War Hammer and Battle Mace questions ...

mc5aw

mc5aw

Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Messages
295
I just ordered the War Hammer and Battle Mace and was hoping for some insight from CS or owners of either weapon. Do the langettes provide enough support for the shaft from breakage or lesser damage? I've seen historically accurate reproductions of both weapons with langettes that go half the length of the wooden shaft, while the CS versions go < 1/4. Obviously any wooden handle is prone to breakage if struck incorrectly, but I'm curious to the durability of the included langettes, as well as if longer langettes are available from CS or another supplier?

I'm going to lightly sand the finish, then darken the wood (TruOil), hoping to achieve a more weathered look. I may also look for a steel cap to use as a ferrule if I can find something appropriate.

Advice, ideas, etc. are much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
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I was wondering why the hammer face on the new War Hammers was changed ?
 
The faceted hammer face increases the impact force on the raised corners.

I have the pole axe with the milled face hammer.
 
Speaking of battle maces, I'd like to see Cold Steel bring back their Battle Mace. As the CS catalogue said at the time; "the club was man's first weapon".
 
I received the Hammer and Mace today, and am generally pleased with both. The Hammer came with a beautiful wood shaft, though the two-tone grain may be prone to splitting. The Hammer head is painted a gloss black, and has a smooth polished face. I was expecting the four-square "waffle pattern" face, but I guess CS has redone its hammers. The Mace is quite crude in comparison, with a roughly finished chunk of steel for the head, and an unfinished wooden dowel for a handle. It took some serious pounding to get the Mace head properly seated onto the shaft, so I'm quite certain the retaining screw will be unnecessary. I hope to take on some cinder blocks and 2x4s this weekend, but judging by the heft of the Hammer and Mace, they seem up for the task. The Hammer is definitely easier to wield, as the Mace is head heavy and difficult to rebound as quickly. Each looks to be a very formidable weapon.
 
mc5aw said:
I received the Hammer and Mace today, and am generally pleased with both. The Hammer came with a beautiful wood shaft, though the two-tone grain may be prone to splitting. The Hammer head is painted a gloss black, and has a smooth polished face. I was expecting the four-square "waffle pattern" face, but I guess CS has redone its hammers. The Mace is quite crude in comparison, with a roughly finished chunk of steel for the head, and an unfinished wooden dowel for a handle. It took some serious pounding to get the Mace head properly seated onto the shaft, so I'm quite certain the retaining screw will be unnecessary. I hope to take on some cinder blocks and 2x4s this weekend, but judging by the heft of the Hammer and Mace, they seem up for the task. The Hammer is definitely easier to wield, as the Mace is head heavy and difficult to rebound as quickly. Each looks to be a very formidable weapon.
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Mc5aw, did you order your Battle Mace from "that auction site", one of the first hits to come up when you do a search on it, with a prominent "discontinued" label and "at least 10 left", or words to that effect? If so, what did you think of the transaction? Were you pleased?

If that's not the source, and if the source was a commericial site, would you mind PM'ing me the site?
 
BK ... The vendor I purchased from was belote (a name that I have seen mentioned on this site before), and the transaction was excellent. I emailed the vendor about the different hammer faces, and received an immediate response admitting that he didn't have an explanation, but that he would look into it. I'm satisfied with what I received, as I did some additional research and found the 2014 War Hammers have the waffle pattern face. I assume I received an older smooth face model before the refinement was made. The price was right, and both weapons arrived in short time.
 
mc5aw said:
BK ... The vendor I purchased from was belote (a name that I have seen mentioned on this site before), and the transaction was excellent. I emailed the vendor about the different hammer faces, and received an immediate response admitting that he didn't have an explanation, but that he would look into it. I'm satisfied with what I received, as I did some additional research and found the 2014 War Hammers have the waffle pattern face. I assume I received an older smooth face model before the refinement was made. The price was right, and both weapons arrived in short time.
Click to expand...

Great; thank you! That's exactly who I was talking about...mine should arrive on Tuesday.

Yes, your War Hammer is an older one. I've got one just like it....the waffle pattern is their new one.
 
I don't remember when I got my CS hammer, though it feels like over 10 years now--so it definitely has the old face. The langets were a pain to put on with the tiny little screws, and I eventually just took them off. There is an old adage about if the tool in your hand is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail, and I have nailed a whole lot of odd stuff with that hammer over the years. It is a lot easier to swing than the typical 8 lb sledge for demolition purposes; it doesn't hit as hard of course, but you can land 2 or 3 very precise hits in the same time frame and get nearly the same effect with far less fatigue. I remodeled my 1926 house by taking it down to studs in places, and that entailed a (literal) ton of lath and plaster; after some amusing attempts with various tools, I discovered that between the hammer face and the pick end I was tearing through faster and safer than with actual modern demo tools. Percussion and piercing aside, the pick made an excellent lever for popping up the slats. I used the same trick numerous times to break down pallets that were too damaged to reuse or recycle once my wife discovered an interest in xeriscaping with boulders. It also helped me wage war on the previous owners bamboo grove (who plants bamboo in a desert, I ask you?) by being just long enough to reach and pop out the finger-thick runners without being long or sharp enough to break them outright. No agricultural tool came close. So over the years I have beat on so much stuff with that thing that the shaft is actually curved a bit like a long banana. I would swap it out, but it actually lets me hit things even harder. Eventually you will have to reset the head if you are going to hit enough stuff, and you can see the pattern the langets made when I still had them on and it's quite a bit lower than where the head is now. There are a few dents from missed swings, but the lightness of the head means the handle suffers less than expected as compared to a sledge. I have done nothing but oil and abuse it for years, so I would have to say the langets are a cosmetic addition to an essential homeowner tool.
 
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