Making a tomahawk look authentic...

[sooter76]

How do I go about giving the handle an authentic look? I was going to simply stain it but didn't think that would be proper. I looked around online at photos and that only served to add to my confusion.

Specifically i'm asking about prepping the handle, but advice regarding the implement as a whole is welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rifleman1776]

A little stain won't hurt. But, just using it will properly dirty it up and give it that 'correct' appearance. However, if you use it for throwing at an event don't expect the handle to last long. Do buy extras. Most likely you will have a new and new-looking handle on it most of the time.

 

[sooter76]

What stain would you recommend?

Essentially I have 2 of the same type I got from TOW. One I will use to play with and for light woods work. The second I would like to set one up proper for display, and it is that one I'd like to set up as authentic as possible.

 

[BrownBear]

The best "authentication" I've seen is on the handle of the hatchet (modern) I've used for years to butcher deer, elk and moose. Decades of blood stains make that thing look 200 years old. Goes on red, but within a week or two it's brown stain and looking good.

If I was authenticating a hawk today and wasn't butchering any time soon, I'd buy a pound of beef liver, wallow my hands around in the tub, and go to handling and playing with the hawk. In a couple of weeks it would look well authenticated, and better than any stains I've seen.

 

[crockett]

I think some of it might depend on the type of hawk. The trappers of European heritage probably didn't decorate them too much. The Missouri War Hawk types- I'm not that knowledgeable on the dates but sometimes pleated porcupine quills were wrapped around the handle. Another decoration was to heat up a file and then "roll" the file around the handle making burned marks. As I said- I'm not sure about when these decorations originated- they might be post 1840.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I would go with a light oak or anything almost neutral.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I'd buy a pound of beef liver, wallow my hands around in the tub

Allays spected sumptin' strange 'bout ye. :wink: :rotf:

 

[BrownBear]

Best of all, I'd still get to eat the liver! Yum. :thumbsup:

 

[Artificer]

I was just thinking that if it was Calves Liver, it might not stay in the tub long enough to wallow my hands in before going into the pan with onions! :haha:

That is a neat suggestion for a Hawk or Belt Axe handle that won't be used as a throwing Hawk.

On throwing Hawk handles, I usually just stain them with Fiebings Dark Brown Leather dye, as there is no knowing how long before I crack or break one.

Gus

 

[Sean Gadhar]

The blood is a bit sticky even when dry, your hands perspire & it gets sticky

A thin thin coat of stock wax will lessen the sticky, yet let enough through to give a good grip :wink:

At least I have found it to be so with Elk blood :idunno:

 

[bob308]

rub it down with the dirty water left after you clean your rifle.

 

[omarick1948]

Do like the original people did who used them!....NOTHING except sharpen them! Doesn't take all that long to put a patina them!

Seems almost everybody thinks that everything needs distressed or made Native American to look authentic.

 

[sooter76]

Another question... The eye of the tomahawk head is larger than that of the handue and doesn't do a very good job of staying in place no matter how much I work it. I've considered adding some tacks near the head to help keep it in place but thought that might run counter to what I'm trying to achieve. For those better informed, is that a legitimate solution and if not an you offer any that might be?

Also, if I wanted to improve the grip of the otherwise slick handle, how would I go about doing so? Leather wrap?

 

[nit wit]

:thumbsup:NW

 

[Preacher Jeremy]

You could cut a chunk of leather, and use it as a spacer for your handle, I have a hawk I have to do that with, it works great. If you cut the leather right, you won't even know it's there.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Do like the original people did who used them!....NOTHING except sharpen them! Doesn't take all that long to put a patina them!

Seems almost everybody thinks that everything needs distressed or made Native American to look authentic.

I agree. It can look brand new and still look "authentic".

People sometimes forget that items back in the 18th century were new when people acquired/made them. They didn't look antiqued or 100 years old.

I like to make my stuff look "slightly used", but not "antiqued".

 

[JD Peppergrinder]

Putting a natural patina while using a tool or gun is half the fun for me. I'm more about making something last for a long time.

 

[fischereco2]

I enjoy putting a natural patina on certain items too and I think that is the best route to go for achieving the 'authentic' look. The only caveat to that is that for many people their jobs, other obligations, etc, prevent them from using their equipment on a regular basis. It is true that people in the past would have acquired 'new' goods, but they would have been put to hard use right away. Maybe you would have seen someone with some bright, shiny, new gear, but that probably wouldn't have been the norm, and definitely not for every single thing they were carrying and wearing. So while there is nothing inauthentic about having fresh looking gear, if you can only use your gear 1/10,000 of the time someone in the past would have it may be decades before it acquires that broken in look. For that reason I do see the merit in faking it so you don't look like you walked into 'ye olde trading post' buck naked and came out with brand new stuff every time you are reenacting.

 

[salkehatchie]

rub it down with the dirty water left after you clean your rifle.

Yup! I use this secret method for a lot of dye applications. That, some grit, mud,dirt, sweat, and some bees wax, linseed oil.

Looks great!

 

[omarick1948]

:thumbsup:

"You can't make a purse out of a sow's ear" applies in aging or antiquing your gear as well. It is truly an art form to be able to age or antique an item correctly and above all tons of research and experience. Just ask LaBonte or others who have did that type of craft/art work regularly for years.