“Reviewing” a Polearm I Made (& Thoughts on its Use)
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
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Polearms are sort of under-prioritized on the historical reproduction market, compared to swords. So I modified a cutlass by grinding it into a symmetrical, double-edged blade and mounted it on a hexagonal staff that I made from hickory boards. Not exactly a masterpiece, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
Works nicely for some cutting tests, and to discuss a few spear / polearm techniques.
The wood glue I recommend:
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Everything is better on a stick. The quarterstaff staff is the next logical step in polearm evolution.
kebabs?
So...a twin-polearm ?
Why is it named quarterstaff while it is an absolute fking UNIT of length?
That sounds head-less pike to me
@@TTCello because historically, knights used 4 times the length of a quarter staff to beat up the samurai at the battle of Khwaresm in Central Asia.
Ah, I see you've fashioned yourself a medieval social distance enforcer
Wasn't a greatsword a more suitable implement for such a use, being often seen as a bodyguard's weapon? Or an awl pike, if you're talking only about Medieval polearms?
@@F1ghteR41 You really only need something ~4 feet long, if your arms are at least 2 feet.
I love it. Skall says that it's not pretty but holy shit do I disagree.
I do think the swordstaff simply was repurposed inherited swords. Swedes were notoriously well armed compared to the rest of Europe. The peasants even wore armour into battle after all.
From generations of plundering and warfare no doubt.
@@southpawmoose Yes and no I guess. The swordstaff mentioned by the landsknechts is obviously a lot younger than the viking age and arms and armour were locally produced in a fairly large scale.
@@foxtroika1698 Sweden had massive iron mining operations from ancient times to past WW2. This in turn became the foundation of their large weapons industry with brands like Bofors, Nobel and SAAB.
Wait for some guy who never studied history and just heard something online come in here and be like "akchually"
@@johndododoe1411 Depends on the area but generally yes. Which is partially why I think they simply repurposed old swords into polearms. They had more modern ones available after all.
I took a katana and pulled its handle off, but kept the fittings. I then used galvanized steel piping and couplers to create a new handle for it of the same approximate dimensions. I then took more galvanized steel pipe and made a mace of approximately the same size and weight as the katana. I then used couplers to make it so I could combine them. I now have a piece that can be used as a swordstaff / naginata or as individual katana / mace pieces.
Polearms are definitely under-rated and under-represented in most games, media, and fiction.
I like the build videos for sure! Super interesting to see someones, who has a background in martial arts, thought process while making weapons.
Just imagine being skallagrams neighbor, you look out side your window and see this
Shoot, id go spar with him...
Oh, he's out in the woods, that's no backyard.
@@johnjacobjingleheimerschmi6655 you would "spar" with a man that is outside playing with his large shaft? You are a braver person than i
@@DH-xw6jp it's exactly what I did every day as a child, up until just a year ago. Besides, he's holding it backwards....
I am so proud of you. Particularly of your grinding - unsure what tool you used but it looks good! In the future, try brass or copper for ferrules. It’s so much easier to work with and you can silver solder a sheet into a closed ring without sacrificing much strength. I’m looking forward to future projects. Making small blades is NOT difficult, it’s just time consuming (though I find forging and grinding swords to be very difficult).
It is likely even stronger. If it breaks it doesn't break where the glue is.
Why use wood then? Just glue the glue to more glue.
Fabrício Lara perfectly reasonable
6:17 "Make it easier to carry around"? Good idea. If it's shorter you could conceal it as a broom.
Yeah... What's he going to do? Take it down to the corner store? Imagine a tallish dude, all in black, wearing a mask, with a flippin' polearm on his shoulder!!😳
From my experience, most wood glues are comparable. The "fast set" wood glues usually are not real wood glues and don't bond as tightly. The most important part is getting an even pressure and flat contact while it is in the vices. You don't want it to be perfectly smooth -- if the contact points are perfectly smooth run a rough sandpaper over it to give it a bit of grip. Give it time to properly set and the pieces of wood will be practically one new piece.
I would recommend possibly incorporating a steel band attached to the guard to go down each side of the haft along with some thinner bands to wrap around and hot rivet everything through the haft to reinforce around the tang. Takes more technical skill but I would think would be quite capable of reducing the likelihood of splitting the haft near the tang
I would merely put an iron shoe on the but to keep it from splitting, add a counterbalance to the blade and give you more impact in a but stroke.
Absolutely enjoyed this video. Outside, great techniques, entertaining & fun all the way through. Fabulously AWESOME
I have the 25" Windlass Hewing Spearhead on a stick, it does much the same thing as Skallagrim's cutlass, and it is a reasonable low-cost polearm. Keep up the good work!
congratulations Skall! 😊 I'm so happy for you
sliding strikes are great. It's a knife, and you don't want it stuck, so power isn't really needed. BUT, you can pivot your entire body into it and create ridiculous power. More than the two handed thrust imo, IF you can hold it steady at the end. The brace from two hands is pretty fantastic.
I'm enjoying these behind the scenes segments!
Looks very nice and pretty functional. I definitely recommend cutting down the butt to fit a lizard killer at least. If done right you can tune the balance to make it more precise
TengenTrand tested the two handed thrust vs the one handed but stabilized thrust. The one handed one was better for penetration, just put your whole body into it. BUT that doesnt make the other useless, I'd say the former is more defensive & the one handed one more offensive. Like if you stab a galloping horse its better to hold the thrust with both hands.
Gluing is okey, glue in most case is stronger than wood.
I would have liked a full video of you making that polearm. Skall the Blacksmith vibes here.
Skall, you could make a follow up video in the future for a more completed version of it or you could try to make a second one with this experience to guide you.
The two piece glued shaft actually would be stronger against impact than a single piece construction, assuming the glue held. In engineering terms, it's called asymmetrical failure fronts.
You need to do a "mochikae", a technique used in naginata jutsu that is basically changing grip while you make the first slash.
Nice polearm. I'm now inspired to attempt making one myself when I visit Alabama.
Interesting video and interesting weapon. Though if I can make one small suggestion? Put a butt cap over the end. That way it'll protect the end from splintering and prolong the longevity of your weapon.
You could put a mace head on the back for counter balance and versatility
I personly love seeing the stuff you make
Good work. I like it, historical accuracy or not, it would make an excellent multi-purpose poking/smacking/slashing stick.
In fact, I might have to give this one a try!
Super interesting. I've learnt so much from Skallagrim.
Must be a Black belt at rex Kwondo....just missing the flag pants
A net of chains situated towards most one side might be the best compromise for hand protection and freedom
Great Video Skall! The quality of production and the interesting content are just outstanding :D Hope you're well.
No counter weight/pommel I'm disappointed in you skall
Watch till the end of the video before commenting. He mentioned that he wanted to add a butt spike but ran out of time.
Running out of time is still going to make him disappointed so your argument is weird, to say the least.
Hey Skall, this might be a long shot, but if you need good hickory shafts, why not just buy hickory lacrosse shafts?
There are a number of very good options out there, and I can speak from experience, they're pretty solid, and they can come in lengths of 5 feet long. Fix a spear or halberd point, and you could have a nice polearm.
And the best part is, lacrosse shafts aren't round.
You need a better push stick for the table saw. Either a plywood push block you make yourself with a heel step and the handle in the middle of the top, or just buy a Micro-jig one at the home center. And a feather board.
I like the quite simple concept of the "bladed staff" ever since I wielded a German Boar spear (Saufeder) some years ago.
Two month ago I finally mounted my Cold Steel Bushmaster with the Bowie blade onto a 1 1/2 inch ash rake stick. Now, unless the blade is quite light, I love the handling of this fucking mean weapon.
I would keep it in the length it is now. If you want something shorter, more agile that is sharp, go and get yourself a short Assegai.
The Zulu tribe fought quite successfull with it against the British.
I really enjoy you making stuff! Try to forge a blade next!
"Lot of penetration, thatswhatshesaid BOOM" followed by Skall grunting noises
Why is watching Skall playing around with a self-made stick so fun?
I would argue that in the case of modern, commonly available, lumber, laminated lumber is actually stronger than single pieces. One would be very lucky to obtain a perfect specimen of good quarter sawn Hickory at the local store. Laminate 2 pieces of flat sawn material, selected for proper grain orientation, and you have a very strong piece of wood.
give into the 40% deet bug spray Skal. it works so good. you can even spritz your face, just try not to spray too much on your lips or get it directly into your eye balls.
Hey Skall if you're looking for a good polearm I would highly recommend the Cold Steel boar spear. I have one personally and though I don't know about its historical accuracy, I can attest to its build quality being great and a really fun piece to have.
Damn colour me impressed I expected it to fail when you were chopping at that stump good job.
"I originally wanted to make a swordstaff" ... Do go on. (I love that weapon)
Look out, Skall is getting some technical skillzzzz
I used to work with 16th century pikes that were 16' long. Can be hard to control the point.
6:40 the shining blade of the sun
Love it! Big fan of naginatas and bo staffs and most polearms. You should check out The Stormlight Archive. Great fantasy series and the main hero character is a spear specialist...great stuff as always!
When Skall gets old and grey he is gonna be so freaking badass
Ash for European authenticity, hickory for even greater strength.
Agricultural suppliers are great places for handle material. Round poles can be shaped with a draw knife or a plane.
So basically a medieval europe Naginata? Nice!
Just replayed Dark Souls 3 for the 8th time and this concept somehow made me remember my favorite weapon, the Dragonslayer Swordspear. And I always thought if someone can somehow replicate it IRL and here I am.
What's the best weapon against a single wolf? And how about three?
I think it's awesome! Good job sir!
I wonder would a leaf shaped blade with a more prounced and pointed end be better for a spear type like that? or for a swordstaff?
Skall at the end looks like an old sage
PLEASE.... PLEASEEEEEE Skallagrim! Pleaseeeee make these for sale! How much? 800? 8000? I know there has to be an 8 in that number
Skallagrim, I had a question, and I would love to hear your feedback on it:
Could there be a better way to modify a war scythe for combat?
My one idea for it was having the blade of the scythe to be vertical (similar to the Polish(?) pole-arm variant), but the length of the shaft is shortened to about 4 1/2 - 5 1/4 feet, and has handles attached to it (about 2 feet apart from each other).
When you were discussing why you made it double edged around the 7 minute mark why not just rotate the pole in your hands? so the blade faces the opponent again without having to change your arm position? Then it would act as if you had start the strike from the right side of your body. Unless it's a case of losing momentum?
Ah, a Partizan.
Probably?
You get a like just for your rebel "sue me" attitude lmao, I love your humor
He needs to make a double ender next.
So you made a partisan?? They were super popular in like 16-17 century and the not fancy ones were literally made with sword blades sometimes
Polearms represent! I've always thought they were so cool.
Pretty cool!
Now cut a groove on the end, add little fins for stability.
4:40 thats a splinter waiting to happen
Speaking of swordstaffs, LK Chen makes a Han Dynasty era swordstaff called the "Sha" - ua-cam.com/video/FTBagvDyTk0/v-deo.html
It looks simple and works well who says something has to look pretty to work well a basic looking tool defiently leaves with more room to damage it as theres nothing really to "care" about
That huge Mosquito on 14:16 freaked me out.
I'm like "Is that a smudge? Please Tell me that's a Smudge and not a mos- YEP a big comfortable mosquito sucking on his eyebrow for like 15 seconds" lol
...better than more polearms I've seen on the market
Do doubt about it you can thrust much harder with a single handed thrust then a dual handed thrust. It is not about power, it is about speed.
Did you varnish the shaft with anything? I have a Celtic spear a colleague and I made and wanna know with what I should varnish the shaft but that still keeps the capacity to slide on one's hands like it normally does and just as you show in the video. I know Joerg Sprave uses linseed oil for a lot of stuff but I've never used it so I don't know how a shaft would handle with that.
Around 4 minutes in, my brain called out, 'Why is he using it backwards?" I had to watch a bit more, thinking, to realize that it is because I tend to wield two-handed weapons (staff, spear, rifle) like a lefty. I am right handed in anything that takes one hand.
With additional thought, I realize it is because of a combination of dominant eye for rifles, and learning spear and polearm against shield users, so going lefty gave me more openings.
I made similar thing! I found it great but I made it on knee and it soon fell apart. But i wanna make it better. Used just 420 katana-like decoration. Soon had rly weird shape until blade flew away :D
Almost like the one you devastated on concrete
Must say second edge was rly missing there
Wait, are those used bottles of handsanitizers? Clever!
If anything the glued together handle is stronger than just wood
The quarantine made you specialize your fighter class into a tank I see. Many of us brother became tanks.
Any experience with the Chinese dagger-axe with spear (ji)..?
Ha! I made several of these to sell. I still have one I kept for my own use, I had to give the rest of them away, lol..
I think we all know why there wasn't time to put the spike/blade on the bottom end- making it screw in properly takes a lot of work, and obviously it has to unscrew...
If you want to stress test it, bring Eric over. He will have that blade broken off of the shaft in no time! 😛
So you made a western version of a Naginata.
He makes a yari with a guard, way to go gaijin
That's kinda what I imagine a good boar spear looks like
that is the spear i want to use
Time for tatami mat destruction with polesword.
Yari, The word you're looking for is Yari
Not really, a yari may look somewhat similar in profile but it has a completely different cross-section and edge grind.
Nice
what was the overall leangth of the polearm?
This is just the ZNA Productions spear with extra steps.
So, we've gone into the territory of the HEMA version of weapons bubba-fication.
I kind of want to see Skall play Warframe, just cos of the intricate melee system
You get galintine and spame it
You’ve basically made an oddly shaped naginata.
The old swordstaff. Medieval II Total War’s best militia unit
10:33 the bottom did not move at all!
I know the bugs can be bad, but the forest is beautiful. Is this in a Nordic country? I'm embarrassed, because I don't have a clue. It could be South Carolina, for all I know.