Ambitious
indeed!! This work took like a whole 2 months of my time in the metal shop and
forge. I’m sure production would have been speedier had it been winter and if I
had not had to contend with monstrous amounts of heat (sourced in both the weather
and the forge).
It is
a variant of a flail (or ball and chain mace for you lay-people), in that I
have never seen an example of a cylindrical headed flail in either pictures,
film or illustrated works. I wished to try out the look, as it parallels the
look of a grinder or meat hammer (pulverizer) nicely.
I’d like to say that this is a comment on the single minded focus of medieval life
to survive whatever the cost . . . but it’s not. It’s me playing around in the
shop, creating for “free” what to buy would have been prohibitive. And of course, I’ve always wanted a flail. I
think a “long knife” is next in order, but I must find some high carbon steel .
. . hrmmmm, anyone own a truck that doesn’t need it’s springs anymore? The leaf-springs to
be exact??
Anyhoo, on to the pics ( i MUST get digital pics
done, these are too grainy, but they’ll have to do).
Here you can see the whole flail. It has
about a 5’ overall length. The handle (or haft) is composed of two twirled bars
of square stock steel , capped in steel bands. The
haft tapers toward the bottom (though not by design). There are a couple spots
on the haft, that I am not happy with, but I’ll go
easy since it was my first attempt at the process.
Here you can see the head of the flail
better. The head is a stainless steel water pipe that likes to break drill
bits. The spikes are made of ½“ round stock, ground into points on a grinding
stone. The spikes were spot welded in place on the inside and then lots of weld
went inside to seal any holes. The top and bottom are 1/8th” steel
and were put on one at a time so I could fill the interior with course grit
sand. The top was places last with a link made especially for it and then
welded in place. The grinding of the excess weld was a bitch (very scary
holding a sharp spiked object on a spinning stone wheel), but will teach me to
be a little less sloppy in the future (even if it is 30 degrees outside and I’m
wearing a welding jacket and mask and gloves . . . yuck!!).
Here you can see the haft and the chain a
little bit better (yes, that is a camp chair in the back ground . . . my apmt is sooooo sad). The links
are of medium ¼” steel (forged from scratch) and can take quite a bit of
weight. I didn’t bother welding them, since I wanted to stay “true” to a ethic of as little machining as possible in the haft and
chain. The head I could have done in the foundry, but that takes a lot more
time. Maybe some other time, when I’m not possessed of my
sanity. Though I must admit, an aluminium or bronze head would look
pretty sweet . . . hrmm . . . *losing* . . . *grip* .
. . *on sanity* . . . * now!*
Or not. Anyways, more pics soon of the finished, cleaned
and polished product.