ISO PoleArm Shaft Wood Source for DIY project -- myArmoury.com

Chris Arrington

Well, I finally got around to ordering my GDFB/Hanwei PoleAxe head.

I am happy with my purchase, even though I find it much lighter and smaller than I thought it would be.

Now my problem is hafting it. In my rural area (WV) there are two sources of wood. Lowe's and Home Depot. I figured I would get 1 1/2" by 1 1/2" by 6 foot. I was looking for Ash, Hickory, or Oak.

Unfortunately, the best I can find is Red Oak 1 1/2" by 1 1/2" in 2 foot lenghts. Or Poplar in 1" by 1 1/2" in longer lengths. From my understanding, the Poplar is not a good choice for a polearm shaft.

Do you guys have any suggestions, or sources of wood shafts from the internet?

Thanks!

Scott Hrouda · Posted: Fri 17 Dec, 2010 12:19 pm Post subject:

Good afternoon Chris!

Go to the wheelbarrow isle and pick up an ash replacement handle. See the threads below for more information.

Pollaxe/Streithammer Project

Hafting my Poleaxe Head

Tjarand Matre · Posted: Fri 17 Dec, 2010 12:49 pm Post subject:

Poplar grows too fast, it will be wobbly and could snap if you swing the weapon too fast.
For good wood sources, try to tag along on any archery fora, they are usually well informed about sources for ash/yew/elm. If you could pick any wood, I'd go for elm.

Jean Thibodeau · Posted: Fri 17 Dec, 2010 1:15 pm Post subject:

You could buy hickory hafts from Purpleheart:
http://www.woodenswords.com/WMA/staffs.htm

The quality of the wood wouldn't be in doubt. Wink

If you have a local Eastern martial arts store you could buy a " BO " staff and use it for a spear but if you are looking for oversized ( Over 1 1/8" ) or octagonal hafts it might be more difficult to find.

I've mounted some spear heads on a White Oak Bo staff with good results and reasonable confidence since I have trained with a Bo staff for European quarter staff and they hardly show any signs of impacts after years of use against other staffs of lower quality wood.

Chris Arrington · Posted: Fri 17 Dec, 2010 3:20 pm Post subject:

Jean,

I'll check them out, but I was wanting square. Octagonal is a possibility I guess.

Scott,

I remembered you all discussing replacement handles, but when I looked, I thought they were too short. How long are they? I'll look again this weekend.

Thanks guys !

Scott Hrouda · Posted: Fri 17 Dec, 2010 4:30 pm Post subject:

The wheelbarrow handles are 5 feet (60") long. My finished poleaxe is 5' 7" (67") long. 5 1/2' to 6' is in the right neighborhood for a poleaxe. I would like to get my hands on a copy of Waldman's Hafted Weapons in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: The Evolution of European Staff Weapons between 1200 and 1650 that Chad has recommended.

Ron Reuter · Posted: Fri 17 Dec, 2010 4:33 pm Post subject:

Chris,

I also had a hard time finding a haft for my polearm. What I ended up doing was purchasing 2 pieces of oak that measured 1 1/2" x 3/4" (1x2), 6 ft long, and glued them together (lowes). I ended up with a piece of oak 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" inch. I then used a belt sander to quickly size the board to roughly 1 1/2" x 1" . I then used my router and carved 45 degree angle on each corner. The seam is very hard to see. I have included a couple of pictures.

Ron