Recently I purchased a new tomahawk to customize. It is a Condor Tool & Knife Indian hammer pole. After purchasing and customizing the Condor tomahawk I do not think it is a better hawk than the Cold Steel hawks I have used in the past especially when it is twice the price. Also, extra work is required to weld up their maker's mark which is stamped very bold and deep in the middle of the bit face and in trying to hide their name which is laser engraved in the middle of the haft. I could purchase a curly Maple haft to replace the original one, but they are $20.00 plus which would drive the cost up even further. The little advantage of the slightly higher-grade carbon steel used in the Condor (1060 vs 1055) over the Cold Steel I personally don't think for a tomahawk is that beneficial. In my opinion the Cold Steel holds just as good an edge. I will say the Condor is fitted to the original haft better than the Cold Steel but that is a fix easily remedied. They both have the set screw that you can either eliminate or leave depending on your preference.
Here is a photo of the customized Condor hawk head. I haven't figured out what I am going to do to hide the name on the haft yet, so I still have a little work to do. I may also add another coat of browning to see if it will eliminate the spotting. Also, the last photo is of my latest customized Cold Steel pipe hammer pole hawk.
More photos of the Condor vs the Cold Steel.
Nice work... I have never felt the need to make my own hawk, I carry one that I got from an old timer in the hobby and really don't use it other than as a piece of my costume. I have a good old double bladed axe from my grandfather and a good knife that I use in camp.
That being said I would proudly carry either one of those hawks!
They are super nice ones; and I wouldn't kick any one of them out of my bed. Well, maybe my bed because they are uncomfortable to sleep on.
Here is the finished Condor hawk. I burned a Lorraine Cross into the haft to cover up the Condor brand name.
My latest customized hawk is a Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT). I finished the head today and am going to purchase another curly Maple haft to fit to this new hawk instead of the Hickory haft that came with it.
nice work on those hawks ! done a few myself over the last 30 years , unfortunately never took any photos !
I ordered a curly Hickory haft for my CRKT hawk and finally got it fitted and finished, Here are a couple of photos of the finished hawk.
Beautiful work! Getting ready to re-do a Cold Steel pipe hawk myself!
slik