[Radovan Geist]

Some time ago I have found an interesting combination weapon that was auctioned at HH: a combination of war hammer, rapier, and a musket rest:
http://www.hermann-historica.de/en/seltene_mu...rentpos=28
After some research I have found similar peaces in several museums in Europe.
I have decided to create a similar piece. The hammer had was made from an old pick axe that I´ve found in the ground when we were re-cultivating the garden.
First I have shaped it with angle grinder, adding some details with files. The hole was drilled and enlarged with files - it was quite a tedious work, because the steel was unexpectedly tough. The first picture shows hammer head with what remained from the pick axe. Second picture shows the other side.

[Mark Moore]

Now, I can't wait to see where this goes! That will be a VERY interesting weapon, indeed! .......McM

[Guillaume Vauthier]

I remember having seen a rapier/musket rest combination in the Musée de l'Armée in Paris. Pretty bizarre weapon!

I'm impatient to see your version of this triple weapon in one!

[Radovan Geist]

Some updates on this project. I have enlarged the socket a bit and cleaned the hammer head. To give it some bling, I´ve made a simple copper inlay round the flat side (picture 1). Those little holes are for rivets that will attach a collar, which will hold together the hammer/rapier with the haft/handle of the musket rest.

The upper grip was made from a piece of oak wood, reinforced with an iron cup made from some old tube. A first assembly is on picture 2.

Next I´ve made a collar - an old tube again flatted, cut and filed, with two integral rivets for attaching it to the hammer head. (picture 3).

Picture 4 shows it assembled together. That hole in the side will receive a spring mechanism that will secure the hammer/rapier on the haft.

And the last picture shows it mounted on a blade (I´m using an old rapier blade, thin but sturdy, that was bought some years back from a friend of mine - I knew I will put it to some use:)). As you can see, I have carved the grip, now it feels much better and safer in hand.

[Mark Moore]

I'm liking it....liking it a LOT! Love the spiral grip....that's classy! ......McM

[Radovan Geist]

Thank you, Mark. I have made a plain grip first, but did not like to so much, so I have replaced it with this one.
There´s a little update: I´ve made a spring mechanism that will hold both parts together. It´s extremely simple: just a spring with a button, which will click into a hole in the collar, under the hammer head.

Now I need to find some suitable material for the haft. I have no clue how it was made on original pieces (did they drill / burn a hole for a blade?) but I will probably make it from two (preferably oak) slabs, chiselling the core, gluing them and shaping to oval cross section. Let´s see how that´d work.

[Radovan Geist]

The project is nearly complete.
The haft was made from an oak wood - two halves carved and glued together (pic 1).
Using an angle grinder and a rasp, I have first shaped the upper part (pic. 2), then the rest. It took me some 3-4 hours.
Next two pictures show the completed piece, and a detail of the hammer head. Now I will make a fork-rest, and finish the haft, and metal pieces, with sand paper.

[Mark Moore]

Awesome job! That is going to be one VERY unique piece! Do you have a musket to fit that bad boy? If ya don't.....ya need one! .......McM

[Radovan Geist]

Hi Mark, thanks. Sure, I do. I´ve made some myself http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=303...mp;start=0 but this one is going to be used with an early-type snaphance musket I´d bought a year back, once the project is finished.

[Radovan Geist]

The forked rest was made from a piece of steel 20*2*1 cm (picture 1). I had to make it quite massive to make the "rapier" well-balanced. I have shaped it with angle-grinder, and then bent it in a vice (pic 2).
After some more shaping, cleaning and drilling a tang-hole, the piece was ready for the final assembly (picture 3).

[Radovan Geist]

Here are some pictures of the finished musket-rest/hammer/rapier. The spring mechanism is little stiff, but at least I do not have to worry when swinging the hammer around. Rapier is quite well-balanced, with the POB some 3 cm from the "guard" - it allows sufficiently good control over the point.
To be honest, I´m really wondering how much were these combination weapons really practical. Still, I kind of like it:)

[Guillaume Vauthier]

In fact, from my experience, 3cm from guard is not close to the average historical rapier PoB. The average that I found, with a sample of about 30 to 40 historical rapiers was about 10 to 15cm from crossguard, depending to the blade length (average 12,5cm, with a standard deviation of 3cm).
In terms of proportions, the PoB is at about 1/9th of the blade length.

However, in your case it can be interesting to get a PoB closer to guard, to have more power in your hammer strikes. Every situation has its pros and cons.

That's quite a nice piece anywway, congrats!

[Mark Moore]

Excellent work! Very authentic looking. It would be interesting to hear about how these combinations fared in actual combat. Would one use the rest end to fire as many shots as possible, then switch to the hammer, then to rapier as a last resort weapon? It seems to me that if the musket rest could be removed quickly, and be replaced by a long spike--maybe contained in the butt-end of the shaft--now THAT really would be a combination! Just a thought. .....McM