Moro? Spear
 

Hello everyone, this is my latest find. This I believe is Moro in origin but unfortunately it has had the shaft cut down (probably for ease in shipping) at some point. If I can come up with either a nice piece of palm wood or even a nice length of rattan it should be easy to make it complete without much effort. Any and all comments on its origin or recommendations on its restoration would be greatly appreciated. I cannot wait to see what might be hiding under the rust. :D These are some of the better auction photos.

Best,
Robert

Hi Robert,
I had a few 'cut down' spears. To maintain the integrity of the pieces I 'added' a shaft to the remaining original shaft. This was achieved by drilling a central hole into the 'connecting' ends of the old and new shaft and fixing a dowel (wooden rod) into one of the holes forming a spigot. This allows easy connection /disconnection.

All the best
David

Hello David, and thank you for your suggestion on the restoration of this piece. I was thinking of something very similar if I can find a matching piece of wood to make an extension to the original shaft. I thought like you have mentioned to drill a hole into the end of the existing piece and then turning the end of the new extension on a lathe so it would fit into the hole. Then a band of the same metal as the collar could be used to hide the seem. I will see if I can post a better photo of the remnant of wooden shaft in case you might be able help in its identification. Thanks again for your help.


Best,
Robert

Congratulations
 

Hey Robert,
Congratulations, I just saw your title. Abuse the power :D

Here is a method in which a Budiak's shaft was cut for ease of transportation and put back together.

Kino, Thank you for the photo of the shaft repair. The main problem that I have with this spear is that the section of shaft that was cut off was not kept by who ever cut it down. Can you by chance identify the type of wood that was used on my example? I know that the photos that I have posted are not the best but until it arrives they are the only ones I have. The shaft on yours looks to be made of black palm wood to me, is this correct?


Best,
Robert.

P.S. Thank you for the congratulations and suggested use.:D

THE WOOD DOSEN'T LOOK LIKE PALM TO ME. THE INTERESTING THING ON YOUR SPEAR IS THE WAY THE SHAFT IS CUT AT AN ANGLE INSTEAD OF STRAIGHT ACROSS. IT LOOKS LIKE A SPEAR SHAFT CUT OFF WITH ONE STROKE OF A BLADE. UNLESS IT SHOWS SAW MARKS PERHAPS IT WOULD BE MORE INTERESTING AS IT IS, ESPECIALLY IF IT WAS SHORTENED IN BATTLE AND NOT FOR PACKING AND TRANSPORT. IF IT SHOWS SAW MARKS THEN REPLACEMENT WILL BE IN ORDER. GOOD LUCK ON THE BLADE MAY IT CLEAN UP NICELY.

Hello Vandoo, I never thought about the angle of the cut on the shaft as possibly being made by a blade in combat. That would be an interesting point for leaving the shaft as is if it does not show signs of being sawn in half when it arrives. I do not believe the shaft on my example to be palm wood like on Kino's example either. I will try to post better photos that will show the grain of the wood better after it arrives in hopes that someone will be able to identify what it is in case I do need to repair the shaft.

Best,
Robert

Hello Robert,

great find again and I am sure you get it very cheap again! ;) I personally wouldn't think about to reconstruct the shaft again, you will have the problem to find the correct wood and to match the patination. What do you think about to built up a custom stand for it?
Do you will polish the silver or let it dark like this?

BTW, congratulations for your new status. :)

Regards,

Detlef

Thank you Detlef for your congratulations and kind words on my new addition. I have been trying to figure out what would be the best way to display the few spears that I have. I decided that just hanging them straight up and down would more than likely be the best as that way the shafts would be less likely to warp. I am (like you) hoping that the collar is silver though brass would not be bad either. If I am very lucky and it is silver I will polish it, if brass I will just clean and wax it.
Best,
Robert

I have had in mind something like this stand I have let made for my tombak, you can see it a little bit at the shaft. When you want I can take pictures from the stand.

Hello Detlef, and thank you for you kind offer. It would be greatly appreciate if you would share photos of this stand as I am sure that not only I but other members as well would like to see how it is made.
Best,
Robert

Soon as possible!!

I don't have the knowledge to ID the type of wood of your spear. Mine appears to be black palm wood.

Just for the record; I have no problems with warping and my spears are displayed horizontally on cafe rod brackets . :shrug:

Hello Rick, I have more than enough warp things hanging around my house as it is without any new additions. Living out here in the country you can never tell when one of these spears might actually come in handy and I wouldn't want it acting like a boomerang.:D I like hanging them straight up and down more for the limited space I have to work with than for any other reason.

Best,
Robert