English Presentation Hawk / Pipe Axe

[Birddog6]

You ever make something that you have so much time & aggravation in it ya just can't sell it. This is the case on this pipe axe I made last week. Man this thing was stressful ! :rotf: I can laugh now but it was no laughing matter at the time ! 110 tiny 1/16" German Silver studs in the head & 64 more in the haft. This modified cast 4140 head was eating carbide drillbits like feeding corn to the geese !! Whew what I mess I was in, and many times just walked away & said the he// with that thing...... You ever try to get a broken off 1/16" carbide drill bit out of a piece of metal with it broken off flush ?

But anyway, I finally finished it & and am Sooooooooooooooooo glad it is done. 22" drilled curly maple haft & the bands are secured with lil German Silver nails I made, countersunk heads & then filed flush. Haft is sanded down to 600 grit, then stained with Danglers dark brown stain & about 7-8 light hand rubbed coats of Tru-Oil rubbed out between coats with the final coat rubbed out with a 2000 grit paper.

 

[Roy]

:thumbsup: Looks great

 

[RickD]

I wish I was so talented..I`d love a good hawk someday

 

[Birddog6]

Oh I have no doubt You could do basically anything you were inclined to do, and with style.

Brings to mind years ago I was teaching some guys to read some electrical schematics & one of the guys stated he wished he was as talented as I on working on these electrical systems. I told him it has nothing to do with talent, it has "everything" to do with determination. I am determined NOT to let this electrical problem whip me, & I will find the solution of what, where, when, how & the adjustment needed to keep it from happening again. So by being so determined, it has kept my family in a home with food for the past 30 years.

Same thing here on knives & hawks & etc. You beat & grind & etc. on them for 30 years as a hobby, eventually you will accidently make something that looks halfway right !! ha ha ! (well, hopefully, anyway !) :wink:

I see you like making the steel. I found out years ago that making it was not my cup of tea. Being light skinned & burn extremely easily, a day at a forge & I will be suffering for 2 weeks from the burn. Thus I relented to making With the steel someone else made & trying to construct something with that. I get kinda burnt out on building rifles if I stay at it all the time, so the knives & hawks are a nice break in between .

:thumbsup:

 

[bob1961]

nice hawk there BD6....with something that nice, what's next :bow: :v .............bob

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Birdog6, your talent and determination scare me. That's an absolutely gorgeous piece!

Twisted_1in66 :hatsoff:

 

[laffingman67]

That's awesome BD! :applause: I know what you mean about the determination thing. I have a couple projects that I have whip some more determination! :rotf:

Great Hawk! :thumbsup:

 

[anvil1231]

That is one beautiful hawk. Great job!

 

[Birddog6]

Thanks all. That is the only one I have made that was that clean looking. Tho not PC as some would like them, it was something different. Here is one I made a couple of weeks ago, with a more rustic look to it & more along the lines of what I prefer to make.

This is another cast 4140 steel modified English head, haft is 22" long & Grade #7 Curly Maple stained with Danglers Reddish Brown stain (which is my alltime favorite stain) and then 8-10 hand rubbed coats of Tru-Oil. Trimmed in antiqued brass with brass tacks, and a antler tine plug in the end. All in all it worked out quite well.

 

Priceless.
Something that ornate and beautiful should stay in your family and be handed down through the generations. :bow:
Its not just a Hawk,but like a piece of jewelery.
That will increase in value over time.

 

[Birddog6]

Thanks. I probably should save a couple of them & put them away. I usually just sell them thinking I can make me one anytime ? Problem is "later for me" doesn't ever seem to come. I was going to build me a new hunting rifle for 10 years ! ha ha ha ! Got it started & like to never have finished it. Kinda like the Jaeger I am building me I started 3 years ago. It has been in-the-white now for 3 years waiting for me to do the finish sanding & carving & inlays. Maybe I need to move that up on the list a few notches & get with it.

Problem seems to be my work keeps getting in the way of my hobbies ! :hmm:

 

[50cal.cliff]

Those hawks are absoutely great! How long you been doing that kind of work? :bow: :bow: :bow:

 

[Birddog6]

I made my first knife out of an old ******* file back in 1967 & have been piddling with them ever since. Self taught by trial & error, I have just kept trying to do a lil better each time & not make the same mistakes twice. Probably have ? 250-300 screwed up blanks I have saved over the years. Now & then I get that box out & pick a blank or two I misground & can now salvage & make a lil skinner or whatever. I make my knife a lil different tham most do, where most look for materials to make it with & keep the cost down, I won't use anything used or cheap, I buy new D2 tool steel or new ATS-34. (sometimes Damascus steel). I am not going to put my time & efforts & stamp on it unless it is the best steel staarting off & something I Know will hold an edge. Nothing more disapointing than to make a real nice skinner & the steel won't hold an edge.........
But to each their own, just depends on the maker. Some guys thrive on using old stuff & making that steel into something that will hold an edge & etc., and I admire that. Just depends on the guy. Just like the guys making their own Damascus, man that is something special in a guy & someone with REAL determination.. ha ha ha ! That is a hot as He// job, aggravating, lots of failures, etc. Ya just gotta love it to do that ! :thumbsup:

:thumbsup:

 

[rabjr]

Wow very nice Birddog! :bow:

 

[billk]

Outstanding hawks :thumbsup:
Billk

 

[hawkeye1755]

Outstanding work,Birddog6. :bow: :bow:
I love them.Now i have to save some extra money.
The hawk in the first pics are my favorite.
:thumbsup:

 

[50cal.cliff]

Hey all I can say is the self taught method seems to have worked for you. :thumbsup:
I am sort of the same way, some of those self taught lessons can be painful and some expensive! :rotf: :rotf:
I find you work on your hawks absolutely fascinating. They leave me just saying WOW!!!!!!!