Pilum Shaft

[Matt Lukes]

Avete!<br>
<br>
I understand that the preferred wood for making a Pilum shaft is Ash, however I'm not so sure how easy it'll be for me to find a 2x2 around here- certainly Home Depot, etc., and building suppliers seem to have only Oak, Hemlock and Pine. I won't be throwing it much (maybe a couple of times just to try it), it's more for show, so I'm curious what peoples' opinions are about using these other woods. I'm leaning toward Hemlock myself- I understand it has a very straight grain like Ash does and that although it's classified as softwood, it's actually harder than some hardwoods.<br>
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Any opinions, especially those coming from first-hand experience, are most welcome.<br>
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Valete.<br>
<br>
Matt<br>
(Vancouver's Legion of 1 ) <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Ave!<br>
<br>
What about Birch? When I looked into making one for a friend several years ago, ash handles were around, but only in sizes that would require a lot of work to trim down. However, my local lumber company at the time (sutherlands in Kansas City, MO), had 1-3" birch closet rods which worked perfectly.<br>
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Looking at the flora of the Roman empire, Birch was definately a common tree throughout most of the empire.<br>
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Here is a link to a site that talks about the silver birch tree:<br>
www.euxton.com/silverbi.htm<br>
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Just a thought in case you can't find ash that is to your liking.<br>
<br>
Britannicus<br>
<p></p><i></i>