Counterweight for Long Weapon Needed

[Black Mantis]

My tiger fork is a bit top-heavy. I am in need of a counterweight for it. Not sure if that is the exact terminology, but I see spikes sometimes on the end of some long weapons. Any ideas of where I can find one? Thanks in advance.

[ngokfei]

some things I used in the past.

Find a piece of tubing (fence, plumbing) and just insert it on the end. to fix it in place just drill a couple of holes, first put on some epoxy glue before sliding it on then tap in a few finish nails.

or you can go to a fence supplier and see what "finials" they have for the tops of the fence posts.

I've also found some really nice spikes and oval/globes/acorn inserts that can be found at a window decorations-drapery.

[GeneChing]

Many of those decorative spikes are made from pot metal, which will crumble with impact. So, back in the Pleistocene era, when I was a professional swordmaker, we took one such cap that we liked and recast it in manganese bronze. We called it the 'bedpost' pommel because it was cast from a bedpost cap. Years later, I would overhear a Renn faire fop (the original LARPers) extolling the history of the term bedpost pommel as some derivative of the pillow sword.

[ngokfei]

true, the low end market is the Cast Iron or as you call it Pot Metal. The finials I'm talking about galvanized steel.

Will have to do a search to find what I mean.

For curtain Rod/Drapery Finials it runs the field from plastic all the way up to brass, bronze and even stainless steel. Not cheap but will survive.

Oh one guy used the Ball Hitch that you mount on a truck to pull a trailer. Those range in size and weight.

[GeneChing]

I've seen the steel stuff. I didn't mean to imply that it was all pot metal, just most of the cheap ones are. Also I just wanted to share that bedpost pommel story.

Funny you should mention the Ball Hitch. There were a few Renn Faire peeps that did the same for their broadswords. They were usually ridiculed for it. Renn Faire peeps tended to reject chrome (unlike CMA peeps who seem to delight in its tawdriness ) and most of the Ball Hitch pommel users didn't bother to remove the chrome.

[ngokfei]

okay here you go.

Cast Steel Finials

[mawali]

My tiger fork is a bit top-heavy. I am in need of a counterweight for it. Not sure if that is the exact terminology, but I see spikes sometimes on the end of some long weapons. Any ideas of where I can find one? Thanks in advance.

Personal reference:
Alot of the tools need to be practiced as is since you are the one who needs to adapt to its use. Perhaps a weight strengtheneing regimen or adopting grasping strategies to account for upper or lower deficiencies. The counterweight is a good other tool to compensate. Just a quick note

[jdhowland]

Try this for heavy duty if you need a hollow attachment instead of an insert:

Buy an old peavy (cant hook for turning logs) and use the spike. Worked great when I needed on for my old Gwan dao.

[Black Mantis]

Thanks for your help. I have options now.