I've delayed this project for ages because I couldn't commit to a hafting treatment. There are so many options, and this Windlass European Spear Head is surprisingly nice and generic (and cheap, at under $50) so I wanted to consider them all. I finally decided just to mount this very plainly.

The main problem with this spear head (there's always at least one, you know--it's the Law of Windlass) is that the socket is so long. I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of hacksawing or using the Dremel on it but then I remembered the cheap tubing cutter I bought to chop some bike bars. That went through the thin-walled socket in about five turns! As you can see, that narrowed the socket from 1.25" inside diameter to .89". You can see how much I took off. That's about as much as I was comfortable removing as this socket does not extend into the blade proper as it would in the short-socketed examples shown in below.

Ash would be the correct wood for hafting, of course. I have no local source for Ash of proper length and didn't want to to pay shipping for the proverbial pig-in-a-poke Ash dowel. I like being able to personally select for grain, straightness, etc. I thought it would be reasonable to glue together two 1"x2" oak slats and reduce it to 1.25" octagonal. I now have a beautiful oak 2x2 but I'd still have to do a great deal of work to get a haft out of that and it still wouldn't be historically appropriate. I abandoned that idea.

So, it was back to Lowe's to see if I could be happy with Poplar. Of the straight pieces, I found one that was almost white it had so little grain. Another had a prominent grain more reminiscent of Ash and was noticeably heavier than the other Poplar dowel. That'll do. I'll mount the head in the utilitarian manner of the infantry spears shown here. No toggle, tassle or leather banding.

If I decide to dress this up a bit I'll add a rondel. That seems to have been a common treatment on Austrian spears of the late 15th/early 16th c.

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You can see the rondel in the second image below but it's not clear to me how it's mounted.

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Good work, and cheap too thats impressive!

What are the parameters of a historical one(diameter, length, metallurgy...)?

David

Hey Sean. If you're looking for a good source for ash spear hafts, then I strongly recommend this...

http://www.garden.com/item/ash-pole-8ft/G2659...erralID=NA

I bought one a few months back to try one out and was blown away. They are 1.25" inches across with octagon cross sections. You could easily shape it into a more rounded cross section which seems appropriate for your project.

I bought a second for another spear project because I was so impressed. And to top it off, the shipping is dirt cheap!!! :D

Cheers,

- Josh

that's a great price. were yours straight and without knots or other problems? i've almost finished the poplar haft but i'll investigate these for a premium polearm project on the horizon. thanks for tip!

One was almost perfectly straight, and the other had a slight bow long the last 2 feet or so. Nothing major, less than an inch. And they were both knot free. I can post pictures of my finished spear (same Windlass Euro head) mounted on one of these if you like, along with some detail shots of the grain. Up to you, don't want to hijack your thread. :)

Here are some poles that I picked up locally.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...highlight=

Ron

Well, y'all shamed me into doing the right thing :lol: I still can't find anything locally but the extension handles Ron suggested should solve the pig-in-a-poke problem of ordering online. As a finished and sealed tool handle, that should be straight and stable. Amazon has it for $18 shipped: http://www.amazon.com/Goldblatt-G16283-Handle...B002UHKMA4

Thanks, folks!

For 1" diameter, 6-foot length, these are cheaper:

http://www.torringtonbrushes.com/window-brush-handles.html

Now, they are just "hardwood", not specifically ash, but those I've gotten have been straight and smooth, very nice. So far the spears I've done have included a buttspike, which cleverly adds to the overall finished length, but even just a longish head like yours should make it 7 feet or so. Has to fit in the car, eh?

Matthew

Another good source. Thanks, Matthew! Nah, doesn't have to fit in a car but these broad heads tend to be on shorter hafts. 7'-8' is a good length.

I'll be following this thread with interest. A new spear is one of the (many) things on my todo list. I already have a spear head and butt cap.

i have a hammer head to mount and i'm in the same bind as Sean, cannot find local places of business that i can go and inspect the wood myself.

i understand that ash and possibly hickory are the best for mounting (and being that home improvements stores have killed local saw mills and are nearly impossible to find) i also had the idea of finding a good straight grained lumber splitting it, and regluing it and making a dow from it.

the only thing i'm a little hung up on, is i don't know if soaking the wood in linseed oil for a few months will result in the same properties as using ash.

Daniel: you're in luck for a shorter haft. Check the tool handle section of your local home improvement store. There you'll find a 60" ash 2x2 meant as a replacement handle for wheelbarrows. If you don't have a table saw maybe you know somebody who could cut it to the desired section.

Ron got lucky. I just got the goldblatt handle and i'm sorry to report that it's a big loser. hardwood but certainly not ash, and with a .5" hole bored into the tapered end, making spear mounting a non-starter unless you wanted to lose several inches of length. that isn't even the main problem. the dark reddish wood is at least as lightweight as my original poplar choice and perhaps a bit lighter. nothing can be done to make this look historically appropriate. it's not just stain, as it's the same color inside. i learned this when the thin wall of the hollow tapered end split while removing the clevis. it's not even straight. my mail order fears are more than confirmed. lucky it was only $18. :(

I have seen and handled the pole and spear Josh MacNeil linked to. While long for my spontoon (I used an oak bo staff), the octagonal section was really quite nice. I had considered pole saw extensions in the past but never got around to a garden center locally to chck out the possibility.

I have a picture of Josh's somewhere.but I am between pcs at the moment. There is a shot here at myArmoury somewhere. An 8' haft makes for an impressive half pike. I guess I do have it online. At least most of it, it is a tall sucker ;) :lol: You can barely see the spontoon blade above the sword rack (shown edge on) but you can see a couple of Josh's

[ Linked Image ]

Here is the spontoon. I probably have better pictures of that on the haft, which was a tapered bo. Proportional to historic references for those but the fatter octagonal feel on Josh's spear felt like a more purposeful weapon and not terribly heavy (at 8')

[ Linked Image ]


Cheers

GC

Forgot to post the results!

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