Tapering a doru haft step by step

[nikolaos]

Hey folks,

Cole here, I'm a member of Taxeis Plataiai. Having a working Plataian civilian impression I've started working up my hoplite kit. First out of the gates is a doru as I had all of the parts on hand - A Kult of Athena spear head, a plain brass foot for a serrauter from Lee Valley Tools, and a baulk of ash my father and I harvested from the family land back in the nineties that has been air drying since.

Rather than repeat the entire post on the step by step construction I made on the Hoplologia board, I've included a link...

http://www.hippeis.com/forum/index.php?topic=160.0

I hope that isn't gauche!

Have fun!
Cole

[Kineas]

Nice to see you here, Nikalaos!

[caiusbeerquitius]

This is what I see when I follow your link, now after Ißve registered to your board...

An Error Has Occurred!
The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you.

[Kineas]

I can see it perfectly well, but I'm a member. I'll ask our webmistress for guidance and apologies in advance.

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Welcome here,Nikolaos. Very nice process,and i like that you went the difficult way! Ash is said to be the best wood for spear shafts,having the better combination of lightness and strenght. That said by Victor Davis Hanson in his "The Western Way of War" (good book,by the way). There are some surviving shaft pieves stuck in the heads and butts but haven't read of any analysis of what kind of wood they are.
Khaire
Giannis

[nikolaos]

Thanks guys!

Giannis: Thanks for the compliment! Ash really is a lovely wood. Its easy to work, light, flexible (I've seen an ash pikestave bend 90 degrees and spring back) and conventiently my childhood home stands on thirty acres of transitional cedar swamp/ash forest. Unfortunately most of the milled ash we had in stored has been consume by various projects over the years, however, green ash is good for spear shafts too, and once we have a bronze axe, wedge, and mallet I can see a tree felling and riving expedition being an excellent piece of experimental archaeology.

Christian K: Have you tried again? I logged out of the Hoplologia board, and was able to follow the link through, and tried on a different computer as well...

Have fun!
Cole

[Kineas]

Christian had joined the Hoplologia board but not posted, so he was trapped in "welcome" space.



I'm anxious ot do one of these, and the axe is being ordered! That's a grand idea.