What to do with my hawks?

[Thejeepster]

I was digging through my closet and came across some old throwing hawks that I have had for many years. They use to be my stepdads and he thru them at rendezvous for fun. They have set in my closet for years. In this picture is my Estwing and an old hatchet I found that turns out to be worth $200 to $300 on eBay. The rest are just junk throwing hawks with worn out handles.

The one here that I am interested in is the one on the far right. I like the beard on it and it looks more like a usable tool.

I am guessing you do not wedge the bit onto the handle like you do a hatchet. Do I just drive the bit on as far as it will go and that is it? I am thinking they are suppose to be able to tap off the handle so you can use them as a scraping tool.

Once I get it seated do I cut the excess off of the end? I need to flatten the hole just a hair as it is more round than the handle.

 

[robert reed]

If you don't know what to do with the rest of them, you can send some to me. Nice collection!
I see hours of enjoyment in cleaning, customizing, and throwing and chopping. Handles are available at many websites, like track of the wolf, crazy crow, etc. I would shape handle to heads rather than the reverse. Yes, the head slides on the handle to a friction fit, the rest is up to your preferences and imagination. Have fun! :hatsoff:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Sell the modern ones.

The one second from the right is what some catalogs call a "French" style.

Take them off the old handles, use some evaporust on them, and re-haft them, and they will all be very servicible.

I normally trim off anything more than an inch above the head, after getting the handle tight. Some folks like to soak the head with the handle in water after the handle is tight, some like to do it with mineral oil....swells the wood and makes it even tighter...but the water will evaporate over time, needing it to be repeated.

LD

 

[Joe Wolf]

I would consider hawks 1, 4 and 6 to be throwing hawks. I'd call the 5th one a Norse design. The NMLRA rules don't allow a hawk blade edge to be more than 4" long. I don't cut too much extra wood off at the head. The wood shrinks so much in fairly dry central Texas humidity that the tip of the handle works its way down into the head. I have to soak the handles of my throwing hawks in a bucket of water from time to time to swell them up.