A friend of mine has shown interest in my blacksmithing work and has commissioned a staff from me.

Here it is.


As you can see it is not so difficult, the grooves are 2mm deep and there are a total of 20, 10 a side, the patrons name will be in the center and their initials on the ends. It will be 2m long and 2cm wide.

The entire length of the staff will have a hammered texture to it and I think it will look very nice.

The only problem is it might weigh quite alot but my friend says he wants to use it for training so I look forward to making this.

Thank you all for reading my posts I appreciate it very much. Fell free to drop any comments I look forward to them.

Just out of curiosity, are you planing on making it out of mild steel or high carbon?  If you do make it out of mild steel and he trains with it, you can expect it will bend quite easily.  Something like this should be made from 5160 and given a good spring temper.

Have fun heat treating that long of a piece too. You might find a local business that does heat treating. Sounds like fun though. I really like the idea. I'd also try to make it as smooth as possible. That metal will give him some serious blisters just from a little use. Even perfectly ground down it will. What about some nice leather wraps at different intervals along the piece? That might help his hands.

What's the diameter and length?   I might go with black pipe and end plugs myself...

That's a good idea Thomas. A good piece of sucker rod would be pretty good.

Just because you can make it in a CAD program does NOT mean you can forge it . Many Smiths here can draw about anything with a pen /pencils and or paint it in full details of a project . That does not do a bit of good if the smith is a Newbie and has absolutely no smithing capability of making anything .

 

This is a complex design and a bit over weight, I hope you change your mind and look for a lighter material. Good luck with your endeavors.

Sam 

Thomas

As you can see it is not so difficult, the grooves are 2mm deep and there are a total of 20, 10 a side, the patrons name will be in the center and their initials on the ends. It will be 2m long and 2cm wide.

as a juijitsu instructor, who also buys crucible L6 in 1 inch rounds (2.5cm) I can state clearly, that after handling them in the shop,  I do not want to do any Kata with a 6 ft (1.8m) bar of steel,  its too heavy.  Better to use  2kilo weights strapped on the wrist.  go ahead and make it, but fair warning.

so about 5 kilos in weight as a solid shaft.  Fast work with it will really stress the joints.

 

I'd still go with the pipe with end plugs and fuller rounded rings on the ends, sharp edged ones will be rough on the hands.

I agree with Steve and Thomas.  5 kilos is a lot of weight.  Better for slow strength training I would think. 

Maybe make 2 ?   A heavy one for strength, and a light one for spinning and the like ?

Easy there, Samcro. Remember the rules for playing in Glenn's sand box. No throwing sand.

I did some editing on it.

 

Sam

If the finished piece needs to be as close to the drawing as possible, i.e. the grooves, it looks more like a  candidate for a machine shop than a forging. Just a thought...

Why not machine aluminum instead of forging a steel bar?  A steel staff would be nearly impossible to use due to weight.  Aluminum would drop weight, but might bend easily.  Personally, I'd just go with a good ole waxwood staff for martial arts purposes.

I see a possible entry in America's funniest home videos. Personally I try to stead away from customers that are "Cronicly Ignorant" if he really wants a work out bar, let him reperpose the bar out if a weight set. Then I don't feel bad when he hurts himself.

I did some editing on it.

Sam

I liked the original myself

5 months since original posting - hummm wonder how it's going? Razz must be all done forging and forgotten about it by now, and forgot to post pictures of the final staff.

Im working on some photos. its been hectic for me these past few months. i was working in a game farm for two of them writing exams for another one and the other two I was just lazy to come drop by and visit with you guys. I have more time these days though as you will see soon with my many projects that I have lined up. The staff was a great success with my client and he loved it. I lightly textured the staff shaft with my hammer after heating the shaft, hot chiseled in the lines and engraved his initials and name all in the space of about an hour. The end product weighed 4 kg in total.

Lol, I hope you had him sight a liability waver ;-)
Looks better in the flesh than your sketch up.

Well it was the second design I ever did on Sketchup so Im glad you think so. I find it helps to pull out the final product on sketchup as it gives you the insight into all the little nooks and cranies rather than a simple pencil drawing.

fairplay razz you made what he asked for! i trained for years with staffs but only wood - i like the spring and dont want huge shoulders :) but many of my more Commited friends used every training aid they could in steel... :)

Just because you can make it in a CAD program does NOT mean you can forge it . Many Smiths here can draw about anything with a pen /pencils and or paint it in full details of a project . That does not do a bit of good if the smith is a Newbie and has absolutely no smithing capability of making anything .

This is a complex design and a bit over weight, I hope you change your mind and look for a lighter material. Good luck with your endeavors.
Sam

I wonder however where the idea that this was a complex design came from? this type of comment I would have expected on a post like my Frostmourne replica one where the idea was as thick as jell-o not on one as simple as this. I have pulled off much more difficult builds than this including my candle holder, my recent leaf handle sets and my numerous knife blanks.

fairplay razz you made what he asked for! i trained for years with staffs but only wood - i like the spring and dont want huge shoulders :) but many of my more Commited friends used every training aid they could in steel... :)

I have always had the opinion that if I have never tried it before then there must be a way I can do it. Even if it is beyond my skill range, maybe I learn something from the experience. People learn a lot faster from getting things wrong rather than getting them right. I we never got anything wrong we would never be here in the first place, many innovations are bred from mistakes.

Looks good Razz.  Keep it up.   Sure would hate to drop that thing on my foot or possible smack myself in the face with it.  Some lessons are better learned hard I guess :)

razz - i share your oppinion - i Never know how to do the things i try to do. and you learn Very quickly that way :)

I wonder however where the idea that this was a complex design came from? this type of comment I would have expected on a post like my Frostmourne replica one where the idea was as thick as jell-o not on one as simple as this. I have pulled off much more difficult builds than this including my candle holder, my recent leaf handle sets and my numerous knife blanks.

 

While I will Not fault your efforts there is quite a bit of difference in forging a rod/ staff. Then there is using a smooth bar and adding hammer marks and carvings to it . end result your friend was happy with what you gave them . well done with your project .

 

Sam