What’s a man to do when he can’t afford the current asking prices for a high-quality tactical tomahawks? Make your own! No, you don’t have to build a forge or set up an anvil in the living room. You can start the project with a number of tools that are readily available:
The Estwing Carpenters Hatchet($33.80 Amazon.com)
Total weight: 1.5 lbs. Overall length: 14.15”
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The Estwing Carpenters Hatchet(Leather Grip)($43.98 Amazon.com)
Total weight: 1.5 lbs. Overall length: 14.15”
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Estwing Rigbuilder Hatchet ($42.09 Amazon.com)
Total weight: 2.5 lbs. Overall length: 16.75”
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Stanley Fatmax AntiVibe Carpenters Hatchet($40.65 Amazon.com)
Total weight: 3 lbs. Overall length: 13”
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I am sure that there are many other tools that would work just as well, but the example we will cover today uses the Estwing Carpenters Hatchet.
The first step was to grind down the lower portion of the blade to create a bit of a curve as opposed to the stock straight edge:
Next, mark where you want to grind the beard:
Remove the material using whatever tools you have available(dremel, grinder, cutoff tool, etc.) and give the beard a nice, hollow grind:
Now it’s time to get started on the spike
Notice how the spike grind stays right along the top of the upper hammer groove so as not to waste any material:
Here is a top profile:
And the finished product:
You can also add some artwork to your new tactical tomahawk:
The poster of these photos warns that “Unfortunately krylon stays sticky on the rubber handles of the Estwings so the recommendation is that you use the McNett camo form tape if you want to do your own like this without having to use duracoat.”
Be aware that the work in the example posted above was done by Ryan Johnson, who makes high-quality tomahawks for a living. Your results may vary. Here are the finished products from other “less professional” sources:
Get out there and make your own tactical tomahawk! Let us know how it turned out.
Special thanks to those first had this idea and shared it! Most of this information was collated from the following sources:
http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=68120&sid=9baf501071569ac2a5475efc3b356ec3
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/849469-Estwing-carpenter-hatchet-mod
http://www.silencertalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=112&t=57784&start=50
Cool hawks, but the whole process begs a question – what about the temper? Grinding alone can cause it to overheat and lose temper, as can the fact that most hatchets are tempered only along the working edges (and of course, the face of the hammer poll). So even if you did a water-cooled grinding, carefully, you'd still probably have ground it back far enough to need to re-temper it.
If you keep a bucket of water and keep dunking the head to keep it cool you shouldn't have too many problems, just have to be careful.