Cold Steel Spike Hawk Frontier Hawk, One Size

This is my fourth item in this cold steel "inexpensive" category. They are by no means cheap but not pretty either. They have sort of turned into a hobby for me and fun art and craft type of thing. I have modified the War hammer, Norse hawk, Pipe hawk, and now this Spike hawk. Each time I try to do a little research and mod them for the time period. I am not saying I am historically correct in this venture,,,it is just my interpretation of what they may have looked like back then.This one I was going to pretty much leave plain and dark. I discovered that the spike hawk is believed to be an ancestor of the Navel boarding so I felt a dark and stealthy boarding a ship at night look may be appropriate. But after looking at the attributes of a the boarding axe, the two although somewhat similar, are miles apart. I learned that the spike hawk became popular during the French Indian wars. So that is the theme I went with,The head was stripped of paint and sanded as smooth as I wanted it using various sandpaper grits. I then added layers of cold blue and it brought out a deep charcoal gray. The pictures show it a little lighter than actual color. The haft I already had some black paint on it so I used some steel wool and sanded it down to the finish I wanted. I then over the next few days applied 5 coats of tung oil.I put it all together and it looked nice but needed that little something. I remembered I had a feed store bought small leather whip form about 20 years ago. I took that apart and used what leather I wanted. I played with different wrapping until I got what I wanted. I added 4 upholstery nails and it is all done.I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed working on it and putting it together. Now it is one of a kind and you will never see another like it. After you read this and if you have a few moments more, take a look at my pictures and please vote yes on them. Thanks, :o)

I received my spike hawk today and I must say it is more than I expected. I am familiar with Cold Steel having their products from across the spectrum. At the low end they keep the cost down by foregoing the cosmetics and opening the tolerances for quality control, leaving the buyer to finish up, something with which I have no problem. After all, for instance, why pay CS to put an edge on a machete and then the first thing I do is to change the angle more to my liking. I lucked out on the hawk and got one of the good ones, not to say it is perfect. It is so good that I have temporarily postponed the modifications I was planning and will enjoy the hawk as is for now. The head is secure on the haft. Also, the fit is so good the head did not shave the haft and push the shaved wood pieces up just in front of the head. I don’t like the finish on the haft preferring natural wood to feeling the lacquer or whatever they use and in time will remove it and apply an oil finish. Also the haft has a nice grain that can be seen when the light is right. I’ll bring that out during the refinishing. The black paint isn’t as unpleasing as I thought it would be but in time that will go also. It came sharp. Surprise, surprise! Paper cutting sharp in fact. There are machine marks on the grind and a very small burr at one end, all of which I’ll polish out tonight. The sheath smelt like leather. I don’t know what I was expecting but the smell of real leather caught my attention. It is also nicely made. I could find no real faults and this is the first time that I have ever written a favourable report so soon. I am extremely pleased. I lucked out and got a good one.

works great good construction a little small

I’m sure there are quite a few people who would have at least one issue with this product, but as someone who bought it specifically for a project, I’m not one of them. Having said that, if I had purchased this for use as-is, it would be returned immediately. Despite its flaws, I ordered this for the hatchet head and not to be used as a tomahawk.If you’re willing to put the time in, it’s great for a project. I fashioned mine into a traditional Hungarian walking stick called a “Fokos” or, in English, a shepherd’s axe. It worked great for this purpose and, since the head was getting pulled of the handle it came with, I really didn’t care that it was loose. Keep that in mind when you buy one of these. I’m sure that’s why there’s a screw through the side of it that further secures the head to the handle. I can assure you that, when I was done replacing the old handle with something that would suit my needs better, it didn’t wobble a bit and I didn’t need to replace to screw it came with.I ordered a second one and it’s on its way now for another similar project, though, this time the head itself is going to be modified as well. This isn’t something you’re going to want to buy if you want a product you can unbox and tuck away in your bag for your next camping trip. You’re going to need to put some work into this to make it worthwhile, but when you’re done you won’t be disappointed with the outcome. If you want something pre-made, call it a solid two stars. For what I wanted, though, it’s definitely a five out of five star product.