The Armour Archive

Hi,
I've been fighting glaive for a little bit, and I'd like to make something a little more persona friendly. I've seen Sir Justus figiting with a bardiche and wondered if anyone out there had any opinions on how to construct one.

Thanks

Vladimir Davidovich

Greetings Vladimir,
Check out Sir Justus' own Bearded axe for ideas on this thread -

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... 5&start=35

His axe is quite nice...I made one similar myself after seeing his version.

enjoy!

Logan and I have a couple that he made; they seem to do fine but if you use leather for the layers I hope you have a cheap source for thick leather. By the time we got done it would have cost about as much to just go buy a BMHD design.

Technically the designs you see aren't bardiches; they're viking bearded axes. But the end result is pretty much the same unless you just MUST have a bardiche. in which case, lengthen and equalize the head and put a second anchor to the handle from the head.

Regards,

Jonathan Blackbow

Speaking of By My Hand Designs,

He said that he had a source for that very rigid foam in sheet form, meaning that you could cut out the shape of your chioce instead of using the couple of shapes that he carries.

I'm very happy with the layered leather head I made for my axe, but it is pretty heavy. Making one large enough for a bardiche might push you over the weight limit for a pole weapon.

Justus

I guess the first question ought to be "What do you mean by a bardich?"

Lots of things are called bardiches.

Those foam heads, I'm told, are orthopedic shoe foam designed to build up soles for the shoes of people whose legs are not the same length. I just plain can't find a source of it on the internet. Every search I do for "orthopedic shoe foam" in whatever combination just turns up results for orthopedic shoes.

Anyone have a source? BMH must be marking those heads up like mad.

I found a source, and Laz bought it all out Corby. Check with him, he still has a ton of it.

It was a slavic short pole arm/axe. Similar to a glaive, but attached at two points on the pole.

I started doing more research into it when justus said to me at a demo a few years back "Vlad you're so slavic and don't know what a bardiche is?"


Has anyone used the mandrake axe heads on a polearm either?
I've got one sitting in my closet and have been considering using that too.

Thanks for the info.

Vladimir Davidovich

Is this the stuff?

http://www.mandrakearmory.com/Merchant2 ... _Code=MsWp

Nope, it isn't that stuff, and it sure shouldn't be that price.

The stuff I'm looking for is black. And cheap.

I can't fault Mandrake for marking it up, but they can't fault me for trying to find a direct source.

VladsKremlin wrote:It was a slavic short pole arm/axe. Similar to a glaive, but attached at two points on the pole.

I started doing more research into it when justus said to me at a demo a few years back "Vlad you're so slavic and don't know what a bardiche is?"


Has anyone used the mandrake axe heads on a polearm either?
I've got one sitting in my closet and have been considering using that too.

Thanks for the info.

Vladimir Davidovich

Vlad,

People have used the Mandrake axe heads on poleweapons. It seems they're legal in some kingdoms and not others. If you've got one, I say go for it.

Regards,

audax

I made my pole from kayak foam. Its nice to cut and shape, does not cost much, and i think it performs well, the weapon delivers stout blows in 3 different flavours
<img src="http://www.whitemountainarmoury.com/halberd.jpg">

Where does one get kayak foam?

And is it the only foam used in construction? Or do you need some softer padding on the edges for compression?

Corby, ill dig around for my reciept for the foam, someone here on the archive pointed me to it, i think its excellent stuff.
It compresses nicely so there is no need to add any striking edge padding.
On the one i posted the thicker part of the blade will compress quite a bit, but not so much that you feel the rattan. As you work your way down the blade to where the foam is thinner you can beging to feel that rattan beneath. IMHO this portion strikes like an unpadded pole, only lacking the sounds of one when it strikes, the back side is ofcourse unpadded and strikes like you would think.
Pretty much everyone in my area uses unpadded poles but i just dont care for the look. I think of mine as a 50/50 padded/unpadded. I primarily strike with the thinner portion of the padded side, but its nice to have the unpadded side when needed. It does not strike harder, but has that sound so many are used to in my area.
The only issue is the foam does not come in 1 1/4, so i laminated a 1 in sheet to a 1/4 in sheet.
I came up with this via google, but cant remember if its who i used, but it looks the same.
http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/Material.htm#mincelanch
I have a nice partisan i cut out im looking forward to attatching to some rattan. I cut mine with a serated kitchen knife. The thrusting tip is just a strip of hte 1/4 in wrapped around the tip, the profile of hte tip as well as the hook is square which i think keeps a better less q-tip like profile

Corby de la Flamme wrote:Where does one get kayak foam?

Your best bet is going to go and check out a local "outfitter".

find those shops that deal with kayaks, canoes and other "boatish" stuff. The foam is the "flotation foam" that they use to line some kayaks and the like. Hence "kayak foam"

If you would like I will head up to my local REI, and see what the cost is there. and let you know. I might be able to ship a buch out to you.




Sieg

the foam i bought is used for seats, not flotation. I have no idea if one is similar to the other

White Mountain Armoury wrote:the foam i bought is used for seats, not flotation. I have no idea if one is similar to the other

I think I might have been unable to explain what the voices in my head told me.


The foam I speak of is indeed the "seat foam" it has been refered to as flotation foam, which is more or less what it is supposed to be for, (it is the "life jacket" for the kayak/canoe) So I think we are talking about the same thing.

the blocks I have seen have been about 4" thick, and pretty big sheets. we just tend to buy it a smaller increments as per what is needed for the weapon at the time.




Sieg

Yes, i see, the place i bought mine from sells it from 1/4 in through 4 inches i think.

Corby: I got mine at the Great Outdoor Provision Co. in Charlotte, but I'm tracking down the manufacturer now. I'm sure you could find some at either that store or Bass Pro Shops (the whoppin' huge outdoor stores they have at big malls). It ain't as cheap as regular foam but it does come in some interesting shapes; a couple of them would make good hammers just as they are. It's not intended for seats OR flotation but for putting between your boat and the vehicle you're carrying it on.


No, you don't need any softer padding on the edges. It compresses just fine as it is. Any softer and nobody would take it.

JB

Corby de la Flamme wrote:Where does one get kayak foam?

And is it the only foam used in construction? Or do you need some softer padding on the edges for compression?

okay, time for an update.

The company that makes the kayak foam that I bought is called Hibco Plastics and they're in Yadkinville NC.

The stuff is called crosslinked polyethylene. It comes in 4" thick sheets but they'll cut it to 2". I imagine if you asked nicely they'd cut it to 1". The sheets are 4' x 6' . It works out to about $62/sheet. (1.30 a board foot which to them means 1" thick at 12" x 12", for them what care.)

There is a $250 minimum order which basically means 4 sheets at 2" x 48" x 72" .

800-849-8683, ext. 152, his name is Dan, tell him you're with the Society for Creative Anachronism and he'll know what you want and why you want it. I suspect if you wanted a sample he wouldn't mind.

BE AWARE this is NOT the same stuff that BMHD is making/selling. That's thicker and tougher but with less give. This stuff by itself is suitable for making a mace head, or padding a polearm head that's been made out of leather, or regular polearm padding. It will WORK for making a bardiche head and probably work just fine as long as you're swinging it two handed. When I tried punching with it it had too much give for the impact (it eventually worked, but it took repeated impacts to get somebody's attention.)

Cut to about 1/2" or even 1/4" it would probably do a great job as armor padding or helmet padding. You can cut it quite easily with a hot wire cutter or any other hot foam cutting implement. There's a hobbyist's knife that costs about $60 that heats up and works fine, or there's a hot wire cutter that you can buy at hobby lobby for about $8 that works okay but not as well as the hot knife which plugs into the wall as opposed to the battery powered hot foam cutter. I suppose you could use a modified soldering iron or wood burning iron or something.

Regards,

Jonathan Blackbow

I've used MiniCell and MicroCell foam for many of my weapons as of late (it's the same material that yoga bricks are made out of...I believe they also use it for Kayak seating). It's extremely lightweight but it provides a solid hit while having enough progressive give all by itself. I cut it with my bandsaw and can get some great shapes...and it's great for a bardiche. The downside is that it is pricy ($83 for a 48" x 72" x 2") but I am very happy with the results (it definitely takes a beating!)...and if it's something you buy every so often then the price is neither here nor there.

http://www.foamandfoam.com

Take care...

Vlad, I used minicell foam when I made the trident for Andras. I used a flexible rasp (called dragon skin) to shape it. He is also experimenting with it make offensive shields, he might have some left over in the basement. I also use it for padding my helm, works great. We went here when we bought it.

http://www.foambymail.com/Minicel.html


Bjorn

i paid alot less than some of the prices stated,
http://www.noc.com/store/item_10826.html
Prices are listed here, i think i bought enough for my partisan, my falchion and 2 halberds for 17.00 including shipping

I have bought foam from Nanatahalla Outdoor Center before ($3.50 sq ft of 1 inch foam), and the price is cheaper. We went to FoambyMail ($3.62 per sq ft of 1inch foam) because we needed a piece larger than NOC could offer (the largest they sell is 4feet by 1foot, Foam by mail can do 6foot by 4foot).

Bjorn

White Mountain Armoury wrote:i paid alot less than some of the prices stated,
http://www.noc.com/store/item_10826.html
Prices are listed here, i think i bought enough for my partisan, my falchion and 2 halberds for 17.00 including shipping

Damn! It looks like I may have bought from the wrong place! I just looked at their site and the prices are fantastic...if I am understanding this correctly (which I may not be since I am brain-fried from deleting hundreds of student e-mail accounts today).
So, according to the NOC site, if I want to buy a piece that is 2" thick I will pay $6.75 for four square feet since they come in sheets 4'x 1' (cut into 1 square ft sections)...Or would the $6.75 be per square foot? (because if it is /square ft the place I get it at is much cheaper - $84 for 24 square feet as opposed to $162 at NOC if sold by the square foot).
Thank you for the new info, guys...

NOC is $ per sq ft., so your estimate of $162 is accurate. Your right, Foam and Foam is cheaper. However, if you just need a few square feet of foam, NOC is cheaper than buying an entire sheet. I wish I had seen the Foam by Foam earlier...


Bjorn

Is this the kind of bardiche you are looking for?

Thanks Bjorn! That trident you made was pretty cool BTW.

I wanted to fight with it when I was up for a visit, but I didn't want to mess it up it was so pretty....

Captain Jaime, that's basically the shape yup.

Vladimir Davidovich

VladsKremlin wrote:Thanks Bjorn! That trident you made was pretty cool BTW.

Yeah, that trident does look way cool. You should check out Olaf Haraldson's mace and hammer, too -

http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=59164


I found some foam here.

http://www.oneoceankayaks.com/Material.htm . At $6 for a 3"x6"x24" it looks like enough for me to play with a bit.


Didn't realize about the "no need for extra compression foam" part, though - so I'm gonna have to redo my current thinger.