Anybody make stone clubs?

[T.C.Albert]

There are also the leather covered round stone headed "sling shot" type war clubs used heavily in the south west. Do they count?
TCA

 

[StevePrice2]

Birdman - on the thin handles of the originals. I suppose the plains indians figured that one out as the first post image shows the proof.

They are from around 18 inches to 38 inches in length suggesting both foot and mounted use. Sort of like polo on horseback I guess, but polo for keeps.

I think the rawhide works on the slim wooden handle like sinew does on a sinew backed bow. Strength and spring.

Needing to know for my self I whipped one out today while taking a break from the other one. I took a potatoe shaped stone and pecked the groove around it with a harder stone and hafted it with a 5/16ths hardwood dowel 22 inches long. Then wrapped it in quick rawhide i.e.-duct tape.

The head weighs 11 oz - not very heavy at all. I tested it on a can of water, a 3/16th ply board and a pine pallet. As well as mother earth with FULL SWING blows. The performance was nothing less than amazing. The dowel held up fine and the duct tape made the difference in the dowel not snapping.

Ghettogun - Yep the flex on my test sample was very evident as it absorbed blow impact, bounce back and deflection, nicely.



The11- this is definitely not the dainty type of coup stick. Even this 11 once job would be a bone breaker. Perhaps riding up to one's foe and poking a club at him for a soft touch would work ... then you could go for a home run if warranted.


T.C. - yep, I found one online that was an original slingshot type with a crude lead ball attached on the end like a mini-flail. the ball looked to be about 2 inches or just under that. Probably would weigh around 6-8 onces. still an awful lot of energy in it when swung.

Hopefully the videos work. I'm having fun doing this and excited that the first one I'm crafting is coming out well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TZ7x23wE4&feature=channel_page[/youtube]



Paul - the following post shows the tools, mostly. The elbow grease picture didn't come out.


Steve

PS- only one video linked up.

 

[StevePrice2]

Paul- here are the basics and the tools.

not much to it really...it ain't rocket science ....more like peeling stone onions.

Saw, rasps, files, the half round cuts the groove, finer files, sand paper. finish with nose oil ( native culture traditional) or butter, crisco, wax, whatever and plenty of rubbing.

The saw is a masonry saw resting on a chunk of soapstone from VA. the source is online under Black Pearlstone or something like that.

I saw off a blank then block it out and go to rough shaping. It's all done in my hands or lap and sometimes leaning against a support. There's so much rotating the rock that securing or clamping would be a hinderance. The shaping is all just done by eye for lack of better description. I keep thinking of the sculptor's quote " you just take everything away that isn't the sculpture" Kind of simplistic but true.

Then you go from rough shaping to final shaping and if the blocking and roughing were done as expected the finish work of smooth filing, sanding and polishing reveals your handiwork.

Like crafting anything I suppose it helps to think it through and envision ahead of your progress. The old saw - measure twice... applies.

I'm hoping the black soapstone one turns out well. The rawhide is soaking and getting ready for the hafting part of the project. Like I mentioned early on this is a first attempt at one of these for me. Fingers crossed.

The hafting experiment worked to my satisfaction and answered questions about the long slim handles, rawhide wrap and stone head construction. I had to search online for a while to find some originals in various stages of assembly and discovered the original hafting "secret" that made these effective and sturdy.

IT'S SO EASY A CAVEMAN COULD DO IT!


Steve

In the video I appear one handed...nope, one's holding the camera. :wink:

Before it was this war club head, the rock was from a local sand and gravel quarry I picked up a bucket full this week for me and shooter 250.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uzYY6ZSm0o&feature=channel[/youtube]

 

[brubincam]

-----I never found a stone ax with a groove and a hole drilled in it--is that your invention ?-----

 

[Birdman]

Steve great experiment. The stone ya used in the vidieo is the about the size of most of the originals I've seen so it really made an impression. yeee ouch man that would deffinately ruin your day. I've seen all sort of shapes to the stones too from flat disc to the pointed shape you are working on. Guess the Natives used whatever was handy n would work. OH YEA if ya would , set the camera down n use two hands man ya scare me trying to use a knife that way, wouldn't want ya to lose a didgit or slice something else important. Rubincam I agree about the drilled part but I have seen many many ax/club heads that have a grove around the centers for the hafting.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Steve: Thank you for the detailed information. I really did not know if a file would touch a piece of granite. I was aware that soapstone can be carved- but getting a chunk of it is the problem! I have never seen a saw like that, so I will try to find that supplier on line.

Around here ( East Central Illinois) we have various granite rocks brought down from Canada by the Glaciers 12,000 years ago, that we find in steam beds that have been rolled and polished by the water and other water born debris. I used to look for a rectangular shaped rock that was fairly flat. Now, I think I will look for a more round piece and see if I can't shape it as you have done.

If you need a source of raw hide, don't forget those rawhide " Bones" that are sold in Pet Stores for Dogs to chew. A lot of varmint hunters throw away the critters they kill. That is another source of good tough hide. Ground Hog comes to mind as a particularly strong leather that can be used for lacing, or for this kind of work. Squirrel hide is also tougher than rabbit, and can be used, raw, or tanned for a wide variety of equipment.

 

[StevePrice2]

rubincam - Is the drilled hole my invention? No, not exactly. ALL the grooved axe heads I've seen, too are as you describe; ONLY the groove pecked or abraded around them. I think they were hafted with a green piece of wood that was split and thinned then wrapped around the stone head while still green. Then sinew or rawhide wrapped and secured and allowed to shrink and dry before use.

The drilled hole is however entirely accurate on the plains indian soapstone club heads. Many Egyptian mace heads had the hole cone shaped and going completely through the head and the handle was carve to fit like a steel hawk handle or a hoe or froe for that matter.

The partial hole was the trick for the soapstone heads. It kept it from flopping over NOT the rawhide or a groove in the end of the handle. So I adapted that partial hole (with a masonry drill bit) to the granite hard smooth cobble that was already egg shaped when found. I pecked the groove with pointy ended smooth quartzite cobble and drilled the hole just past halfway.

Pecking a groove is NOT that hard. Once a few strokes crack the smooth surface and a tiny crater is formed through impact. Then you continue and crush the corners you create. The groove gets deeper, your hands get tired and heaven forbid getting flesh between the two rocks. YEOW!

Now to get back to the project.

 

[StevePrice2]

Birdman- Sorry to freak you out with the knife stunt. I use it 6 days a week many times a day and it stays sharp to cut without much force or slippage. Otherwise...yea, I should have shown more care or there could have been bleeding.

The long flexible handle really made all the difference in smashing that pallet to bits.

I don't know if you have used hammers much but the same principle applies IMO. A 24 oz framing hammer with the longish handle just does wonders way and above over the more traditional lighter and shorter hammers. The flimsy skinny dowel at 22 inches really added the speed to my test club.

 

[NRAJOE]

"Cool...where can you get made stone clubs?"

Originals?

Accurate replicas?

or tourist junk?

Steve

Accurate replicas.... :thumbsup:

Guess I'll find one somewhere...