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Rebuilding an SCA Poleaxe

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Sir Rodney:
Weapons used in full contact medieval sports require frequent inspections and maintenance, regardless if their construction is rattan, wood or steel.  I fight in a rattan-based combat sport (SCA) and my favorite weapon requires an overhaul.

The initial construction and modification of this poleaxe can be found on the Armour Archive at: New poleaxe, thanks to this forum

SCA weapons should be carefully inspected before each combat, re-foamed annually and completely rebuilt as necessary.  The foam used to achieve “1/2 inch of progressive give” typically breaks down due to age, water saturation and repeated compression on your opponent’s body parts.

The foam on this weapon wears out quickly as it’s sandwiched between a half-round piece of rattan “blade” (aka a clacker) and the leather main body.   The head had also worked itself loose (wobbly) and needed to be strengthened.  I’m surprised the haft is still in great condition and not showing any mushy spots.  This is probably due to the fact that it’s been shaped from a 2” diameter piece of rattan down to a 1 ½” octagon cross section and due to the fact I try my best to avoid hafting my opponents.

The first step is to strip all the plasti-dip, duct tape and strapping tape from the weapon.  This is a gigantic, time consuming pain.

Sir Rodney:
The second step was to construct two pieces of saddle skirt leather to overlap and sandwich the axe head, shaft and hammer head.  These were tightly secured in place with rubber cement and allowed to cure for a day.  After the cure, I drilled holes and stitched the entire sandwich together with heavy duty waxed linen thread.  This fix will keep the head much more secure as I had only used fiberglass reinforced packing tape and duct tape to hold the axe & hammer heads in place initially.

Thorsteinn:
I hate rebuilding poleweapons.

Sir Rodney:

--- Quote from: Thorsteinn on 2015-11-05, 23:39:38 ---I hate rebuilding poleweapons.

--- End quote ---

True!  ;)

Sir Rodney:
I've included a photograph of the old foam which clearly shows degradation from use.

The new foam is stacked one inch thick which will easily allow for the SCA required 1/2" of progressive give.  I'm trying something new for the first time to hold the foam and clacker to the head, mounting tape.

I found it in the adhesives section of the hardware store and a little light bulb appeared above my head.  This double faced super-sticky tape should work much better than the glue I've always used.  Plus it has the added benefit of having a thin foam core to add just a little bit more cushion.  Only time will tell.

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