Because of a recent thread I decided to pick up a Cold Steel Rifleman's Tomohawk. I got it delievered for $17.50 from Amazon in 2 days. That website is very, very bad for a compulsive guy like me!

When it came on the FexEX truck today I greedily opened it up and tore off the bubble wrap with great excitement! All that to find that the handle was the worst fit I could have imagined. The only thing holding it on loosely was the set screw. It had been hydralically pressed on so there was lots and lots of peeled wood damage, but the handle was loose as heck. Not impressed.

Also, it came as blunt as any hardware store china made hatchet. I was definitely not impressed.


I took it down in the basement to my belt grinders and my 5" random orbital sander and I fixed the darn thing.

I started by sanding down the handle. I used my chisel and belt sander to create a proper taper for the head to fit properly. The head ended up about 3/8" further up the handle to get a good fit. Not it is solid as a rock and it only takes one whack on the end of the handle to pop the head free. I used boiled linseed oil and no stain.

I decided for now I wouldn't refinish the head. It is perfectly serviceable with the crappy black paint and I don't really care to put that much into a $17.50 tomahawk. I can say for certain that I would absolutely hate this tomahawk if I didn't have a belt sander and a good selection of belts. I started with a worn 60 grit, but that was taking forever to set the angle of the bevel convex. I went to a brand new 80 grit and worked the edge until it was the right shape and there was a burr across the entire edge. It still took over 30 minutes of grinding and dipping to get the edge profile set with the edge staying cool. Then I skipped to a brand new 180 grit. I should have done 120 then 180, but I was getting down and dirty.... I finished with 240 and 400 compact grain and then 600 and 800 cork belts for a nice superficial polish. A few seconds on the buffing wheel and it looked great.

I hand finish the edge with a lot steeper angle than the nice thin convex that makes up the visible edge. The tiny micro bevel does nothing to take away from it's cutting ability and it helps the edge to hold up very well under stress. I use diamond to remove the tiniest bit of the edge where the heat might have damaged it and then finish with white ceramic and a strop. It shaves hair easily.

I tried it out on a piece of maple slab wood. It carved beautifully and bit deep! The head is quite heavy. I would put this tomahawk on par with any of my regular hatchets, but it has very good steel and heat treat so the edge is thinner than I can get with many of my hatchets. The longer handle is perfect for this tomahawk with it's large head and wide edge. The weight to edge width ratio is perfect. It cuts far, far beyond it's cost with a proper edge on it. I dare say that this thing could keep up with the GB Small Forest Axe for depth of cut and carving ability. Maybe not as comfortable to hold for long periods of time.

This tomahawk in it's original form was simply a starting point. It was not even close to a finished product. I got what I paid for. It was dissapointing and horribly fitted. The edge was crap and the handle was just barely salvageable.

After an hour of work and knowing what to do to fix it, it will most likely be one of my very favorite outdoors tools. It is extremely capable with a great design and very good quality steel.

I had to put the Rifleman's Hawk next to my Trailhawk and get pictures of the difference in size. 





It's pretty obvious from the picture that the Rifleman's hawk is huge compared to the Trailhawk. 


The Trailhawk feels like a hawk. Light weight and nimble and feels right with a shorter handle. It felt really weird with the original 22" handle and such a small head so I cut it down to around 18". It carves super well but it is limited by the width of the cutting edge. 


The Rifleman's hawk has a huge head and huge, wide cutting surface. The heavier head combined with the longer handle makes it feel more like a boys axe than a hawk or hatchet. It simply has a more narrow handle than a boys axe. It's not nearly as heavy or long as a boys axe but it feels like it has more in common with a small axe. 


If I need a light weight tool and weapon I would chose the Trailhawk.


If I need to process more wood for camp or trail I would enjoy having the greater weight and edge width of the Rifleman's hawk. 

I did a quick strip and I polished the bit where it would rub when batoning or splitting. Then I blued the bit and repolished the edge. 


I also lightly scuffed the handle and put another coat of BLO on it. It's super smooth and feels great. I actually prefer smooth handles as I feel they give me less blisters. 


I wasn't going to do anything with it, but it chops so wonderfully and carves so well when you choke up on the handle, it actually warrants some respect and attention.





 


This thing is a beast with two hands at the end of the long 22" handle. 

Tried it out a bit on some sumac trees this evening. 


This was a bit of a timid single handed swing, choked up on the handle.





Then I got a bit braver, but I still wanted to swing it single handed choked up on the handle. 





I laid into this tree two handed. It will take me a bit to get used to using it with both hands.





The funny part was when I took a full two handed swing at a 1 3/4" sumac tree and cut right through it in one swing. It popped off and hit me in the head! LOL!


2" trees fell with two swings. One on each side at a 45 degree angle. Single or double handed didn't matter at all.


It bites deep and straight. I am finding it very predictable and stable while chopping.

Do you figure the handle fit is why they were/are discounted?



There were 3 different types at big discounts as I recall.

Who makes the trail hawk?

Cold Steel makes.

OP Modified it heavily.  Out of the box it will be similar (handle and finish on the blade)to the out of box riflemans hawk

Thanks.  I need something similar and simple like that.  My mod skills aren't the best.

Paddy is correct. I did a thread on it a while back.

transforming my trailhawk thread

It started with a blond lacquered handle and black paint. The head was driven on by a trained monkey and a hydralic press.

I sanded off the finish and fitted it properly which takes a lot of work. Then I stripped the head and put a nice thin convex on it, which took a lot of work. Then I polished the entire head with orbital sanders from 80 to 600 grit, which took a lot of work. Later I decided to torch the handle to create the nice blackened look, which took a lot of work.


My $25 Trailhawk is a wonderful took that is extremely capable for the light weight and narrow cutting width. It bares almost zero relation to the original tool, other than that it is made out of excellent steel with a good basic design.

There are plenty of better tomahawks to buy as a finished product. The 2Hawks Longhunter I got for Christmas is a far, far better tool. It just cost $125 instead of $25, or $17.50 like the Rifleman I just bought.

For me, buying a Cold Steel Tomahawk is buying a project. Projects for fun for me, but not so for everyone.

For the price I picked up one of the cold steel hawks, have not even looked at it closely yet.  Handle is loose and it is still in its bubble wrapping.



I bought it for the education the project will give me.



Having all the threads and pics here, let alone searching the net, has me confident I can do a good job and I don't have much money in it.



For going out right now, I have a nice hatchet and someone gave me an older hatchet of sorts I need to clean up and look at closely to see if I can figure out exactly what I got.

lol I had 3 spike hawks and a trail hawk show up the other day thanks to that thread, Ill grab some pics of the trail hawk later, I did some work to it already..

Paddy may or may not have given me a Norse-style tomahawk from American Tomahawk Co a few years ago for Christmas. Gave it a good workout a few weeks ago in the Maine woods. With a good edge, it will chop 6" trees down no problem.

Damnit. I never realized a Hawk can be so useful. I just wasted half my day watching youtubes about them. I know what I'm getting next week!
Thanks for costing me money, AR15.COM....AGAIN!

Think of it as buying a fun project rather than a polished piece!

I had to laugh when the rifleman's hawk cut through the 1 1/2" thick tree and it hit me in the head. I was not expecting that!

haha! Yeah, you almost wish you had a camera set up, because that would be comic gold!
As far as the project is concerned...I knew what a tomahawk looked like from watching American films growing up - but they were alway depicted as a throwing weapon, not as a tool.
Seeing this trailhawk, makes me realize that it would be one of the best tools to have on you in a camping or survival situation. Cutting, chopping, hammering and a weapon (if you know how to use it and understand it's limitations). I sure as hell won't try to tackle someone swinging that thing around...even with a knife.
But my main interest in it is as a "multi-tool" on the farm. I think I'm going to fix one or two up...keep one on the tractor and one in the truck.

Do y'all think it would be worth it to spring the extra cash for the CRKT Chogan?
I honestly don't mind doing the mods to the Cold Steel hawk...but if the CRKT is much better quality...

No experience but it is in my list at amazon.  Looking at the specs their, the weight is way off at 8. ozs.  The head dimensions, if accurate, make it look like it would be closer in size/weight to the trailhawk.  Which IMO is a good thing.  The riflemans is just to F'n heavy for a tomahawk.

If your concern is looks, for a little more money than the CRKT (Ok for the price you could get the cold steel and the CRKT.), go here:

http://www.hbforge.com/polled-axes

I have no personal experience with them.  However, they have an outstanding reputation in the BP/ML community and I see them recommended regularly on muzzleloading forums..

If the two hawks are the same money then the Chogan is a much nicer hawk. The Chogan handle is much thicker and it has to be very close to the same weight. The Chogan is a beast. The Chogan has a shorter handle too.

The Chogan is $40 on Midway last I checked. The Rifleman's Hawk was only $17.50. If you aren't a "do it yourselfer" then I would buy the Chogan.

I really like the Wolf Creek Forge hawks. I don't think they have a website, but they do awesome work. I really like their camp hammer pole hawk.

http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/examples-of-tomahawks-pics.96524/

tag cause 'hawks are cool.

Last night (7/11) the Rifleman's Hawk was just under 15 space bucks shipped, on Amazon with a larger order.  Now they are just over 15.  Can be a very useful item properly used and with some minor modifications and sharpening.  As mentioned above, check Youtube for some interesting functionality.  

For a hawk, it is pretty large.  More like a small camp axe.  It's a smokin deal at these prices.

Don't you just hate it when you are setting up for a woods wall silhouette shoot and you find a huge leafy piece of a birch tree fell right across the shooting lane?

Nah, me either! Lol!

I just started carrying my Rifleman's Hawk in my truck for clearing such obstructions. Two handed it cut clean through 2" and under branches with smooth, easy strokes. It took down 4" to 5" limbs in a half dozen or so strokes in seconds.

If I hadn't had things to do I could have limbed that big branch and cut it up in 30 minutes.

I finally got my 1/4" eyelets and eyelet setter to make some kydex bit covers! I am still working on using up my very first sheet of .080" kydex so be kind. My work is functional but crude.




The sheath locks on very solidly so there is no need for a loop or shock cord. I have to put it in bottom corner first and tip it in with some force.