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Julien M
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 Posted: Mon 07 Jun, 2010 3:25 am Post subject: cast steel warhammer |
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Hi Guys,
Was looking at some exquisite complex warhammer heads the other day and I wondered if it would make sense to build one using the lost wax technique. Cast stell would not be eat treated...and I suppose historical examples were forged and eat treated (at least the pike must have been) in order to puch through armor or at least not flatten like a rivet when attempting to do so...
Any thoughts on this?
Cheers,
J
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JG Elmslie
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Mon 07 Jun, 2010 5:14 am Post subject: Re: cast steel warhammer |
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| Julien M wrote: | Hi Guys,
Was looking at some exquisite complex warhammer heads the other day and I wondered if it would make sense to build one using the lost wax technique. Cast stell would not be eat treated...and I suppose historical examples were forged and eat treated (at least the pike must have been) in order to puch through armor or at least not flatten like a rivet when attempting to do so...
Any thoughts on this?
Cheers,
J |
In theory, there's nothing to stop cast steel being done in whatever alloy you wish to specify, and it then being heat treated accordingly. If its being cast by a decent company, it should be homogenous...
Of course, if you're casting EN1 spec mild steel, its going to be almost impossible to harden the steel, be it cast, ground or beaten to shape, so it's all down to what alloy is being chosen.
The vast majority of tools like cold chisels, chisels, planes, even saws, from the 1850's through to 1950's, by companies like Mathieson of glasgow were cast steel, so that indicates that the casting process can certainly create exceptional quality, impact resistant peices.
And it sounds like you're thinking along almost parralell tracks as I am... alongside using lost-wax casting for hilt parts and the likes, I've been contemplating its use for a few lucerne hammer heads specifically made for lichtenaur WMA sparring, with things like an internally hollowed, flat-faced hammerhead and a back-spike that's flared out to a "spoon" shape to reduce risk, while also reducing mass/area.
I've been rather tempted by the idea of doing the majority of the parts for a replica of the wonderful modular pollaxe depicted in the Thott thalhoffer MS by casting - certainly the head(s), buttspike, the animal-headed langet bolts and the likes might well be best cast and then hand-finished:
The only thing stopping me, really, is the last shred of common sense clinging to my brain telling me "very good, but what would you do with it once its made?" 
(edited for a few typos, and to resize the image...)
 Attachment: 156.6 KB
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Timo Nieminen
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| Posted: Mon 07 Jun, 2010 1:37 pm Post subject: |
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It's been done.
I have a cast warhammer head. Well, a cast zaghnal head, but close enough. Cast ones look to be quite common, maybe even the majority of those being sold. If a respectable steel, and properly heat treated, why not?
But the cast ones tend to be more recent, and are perhaps peacetime parade arms. Whether or not they're made to survive use is another story.
"In addition to being efficient, all pole arms were quite nice to look at." - Cherney Berg, A hideous history of weapons, Collier 1963.
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