Hawk handles: Traditional VS Round

[KYBOY]

Im gonna be making a hawk for someone who is gonna be using it..Not just carrying but using it..I was thinking of making the eye round so they can change the handle esaier if need be...this person wont be able to get a traditional hawk handle easily..Have any of you used a round eye? Have you noticed any balance problems,ect..?

[S.Willis]

The only problem I have ever had with round eyes. The head will sometimes try to turn with you while chopping. You could drill thru the head and haft and pin it. It is not really traditional. I see alot of people do this even with traditional handles.

[dablacksmith]

i would use traditional handles as they are easyer to change! they are tapered like a adz so when he breaks the handle playing handles its easy to replace. I would find out what source he is useing for replacement handles and make it to fit (there are several sources and slightly different shapes) round handles would be not as nice for use even if it was tapered like adz . when throwing the teardrop shape keeps the tommahawk aiming the right direction without thinking about it.as far as a handle like a hammer i wouldnt ... much harder to change and a hammer handle isnt as nice for throwing or even chopping..just my 2 cents worth

[Blackmtfarrier]

Most, if not all 17th, 18th and 19th century "tomahawks" or trade axes were drifted for a round tapered handle. this was done so the natives could just cut a straight limb and fit it without much work. See this website http://furtradetomahawks.tripod.com. so if you want to be more "traditional" you would use a round drift not a teardrop shaped drift.

[weaveman]

I just started forging a few hawks. I ground my own drift it is slightly oval 1 1/4" at widest point which is form front to back sides are slightly narrower with a tapper to the bottom. I did this for two reasons first was the ease of handle replacement second was to prevent the head from spinning. In my opinion it is much easier to slightly thin the sides of a limb to fit the poll than it is to get a good fit with the tear drop poll. I have been thinking more and more about this the last few days and believe that in the user hawks the only benefit of the tear drop is purely cosmetic. You can achieve a much smoother transition from the blade to the poll with the teardrop, but the slightly oval poll is a pretty good comprimise. For hard use where the handle may need to be replaced in the field the only tool you would need to replace the handle would be the hawk head itself held in the hand to hack and slighty thin the sides of a properly sized limb , after which if so choosing a person could use the hastily hafted hawk to make a better replacement. I didnt mean to clutter up this post but this subject has been on my mind alot lately and this post was all I need to make my rant. We are going to put one of my hawk heads thru some torture testing while camping over the next few days and I should be able to post some pics and feed back on how the oval poll has held up.

James

[ThomasPowers]

Have you considered that when you are doing a wrap and weld eye for a hawk you automatically get a teardrop shaped eye.

And wrap and weld was the way they were made back in the day.

BTAIM I use a hammer handle drift on mine as it's easy and cheap for me to find hammer handles under $2 a piece and Hawk handles tend to be much more pricey. I also don't like a slip fit and wedge them in just like a hammer handle.

This is for camping hatchets made from farrier's rasps.