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Destichado — Flail Montage
Published: 2005-05-19 11:14:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 4315; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 368
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Mwahahaha! It is finished!
Despite its smashing my hand up quite nicely, I'm very pleased with how it turned out.
For perspective, I've set the flail next to an older (three years?!) work, my "cudgel" -a repro of an eastern european horseman's mace, based on the pictures and measurements from an old Sotheby's auction. I'm quite certain it's a horseman's mace, because I've thrown my thumb out more than once, trying to throw fast snaps or combinations with that monstrosity.
The flail is *much* lighter, and as far as I can tell it's a fiercer weapon. After a point, you really just can't be sure anymore.
It swings quite comfortably in one hand, but as you see, I made sure there was ample room for two when I set the hand guards. The ball was originally a trailer hitch, stripped of its chrome and given spikes. Speaking of which, I am *never* making spikes this way again. I don't know what I'll have to do, but building up pyramids from barstock with a welder was just *stupid*. Seemed like a good idea at the time.... 9_9
I gave the chain a half-twist to keep it from snarling up like chain tends to do, and langets to keep the shaft from being ripped to shreads when the spiked head knocks into it.
Fun project, fun to use, looks decent enough from a distance... this one might get displayed.
...Oh, and that picture of the cudgel with the dagger is, um... for perspective! added perspective! XD Really, it's because I needed another picture to fill that space and it had the same background.
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Comments: 33
Three pieces of 1/4" plate, a piece of 5/8" bar, a ball hitch, a jig, and a welder.
It helps if you know how to use the welder.
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in retrospect, how would you recommend making the head for a flail?
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Thicker bar stock.
The ball hitch ball is fine, and welding the spikes onto the ball is fine, too.
But what *I* did -stupidly- was take 1/4"x1" rectangular bar and built it up into a 3/4"x3/4" pyramid. And then I had to grind and grind and grind to make it look right -and it never does, honestly.
So that's stupid. Next time I'll use 1" round stock and cut it down, or 5/8" square stock and upset the end for thickness, or something, ANYTHING else.
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Looks great! I made a couple of them also...I used bar stock ground into cones, and they worked pretty well. The first time I used nails, and it was terrible...they immediately bent. >.<
How did you treat the wood handle to make it look aged? I love the finish!
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Well, I have a couple possible answers for that.
First, I made that thing out of a red oak 1X4. I sawed it in half, glued it together, and evened the sides and knocked the corners off with a bandsaw. Beyond knocking off the rough edges with a belt sander and a few coats of oil, that's all the finish it got. So, it started out pretty rough.
Second, the handle used to be two and a half feet longer and had a spear on the end. For a good two years it lived its life as a spear shaft and was used fairly hard as these things go. Then the end snapped -I don't remember how- and the shaft sat there in a corner waiting to be shortened and reattached. Instead, I snatched it, sanded the rough edges off again, gave it a new coat of oil just to be safe, and stuck the flail fittings on.
So I suppose I made it look aged by making sure it really was.
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forging damascus as in the swords or the metal? cos i don't think damascus is real, like mithril and adamantine.
at least i -think- they're not real. <_<
anyways, that really does look like a nasty weapon. but how many times have you smacked yourself with it accidently while trying to use it? >:]
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No no, Damascus steel is quite real. Now, no one *really* makes Damascus anymore, because damascus steel was actually the steel produced from a very geographicly specific supply of ore, which was smelted and forged into wootz before pattern welding. What we call "damascus" is really just pattern-welded steel -or "watered steel", for the look of it.
It IS a nasty weapon! But thanks to proper design proportions, I've only hit myself once or twice. Hurts!
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*sneaksneak*
So what about Alita's damascus blade?
<.<
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That's pattern welding. It was made *like* Damascus, with the same technique as Damascus, and everyone who wasn't being a nit-picky history geek will *call* it Damascus. But to be technically precise, it's pattern welded. It the smith was really good, it would also be "core welded" -which places the marginally softer iron or steel to the core and the harder steel to the outside, making the blade even more lively.
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smelted and forged into "wootz" ? ok now i know you're making shit up.
so damascus is real...got any pics of this "watered steel" compared to normal stuff i can gander at? was damascus any better than your average steel or just prettier? or uglier, i have no idea.
(yes i know i could look up pics'n'sheet by meself, but i'm a lazy ass. X3 )
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He is definitely not making this up, wootz steel (they figure) has vandium vains running along the surface which is what allows it to one; look good, two; be flexible and tuff while still maintaining a carbon content about 2% which with a normal carbon steel would make it to brittle and hard and would crack. 3; Although we cannot replicate it now, they are getting close to figuring it out, the problem with previous attempts being that the steel needs to be basically be "hand made" as upposed to large scale. And as destichado said damascus steel as it is generally known is just pattern welded steel simular to that on norse japanese and many other swords. This being said pattern welding was historically a method of purifying the metal. Now it is mainly used decorationaly. The reason swords in the later medieval era don't have pattern welding is that they had already developed the means to purify the steel pre forging, Katana's however are still made with pattern welding as the steel they are made from is still being produced the old way. sorry its so long
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Dang that is some nice stuff, you have amazing skills. 
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Just wondering, when did you start?
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start... what? On the flail? About... I dunno, a month before completion? It only took maybe fifteen hours to complete, but that got strung out over a long time.
start weaponsmithing? Er... a long time ago. 
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That's sweet, so you learn from someone and stuff?
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Nope, all by my lonesome. The internet is the independant hobbiest's friend.
Trust me, if I had a teacher, I'd be forging damascus and raising kettlehats by now.
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Whoa, nice collection. I'll remember not to mess with you.
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You would find me quite harmless, I assure you.
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i must say i'm quite impressed! it's quite a nice collection of weaponry you've created.
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Nice! I really like the rondell. What is the blade profile on that? Triangular till the very tip?
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Thanks!
The cross section is hollow-ground with a hefty secondary bevel. Almost Saber-like. Not to often around here that I get to talk about blade profiles.
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You found a kindred spirit!
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wow, cool! i've always wanted to forge my own weapons and stuff. they look awesome!
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