[Raymond R]

Oi, I'm responsible for getting the group equipped for spear and quarterstaff work. Does anyone know of a good dealer for wooden staves that would stand up well to sparring type work? I've looked into waxwood, and we need lengths of about 6 and 8 feet, but I've yet to find any useful dealers. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Kelly Powell]

I'd go for rattan....I'd bet you could find staves smalle(in diameter)r then sca standard for a good price.

[M. Eversberg II]

Try here

M.

[Bill Tsafa]

Try this guy too.
http://store.fastcommerce.com/cat_icefalcon-f...a016f.html

Two rattan staves for $30. Be sure to tell him not to cut them. Be specific about the thickness you want too.

[Michael Barna]

1 3/8 or 1 5/8 diameter unfinished Ash poles of straight grain and up to 16 foot in length. They may need some straightening with a heat gun and some time.

Get a 16 footer and cut it in two for two 7-8 footers.

http://peaveymfg.com/pickpoles.html

Make shure to ask for "dowel turned" so they do not turn down a handle and taper the end for use as a pick pole handle.

Mike Barna

[Corey D. Sullivan]

You didn't state your location, but I found a source in Canada that sells an 8' octagonal ash pole for $20.

It's an arborist supplies store, so you may find cheaper prices at other ones.

http://www.canadianarboristsupplies.com/tools.php?next=41

[Jon H.]

While this is slightly off-topic, I thought I'd up this thread instead of starting a new one since my question is related to this one.

Anyhow, I was thinking of putting together a polearm, specifically a partisan. A couple blades from A&A and some other sites caught my eye, but I wanted to use a different material for the haft in lieu of the ash that the majority of manufacturers seem to favour. That being said, I still want the weight, balance, and appropriate hardness to be within historical standards. So, I was wondering if a wood like ebony, walnut burr, or mahogany would be valid choices. If not, do any of you have suggestions for a darker material that could serve as a haft?

Thanks in advance.

[Chad Arnow]

Jon,
Ash is a pretty historical choice and is supposed to be pretty strong. If you dislike the colour, why not stain it darker to the colour of your choice?

[Kelly Powell]

Plus $ for any ebony or mahogony stave would be excessive...not tomention hard to find in those dimensions..
I've got a hedge tree growing at my moms farmI have been grooming for a few years now....I have been loping off the lower branches to trimming the rest to try to promote straighter growth....it is also out of the wind and just hopefully if can get a great axe stave out of it and maybe a bow.

[Jon H.]

Oy vey! I just did some price checking, and you're right, Kelly. I knew such materials would be expensive, but damn!

And thanks for the advice, Chad. I didn't even think of staining. Looks like Ash is a good choice after all. Still, as a hypothetical, do any of you all know if the materials I mentioned in my last post would be feasible? Assuming I could afford them, I'd hate to have them break in half during exercise, especially given the cost involved.

[Kelly Powell]

Hickory wouldnt break the bank and stains up nice....you will have striations of darke & light though.

[Jon H.]

[Kelly Powell]

Not an expert on the rarer woods but what makes them desirable for furniture and gunstocks and other decoative purposes, will sometimes make them UNdesireable for use as a handle for tools or weapons.....Sometimes a dense tight grain may make the wood rock hard, but make it susceptible to breaking due to it's lack of flex......The guys back in the day knew the properties of wood probably much better then todays carpenters and cabinet makers....So follow their lead......Mahogany and ebony would probably make fantastic short cudgels, but ....wait....How long of a stave are you wanting anyway?if its under 3 ft you may , i repeat, may, be ok......long staves I'd go ash,hickory,yew(if you can find it)pecan and hedge....Also stay away from fruit woods.

[Anders Nilsson]

Most martialarts stores got Bo-staffs.
They are often of Japanese redoak or whiteoak. They are good and quite cheap.

[Jon H.]

[Ken Speed]

Hi Raymond,

Waxwood? Where are you?

Here's an idea. If you have a bunch of people who need to be equipped with staves, why don't you get together and make your own? The really old fashioned way would be to cut a an appropriately sized sapling, bark it and shave it down with a drawknife. If you cut a few extra you haven't lost a lot if you screw one up and a drawknife isn't all that difficult to use. They're such a simple tool that they're pretty safe to use. If you can peel a potato without stabbing yourself or someone else to death you should be able to use a drawknife without losing major body parts.

An advantage of doing it this way is that the staves will get lighter and harder as they dry out and they will be much stronger than one made out of a sawn piece of wood. The staves may not dry perfectly straight because they were made of wet wood but as long as they aren't horseshoe or boomerang shaped that just makes them more "authentic".

Ash would probably be the wood of choice because it is very tough and a little bit whippy because of its stringy grain structure.

Ken Speed