The Armour Archive

I finally got my wife to help me post the pictures I took last week for the thread about making an SCA falchion...


I started making that one and then hit the pell with it and decided it was way too stiff and heavy for me to use. I started with a very beefy stick of rattan and bent it, then cut out a foam shape to fill in the back side to make the aesthetics as well as having a built-in thrusting tip. The foam is all in one piece, glued to the rattan and then heavily taped.

The concept is sound but I need to start over with a wimpier stick of rattan so the final product won't be something that would get me in trouble.


This picture shows where the rattan ends so you can see how much there is for the thrusting tip.




While I had the camera out, I took some pictures of the dog toy mace that I made that got so much attention at Gulf Wars. Richard, Thorsten, and Zephyrine had the dog toys at GW and gave me one. It started out kinda ugly but after a carved foam thrusting tip, black tool dip, and a silver paint pen it looked pretty good. People kept asking me if it was "real" or if it was metal. I just wish I'd been smart enough to buy rattan at GW before making the mace instead of using a died out piece of crap bouncing around in the back of my truck. Thr rattan broke below the head at the first fighter practice after I got home.

Gaston

(edited to fix image display)

nice stuff Gaston. The green mace head is very visible in a fight, I imagine. The handle on the falchion is very curious. Did you intend a scimitar "pistol grip" type thing? I've been under the impression that this handle type aids fast, flicky actions- which is at the opposite end of the spectrum from what a falchion (IMHO) is designed for.
-Mag

The green is just to show how the dog toy started out, before thrusting tip, tool dip, and paint pen. Sort of a side by side.

The handle works very well. I based the curve off of a practice martial arts sword I bought. Actually the whole shape.

The curve of the handle keeps the center of mass from being behind the line of the handle. The part of the handle I hold points to a spot about 1" in front of the tip of the rattan. If their was no "counter curve" in the handle then it wouldn't handle right. It feels really nice to swing. Much better than a straight stick both for power and control.

So many projects in the cue, but eventually I'll make a nice one for my wife and one for me. I even have all the materials sitting around....


Gaston

Hey Gaston, any trouble getting your mace passed inspection?

I built one and my local guys figure it doesn't pass the 1/2" compression rule.
For that matter I just looked at the SCA weapon's regs and maces require a 2" thrusting tip. Now my mace is really cool but illegal to fight with.

At Gulf Wars the Meridians were also skeptical because it didn't have enough compression, but I haven't had any trouble in Trimaris.

1/2" of compression sounds good on paper, but what if you only have 1/2" of space between the striking surface and tha rattan? Obviously no material can compress to 0. This rule would seem to mandate big, ugly mace heads rather than smaller, more realistic looking heads. After all, it's softer than rattan!

Unfortunately rules about weapons rarely take into account creativity and the creation of new options that are as safe or safer, and a lot cooler than what was around when the rule was written...

I remember one year all the unpadded glaives from the panhandle got bounced because they had little (mostly decorative) foam bits at the base of the blade that didn't have an inch of progressive give, they were only an inch tall!


Gaston

What petstore carries those?

WalMart carries these and other interesting mace heads in the pet section.

I looked at both mine in town and the petsmart. No luck.

Gaston de Vieuxchamps wrote:*snip*
After all, it's softer than rattan!

Unfortunately rules about weapons rarely take into account creativity and the creation of new options that are as safe or safer, and a lot cooler than what was around when the rule was written...
*snip*
Gaston

Yeah, what he said. There are people I can play with using this mace... but it'll probably get bounced if I try and play at a tourney with it.

That brings up a good point..

A 36 inch sword without a rubber dog toy is legal.
Put a soft rubber blob of rubber on the tip and it is illegal.

Can someone think of a reason why this is? After all the rubber is softer than the rattan...

G

my guess would be a fear that the added mass of the head would hit with a lot more force because of the extra weight. for example, you cant drive a large nail into a piece of wood with the handle of a hammer, you need the mass/weight of the hammer head.

regards
logan

Giles of Redheugh wrote:That brings up a good point..

A 36 inch sword without a rubber dog toy is legal.
Put a soft rubber blob of rubber on the tip and it is illegal.

Can someone think of a reason why this is? After all the rubber is softer than the rattan...

G

dukelogan wrote:my guess would be a fear that the added mass of the head would hit with a lot more force because of the extra weight. for example, you cant drive a large nail into a piece of wood with the handle of a hammer, you need the mass/weight of the hammer head.

regards
logan

I think HG has hit the proverbial nail on the head. I know I don't have swing as hard with the mace as I do with a sword for example.