Beech War Club
 

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/d...AgedBeech1.jpg

With a 30" ruler:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...AgedBeech2.jpg

From the top:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...gedBeech10.jpg

From the handle:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...gedBeech11.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/d...gedBeech14.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/d...gedBeech20.jpg

Finally, up against the tree in the yard:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...gedBeech15.jpg

Thanks for looking.

Hi Queequeg,
good job :) , I love the 'organic' head. Did you notice any 'weight gain' after the club was soaked in Linseed oil ?

Regards David

Fantastic! I love the look, its like a clerics mace! Top marks mate. Great work!!

Yes! Actually, I did notice a weight gain, so I would say that the soak tank did its job successfully. One thing I did to the head, for which you gave me an idea, was to fire harden it.

So, I put it in my propane forge and started to heat up the head until it browned. I then immediately put it into the linseed tank ("quenched" it, I guess, for lack of a better term), figuring that, in addition to hardening, the wood grain would have expanded and soaked up more linseed oil.

Some test whacks proved my theory.

Thank you very much. :)

VERY NICE WORK I NOTICED THERE IS A NATURAL OPENING IN THE CLUB HEAD, NOW ALL YOU NEED IS TO FASTEN A NICE SCALP LOCK THERE. :D
I AM ALWAYS GLAD TO SEE A NICE PIECE OF WOOD PUT TO GOOD USE.

Nice job. :)

Very nice :)

Nice:)

Sweet job! I wonder if you can get the wind to whistle through that hole if you swing it just the right way?

F

Great idea! lol
Perhaps a mournful cry or even a wailing?

Now that's a good idea! I have to work on finding a suitable candidate... :D

You guys got me curious enough to (ahem) take this outside in the back yard and swing it around in the wind. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a whistling sound, and my neighbors now think I'm a bit more... eccentric than before. :D

LMAO!!