[Sean Flynt]

Suddenly I find myself with four polearm projects after several years without any. I notice a spike in interest on this site as well, probably due to the new market in unmounted polearm heads and the advent of the MRL "Deal of the Day". I think it's a good time to consolidate information about commercial sources for hafts. Here's what I've learned--please share your own insights, experiences and observations on modern materials and antique hafts!

Ash
As you know, ash is the preferred wood for polearm hafts. Ash rounds are available from a few sources, with prices ranging from $35-$76 (shipped) depending on length, thickness and quality. You'll take whatever the seller wants to ship you, so you might get a perfectly straight piece or you might get a piece that's bowed or checked. Given the amount of wood I typically have to sort through to find a straight piece without checks and cupping, I'm wary of ordering blind. Still, if you can get a straight one, that's an historically authentic choice for mounting most spear heads and certain kinds of poleaxe. Unfortunately, most other polearms hafts are of more complex section--square, rectangular and octagonal. Good luck finding a 7' straight ash 2"x2" (at ANY price,) which is what you need to start with in order to properly haft most halberds and even some spears. I recently realized that replacement wheelbarrow handles are a readily available option for hafting poleaxes. Those allow a variety of haft sections and give an appropriate length (up to ~60") for many of those weapons. I recently saw a badly bowed example, but all the others I've seen are very straight, and in any case the thick 2x2" section leaves sufficient room for minor corrections. Expect to pay $16 for for those. To mount light spears and javelins, check out other replacement ash tool handles. The narrow-section hardwood handles meant to screw into paint rollers might work beautifully for light javelins.

Oak
There's a wasteland beyond the 60" ash wheelbarrow handles. It finally occurred to me that hardwood hand rails could be a good, inexpensive and locally available source for longer hafts. One doesn't normally find these with dowels and trim in hardware stores, so it's easy to miss them. The ones I looked at were 8' and a bit over 1.5" in section (round, but with one flat side). There's room to get creative with section, but they're pieced rather than cut from a single, continuous piece of wood. The ones I saw were typically of three or four sections of carefully overlapped and joined red oak. There was no apparent attempt to match wood when joining, so there was light wood against dark. That's a problem if you're going to oil the haft, but should be fine if you're going to stain it dark (not typically done, historically, by the way) because the joins are all but invisible if the separate pieces are a decent match in tone and grain. Turning from the hand rails I examined long, straight red oak 1'x2' boards. I bought a couple of these in 8' lengths at ~$8 each with the intention of gluing them together with TiteBond wood glue to create a single 2'x2' (actually 1.75x1.75) from which to plane an octagonal spear haft. I think this approach is probably superior to the hand rail because it uses two long pieces instead of multiple short pieces. Russ Ellis suggested this method to me many years ago and I'm just now getting around to trying it (thanks, Russ!). Out of a rack of perhaps nine boards, I found only two that were straight and approximately the same color and grain, which tells you something about the importance of choosing wood in person. Once glued and sanded, the join will be invisible and the composite haft should be as strong as a single-piece haft (certainly strong enough to stand against a wall in my library ).

Poplar
Poplar rounds have been my fallback position for spears because that hardwood is light, flexible, inexpensive and readily available. In the last few months, though, poplar rounds have disappeared from Lowe's stores in B'ham. They have been replaced by yellow pine, and that's a line I'd rather not cross. I'll use the composite oak 2x2 for an upcoming spear project. If that turns out well, I probably won't return to poplar even if it reappears in local stores. Be aware that linseed oil gives the light poplar wood an unpleasant and cheap-looking orange/yellow cast.

[Chris Kelson]

I'm not sure how helpful this is but I was recommended (before I found a trader who specifically sold ash hafts for polearms around 8' in length that unfortunately I cannot recall the name of) to check local boatyards, as a lot of repairs require ash planks that could be cut down and shaved to the correct shape and there would be a likely source, if not, at least able to point in the right direction for suppliers.

[JG Elmslie]

been working on a lucerne hammer for reenactment recently (ie, blunted backspike and spear head, no end-spike), as a "for the hell of it" challenge.
(namely, how cheap can I make a top quality reproduction, for myself for fun.)

A moment of inspired insanity that might help british people at least, there.

I had the option of ash hafts direct from a sawmill where I get wood for wasters etc, for about £15 (presawn and planed square, less if its just rip-cut square.), plus a fiver in fuel to go up there.

or, for £20, John Lewis' department store's interior decoration section sells "oak effect" curtain poles. which, if you look closely at the details, are infact ash, 35mm diameter.
they also do real oak, 30mm diameter, which I chose not to go for, but they're not nearly as good value.

so I went shopping. (a little advice for people - you get strange looks when peering closely as curtain poles, and looking to see which ones have the straightest grain...) found one that was good, 1m, 80cm, straight grain. took it home, and attacked it with planes, a t-square and some elbow grease, and was astounded as underneath the rather naff fake oak effect laquer was the most gorgeous, smooth, straight, clean white ash. The resultant 28mm octagonal haft with langets is looking gorgeous, and of great quality.

if you're just looking for one haft, and you've got to pay shipping/postage for the sawmil, but have a local John Lewis', then its well worth it.

[Eric Hejdström]

I actually buy canadian ash (or american depending on availability) at the local store here in Visby (Sweden) and make hafts myself. For a peice suitable for a polearm I pay ca $6 but then I have to shape it myself. John Waldman descibes the making of hafts in "Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe" and the most common wood is definately ash. Oak actuallt seems to have been the poorer mans choice. Moste are octagonal or ocal in shape. Please note that most octagonal hafts are more or less rectangular in crossection with just a little wor on the corners. So octagonal crossection is most unusual. If you have not read the book I strongly suggest you do it since it's the absolutely best book on the topic I found so far. Expensive though...

[Timo Nieminen]

[Sean Flynt]

[Sam Gordon Campbell]

Hey Timo, what do you think a native timber equivalent to things like Ash and such, 'cause it's hard enough trying to get stuff on the Mainland let alone down here (Also means I'll get in less trouble when I *coughcutdowngumtreesonotherpeoplesproperty/bushlandcough*).
Oh, and good job guys! Just when I thought I'd give some of my projects a rest, I'm now going to have to go try out some of these techniques!
Note to self: Quaterstaff, Bastone, Halberd, Pike, Spear (long, short, and throwing), Command Baton, Club, Gondendag, Maces, Flails and spikes everywhere and (I blame you for this one Sean) pole/pollaxe's and hammers!
I'd better get started then...

[Eric Hejdström]

I also forgot tom mention another importatn thing. The first halberd I hafted had a nice, octagonal haft that was the same thicknes all the way through. I felt that it was a bit front heavy and therefor I made the next one tapering from a quite thick end to a slimmet top where the head was fastened. This proved to be completely wrong. As I read more from Waldmann I discovered something odd, most hafts were actually tapered towards BOTH ends. Hence they were thickes at the middle, just about where you grip it. I thought this was very strange until I got the opportunity to handle a very nice stavesword made in this manner. And what a change in balance it was! I was surprised about it and the next weapon I make I will definately make this type of haft on. I think it's my half ready polehammer actually...

[Sean Flynt]

And, of course, there's this option for hunting spears. When the smaller boar spear (these are bear spears) became a symbol of military rank, some retained the rustic aesthetic of a knotted haft, incorporating the knots as decoration. They're a far cry from these very crude mountings, though.

[Timo Nieminen]

[Sam Gordon Campbell]

Ah, thanks Timo.
But bugger; ironic that Tas-Oak is the closest equivalent, but isn't that good, and here I am living in its namesake!
I'll have to try Acacia or the laminated idea though. God forbid I end up using dowel.
Cheers mate

[Mark Hanna]

I am hafting a Golloglass axe so I need something with a shoulder at the axe head. I guess I would have to use a board and cut it down. Anybody have any experience with this? I am using one of the old albion giant axe heads.

Mark

[Eric Hejdström]

I've shaped hafts from boards as well and as long as the grain is good you won't get in any trouble.

[Timo Nieminen]

[Timo Nieminen]

[Sam Gordon Campbell]

[Timo Nieminen]