myArmoury.com - Two different problem: Wood Handle and Spear

Posts: 5

Thu 16 Jun, 2016 6:18 am

Two different problem: Wood Handle and Spear

Hello, i'm new of this forum, so i take the occasion to introduce me. My name is Andrea, i practice historical fence since a few years in a reanacting group here in Italy.

So, coming to the point of the topic. I've recently bought a one handed sword from an artisan here in Italy, and after some initial issues, the product is done. When i had some time to watch more closely the sword, i spotted a little crack of about 4 cm starting from the pommel. It doesn't go too deep into the handle (which is all wood with no leather), but i wanted to know if i could use some wood putty to fill the crack. I believe it won't harm the integrity of the sword (i need the sword for the duels) even if it stay, but i want to be sure of it. Oh, i almost forgot, the wood used is laburnum.

And this is the first problem. The second one is, since the minor issues were a mistake of the swordsmith he gave me also a fantastic spear head. It's very beautiful and i wanted to use it, but it doesn't have any socket for fixing the pole to the head. Do you know how can i put on a pole and be sure it won't fall?

Thank you, i put here the images of both the sword handle and the spear head.

Sword

[ Linked Image ]
[ Linked Image ]

Spear Head

[ Linked Image ]
[ Linked Image ]
[ Linked Image ]

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Timo Nieminen

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Posts: 1,504 Location: Brisbane, Australia

Thu 16 Jun, 2016 3:42 pm

Andrea Romani wrote:

When i had some time to watch more closely the sword, i spotted a little crack of about 4 cm starting from the pommel. It doesn't go too deep into the handle (which is all wood with no leather), but i wanted to know if i could use some wood putty to fill the crack. I believe it won't harm the integrity of the sword (i need the sword for the duels) even if it stay, but i want to be sure of it. Oh, i almost forgot, the wood used is laburnum.

Yes, you can fill it with wood putty. I'd use epoxy. I'd also consider wrapping the wooden grip with (thin) cord. Tight wrap (+ epoxy). A wrap will keep the grip together even if it cracks into two pieces.

Andrea Romani wrote:

And this is the first problem. The second one is, since the minor issues were a mistake of the swordsmith he gave me also a fantastic spear head. It's very beautiful and i wanted to use it, but it doesn't have any socket for fixing the pole to the head. Do you know how can i put on a pole and be sure it won't fall?

Drill a hole, and nail through the hole.

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Jean Thibodeau

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Posts: 8,310 Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada

Thu 16 Jun, 2016 5:31 pm

Re: Two different problem: Wood Handle and Spear

Andrea Romani wrote:

Hello, i'm new of this forum, so i take the occasion to introduce me. My name is Andrea, i practice historical fence since a few years in a reanacting group here in Italy.

So, coming to the point of the topic. I've recently bought a one handed sword from an artisan here in Italy, and after some initial issues, the product is done. When i had some time to watch more closely the sword, i spotted a little crack of about 4 cm starting from the pommel. It doesn't go too deep into the handle (which is all wood with no leather), but i wanted to know if i could use some wood putty to fill the crack. I believe it won't harm the integrity of the sword (i need the sword for the duels) even if it stay, but i want to be sure of it. Oh, i almost forgot, the wood used is laburnum.

And this is the first problem. The second one is, since the minor issues were a mistake of the swordsmith he gave me also a fantastic spear head. It's very beautiful and i wanted to use it, but it doesn't have any socket for fixing the pole to the head. Do you know how can i put on a pole and be sure it won't fall?

Thank you, i put here the images of both the sword handle and the spear head.

Firstly welcome to the site. :D

For the handle the crack does look fairly wide so a clear epoxy could fill the crack and keep the crack from getting wider or becoming longer, but I might try using some " Superglue " to seep deep into the crack.

Very liquid Superglues should spread deeply into the wood fibers. Super Glue wont fill a wide crack but it will get to the bottom of the crack where the wood is still " Not Cracked ".

To do this I would put a few drops of the Superglue and let it soak in for a few minutes and repeat a few times: This should fill a narrow crack, but if there is still a wider crack still near the surface I would then use the epoxy and sand it level to the rest of the handle after the epoxy has hardened.

The other more radical solution is carving a new two piece handles closely fitted to the tang, wrapping with fine cord and covering with leather is also an option assuming that you have a degree of confidence in your wood and leather working skills ..... or have the original maker fix it for you if this is practical ?

For the spear head, there seems to be some sort of socket but not a full socket welded or forged closed: This can still work O.K., just carve the end of a wooden spear shaft to fit well into the half-socket and epoxy it in place, drilling a hole for a small nail through the socket and shaft after it's glued together is an option to be sure that the head is secure.

Drilling a hole the same size as the nail you want to use can work if you also put a bit of epoxy on the nail before hammering it in: Even with a loose fit this should be secure.

With any hard wood one should at least drill a pilot hole into the wood to avoid splitting the wood or having the nail just bend rather than go into the wood when the wood is very hard like oak or ash.

Hope this is helpful.

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Jean Thibodeau

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Posts: 8,310 Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada

Thu 16 Jun, 2016 5:38 pm

Oh, the wood characteristics can be found in the link below, " laburnum ":

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identific.../laburnum/

It does seems like a good quality wood, harder than oak or ash, the gluing should stabilize the crack and make the handle look better even if the handle"s structural integrity wasn't compromised by the crack.

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Andrea Romani

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Posts: 5

Fri 17 Jun, 2016 5:06 am

Thanks for the answers, i'll probably try with some superglue and see if it will work.

@Jean Thibodeau: i've tried to contact the original maker, but it seems that he now hate me for some reason and he respond me with anger. I really don't know what i've done to him, maybe i just found it in a bad day.

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Joel Minturn

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Posts: 232

Fri 17 Jun, 2016 8:37 am

Another thing to look at is epoxy putty instead of typical wood putty. After the thin super glue to stop the crack from spreading use the epoxy putty to hold it together and maybe hide it a bit.

example of what I am talking about: https://smile.amazon.com/PC-Products-PC-Lumber-Moldable-Epoxy/dp/B008H4QV04/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1466178393&sr=8-2&keywords=epoxy+putty+wood

There are other brands of the stuff.

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