How pikes/lances were made 500 years ago

Matchlock · 23rd September 2008, 08:02 PM

From the cod. icon. 222 in the Bavarian State Library in Munich.

Note the ash hafts which could be more than 5 meters long, and the blued wrought-iron lanntzen eysen with their integral short side-straps kept in wooden barrels, ready for mounting.

As the shape of the irons indicates, they are of the well known early 16th century 'Maximilian' Landsknecht (mercenaries') type called Froschmaulspiess (frog's mouth lance).

Michael

fernando · 23rd September 2008, 08:08 PM

Again outstanding.
Was there a pile of hafts also in the previous picture ?
Fernando

Matchlock · 23rd September 2008, 08:47 PM

Is this the one that you are referring to, Fernando?

As the rest of that illustration pictures parts of handguns, and telling from the relative proportions, I should say that these are ramrods, belonging to the heaps of barrels and stocked guns.

Michael

fernando · 23rd September 2008, 08:52 PM

Quite right, thanks.
... and quite a lot of them, too

Fernando

Matchlock · 26th September 2008, 09:20 PM

In his Schwytzer Chronica, Zurich, 1554, Johannes Stumpf points out that during the first half of the 16th century, most people in the Eschental (ash valley) in Switzerland made their living by manufacturing ash hafts for long spears. The woocut of ca. 1540, illustrating a sort of gauge in order to easily guarantee identical diameter of each haft, is taken from that book.

Moreover, the Zurich arsenal inventory of 1687 lists a "kupferner Siedkessel, 18 Schuh lang, darinnen die Spiesse gesotten wurden" (a copper tank, 18 ft long, for boiling the spear hafts in oil in order to impregnate them).

As the Langspiess (long spear) had been the Swiss foot soldier's prevailing weapon for hundreds of years, the enormous care paid to its maurfacture is not surpising.

Michael

kronckew · 28th September 2008, 07:28 PM

that last woodcut above reminds me of the jigs used to straighten bamboo mongolian/korean arrows, where a bend would be heated then bent opposite like shown to straighten it as it cooled. i've seen a film clip of the aboriginies in australia similarly heating a spear shaft in a fire, then bending it under foot to straighten it, a little bit at a time and working their way around till it was acceptably straightened,

23rd September 2008, 08:02 PM	#1
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	How pikes/lances were made 500 years ago From the cod. icon. 222 in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Note the ash hafts which could be more than 5 meters long, and the blued wrought-iron lanntzen eysen with their integral short side-straps kept in wooden barrels, ready for mounting. As the shape of the irons indicates, they are of the well known early 16th century 'Maximilian' Landsknecht (mercenaries') type called Froschmaulspiess (frog's mouth lance). Michael Attached Images

23rd September 2008, 08:47 PM	#3
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	Is this the one that you are referring to, Fernando? As the rest of that illustration pictures parts of handguns, and telling from the relative proportions, I should say that these are ramrods, belonging to the heaps of barrels and stocked guns. Michael Attached Images

26th September 2008, 09:20 PM	#5
Matchlock (deceased) Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bavaria, Germany - the center of 15th and 16th century gunmaking Posts: 4,310	How long spears/pikes wre made 500 years ago In his Schwytzer Chronica, Zurich, 1554, Johannes Stumpf points out that during the first half of the 16th century, most people in the Eschental (ash valley) in Switzerland made their living by manufacturing ash hafts for long spears. The woocut of ca. 1540, illustrating a sort of gauge in order to easily guarantee identical diameter of each haft, is taken from that book. Moreover, the Zurich arsenal inventory of 1687 lists a "kupferner Siedkessel, 18 Schuh lang, darinnen die Spiesse gesotten wurden" (a copper tank, 18 ft long, for boiling the spear hafts in oil in order to impregnate them). As the Langspiess (long spear) had been the Swiss foot soldier's prevailing weapon for hundreds of years, the enormous care paid to its maurfacture is not surpising. Michael Attached Images

23rd September 2008, 08:08 PM	#2
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Again outstanding. Was there a pile of hafts also in the previous picture ? Fernando

23rd September 2008, 08:52 PM	#4
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Quite right, thanks. ... and quite a lot of them, too Fernando

28th September 2008, 07:28 PM	#6
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,184	that last woodcut above reminds me of the jigs used to straighten bamboo mongolian/korean arrows, where a bend would be heated then bent opposite like shown to straighten it as it cooled. i've seen a film clip of the aboriginies in australia similarly heating a spear shaft in a fire, then bending it under foot to straighten it, a little bit at a time and working their way around till it was acceptably straightened,