ball head war clubs.

Is there a secret to carving the ball?Or do you just follow the old adage about carving "just remove all the stuff that isn't a ball" and then sand your self crazy?
also,When do you know it's dried enough? is there a test?
 
savagesicslayer said:
Is there a secret to carving the ball?Or do you just follow the old adage about carving "just remove all the stuff that isn't a ball" and then sand your self crazy?
also,When do you know it's dried enough? is there a test?
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If I'm using a block for material, I use a compass to draft out the circle on three sides, making sure all three are perfectly aligned with each other. Then I use a hand saw to cut it to rough shape. The next step is to saw down the handle section on the sides to free up the ball section. Then I shape the handle, then the ball, and then the final shaping of the entire thing. I do it in stages.

If I'm using a sapling/root ball or a branch, yeah I pretty much just remove material till it looks like a club.

I leave my material to dry slowly in the basement for a minimum of one year before I use it.
 
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I went out in the woods and found myself 3 root balls today.I know I have the right stuff now because sweet merciful crap is that stuff ever hard.I bought a set of carving knives and a rubber mallet so I can get the shape right.
My first one cracked all over.I don't think it was the right thing but It really put me in the mindset to get this thing done.
Is setting it next to a dehumidifier too quick to dry? Or in the sun?I have a broad barn roof I could just chuck them on there and let them do their thing.
 
Wolf_1989 said:
Yes I make all my clubs.

They're all made from one solid piece of wood; the ball is not a separate piece glued or pinned on.

It takes me about 3 -4 weeks to make one, by hand.
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Hello Wolf 1989, Hey when you get a chance could you shoot me an E-Mail my address Is In my signature, I'd like to talk to you about your Ball Head War Club's, Thank's !
 
savagesicslayer said:
I went out in the woods and found myself 3 root balls today.I know I have the right stuff now because sweet merciful crap is that stuff ever hard.I bought a set of carving knives and a rubber mallet so I can get the shape right.
My first one cracked all over.I don't think it was the right thing but It really put me in the mindset to get this thing done.
Is setting it next to a dehumidifier too quick to dry? Or in the sun?I have a broad barn roof I could just chuck them on there and let them do their thing.
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I've found through trial and error that drying the wood slow -very slow - works best.

Find a nice spot in a cool dry basement to place them and wait about a year.
 
It also helps to obtain the material during the cool part of the year, from late Fall to early Spring, because the sap has stopped running and this makes drying it easier.

I obtain my blocks from a local wood mill, rummaging through their scrap bins. I look for heart wood and it must be absolutely perfect - no knotholes, cracks, splits, etc.

Blocks are strong enough if you pick the right material. I test each club before the final sanding and staining on a tire pell. I've tested a few on sheep skulls. I've yet to break one. Remember, baseball bats and sledgehammer handles aren't made from root balls and they're plenty strong enough.

And these clubs aren't made for busting concrete; they are made for busting skulls and bones.

The oak club seen in this thread is ferocious. It's the longest war club I've made and it has a full two handed grip on it.


Suggested woods:

Oak
Cherry
Maple
Ash
Hickory
Hornbeam
Osage Orange
Locust
Black Gum

Walnut would make a pretty club but I'm not so sure about the strength factor. I'm also curious about making one from Sycamore, as it is a good dense wood.
 
Wolf, did you ever think about selling any of the stuff you have made? i always thought your hawk mods esp. the rifleman's hawk was the best i've seen on here. i know i would love to have one of your ball head clubs for the collection:)
 
Actually I'd like to do that.

All I need to do is upgrade to some more modern tools instead of relying only on using knives, hand saws, and rasps... and I need to find a steady source of material.

I reckon I could make one of these a week if I did that instead of my current method of the last 20 years of doing it by hand which takes nearly a month to make just one, plus allowing my hands to rest for a while after doing it. Carving that oak one was grueling. It was like carving a brick.

I can only imagine what it was like in the old days, using bone and flint tools.
 
I know exactly what you mean. I was cutting up the roots of the maple root ball with a small buck saw,axe and my SF shovel and it was hard enough.imagine getting half way through a root system and breaking your flint blade on a rock?That must have been maddening.
 
I have an apple tree in my back yard that has to come down. Would that be good wood you think? I know when it dries it's hard as heck to carve.
 
Shotgun said:
I have an apple tree in my back yard that has to come down. Would that be good wood you think? I know when it dries it's hard as heck to carve.
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There's no 'rule' about which woods to use. Traditionally osage and hornbeam were amongst the most used. And you also had clan specific wood too which in my case would have been hickory.

But fruit trees were also used. The Iroquois for example had some nice orchards by the 1750s. I've read they would often intentionally plant seedlings of a suitable species in a steep hillside and thus have a sort of war club farm growing all the time.

I'm fond of using cherry as a medium. It's suitably hard, it has a nice tight grain and it's easy to carve compared to coarser grained woods like ash, oak, or hickory. It's also gorgeous once it ages a bit and that natural cherry color comes through.
 
Wolf_1989 said:
The Iroquois for example had some nice orchards by the 1750s. I've read they would often intentionally plant seedlings of a suitable species in a steep hillside and thus have a sort of war club farm growing all the time.
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That's one of the coolest things I've ever heard.
 
IMHO this is a great thread. Speaking of osage orange, a few weeks ago i lugged a section of osage measuring about 10"around x 6 feet long. i still can't believe how heavy that species is! Down a hill and across a stream from my house is an early 1800s Mohawk village site and this tree ( cut down by the farmer and this piece left to rot) was in a fencerow that runs right through the site. I'm gonna use it as handles for the tomahawks i forge. I'm not sure if osage was around this area(North Ohio) though at that period? Also i've got a nice black tupelo in my backyard i'm gonna try handles from soon.
 
What makes osage orange such a good material isn't its density as much as its incredible springy nature and resistance to shock.
 
I've read somewhere that the Timucuans would fashion war clubs by taking large shark teeth and implanting them root first into a young tree. After the tree healed the teeth would be firmly embedded in it. Cut it down, debark it, let it dry and viola, heckuva war club.
 
savagesicslayer said:
Is setting it next to a dehumidifier too quick to dry? Or in the sun?I have a broad barn roof I could just chuck them on there and let them do their thing.
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Here's a trick I learned from making bows in the field (can't take credit for the trick, learned it from a friend...).

If you've got green wood that you want to season reasonably quickly without too much checking (cracking), try this:

Take your club blanks and wrap them in a paper bag. It doesn't have to be tight, just enough to somewhat restrict airflow.

Then take the club and put it in the back of your car for a couple of weeks. In the normal sunshine, the wood will dry quickly. However as the moisture leaves the wood, being inside the paper bag gives it a little "microclimate" that helps to even out humidity and suppress checking.

Typically this approach can season wood to equilibrium in about two to three weeks. When I lived in Southern Arizona, it would only take a week in summer :)

Short of that, the other comments here about letting it sit in the basement for about a year or so are right on the mark. Seasoning wood requires patience, but I've found the short cut above to be successful about 80% of the time.
 
You can also coat the ends of the wood with some melted paraffin wax to seal off those pores while it dries. That can help reduce cracking and checking too.

I just do it the slow way. I don't *need* a war club RIGHT NOW so I can afford to wait.

If the zombies or aliens start taking over, I have plenty of ammo, khukuris, tomahawks, and other goodies. :cool:
 
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