[Aaron Morris]

well if you look down the mace along one of the corners you can see how it was welded , and at the bottom there even appears to be a spot of slight undercut however there is probably more though as I don't notice things like that as well as others

[M. Eversberg II]

That's kind of nifty looking. Certainly a less well known piece.

M.

[Jim Mearkle]

It looks suspiciously similar to the one shown here:

http://www.wayfarersmoon.com/index.php?page=140

[Witek Chmielewski]

Interesting. Who would have used one of these? It has quite a utilitarian look to it.

[Thom R.]

something has happened over time to this one. i just got one from windlass and mine is nearly 6 pounds! (2650 g, I can take a pic of the thing sitting on my lab scale iydbm). i have a friend who bought one about a year ago and his is 2180 g, more like the one in the posted review. Mine has a POB of about 5.5 inches from the end of the handle and at that weight it is not wieldable in one hand. not by me anyway. the handle though is big enough to take two hands. its like a 6 pound steel baseball bat in two hands though.. what i am saying is rather than a mace, it is more like a short polearm. there is a reverse profile taper (wider towards the point) from the handle but no taper in the thickness of the flanges. I think that is the fatal flaw in this reproduction - no distal taper at all in the flanges. I also suspect the steel bars on the latest batch are much thicker than before.

the good news is the steel does seem tempered and I don't see signs of the welds... at all. not on mine anyway. other than the weight issue and the funky windlass handle wrap I think this is an interesting weapon for the price but it looks like it is going to have to be modified to be a keeper. when I get the handle off I'll take a photo and post it. another shop project. tr

[Nathan Robinson]

[Eric Fick]

I purchased one of the bar maces and found it to be fun for one night of smashing stuff. we used an old file cabinet at about 20 gauge and it was a blast (GREAT HOLES). After that, its pretty much a show piece for schools and demos as another example of a mace. It worked well both single hand with shield and two handed. All and All i think the proportions are all off but for the price its a fun buy if you wanna smash something or deal with home invaiders.

after a bit of hitting however we found that the handle bent (alot like the pictures actually) but it has now found its place as a wall hanger.,

[Thom R.]

Thanks Eric, given the weight and its distribution thats exactly what I was worried about and why I want to strip the handle and examine the tang/rod. Nathan, its a good news / bad news kind of thing. being tempered is good for an impact weapon, but..... that makes it hard to modify and honestly I think one would spend more money on grinding/cutting wheels than the piece is worth. but cutting it down might be an option........ tr

[James Head]

[Nathan Quarantillo]

Its windlass. they absolutely have to screw it up SOMEHOW, and other than chopping up fence posts and marketing them, this was the best, most noticeable way to go about doing so .....

[Eric Fick]

I think you will notice the Tang is a bit on the small side when you take off the handle wrapp that is where my beast got bendy.

I would have to agree that grinding may not be worth it in the long run, have someone make you a better one A&A maybe

[Thom R.]

OK here it is stripped down for your viewing pleasure

its more good news /bad news. good news is that the four flanges continue all the way.... I had thought after Eric's comment that maybe the tang of this weapon was just the one flat bar like a sword tang. but no, it is four flanged all the way to the pommel. bad news is that you can see how it is constructed - notice how the four bars are not fully welded on the tang end leaving some slots exposed

also you can see the grip is simply all leather. the leather cord wrap is not glued down either and I suspect needs to be removed no matter what as it will definitely come loose with use. actually i suspect the whole grip will come loose with use. the pommel is also fully welded onto the tang.

my guess is the pommel is about 300 grams. stripped of hilt, total weight is 2510 grams. given the length and ignoring the tapers for now, that means that the mace end is about 82 grams per inch. so if I remove 8 inches, I should get the weight down below 2000 grams. that would leave a mace with a total length of 21 inches stem to stern, with 12 inches on the business end and a 9 inch hilt. Thats still in the range of most maces. So now that I have seen all of the bar, I think that makes the most sense here. I am considering cutting off the pommel end too and grinding it for a peened pommel assembly with a different pommel. I think given the geometry of the four flanges, a faceted rather than round grip is in order too.

[Nathan Robinson]

Thanks, Thom, for the photos. It's probably better to call that thing a "butt cap" rather than a pommel.

[Jean Thibodeau]