cold steel tomahawks

[chazz1975]

Does anyone have any experience with/own the Cold Steel line of tomahawks, specifically the rifleman's,pipe hawk, or frontier hawks? I like the design of them, but have not seen any locally to me to handle them. I would like to start throwing knives and hawks this year, and get back into black powder shooting as well. I have my rifles already, but have never really quite been interested in throwing hawks and knives until now. I am planning on going to the Kalamazoo history fair this year as well to get more ideas on equipment/outfitting. Not really wanting to create a persona, but would like to go to some competitions in period clothing. Thanks.

Charley

 

[Rifleman1776]

Cold Steel products are high quality. But they do not represent any historical period except right now.

 

[wes huffman]

They are a good value for the price. I have had a frontier for a couple of years now and am in the process of redoing a pipe hawk right now. I will try and post some pics when done. They are a well built tool if your on a budget.In my opinion the rifleman is to big and heavy for use as a carry hawk, but that just my opinion and you how opinions are :wink:

 

[Jim Blair]

I've got a couple of their hawks and several of their edged offerings,good quality for the price.Usin' stuff nothing fancy.

 

[chazz1975]

possum73,

what kind of work/modifications are you doing to the pipe hawk? I am really interested in seeing your finished work. Are you going to strip the black paint/finish off it? If so, are you planning to another type of finish or attempt to blue or brown it?

 

[woodse guy]

I've had the rifleman hawk for years. Long enough that it didn't come with black paint. It looks like it may have hammer marks :idunno: . They keep a good edge. The one that my brother has now I would worry about throwing it much for fear of breaking. But it will split a deer pelvis in nothing flat.

 

[wes huffman]

Yes sir, stripping the paint off the head was the first thing i did. I then cut about three inches off the handle. I did some brass inlays and rasping and then some elaborate carving on the handle(elaborate for me anyway). Stained and waxed the handle. Now I'm waiting on the head to finish. It's been sitting in some recycled coffee grounds for 5 days now. I'm hoping achieve a light brown patina finish. So far it's looking good. When it's finished I'll post some pics if I can figure out how to.

 

[wes huffman]

I'm a whole lot like Phil Robertson "I'm a low tech man in a high tech world" :rotf:

 

[BillinOregon]

I've not been overly impressed with the quality of their steel. I have machete-like tools from Cold Steel and Gerber, and the Gerber will hold an edge, which cannot be said of the Cold Steel. Neither of these brands are of much help to re-enactors, however.

 

[Elnathan]

I have never had one in my hands, but their Trail 'hawk looks very close to one in Neumann's Swords and Blades of the American Revolution (78.A), at least in profile. On the other hand, comparing the stats shows that the Cold Steel version is about 7/8" taller and weighs almost three times as much (that might include the handle, though) - it is hard to tell from the picture, but the original shown in Swords and Blades seems to have a narrow eye resulting in a thin, light blade, whereas I think the Cold Steel version uses a standard modern tear-drop tomahawk eye and slip-fit handle. I also believe I read somewhere that the Cold Steel head has a screw in it to lock the handle in place, but that side is never shown in the illustrations online.

R.E. Davis has a very similar one made of 6160, suitable for a using axe but not for throwing. No experience with that one either.

 

[Horseless Trooper]

I have a Cold Steel Rifleman's Hawk and it does not have a screw to hold the head on. I have been kinda wondering how the heck you keep the head from sliding down on the handle. My only other tomahawk is one my cousin made for me because he said the axe I carried in my car was to big for a weapon, like thats possible!

 

[RJL]

I've had the riflemans hawk for years, i bought it before i started reenacting. its a cast head and looks like a cast head. i never had to do any finish work to it, time and use took care of that. it is way too heavy to carry around full time, and your throwing block had better be sturdy. all in all not a bad designed hawk but not a historical representaion.

 

[Len Graves]

I have what I think is the trail hawk. It came with the black paint, which I removed and then browned the head. It also had an Allen head set screw which I quickly removed and filled with a brass one and peened in place. I too cut the handle. I like a slightly lighter hawk to throw and this one throws well. the one I have has a pall (hammer?) so I use it to drive stakes Etc. I don't know if it is really an accurate period correct thing, but I think a smith of the day could have easily made one.

 

[MacRob46]

I have what I think is the trail hawk. It came with the black paint, which I removed and then browned the head. It also had an Allen head set screw which I quickly removed and filled with a brass one and peened in place. I too cut the handle. I like a slightly lighter hawk to throw and this one throws well. the one I have has a pall (hammer?) so I use it to drive stakes Etc. I don't know if it is really an accurate period correct thing, but I think a smith of the day could have easily made one.

How did you remove the paint? I have a couple of pole ax heads from CS and I would like to get the paint off without a lot of elbow grease, if possible.

 

[wes huffman]

I used CUTZ IT (I think that's the name of it)any paint stripper from your local hardware should do the job. After 3 or 4 applications you should be down to almost bare metal. You may have take a steel brush to it to get any left over places clean.

 

[spudnut]

I sand blasted mine stripper didnt work at all for me I think its powder coat

 

[MacRob46]

I used CUTZ IT (I think that's the name of it)any paint stripper from your local hardware should do the job. After 3 or 4 applications you should be down to almost bare metal. You may have take a steel brush to it to get any left over places clean.

Thanks very much. The paint seems to be a thick epoxy based coating. The two axe heads I have are supposed to be differentially heat treated and the one that I have seen that had the paint stripped off looked really good.

 

[Len Graves]

As I remember I used a heavy wire wheel and then A sanding disc to remove the paint. I then browned the head. Looks lots better.

 

[horseman1977]

I have modified both a Riflemans and a Trail hawk from cold steel to make them look more traditional. I quite like both. The Riflemans is a bit heavy for hiking with, which is why I got the trail hawk. The trail hawk also throws pretty good.