[Jonah Marlow]

Hello everyone. My backyard has recently been overran by a horde of water-bottles. I am going to reconquer it with my A&A Iberian mace, but I wish to know how to properly dry the wooden haft when finished

[Julian Reynolds]

If the haft is already well oiled (say, Danish oil) then this shouldn't be an issue; it will already be waterproof (or at least 'water resistant'!). Whatever you do, if it gets really wet, dry it slowly at room temperature (as with all wood) otherwise it may warp or split.

Julian

[Ben Coomer]

Generally, drying wood correctly involves leaving them alone in a warm dry place for a while rotating occasionally. As usually the wood gets to an equilibrium with its environment, so in humid areas you'll need to get it in a drier place and in arid areas you need to be more careful in it over drying, but mostly drying wood is just a matter of patience and trying to prevent warping.

[David Hohl]

I'd agree that if it's just been splashed, you should be able to just dry it by leaving it out where it can get a bit of airflow. I definitely recommend oil or wax, which will both make the wood stronger and keep moisture out. If it gets really soaked hang it up somewhere cool and dry (drying fast can cause both warping and cracks) for a few days.

[Jean Thibodeau]

If finished with oil I would think that it would have to be immersed in water for quite a while before water got more than the surface wet.

Oil or wax before use, wipe and polish with a rag and water should just bead on the surface.

I finish my hafts or walking stick with linseed oil and over time build up a nice lustre on the surface of the wood. You can refresh the surface with a coat of boiled linseed oil, hand rub in for a few minutes and then remove the surface oils: The nice thing is that you can then handle the wood and it doesn't feel sticky or even very oily. One can do this regularly to maintain a good water resistant finish.

I would just dry the surface with a paper towel after it gets wet, let it dry completely to the touch and give it again a wipe on wipe off of oil.

[Ken Speed]

Well, in general Danish oil is usually really a slow varnish which is why it can build a finish. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with a Danish oil finish, I just want to make sure you know what you're using. I'd use a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine ( it smells better than paint thinner) and work it in with an oily rag every few days for several months. When you have a nice low gloss luster that you're happy with, put on a coat or two of paste wax. i use Butcher's wax. As long as you wipe the mace down after use and wax it occasionally you should be golden!