tiaha & patu have arrived. the taiaha is a nice heavy hard wood, surprisingly weighty compared to the other slightly shorter taiaha which is a NZ evergreen wood. this one just reaches the bottom of my chin, which i understand is about the right length for me.
oiled finish, not lacquered. 1 old wormhole that goes all the way thru & a couple shallow holes about 2mm deep. a number of dents from parrying as noted earlier. ill give it a few drinks of boiled linseed (flax) oil.
the newish patu has a clear urethane coating (would have preferred an oil finish), nice grain, couple shrinkage cracks near what look like knots in the wood that do not go all the way thru.. coating doesn't go all the way thru the lanyard hole which is fairly roughly bored. very sharp edges on the 'blade', 245 gm. 12" x 4" x 3/4". gave it a braided leather lanyard as a present. this one is not plastic.