Woods for pole weapons? (Not SCA)

[Cian of Storvik]

Any suggestions for alternative woods for pole weapons besides ash or elm?
I feel like I should buy stock in ash lumber yards for all the items I have made of ash (arrows, spear poles, handgonne stocks, halberd hafts). I have another head I want to mount, but wondering if I can do something a little different. Possibly like hard maple? I know that Hickory is not a medieval wood, but does it bear a resemblence to any wood they would have had in medieval Europe?
Elm is hard to come by and European elm is evidently a lot different than american native elm in appearance. I'm I pretty much stuck with ash? Atleast it's affordable in 2x2 dimensional form.

-Cian

[Thomas Powers]

White oak, nut trees (save for walnut), probably every country had a favorite "local" wood.

[nathan]

Poplar/Aspen?

Ash is IMO best, close grained and grows straight (especially when encouraged). But I know Poplar was used extensively in shields, it is light and would be suitable for polearm shafts as well.

Up here in Canada I can't Ash in any reasonable form (nothing much over 7/8" thick) or price for shafts, but I can get US grown Poplar dowel in a couple of diameters (at a major national retailer). Visually it looks the same as the Ash would have acquired back in the UK.

HTH
N.

[Thomas Powers]

Tulip popular is MUCH weaker than Ash. for display, OK, for any use *no*.

[Mac]

Nathan,

It is important to draw a clear distinction between the "poplar" that one gets in lumber yards, and the poplar that was used to make shields etc. The shields were made of a true poplar, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus from the family Salicaceae, which includes the willows and aspens.

The one from the lumber yard is almost certain to be "tulip poplar" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liriodendron_tulipifera which is a sort of magnolia.

Although these woods share a name, they have different characteristics and properties, and are not interchangeable. The true poplars are not strong woods in an absolute sense, but they are strong for their weight. This makes them suitable for shields and wooden shoes. By contrast, "tulip poplar" is rather weak for its weight, and is inclined to split. It is a rather second or third rate cabinet wood, suitable for drawer sides and other non visible parts of furniture. The reason we see so much of it in the lumber yards is that it grows reasonably straight and to great heights. Thus, it can be cut into boards of impressive dimensions.

Mac

[Kilkenny]

Sorry, Can. My first two thoughts were ash and elm ;(

After that, eh. Perhaps maple or birch.

Not tulip poplar.

Gavin

[Nissan Maxima]

Hickory

[Marshal]

Linden ( basswood ).

[Russ Mitchell]

Plum, peach, or cherry, unless you need your haft seriously long, in which case it's less convenient. But I've grown seriously fond of the fruitwoods for hafting.

[Thomas Powers]

Crab apple was the go to wood for things like swingles as it was tough and springy

[Josh Wilson]

If you have access to a shop, cut you an ironwood tree. I dont think you can buy it, so you may have to cut a tree and cut and plane it etc. yourself.

[Cian of Storvik]

I can get 2x2 dimensional (1.75") in ash, hickory and cherry for about $20 for a 6' length. And knock off a bit at the corners for an octogon shape, alternating small and wide sides, unlike the prefabbed octogonal ash shafts which are same-sided octogons).
This is for a 6' pole so, I'm thinking I will go with cherry but pick-up a hickory one while I'm at it as a spare.
-Cian

[Gaston de Clermont]

If you're looking to really swinging these hafts hard you might try riven rather than sawn wood. We've seen even 1kg mace hafts split along the wood grain.

[Johann ColdIron]

If you're looking to really swinging these hafts hard you might try riven rather than sawn wood. We've seen even 1kg mace hafts split along the wood grain.

Good point for strength but riving is usually done green, IIRC. So you have to source fresh wood and then rough process, dry it and then do final shaping. Very period but challenging these days.

[Thomas Powers]

Or air dried, a lot of pallet wood is air dried in the USA. Trying to find *nice* pieces of the correct species is the trick. (The sign company that was across the alleyway from my smithy used to get metal and plastic in on 12' long pallets with 4"x4" oak main pieces---I framed the shed extension to my smithy with them for *free*.)

[Cap'n Atli]

Or air dried, a lot of pallet wood is air dried in the USA. Trying to find *nice* pieces of the correct species is the trick. (The sign company that was across the alleyway from my smithy used to get metal and plastic in on 12' long pallets with 4"x4" oak main pieces---I framed the shed extension to my smithy with them for *free*.)

We recieved some furniture one time where all of the crating was rejected black walnut. Not good enough for fine furniture, but useful for many other projects.

But I digress (as I often do).