if I want it out - which I do! I think I may just buy a few spare handles and keep them at different lengths according to how packable I need the axe to be.

Well, hope y'all like! Comments welcome!

Pete

PS: I bought from http://www.coldsteel-uk.com/ and I've gotta say, good service. They sent me a txt when it had been shipped, with an ETA, which I've never had from any other company - so nice going! No affilliation, just a happy camper!

 

[phaserrifle]

looks good. where did you get the hawk?

Hydrogen peroxide will also decompose, giving off Oxygen and turning itself into water -

it pays to keep it out of the light (this accelerates the process)
even then, this process can happen pretty quickly, and unexpectedly.
in chemistry coursework I was using the same bottle of H2O2 for 4 days without problem, then on the fith, it stopped working.

 

[spamel]

Very nice, with the knife and old school looking sheath you've got a decent set up.

What's going on with the leki pole in the background?

 

[welshwhit]

Looks awesome!

I really do like that!

Drew

 

[Draven]

looks good. where did you get the hawk?



it pays to keep it out of the light (this accelerates the process)
even then, this process can happen pretty quickly, and unexpectedly.
in chemistry coursework I was using the same bottle of H2O2 for 4 days without problem, then on the fith, it stopped working.

Cheers, hawk is from http://www.coldsteel-uk.com/
Cheers for the tip too - hopefully it'll be ok... I did buy a small bottle though to minimise waste.

Very nice, with the knife and old school looking sheath you've got a decent set up.

What's going on with the leki pole in the background?

Cheers mate I've actually got an Old Hickory 7" butchers knife and a Svord peasant on the way to go with it, my own trio

Ymean the walking pole against the wall? I was wondering if someone would ask that The council insisted we put a vent in the wall - our house has plenty of ventilation from the rubbish window frames, floorboards and random holes in the baseboards and the like, so when it's chilly out we put the bit of metal against it and the pole there to hold it in place!

Looks awesome!

I really do like that!

Drew

Cheers mate

Pete

 

[spamel]

Ymean the walking pole against the wall? I was wondering if someone would ask that The council insisted we put a vent in the wall - our house has plenty of ventilation from the rubbish window frames, floorboards and random holes in the baseboards and the like, so when it's chilly out we put the bit of metal against it and the pole there to hold it in place!

Pete

Naughty! Do you have a back boiler unit by any chance?

Just slipping off topic a bit but you can get shrouds that stop the incessant wailing caused by vents. It may be worth getting hold of one so that you can keep that airflow. You need it if you have multiple gas appliances in one room!

Are you gonna Nessmuk the Old Hickory knife? I seem to recall somebody did that a while back. He used a dremel if memory serves correctly, it looked like a mean little slicer!

 

[Draven]

Naughty! Do you have a back boiler unit by any chance?

Just slipping off topic a bit but you can get shrouds that stop the incessant wailing caused by vents. It may be worth getting hold of one so that you can keep that airflow. You need it if you have multiple gas appliances in one room!

Are you gonna Nessmuk the Old Hickory knife? I seem to recall somebody did that a while back. He used a dremel if memory serves correctly, it looked like a mean little slicer!

Yeah, it's not ideal, but the vent was essentially a 6x6" hole in the wall - it got absolutely freezing! And our house really is cold enough without it! I've no idea what gas stuff we have - I know we have a gas fire in the living room, which is never used, and we do have a gas boiler but the details are beyond my knowledge

The skinner in that sheath is a modded Old Hickory knife as it happens, it wasn't meant to look like Nessmuk's but I've been told it does I'm planning on leaving the butchers knife as-is, though - basically, because the reason for getting these together with the Hawk was to have 18th/early 19th century style American kit, and I thought something that looked too much like the Nessmuk would be associated too much with the late 19th century. Basically I wanted something a bit "different" To be honest the OH knife will probably just be a stand in for a John Nowill butchers knife, since it's stamped "John Nowill/Sheffield/Est AD 1700" and sheffield knives were pretty common in the colonies, or so I've heard!

Pete

 

[spamel]

Cool! I've looked at the Trail Hawk before and must say your antiquing method has made it look a whole lot better. If I do get one, I'll certainly strip the paint off and try to antique it a bit. For handles, you could just carve some ash to suit your needs, although I believe replacement helves are very cheap anyway!

 

[Shewie]

Nice looking set you've assembled yourself there Pete

 

[Bravo4]

Hey, wow, that looks great! Next stop, the Winds !

 

[Draven]

Cool! I've looked at the Trail Hawk before and must say your antiquing method has made it look a whole lot better. If I do get one, I'll certainly strip the paint off and try to antique it a bit. For handles, you could just carve some ash to suit your needs, although I believe replacement helves are very cheap anyway!

Cheers Antiquing is something I like doing, but this is the first time I've tried this method, and I think it'll be a keeper - I'll need to try the boiling water next time! Yeah, the handles are about £7 each I think so it's not really worth making one and trying to get the taper right and such to me - if I had a big supply of wood that'd be something different!

Nice looking set you've assembled yourself there Pete

Cheers mate

Hey, wow, that looks great! Next stop, the Winds !

Cheers Not heard that one though - the winds that is - well, I think I have, I just don't quite know what it means

Pete

PS: I've sewn up the cover now - it looks like a blob of bacon fat right now though, hoping it'll look better when it shrinks

 

[Bravo4]

Sorry Draven, an obscure reference at best . Wyoming's Wind River Range, mountainman country.

 

[Draven]

Sorry Draven, an obscure reference at best . Wyoming's Wind River Range, mountainman country.

Ah, I'll have to remember that Obscure references are the best ones!

Pete

 

[trail2]

As mentioned before I also have a Trail Hawk. First to go was that nasty black paint.
I found the haft a little too thick for my liking,it kept twisting in my hand. I just ordered up some spare hickory shafts from Ragweed and modded them to fit.
While in the Winds stop in Pinedale and check out the Mountain man Museum.
JonR.

 

[Draven]

As mentioned before I also have a Trail Hawk. First to go was that nasty black paint.
I found the haft a little too thick for my liking,it kept twisting in my hand. I just ordered up some spare hickory shafts from Ragweed and modded them to fit.
While in the Winds stop in Pinedale and check out the Mountain man Museum.
JonR.

Nice ain't they? The haft is alright for me, but I apparantly have large hands I do like the teardrop shape!

Visitin a mountain man museum would be cool

Pete

 

[Bravo4]

While in the Winds stop in Pinedale and check out the Mountain man Museum.
JonR.

I spent a night in Pinedale, missed the museum but I really like that area.
Seems to be sort of a mountain man Rendezvous and trade fair going on here later this week, I'll have to check it out.

 

[trail2]

This is the big one. If you get a chance you should go check it out.
http://www.pinedaleonline.com/RendezvousDays.HTM
My wifes sister lives in Pinedale and is a consultant for Ultra Petro so she takes both my boys all over that area hunting and fishing.
Sorry to hi jack the tread.
The Trail hawk is a great little item to have in your belt or pack.
Jon R.

 

[Native Justice]

In the event you need to remove that paint or epoxy coat on a similar implement, there is a product called Jasco Paint and Epoxy remover that is a gel that works very, very fast.

Just apply a thick coat to the surface on both sides and let it sit for five minutes (literally!!!). Come back with a plastic paint or putty putty knife to gently scrape off the material loosened by the Jasco and your done in 10 minutes flat. No fuss no muss!! I did the same thing to my CS SRK and it turned out terrific.

If you blokes across the big pond don't have the exact same stuff, I'd think you'd have something very similar to accomplish the same thing. Beats sanding anyday! Sorry for hijacking the thread. Just thought you'd like to know there are some more reasonable alternatives.

Best Regards,

 

[Draven]

Sorry to hi jack the tread. .

No worries

In the event you need to remove that paint or epoxy coat on a similar implement, there is a product called Jasco Paint and Epoxy remover that is a gel that works very, very fast.

Just apply a thick coat to the surface on both sides and let it sit for five minutes (literally!!!). Come back with a plastic paint or putty putty knife to gently scrape off the material loosened by the Jasco and your done in 10 minutes flat. No fuss no muss!! I did the same thing to my CS SRK and it turned out terrific.

If you blokes across the big pond don't have the exact same stuff, I'd think you'd have something very similar to accomplish the same thing. Beats sanding anyday! Sorry for hijacking the thread. Just thought you'd like to know there are some more reasonable alternatives.

Best Regards,

That sounds sweet! I'll need to have a look for that, but decent solvents are very hard to come by in the UK. I haven't seen real turps in a shop since god knows when.


Thought I'd update with a pic of the mask...

I'm still hoping it'll shrink a bit more, it's not quite dry yet. Certainly looks rustic but it looks a bit rubbish too

Pete