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This information is from the German site Speeerschleuder.de. They have no English page, so I attempted to translate it myself. I have not gotten their permission for this yet, but am trying to do so. The original page is here. The Speerschleuder A speerschleuder serves as an extension of the throwing arm, increasing power and distance. Wood is the most suitable material for it, if you want to replicate prehistoric models. A rusty nail crosswise through a roofing slat is not a safe solution. Suitable wood is easily available. The branch should be light and durable with a length of 50 to 70 centimeters (19.5 - 27.5 inches). A diameter of approximately 30 to 40 millimeters (1 - 1.5 inches) fits well in the hand. In my opinion, ash is probably the best wood to use for a speerschleuder. Heavy hardwood, such as beech or oak, should not be used. To start with, hazelnut wood would also work. A speerschleuder can be made in a number of ways. The hook can be an insert made of horn and the handle can be covered with leather straps. The basic prehistoric hook ends are beautiful small works of art. There are multiple animal representations, like a wild horse. They almost look as though they grew that way from a single antler. Here is my first speerschleuder, carved from a single piece of wood. As you can already see, this area contains a number of possibilities for experimentation, which get even larger when you begin building the speere.

For speerschleuders with a simple carved hook, I prefer a naturally curved branch. The thicker end should be the hook end, with the thinner end for the handle. The reason for this is simple. In order to carve out the hook, a lot of wood must be removed from the branch. Doing this to the thinner end would make the cross section too weak. After removing it from the tree, the branch must be carefully shaped and dried so it does not split (as I found out, trying to carve one too soon). Using a sharp tool, shave both sides of the branch going back to the thicker end so it ends up only as wide as the thinner end (see Figure 1).

	Rough-cutting the the hook only takes a few cuts (Figure 2). Afterwards, you can use a knife to round and taper the end. With a round file, smooth out the notch under the hook (Figure 3) and finish shaping and smoothing the hook with emery paper. Finally, the entire speerschleuder can be sanded and afterwards should definitely be oiled. Simply dip a rag in the oil of your choice (shank oil, linseed oil, shoe polish, etc.) and apply it to the wood, wiping off any excess. This will prevent the wood from drying out and cracking and will keep moisture from getting into the wood.
Wrist strap: this speerschleuder is made without a wrist strap. If you have a problem with it flying out of your hand when you throw, at least the speere goes flying first (...and perhaps this is how the Aborigines invented the boomerang? ; -) ). If the speerschleuder is fastened to your wrist, it may strike you in the kneecap (or even worse) if you accidently let go while you throw.

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This information is from the German site Speeerschleuder.de. They have no English page, so I attempted to translate it myself. I have not gotten their permission for this yet, but am trying to do so. The original page is here. Speerschleuder with Attached Hook The speerschleuder illustrated above consists of a shaft of white thorn wood with a separate hook made of synthetic resin. Usually the hooks are carved from horn or ivory, but since I don't have access to these materials and/or they are very expensive, I decided to make one out of synthetic resin instead. I realize that not many people have the means to make a hook by this method, but I would still like to show how it is done, since more hooks can be made whenever they are needed without any variations. The resin I used is normally found in professional construction (foundry) use. It is durable and flexible, and without adding any dye it reminds me of ivory, which is what I wanted.
	First, a model must be made. The one I made consists of an aluminum shank and an upper hook formed out of model lacquer (which works like fine putty). The long holes are milled in.
	From this model, the first half of a negative is poured. The material for this could be gypsum, which is very inexpensive, but not very accurate or durable. Synthetic resin is much better for this. After the first half hardens, the second half can be poured as well. After that hardens, the two halves are separated and your model is formed. You will need to do some fine work on the mold to smooth out any rough spots, and small channels will need to be drilled so air can escape (in this case, I drilled through to the peg, with the fill hole at the end of the shank). The mold is now ready for production. In the picture you can see a blank in the lower form which has already been poured (the yellow veins are Plastilline plugged air ducts from preliminary tests.)
	After 24 hours the hook can be removed from the mold. There will be a thin burr running around the hook where the molds were joined. You can see the fill hole at the end of the shank and the air escape hole leading from the peg.
	The thin burr is simply snapped off and the fill plug is removed with a knife.
	The remaining burr is scraped off with a knife blade and polished with fine emery paper. After a 'cure time' of two more days the hook is ready for use. For strength and stability, the cross section is a slight oval (14 mm high, 12 mm wide). The long holes are on the upper half of the shank so that it can sit deeper into the wooden shaft.
	The receiving end of the wooden shaft is milled and shaped with a suitable tool. A Dremel works great.
	As you can see in this picture, I went down a few millimeters into the wood to allow the shank of the hook to lie deeper. I then made some shallow grooves across the bottom where the leather lacing will go to keep it from slipping.
	The bottom of the hook's shank was roughed up with a rasp and glued into place with two-part epoxy. This guarantees a firm and secure seal to the wood.
	The lashing for the hook consists of two leather lashes, about 1/16" diameter and about 3 feet long. The leather I used for the handle was about 1/8" square by 6 feet long
Note: If you don't have the means to make a resin hook, one carved from hardwood (such as beech or maple) will also work. By using different woods, varying the attachment of the hook, and trying other changes, a very pleasant effect can be achieved.

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Baton de Commandement



The "Baton de Commandement" is an artifact found at some French sites. There have been theories about it being a spearthrowing tool, but until this set of posts on the Paleo board, I hadn't heard of anyone actually trying it out. The text is all from posts by Ehkahk (Paul), and is reprinted pretty much verbatim with his permission. It's from a number of different posts, with the headers clipped out. Paul says the original idea for his design and testing came from and article by Paul Comstock in "Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills".

Material:
Wood, 8" x 1 1/2" x 3/4"
Leather thong or cordage

Construction:

• Cut out the outline, rough out the edges, drill a hole through, and sand it smooth.

Baton de Commandement Heres my baton de commandement! Walnut sapwood, 8 inches long. I'll let you know how it throws darts Anyways I took it out. I was throwing a 2.3 ounce, 6 foot dart 50 yards. With an atlatl the max I can throw that same dart is 70 yards sooooo its something to play around with Anyways let me post the desc on how to use it, that I wrote on PA. Ever seen an arrow thrown with a leather thong? Well its like a piece of string with a knot in the end. You wrap that knot on the arrow around the balance point or something like that and then rotate the string around once or so I forget. Then wrap the other end around your finger and you throw arrows. I could only throw a 600 grain arrow 100 feet with it. Supposidly you can do over 300 yards with a string. Anyways, this baton thing is similar to that except you hold the baton on your hand, and the string which is through the hole in the wood wraps around a dart this time, the same way you do with a thong arrow... almost. Then you throw it as if you were throwing a spear with your hand. Daryl make yourself one, trust me this thing is awesome Heres the results of throwing today. I brought the same 2.3 ounce dart, and another 3.8 ounce bamboo dart. Well the fletching came off the bamboo dart so after that I couldnt really use that one anymore to effect. With distance I'm getting 50-55 yards. I found that if I try to angle it much higher than a little, from parallel with the ground then not much energy is transferred to the dart and it doesent go more than 30 yards. If its parallel or angled down slightly it just flies! heh In the book it said for light darts 3/4th a turn of the string around the shaft. For heavier ones, 1 full turn. Well trying that out, I found that 3/4th and 1 full turn caused the dart to fly upwards on release and fly quite a bit higher and arc more like a distance throw. I started wrapping the string about 3 or 4 times around the dart and found that the (trajectory? is that what it's called?) to be somewhat flat, it didnt have much an arc to it. More experiementing and then I found that the best way to throw was like a throwing spear, but as I'm moving my arm and body forward to lift the dart up and then do a fast downward motion as it's about to leave. That makes the dart fly parellel to the ground, with no sideways movement, it flies straight as an arrow! Usually when I'm throwing like that with a dart, close to the end of the flight, the darts gonna curve a bit. Oh yea sorry forgot to mention that this dart has NO FLETCHING. So it flew like it had fletching, if I did that up/down thing right it would fly flat, straight and direct. I started getting used to throwing it like that and I picked a target. A lump of snow thats been compressed by kids as a ramp for their GT's. On the front in the middle there is bark and wood the size of a rabbit exposed. All around that is solid ice, it completely froze through. At first I kept passing over the target, then I found that if I hold the dart further back a little I can have more control and pick a lower target. So I'm throwing and throwing. Throwing from 20 yards at this point. Well I hit the top edge of the snow lump, the dart deflected, flew up over a 10 foot enbankment, and landed 70 feet away from the enbankment at the side of a massive pile of wood, brush and compost. It slid up the snow to the side of the pile and continued directly into it. Took me a while to find the damn dart lol, it passed through through the pile (30 feet long) and was stopped by a black walnut tree on the other side lol. After that I started throwing 25 yards from my target. I actually hit the rabbit sized wood/bark 3 times! I hit the lump of snow quite a bit too. One time I threw it so hard, it zoomed hit the iced front part of the lump directly. I went up to pull the dart out. The lump was solid ice..... and the dart was in past the binding of the point. Went in 6 inches. Well I goto pull it out and it would not budge. I kept trying and I simply could not pull the sucker out. I hard to start smashing the lump apart with my foot and a rock. I finally smashed the ice around the dart, and managed to pull it out. Lol now the binding of the dart is damaged and the point is wiggling around. I have to repair it. I think with a s***load of practice you could get pretty good at it. Its kinda like relearning the atlatl or like when I first started to learn how an atlatl worked, and had no help at all, nothing to look at, just experimenting. This is a pretty damn sweet thing.. I think i'm starting to like it more than an atlatl Oh yea I forgot to mention, try throwing downhill. That's when this thing REALLY shines I dont want to be on the recieving end! haha I took a 6 foot, 5 ounce highbush cranberry shoot out to the field. Its not a dart yet, its balance is right in the middle, and pretty much even thickness along the whole length. I threw it with the baton and even though it kicked the head up and tail down, it still flew straight in the direction I wanted it to. I think its time to complete it into a dart and see what this thing can do! Stefan yup i'll post a pic after dinner. Basically you hold the handle of the baton (big part facing back), like you hold an atlatl, and you hold the dart with thumb and index like you would an atlatl. If you wrap the string around one way it will want to curve in one direction. If it you wrap it the other way, it will want to go in the other direction (the dart that is). Not go as in fly, but go as in when your holding it. Different wrapping for left or right handed person I guess. Heres the pics I unplied the string and rebound it to the baton. Its not actually tied in there, just wrapped in and out of the hole in a '8'. You prolly dont even need the hole, but it does keep the dart in the middle. You could even just tie it to the hole. I couldnt because of the pointed tip. Left is tail end, right is front end. So I wrap it under like shown at first. You can do the opposite, depending on which hand you are using, one of the ways will feel more comfortable than the other. So now I take the rest of the string, pull it down to the right so that its sitting behind the knot in the string. I keep it tight like that so it wont run down the shaft. Wet or spruce sap the string if you want, it will hold better. Now I continue wrapping down in the same direction till I cant anymore. Then you hold it with your throwing hand like you would an atlatl and dart. See how the baton is at an angle to the dart? that is ok, you cant fix that because your fingers are in the way. I have a baton de commandement! obey me or you shall get bonked! lol You can prolly make one in 5 min. Just take a 6-8 inch piece of wood, drill a hole in the end and put the string on. It aint flexible either and I dont know if the weight of the baton makes any difference. Daryl no prob you can put it on your site. Like my stuff that I wrote here is from experimenting with it, myself. I didnt actually think up the idea. But yea you can put what ive found from experimenting with the one I made so far up. The book where I got the info from is Primitive Technology " A Book of Earth Skills" and the article was by Paul Comstock Thats where I saw the idea. I cant wait till tommorrow to do more experimenting! This baton is 8 inches long. Plus it uses the string. But anyways, if you had an 8 inch atlatl and threw the dart, you would not get as good results. But you cant really compare them by the length etc cause one uses a string and is in the middle of the dart, the other uses a spur and is at the end of the dart.

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Die Speerschleuder
Eine Speerschleuder dient der Verlängerung des wirksamen Hebelarmes, um Wurfkraft und -weite zu vergrössern. Holz ist der dafür am besten geeignete Werkstoff, falls man sich in etwa an prähistorische Vorbilder halten möchte. Ein rostiger Nagel, quer durch eine Dachlatte geschlagen, ist mit Sicherheit keine Lösung. Geeignete Holzarten sind in grosser Auswahl vorhanden. Der Ast sollte leicht und stabil sein und eine Länge von 50 bis 70 Zentimetern aufweisen. Ein Durchmesser von ca. 30 bis 40 Millimeter liegt gut in der Hand. Meines Erachtens ist Esche als Speerschleuder bestens geeignet, vermutlich wird es nur durch Eibenholz getoppt. Schwere Harthölzer, wie Buche oder Eiche sollten nicht benutzt werden. Für den Anfang tut es sicherlich aber auch ein Haselnuss-Ast.
Eine Speerschleuder lässt sich in vielfältiger Ausführung fertigen. Das Hakenende kann aus Horn eingesetzt werden, der Griffbereich kann mit Lederstreifen umwickelt werden. Gerade die prähistorischen Hakenenden sind wunderschöne Kleinkunstwerke. Vielfach sind es Tierdarstellungen wie z. B. Mammut oder Wildpferd. Es sieht so aus, als wären sie aus einem sich gabelnden Geweihstück entstanden. In dieser Bauanleitung zeige ich mein Erstlingswerk (siehe Titelbild), eine aus einem Stück geschnitzte Speerschleuder. Wie ihr schon jetzt unschwer erkennen könnt, enthält das Thema schon jetzt eine Menge Möglichkeiten zum Experimentieren, die sich durch den Bau der Speere noch vervielfältigen werden.

Bei chleudern,die einen geschnitzten Haken am hinteren Ende bekommen werden, bevorzuge ich einen leicht gebogenen Ast. Dabei sollte das dickere Ende für den Haken, der dünnere Bereich dementsprechend für den Handgriff vorgesehen werden. Die Erklärung dafür ist einfach. Um den Haken auszuformen, muss am Schaft viel Material abgearbeitet werden. Das dünnere Ende wäre danach im Querschnitt zu schwach. Nach dem Abschneiden vom Baum muss der Ast sorgfältig entrindet und, damit das Holz keine Risse bildet, schonend getrocknet werden. (Ganz Eilige, wie ich, fangen sofort an zu schnitzen). Der Ast wird mit einem scharfen Messer vom dünneren Ende aus nach hinten an den beiden Seiten abgeflacht. (siehe Abb. 1) Das Auskerben des Hakenendes erfolgt mit ein paar Schnitten. Danach wird der Schaft mit der Messerklinge zum Hakenbereich hin schlanker und rund geschabt und das Hakenende nach hinten verjüngt. Mit einer Holzraspel oder Feile (rund, bzw. halbrund) kann der Schaft und das Hakenende anschliessend feiner ausgeformt werden. Am Ende erfolgt ein mehrmaliges Schleifen mit immer feiner werdendem Schmirgelpapier. Zuletzt kann das Holz mit Holzbeize getönt werden und sollte danach aber auf jeden Fall imprägniert werden. Das funktioniert durch Auftragen von ausharzenden Ölen, wie Schaftöl oder Leinöl, Schuhcreme, Bienenwachs, usw..
Ein Tipp zum Schluss: Verzichtet bei eurer Speerschleuder auf ei		Speerschleuder mit eingesetztem Hakenende Die oben abgebildete Schleuder besteht aus einem Schaft aus Weissdornholz mit einsetztem Hakenende aus Kunstharz. In der Regel werden Hakenenden aus Horn oder Elfenbein geschnitzt. Da mir aber diese Materialien fehlen, bzw. sehr teuer sind habe ich mich für die Fertigung mittels Kunstharz entschieden. Ich bin mir darüber im Klaren, dass vermutlich nur wenige die technischen Möglichkeiten zum Nachbau besitzen. Trotzdem möchte ich diese Methode aufzeigen, da sich die Hakenenden beliebig reproduzieren lassen und ich somit auch andere daran teilhaben lassen kann. Das Harz findet normalerweise im professionellen Modellbau (Giesserei) Verwendung. Es ist zähhart und leicht federnd. Nicht eingefärbt erinnert es im Farbton an Elfenbein, was bei diesem Thema durchaus erwünscht ist. Als erstes wird ein Modell gefertigt. Dieses besteht aus einem Aluminiumschaft und einem mit Kunststoff angespachteltem oberen Haken. Die Langlöcher sind eingefräst, die rote Farbe ist Modell-Lack und wirkt wie Feinspachtel. Über das obige Modell wird die erste Hälfte eines Negativs gegossen. Das Material hierfür könnte z. B. Gips sein, der sehr preiswert, aber nicht maßhaltig und dauerhaft ist. Besser ist auch hier die Verwendung von Kunstharz. Nach der Aushärtung des Harzes verbleibt das Modell im Negativ und die zweite Hälfte kann gegossen werden. Nach dem Härten werden die beiden Hälften getrennt und das Modell wird entnommen. Setzt man die Hälften zusammen, kann man sich den Hohlraum in Form des Hakenendes vorstellen. Es muss noch der Einguss mit einem Fräser heraugearbeitet und an bestimmten Stellen kleine Kanäle zur Luftabfuhr gefräst werden. Das Negativ ist somit produktionsbereit. Im Bild sieht man einen bereits gegossenen Rohling in der unteren Form. (Die gelben Adern sind mit Plastilline verschlossene Luftkanäle aus Vorversuchen.) Nach 24 Stunden kann das Hakenende der Form entnommen werden. Rings um die Teilung verläuft ein dünner Grat. Rechts vom Schaft lässt sich der Einguss erkennen, darüber ausgehend von der Hakenspitze nach rechts die Luftabführung. Der dünne Grat wurde einfach entfernt und der Einguss mit einem  Messer abgeschnitten. Der verbliebene Restgrat wird mit einer Messerklinge abgeschabt und mit feinem Schmirgelpapier beigeschliffen. Abschliessend wird die Oberfläche poliert. Nach einer 'Reifezeit' von weiteren zwei Tagen nach dem Giessen ist das Hakenende einsatzbereit. Aus Gründen der Stabiltität ist der Querschnitt leicht oval (Höhe = 14 mm, Breite = 12 mm). Die Langlöcher sind leicht nach oben versetzt, um das Ganze tiefer im Holzschaft einbetten zu können. Das hintere Ende des Holzschaftes wird mit geeignetem Werkzeug ausgefräst. Sehr efffektiv ist hier ein 'Dremel', eine kleine Handmaschine für rotierende Werkzeuge, in Zusammenarbeit mit Stech- und Hohleisen. Wie im Bild ersichtlich, habe ich die Teilung ein paar Millimeter abgesenkt, um eine tiefere Bettung des Hakenendes im Schaft zu erreichen. Die ca. 20 mm breiten Nuten auf der Unterseite des Schaftendes verhindern ein Verrutschen der Lederriemen. Das Hakenende wurde im unteren, verdeckten Teil mit einer Raspel grob aufgerauht und mit Zwei-Komponenten-Kleber in die Aussparung gesetzt. Das garantiert einwandfreien und festen Sitz im Schaftende. Die Umwicklung besteht aus zwei Lederriemen mit einem Durchmesser von ca. 1,5 mm und einer Länge von einem Meter, wie sie an diversen Verkaufsständen in Fussgängerzonen grösserer Städte erhältlich sind. Dort bekommt man auch die Riemen (ca. 3 x 3 mm, 2 m lang), wovon ich zwei Stück für die Griffumwicklung gebraucht habe. Anmerkung: Wem die technischen Möglichkeiten fehlen, ein Hakenende wie oben beschrieben zu erstellen, kann den Haken zum Beispiel auch aus Hartholz (z. B. Buche oder Ahorn) schnitzen. Durch unterschiedliche Holzarten bzw. -beizungen von Speerschleuder und Haken und durch die Befestigung mit Lederriemen können sehr ansprechende optische Effekte erzielt werden. Im Downloadbereich findet sich eine hochauflösende Grafik der vollständig bemaßten Zeichnung des Hakenendes.