Building a spear

M

MissDragGunn

Artisan
I need a lot of information about spear building. Im in the process of crafting a spear and I followed the rule book and from what I observed. Last game both my claws and shield was denied (claws were too long and stiff, the shield was too big by 3") granted last time I had to make a full costume from scratch in 3 weeks. I'm just looking for some pointers, common mistakes, and whatever advice you may have!!
 
The biggest rejection-issue I've seen for all longer weapons is "It's too whippy". That is, the deflection angle is too great over the length of the weapon. How much is "too great" and what the proper "deflection angle" might be is totally subjective and up to the local Weapon's Marshall. While the book does say weapons should "not bend more than 6 inches from true when a moderate weight is applied to the tip and the grip is held level" (ARB pg. 82) it's still a judgement call about by the Marshall. So, while I can offer insight into what I've done and the weapon's I've had pass, your best bet is always to speak with your local Staff and get the carrot direct from the horse (or another, more appropriate metaphor).

"Whippiness" is almost always a function of the weapon core. The easiest way to almost ensure your max-length 1-H spear is accepted is to use 3/4" PVC pipe. This is the gold standard from which the original weapons were made and is almost universally accepted as kosher. It does, however, make you a brick of a weapon. 3/4" Schedule 40 (thin-wall) PVC or CPVC is a good remedy for the weight problem as it's the same outer diamter (three-quarter an inch) but a slightly larger inner diameter, making the wall thinner and the pipe lighter. I have found that SCH-40 does not greatly increase the whippiness but greatly decreases the weight. It's a good trade-off. SCH 40 is harder to find as it's not a standard weight PVC. You can either call around to Hardware stores in the area (dedicated Plumbing suppliers are a better bet) or get it off the Intertubes, if you don't mind paying S/H. There are, of course, more expensive cores like kite-spar, carbon tubing, or something more exotic (I've heard of, but never seen, bamboo coores), but that might be a heavy investment for your first weapon: PVC caps out at $2 for 10 feet; carbon turbing is around $8 for 6 feet.

Final note, if you do use 3/4" PVC make sure to find insulation built for a 3/4" pipe - trying to jerry-rig a smaller diameter foam is not only uneccesary but dangerous. When you're buying pipe-insulation, just keep a weather eye out for the Inner Diameter vs the Outer Diameter measurement: you want insulation which fits 3/4", not foam with an Outer diameter of 3/4".
 
Carbon Fiber tubing is more along the lines of $20 for 5 feet and that is with a 1/2" diameter, which honestly works great for 2 handed weapons. Carbon Fiber is extremely strong and rigid. My polearm is made using a 1/2" carbon fiber core and has almost zero whip to it and is the lightest 2 handed weapon I've held.

http://www.goodwinds.com has a great product and I recommend them to anybody looking for a supplier.

I personally like the carbon fiber
(http://www.goodwinds.com/goodwinds/merch/list.shtml?cat=carbon.pultrudedcarbon)
because it's lightweight, much stiffer in a smaller diameter and I know it won't break.

If you are working on a budget, The fiberglass cores are still top quality at a much lower price
(http://www.goodwinds.com/goodwinds/merch/list.shtml?cat=fiberglass.tubularfiberglass)
They just have a little more whip to them so I would use the 0.602 - 0.745 diameter pipe for longer weapons. The 0.505 - 0.524 is still ideal for one handed weapons.
 
on the fiberglass, I recommend at least their 0.707 size...I use that in my staff and it would barely be passable for a 5' 6" length if used for anything else as 2hander.
 
I have built 2 handed weapons with the .505 fiberglass (Goodwinds warehouse is like 3 miles away from me) and the 2/3rds of an inch I dont really like using the .707 as it starts to get back into the not amazingly light realm lol
 
Whip is not a common thing to be a concern for, though it's always something to look out for, imo. The big point here is that it is a thrust-only weapon - make sure your thrusting tip is soft enough to feel like getting stabbed with a marshmallow, and firm enough to provide some bounce back (again, marshmallowy consistency is good here). I usually fail spears for being able to feel the core tip through the thrusting tip. One thing you might consider is capping off the end of your core with something (maybe plastidip?), let the closed-cell foam overlap the tip of your core by about a quarter- to half-inch, then stuff some more closed-cell in the tube to give a good rubbery layer between the actual open-cell tip and your core.
 
jpariury said:
Whip is not a common thing to be a concern for, though it's always something to look out for, imo. The big point here is that it is a thrust-only weapon - make sure your thrusting tip is soft enough to feel like getting stabbed with a marshmallow, and firm enough to provide some bounce back (again, marshmallowy consistency is good here). I usually fail spears for being able to feel the core tip through the thrusting tip. One thing you might consider is capping off the end of your core with something (maybe plastidip?), let the closed-cell foam overlap the tip of your core by about a quarter- to half-inch, then stuff some more closed-cell in the tube to give a good rubbery layer between the actual open-cell tip and your core.
Click to expand...

/\ this also. I do a half inch past the tip on all my weapons & make a closed-cell filler (I am a poke fighter with everything except my staff).
 
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