The Armour Archive

I need to put a thrusty on an axe head that requires shaved rattan.

So the rattan haft is a "O," but the section inside the head is a "0," of length X through the rubber head. I was thinking of having two 0s of length 0.5X each, the top one being the insert to hold the thrusty.

If that's not practicable, what might y'all suggest?

Is this for SCA? What make Axe head? Single hand or two?

Don't know the make: got it in a trade with Irish. I'm guessing most folks would use this as a single-handed axe. (Doing the Hungarian thing, I'll be putting the relatively small head on a relatively long handle, 36" minimum).

My grand-knight uses it to keep the rattan together on maces and such where a handle has been shaved down.

If it's this axe head - I didn't shave the rattan. I just used a bit of dish soap (Dial, I think) inside the opening, then slid it into place. It hasn't moved since the soap dried, and no splitting or anything. Someone was saying they put their axe head in warm water first, but I didn't find the need to do that.

You will actually want the rattan to be a bit bigger than the hole to prevent slippage. Not sure I would want a secondary peice of rattan fixed in the axe head, but that is just my 2 cents

Anybody's .02 is a good .02.

The axe head is the "single handed" version advertised lower on the site. Slightly trimmed, it's a perfect hammer-backed axe for a fokos. But if I can't engineer a thrusty onto it, I lose half the offensive capability of the axe (no actual spike on these jobbersm, it's simulating smashing 2 pounds of iron into the face).

Like Tlast, I use the dish soap trick and a rubber mallet to hammer the head onto the shaft when I make a polaxe- for the dag I just hammer the head down till there's about 6" or so of rattan sticking through it and then construct a tip using foam discs contact cemented (shoe goo works well) to the shaft and further secured with strapping tape. Once everything's set I wrap the tip and projecting rattan with hockey tape.

I find it easier to get the head on if I leave the rattan long and sand the end to rounded taper, cuttign it off square once the heads ware I want it.

Russ, depending on how you're doing the length of the haft, what size your rattan is, and so forth, you might want to consider sliding the head on from the bottom. If the haft is going to be shaped a bit to make it more like an axe handle, it might be an option to leave the top end full size and bring the head up from the bottom...like on real axes

Just something to add to the mix.

Sounds like soap-trick is the way to go. Is there a minimum haft diameter? (You're right, Kilkenny: I definitely want a haft that acts like a haft, and I'm very sensitive to the difference). I don't want to spend a long time fine-tuning something, only to have it fail inspection (boy would that suck, and I've been there before, the very first tourney I ever attended).

Is there a minimum haft diameter?

1.25" and really anything thinne rwould be too wippy even on a shor taxe. If possible leave some skin on two sides of the haft below the head.

Did battle axes typically have an eye tapered to be wider at the top? I'm more familiar with polaxes where that doesn't seem to be the cae. My felling axes are made that way though.

Russ Is that gorget workign out OK?

Didn't get the pattern for the padding, so I'm experimenting on it -- but it arrived a week before the kid did, and I haven't been to practice since. It's coming, though, and the form is good.

I don't know about stuff out west, but the fokos is built for a tapered haft as early as we have historical sources for its use, and several of the originals seem to have a slight taper, as well. (In fact, later ones were often hafted right on the spot when fighting was to be done -- your walking stick could magically turn into a battle-axe right on the spot, just step on it before you hit the Austrian in the head...)

(In case you're curious, both original mace heads in my collection from the region also have tapered sockets)

tlast wrote:Someone was saying they put their axe head in warm water first,

Did the axe head pee when they did this?

Stupid camp tricks...

Russ Mitchell wrote:Sounds like soap-trick is the way to go. Is there a minimum haft diameter? (You're right, Kilkenny: I definitely want a haft that acts like a haft, and I'm very sensitive to the difference). I don't want to spend a long time fine-tuning something, only to have it fail inspection (boy would that suck, and I've been there before, the very first tourney I ever attended).

If you are going to use the preshaved rattan it is already at 1.25" dia. So, thinning it out along the haft is not recommended. You can thin the grip down, but any part that may actually hit your opponent needs to be minimum 1.25" dia.

Works fa me...