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Post by mrstabby on Jun 20, 2024 9:11:37 GMT
I am planning, pondering a project. Been running to the hardwarestore for months to find straight wood with the right grain, now the question is what dimensions should the finished shaft be and how edge alignment would work on a hewing spear. The wood is almost too big for my hands, so I can remove quite a bit. Should I make the shaft ogive or rectangular for edge alignment or how does it work in hewing spears? Normally on swords I like grips that are ogive 25x30mm/1x1,2" for edge alignment, but this kinda feels too small for a polearm. I have played around with staffs at the store and ended up buying a 30x40mm/1,2x1,6" rectangular and a 35mm/1,4" round to make the shaft out of. I am leaning towards a slight rectangle of 30x35mm/1,2x1,4", does that sound right?
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Post by mrbadexample on Jun 20, 2024 10:44:43 GMT
I’d knock the corners off of the rectangle a bit to make it more octagonal, but yeah. I’ve handled glaives with a similar setup, and it worked well.
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Post by larason2 on Jun 21, 2024 2:13:42 GMT
My bo staff from Kingfisher is 1.25 inches and round, and that feels like a good thickness (at least for me!). However, if you're going to cut with it, I think the cross section should be ovular, so you can tell blade alignment. As for how to do it, I think you have the right instinct. The Japanese make it rectangular, cut off the corners with a block plane, then continue from there. Any free hand carving is going to make it a bit wonky. I also have some spoke shaves I really like that would work well, but they can be pricey, whereas you can usually find a rusted stanley plane or such at a flea market and restore it pretty easily. Forget about buying a cheap plane at a big box store. Those things are useless. I wouldn't make the cross section egg shaped, if that's what you mean by ogive. An even oval on both sides is standard for a polearm.
So, my opinion would be oval with the widest dimension 1.25 inches, aligned with the blade edge. I'd try the thinner dimension 1 inch and see how it feels.
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LeMal
Member
Posts: 1,145
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Post by LeMal on Jun 21, 2024 5:06:02 GMT
A strange but easy fix to get a shaft where you can easily feel blade alignment is to use a round shaft, then glue an extra strip of rectangular wood top and bottom in line with the blade edges, and give it all an overwrap.
(E.g. a long time ago I just did a couple with multiple popsicle sticks, jute cord with wood glue, then suede with wood glue. Nowadays if I did one that way I'd use rawhide.)
Sounds silly, but it works great.
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Post by mrstabby on Jul 12, 2024 14:31:48 GMT
Next question. I know the grain should be perpendicular to the pin direction, is there and rule to anything else? Like is it OK to be perpendicular to the cutting edge direction or does it not matter? Just want to give it the best chances since it isn't the best wood for a spear (beech, couldn't find ash or hickory in the size and shape I needed, at least not for a reasonable price - godsdamn ash fungus). Maybe I could find oak, but I am not sure it would be much better to beech, but correct me if I am wrong. I also heard hazel works (which I could harvest), but wouldn't it be a bit too flexible for a hewing spear?
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Post by mrbadexample on Jul 12, 2024 15:30:46 GMT
Considering the value of images, I recommend that you look into the preferred grain orientation for bokken. You will want something similar, and there are good diagrams out there.
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Post by mrstabby on Jul 12, 2024 15:38:39 GMT
I know what grain structure I need, it's about how it should be oriented towards the cutting edge or does this not matter?
EDIT: Looks like for hammers and axes conventional wisdom says in parallel with the cutting edge is best. Then I will have to drill a different hole in the spearhead....
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Post by larason2 on Jul 12, 2024 22:49:20 GMT
I don't think it matters too much. No matter what it's going to warp a bit. Beech is actually a pretty good wood for the purpose, pretty fine grain and dense.
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