Queequeg
22nd June 2009, 10:15 PM
Still inspired by all of the shillelagh and war club talk we've had here, especially the ash club that Katana made, I made this out of a beech sapling which a farmer let me harvest, since it was "in his way".
I never worked with beech before; it's really heavy and fairly dense: the perfect material for a good root-ball war club. After stripping the bark, sanding, staining, and drying it, I soaked it for a full week in the linseed oil tank. I also found a new way to get a good, realistic looking patina going.
Full Shot:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech1.jpg
With a 30" ruler:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech2.jpg
From the top:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech10.jpg
From the handle:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech11.jpg
I love the head on this thing. While stripping and cleaning it, I found that it had a natural "hole" from the way a smaller root grew and connected with the rest of the head:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech14.jpg
The roots had really deep fissures between them, making for some nice potential impact points. This is a shot directly overhead to illustrate further:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech20.jpg
Finally, up against the tree in the yard:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech15.jpg
Thanks for looking.
I never worked with beech before; it's really heavy and fairly dense: the perfect material for a good root-ball war club. After stripping the bark, sanding, staining, and drying it, I soaked it for a full week in the linseed oil tank. I also found a new way to get a good, realistic looking patina going.
Full Shot:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech1.jpg
With a 30" ruler:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech2.jpg
From the top:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech10.jpg
From the handle:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech11.jpg
I love the head on this thing. While stripping and cleaning it, I found that it had a natural "hole" from the way a smaller root grew and connected with the rest of the head:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech14.jpg
The roots had really deep fissures between them, making for some nice potential impact points. This is a shot directly overhead to illustrate further:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech20.jpg
Finally, up against the tree in the yard:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd143/Detroit_Panday/AgedBeech15.jpg
Thanks for looking.