Hi everyone, I just found this place and it seems to be a great wealth of knowledge, so hopefuly you guys can help answer a couple of questions for me.  I've been into medieval arms and armour for a couple of years now but lately my interest has turned to the more primative, so I was glad I stumbled across this place.

First off let me just say that I have absolutely no experience with any from of woodworking or any other crafts, but I've alot of free time on my hands and the patience to learn.  So with that in mind, what I would like to make is a wicker shield, and a couple of fire hardened javelins, for an Irish kern, which were light infantry, similar to ancient peltasts.

So does anyone have any advice or know of any good online tutorials for making a wicker shield?  As for the javelins I know that I'm goin to use holly but thats about it, as I'm not really sure what they should look like yet.  Should they simply be a stick sharpened to a point, or should the head be shaped more like a small spear head?  I've done a bit of reading here and I've learned that they should be fire hardened, but should I harden the whole piece of wood or just the tip?  If the whole thing needs hardening, then that might be difficult as I only have a small fireplace at home.  I've read that a gas hob can be used instead of a fire, but what about an electric hob, would this work, and how long would it take?  Also should the wood be shaped and sharpened before or after the hardening?  What about sealing the wood with the likes of lin-seed oil, would this be needed when all is done or is the hardening process sufficient.  Thanks in advance for any assistance.

First off yes along with the shield and javelins I will also be carrying a sling.  The Irish were known to be lovers of projectile weapons, throwing javelins, dart, stones, and if those failed throwing insults    Thanks for the tips on fire hardening though I'd still like to know if can be done over an electric hob and how long it should take.  I should have mentioned that the shield is supposed to be oval shaped and slightly convex.

There is a weapon called the Kern dart, thrown with a cord, do you know much about it?

To fire-harden, push the point into the ashes at the edge of a fire so the wood is not exposed to air. It will turn brown without catching fire, but if it chars you have overdone it.

I'd also be interested to know how you get the weight right on the javelin, so that if flies and strikes point forward

Thearos wrote on May 27^th, 2011 at 12:15pm:


I balance it one third back from the point. The natural taper of a sapling helps a lot if that is what you are using, otherwise a lot of woodworking is needed.

One thing that has surprised me is the tiny socket diameter of archaeologically recovered iron and bronze javelin points. These are often around the 1/2" mark. Either they were mounted on a forward taper, which I cant think of any reason for,  or they were on very skinny shafts.

I have never made a javelin, I have made primitive arrows and atlatl darts.  Straighten the shaft before putting the point on, see the post on survival bows for how to straighten the shaft.  Any source of heat will work, if it gets hot enough to boil water.  Ash is a better wood than holly unless holly is what you can get.  Use a sapling, once you get it straight, your point should be the big end, as you scrape it to a point, the largest diameter of the shaft should be around the 3/4 to 5/6 mark, that should be your balance point also.  Never did a fire hardened tip, can't help you there.  When using heat to straighten, try not to scorch the shaft, it weakens it.  A good primitive finish is to burnish the shaft with a piece of bone and then wipe it down with a vegtable oil or animal fat.  I make spear shafts by ripping a rough cut 2X4 and then plane it round, then rasp off the marks and sand smooth.  These are thrusting spears, I prefer  white oak.  Bill