HB Forge Tomahawk!! Lotta hawk for the money

[hillbilly]

I just got, literally about 15 minutes ago, a large "Spike Axe" from H B Forge.

http://www.hbforge.com

It is their spiked version of their "Shawnee Hawk."

All I can say is, uh, wow........

Total, including shipping, was $53.

It's got hardened edge and hardened spike with blade body not hardened to allow the softer steel to absorb impact shocks without shattering or cracking.

It's handmade.....looks like something out of the 1750s. It's got the H & B stamp on the left side of the blade, near where the handle goes in.

The handle is friction fit, or just held on by the taper in the eye of the head.

Unlike the Cold Steel Vietnam Tomahawk, my hawk does not require wedges to hold the head onto the haft.

I threw it three times at a large pine log laying around. I stuck it twice.

I spit on the blade and tried to rub the pine sap off the edge and SLICED MY LEFT THUMB.

This thing is sharper than most of my kitchen knives.

For $45 plus shipping, I got a handmade, differentially heat treated spike tomahawk.

Oh yeah, the straight grain, kiln dried hickory handle has a dark, almost "stained" look to it that really brings out the grain.

Comapred to other handmade spike tomahawks I've priced, this thing is a great bargain.

They even offer a smaller "Squaw sized" version of the Spike Axe.

Mine weighs about a pound, feels like (won't register on my digital bathroom scale).

The handle is 19.5 inches long with the head being 10.25 inches overall.

The spike is 4 inches long with the blade being 4.5 inches long. The cutting edge (curved slightly) is approximately 3.5 inches tip to tip.

hillbilly

 

[hso]

Ok, now I'm impressed!

 

[Skofnung]

I own 3 older HB hawks. My family did alot of historical camping and blackpowder rendezvous when I was young, and I learned to throw a hawk wnen I was 8 years old. The hawk that I used was a small HB Forge belt axe. I don't have that one anymore, as I gave it to an infirmed friend of mine many years ago, but it was a bad little tommyhawk.

It is hard to beat an HB hawk, regardless of the money. The only complaint I have with any of them is the bits on all of them seem to be very soft as opposed to some other handmade hawks I have. For a thrower, this is not a big deal at all, as it helps absorb shock, but as camp tools, it can be sort of a drawback, as they require constant effort to keep sharp. The newer ones may not have this problem.

Maybe I need to break down and get another one?

Oh, and please, don't throw it at live trees. Make yourself a throwing post. You will do the tree and yourself a favor, as live trees trnd to be kinda bouncy. My dad had a friend that was throwing at a pine tree (this guy is GOOD with a hawk) and learned this the hard way. The blade struck square, and it should have stuck, but it bounced back as fast as it had been thrown and landed blade down in the fellows foot. It cut right through the moccisans he was wearing and did a foul number on his foot.

You made a good choice.

 

[Citadel99]

Make yourself a throwing post.

How do you go about making a throwing post?

Mark

 

[matthewdanger]

This may be a dumb question, but any ideas what steel they are using?

Also, are they hand forged?

I have to say, if these are is nice as you make them out to be, I may order a couple. What a bargain!

 

[hillbilly]

Not sure about the steel. I'll copy and paste the emails I got from the HB Forge forlks.

Yes, they are hand forged. Mine has a rough surface which is blackened and still shows the hammer marks. They are not machine made. Too many irregularities to be machine made.

Here are the quotes from the emails I got from HB Forge.



"The large spike is about 9 inches long and the small spike is about 7 1/2 inches long. The large has a 19 1/2 inch handle and the small has a 15 1/2 inch handle. The cutting edge on both axes is about 45 to 50 rockwell with the rest of the axe soft steel."

"The spike IS hardened steel, guaranteed not to break, bend, chip off, etc. It could be used for punching holes, but doesn't have a real pointed end on it....you could work it down to a smaller point if you needed to."

 

[hillbilly]

Here's a picture of the hawk. Look at the spike for the hammer marks.

 

[hillbilly]

Two more shots of the hawk. I tried to angle it so the light would show off the surface features.

 

[hillbilly]

Finis

 

[hillbilly]

Okay, now for the blade seen from the top down. Look for the irregularities in the shape along the border of the blade.

 

[hillbilly]

And the final one, another one of the blade from above to show the irregular shape.

So far, I've thrown this thing, split firewood for the grill, stirred the coals in the grill with the spike, and successfully severed 1.5 inch live pine branches with a single stroke.

Taking off a pine branch that thick requires a two-handed swing, but the branch just pops off the tree.

yeah!

 

[matthewdanger]

That is SWEET! Thanks for the reply.

I think I will order one in the next couple of weeks. I'm stoked.

Thanks hillbilly

 

[4v50 Gary]

Was at Conner Prarie & got outbid on an axe that was hand forged. It was fabricated by two of the blacksmiths there (actually one use to be a blacksmith there but I think he's employed elsewhere) who run the Arms Making Program. I started at 50, I stopped at $225. It was purchased by another @ $275.

If you guys want to make your own 'hawk & knife, check out the blacksmithing program there. Conner Prarie is at Fishers, IN which is just outside of Indianapolis. They've got an evening program for those of you who are within commute distance.

 

[Skofnung]

Citadel,

To make a throwing post, simply get your hands on a log at LEAST 12" in diameter (bigger if possible) and find a way to mount three legs on it. There are many ways to do this. Mount the log end grain facing you about chest high.

Test the log you will use before mounting it. It may be too hard or too resinous.

 

[Citadel99]

Thanks.