The following is a series of images and explanations on some of the materials and methods I use for building a smoak axe aka pipe tomahawk.
The late 18th/early 19th century English style head was forged for me by Stuart Willis of www.swillis.forge.com. This is the second head I’ve had made by Stuart and I can only say they are top drawer ”“ both heads have fit the Dunlap made handles with little fitting - just a 4.5 lb leather maul to smack it into place.
The forged head is made in the classic wrapped method with welded in bit and separate turned and brazed on bowl. Materials are 1018 mild steel for the wrap and 1060 HC steel for the bit. Stuart did all the work on this one including the file work and the turnings on the bowl.
For those who would like to know more about how such heads are made take a look at this link: www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/hawks/hawks.html
I received the head in polished, like new condition from Stuart and aged it before deciding to do this thread so therefore don’t have a picture of it in the as received state.
The idea behind this piece is that of a fine quality eastern gunsmith made pipe hawk circa 1790 that later went west and had western Indian style deco added to the existing piece circa the 1830’s.
The first image shows all of the parts I planned on using ”“ as normal I wound up changing the plan somewhat as I went along:
1) In the background is brain tanned buckskin hide, pieces of which will be used as the base for the beadwork to come.
2) The handle is a fine curly maple pre-drilled blank from Dunlap Woodcrafts in Virginia. While I have made many of my own stems from scratch in the past drilling the hole is always a bit of a nightmare so these days I normally use one of these. For those who don’t like to be “limited” by the pre-form shape of these, but want one drilled, R.E. Davis and Company sells a pre-drilled square blank that’s also a dandy. Both companies have websites, although Dunlap does not list the stems on theirs so give them a call if interested.
3) Above the handle is a piece of horsetail that will get decorated and be used as a drop also called a banner.
4) On the right behind the stem is a piece of deer rawhide which will cover the grip area.
5) Just below the rawhide is a section of whitetail deer leg bone that will become the mouthpiece.
6) To the left of the head are the two parts for the brass end cap and the wooden clean out plug ”“ in this case the idea for the plug is that it is to be a replacement for the original maker’s plug.
7) The rest of the items are copper wire for wrapping the handle, brass tacks, glass pound beads (often erroneously called pony beads), brass hawk bells, gull feathers, and tinned iron cones.
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In the next two images I have mounted the bone mouthpiece, scraped the wood to its final finish as was common to the period rather than sanding, , stained the wood with Aqua Fortis, and applied several coats of my own home made period type of real boiled linseed oil and resin varnish. Once done I added some preliminary aging i.e. some scratches, dents, and dings. I add these AFTER the finish is applied since that’s how they would occur in normal use. In this case I also added some at this point to represent usage before it was decorated ala the western Indians.
The finish along with the scratches, dents, and dings was then rubbed back with fine washed river sand on a piece of dampened leather to smooth and round off the “sharp” edges plus to show some wear on the finish, adding another preliminary layer of aging. This rubbing back also burnishes/polishes the wood to a degree as would happen with use. I say preliminary aging since once the piece is completed I do the final aging which evens it all out and ages it as it would be when used over time.
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Original pipe hawks generally used a buckskin gasket to make a good seal between the head and the handle. On this one I used a piece of braintan since it has good compression and it was handy. I’ve found the easiest way for me to add the gasket is to use a long, somewhat tapered piece as shown in the following image. Before setting the head I saturate the leather with the same varnish as I use on the handle ”“ I have not done so yet in this picture.
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An overall view with the head set and the extra buckskin trimmed away.
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That’s it for now ”“ more later as I proceed”¦”¦”¦
The late 18th/early 19th century English style head was forged for me by Stuart Willis of www.swillis.forge.com. This is the second head I’ve had made by Stuart and I can only say they are top drawer ”“ both heads have fit the Dunlap made handles with little fitting - just a 4.5 lb leather maul to smack it into place.
The forged head is made in the classic wrapped method with welded in bit and separate turned and brazed on bowl. Materials are 1018 mild steel for the wrap and 1060 HC steel for the bit. Stuart did all the work on this one including the file work and the turnings on the bowl.
For those who would like to know more about how such heads are made take a look at this link: www.wrtcleather.com/1-ckd/hawks/hawks.html
I received the head in polished, like new condition from Stuart and aged it before deciding to do this thread so therefore don’t have a picture of it in the as received state.
The idea behind this piece is that of a fine quality eastern gunsmith made pipe hawk circa 1790 that later went west and had western Indian style deco added to the existing piece circa the 1830’s.
The first image shows all of the parts I planned on using ”“ as normal I wound up changing the plan somewhat as I went along:
1) In the background is brain tanned buckskin hide, pieces of which will be used as the base for the beadwork to come.
2) The handle is a fine curly maple pre-drilled blank from Dunlap Woodcrafts in Virginia. While I have made many of my own stems from scratch in the past drilling the hole is always a bit of a nightmare so these days I normally use one of these. For those who don’t like to be “limited” by the pre-form shape of these, but want one drilled, R.E. Davis and Company sells a pre-drilled square blank that’s also a dandy. Both companies have websites, although Dunlap does not list the stems on theirs so give them a call if interested.
3) Above the handle is a piece of horsetail that will get decorated and be used as a drop also called a banner.
4) On the right behind the stem is a piece of deer rawhide which will cover the grip area.
5) Just below the rawhide is a section of whitetail deer leg bone that will become the mouthpiece.
6) To the left of the head are the two parts for the brass end cap and the wooden clean out plug ”“ in this case the idea for the plug is that it is to be a replacement for the original maker’s plug.
7) The rest of the items are copper wire for wrapping the handle, brass tacks, glass pound beads (often erroneously called pony beads), brass hawk bells, gull feathers, and tinned iron cones.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the next two images I have mounted the bone mouthpiece, scraped the wood to its final finish as was common to the period rather than sanding, , stained the wood with Aqua Fortis, and applied several coats of my own home made period type of real boiled linseed oil and resin varnish. Once done I added some preliminary aging i.e. some scratches, dents, and dings. I add these AFTER the finish is applied since that’s how they would occur in normal use. In this case I also added some at this point to represent usage before it was decorated ala the western Indians.
The finish along with the scratches, dents, and dings was then rubbed back with fine washed river sand on a piece of dampened leather to smooth and round off the “sharp” edges plus to show some wear on the finish, adding another preliminary layer of aging. This rubbing back also burnishes/polishes the wood to a degree as would happen with use. I say preliminary aging since once the piece is completed I do the final aging which evens it all out and ages it as it would be when used over time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original pipe hawks generally used a buckskin gasket to make a good seal between the head and the handle. On this one I used a piece of braintan since it has good compression and it was handy. I’ve found the easiest way for me to add the gasket is to use a long, somewhat tapered piece as shown in the following image. Before setting the head I saturate the leather with the same varnish as I use on the handle ”“ I have not done so yet in this picture.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An overall view with the head set and the extra buckskin trimmed away.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That’s it for now ”“ more later as I proceed”¦”¦”¦
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