I've gotten this piece just about where I want it to be, so I grabbed a quick shot in bad light. That's probably the best I'll be able to do for awhile due to an upcoming move. I did want to go ahead and share this, though, because I know some folks are getting the MRL German Halberd.

This piece is not made by Windlass, as far as I can tell. It's stamped "India," but the construction differs from the MRL piece. Possibly Depeeka or older Windlass. I bought the head dismounted and rusted in places--just what I wanted!

I mounted the head to an overall length of 7'. The langets are so broad that it seemed best for the haft to be fully covered on two sides and flush with the edges of the langets on the other two. The ends of the langets are inset and flush with the lower part of the haft, which is octagonalized (square section with chamfered edges). The antiquing of everything as per my usual methods went well. As you can see, I drilled the blade to match the various originals of this type (south German, ca. 1500). They all have these groups of piercings as well as the trefoil/cross. The drilling was very simple and quick, but gives the piece a much more authentic look. The smaller images show originals of this type.

Total cost: ~ $100, including all parts, tools, etc.

---

 Attachment: 17.25 KB



 Attachment: 27.49 KB



 Attachment: 80.54 KB

Nice job Sean! The drilling was a good touch as well. Now I'm REALLY thinking about how to put those "eyelash" marks on the roncone. Any ideas? I can't wait to see a full length shot of the piece when you have the time.

I also wondered how you would be able to mark the blade deeply when it's cold. I assume you'd need very hard tools--Maybe you could pick up a couple of cheap nail sets and grind/file the ends to a simple shape that would allow you to build up the design with lots of little marks. Surely there's something in the Dremel tool chest that would precisely cut into steel. I bet the A&A folks could suggest something. Also, I know folks have gotten decent results with etching by covering the area with wax, with a dam of wax all around the design area, then scratching the design through the wax and filling the area with hot vinegar. I think there's a common chip etching compound available in small quantities at Radio Shack as well. Something like that probably would give you the nicest looking results.

Wow, Sean, the drilling made all the difference! That looks great!

Good ideas, Jean. I especially like the idea of the stacked cutting disks. I used one those disks to make the "tail" of the cross on my halberd. It's shocking how quickly those wheels can go through steel of that thickness. Mostly, I use them to cut off the nails that I use as rivets.

Neat looking Halberd Sean. I like what you've done with it.

Wow. It's like a whole new weapon after your modifications. When you have time, I would very much like to see some shots of it from an angle where you can see the mounting on the shaft.

Hey, George! I don't have any other angles on the head, but since you owned the head, maybe you'll be able to picture the mounting when I say that above the bottom of the langets, all wood surfaces sit flush with the steel. The photo below, while truly awful, will at least give you some idea of how I inset the bottom of the langets and shaped and antiqued the haft. This piece helped me understand why there were carpenters who specialized in hafting polearms. When you start insetting langets and dealing with different levels at the head end, it can be challenging to previsualize how all the levels and surfaces will interface once the head is mounted.

Basically, I had to plane down a 2x2 so that the area of the langets was recessed, then I had to create a long pyramid shape at the top of the haft. The base of that pyramid needed to be flush with the level of the langet platform on two sides, but needed a shoulder on the other two sides. I found that the best solution was to leave lots of material extending beyond that shoulder and beyond the langets. After I had mounted the head and rivetted the langets I went back with the block plane and shaved down all the protruding wood. Then I sanded everything so all wood surfaces would be flush with the steel. Given the amount of shifting that could occur during mounting and rivetting, I think there was no other way to get the surfaces perfectly flush. If I had screwed up the final planing, I'd have been out of luck , though. All this meant that I had to antique and stain the haft only after mounting the head, and that was kind of a pain. I would hesitate to speculate how many hours I have invested in this piece, but the haft certainly was the most challenging part of the project.

The final test consisted of slipping my hands up and down, from below the haft over the join with the langets and up to the head, and that revealed no snags or problem surfaces.

---

 Attachment: 88.22 KB

Oh, just because I think it's very worth seeing the two togeather, I'm going to try an attachment for the first time.

Just look at the amazing degree to which this peice has gone through! If the original looked half as good, I'd have bought it ten times over.

---

 Attachment: 17.25 KB

Sean's Halberd.

 Attachment: 28.85 KB

MRL's original.

Sean;

Really looks great and much more appealing than it's original state: It now looks like the real thing aged but not a corroded relic. What one might look like after a generation of use in period or even today in a museum if it had always been stored under good conditions.

Funny how more " real " and substantial it looks in this state while the pristine new condition make it look almost lighter or flimsy in a Picture ?

Gee if they came out like this when purchased I think they would sell at twice the price. :eek: ( Well maybe not twice the price but twice as appealing. :cool: )

Sorry, George! I had you confused with the original owner. The cross section of the haft between the langets is perfectly rectangular. Below the langets it's a larger rectangle with edges chamfered as shown to make it marginally octagonal. Those chamfers make a big difference in handling and comfort, by the way. They allow you to have a larger section that's still easily gripped. Squared edges would require the section to be a bit smaller (and thus weaker).

As for the drilling--I just cut a little triangle out of cardboard and placed that where I wanted my trios of holes (I eyeballed the placement because originals are somewhat irregular), then marked the steel at each point of the triangle (a permanent marker is good for this). You should use the shank end of your large drill bit to determine how much space you'll need to leave between the points of the triangle. Then I just used a regular hand drill and metal-cutting bits. I used a small bit for each hole first, then followed with a bit the size of the desired final hole. For the trefoil cross I again just eyeballed everything to avoid a machine-perfect look. I placed the large bit shank down on the steel and traced around the base with the marker, then did the same thing two more times, making sure each tracing slightly overlapped the others. Then I used the small bit to drill starter holes there and one hole a short distance toward the socket. Then I drilled out the trefoil holes and used a dremel cutting wheel to cut two lines from the trefoil to the little hole near the socket. After a small amount of filing to soften the edges of all these holes I sanded everything down until all the brown rust was gone, then waxed everything.

Oh my god is that really my old halberd? :eek:
Sean home run Hoss she looks great!
Dunc

Hey, Bill! I was hoping you'd see this thread. Yep, that's your old halberd. Thanks again for the opportunity to "re-imagine" this piece.

Looks really good, Sean. Are you going to attach a little metal ID disk with some wire like the original you pictured? You could use something like that to make it look like it is in a museum or private collection, and also take credit for your work.

-Grey