Manacles
Old-style prisoner restraint devices rarely had advanced locks, even when the technology was available for other devices. Shackles were usually made by a local blacksmith instead of a locksmith, so the mechanisms were large, simple, and required several turns of a key to lock the devise and then more turns in the other direction to remove the key. The entire procedure was repeated in order to remove the manacles. Other shackles used the equivalent of a large solid rivet to close the restraints, which would need to be broken in order to release the victim.
For stage use, it is better to use a magician’s trick-release replica, or even oversized manacles so that the actor can quickly free himself in case of an emergency.
Handcuffs
When possible, stick to using trick release “magic” handcuffs. They look and work like the real thing, but they have a tiny lever that the wearer can easily reach that instantly releases the lock. The key will also work. Most of these trick release models are not built as strongly as the real items, so the actors should be told not to struggle with all of their might.
Regular handcuffs on the other hand are very strong. Most real models can both single lock and double lock. The single lock happens automatically as the cuffs close. It’s a simple one-way ratchet and a simple quarter turn of the key will release that. The only problem with the single lock is that the cuff can keep closing, with a chance of pinching the skin or even cutting off circulation to the hand, so the double lock can be used to freeze the cuff in place. An elongated slot on the cuff provides access to a tiny switch, which can be flipped towards the keyhole using the peg end of the cuff key. Once done, the cuff cannot be opened nor closed further. To unlock, insert the key in the keyhole and rotate in one direction to release the double lock and then in the other direction to release the cuff. The first move takes more force than the second.
Modern style leg cuffs are also available with much wider jaws and more space in the chain. Unfortunately, trick release versions are not readily available.
Bows and Crossbows
Although there is no explosive charge in a bow and arrow, please remember that this is as dangerous as a firearm. Although an arrow travels more slowly than a bullet, because of the greater mass, it can cause far more damage. Someone hit with a rubber tipped arrow can die.
If you are planning to fire a bow and arrow (or crossbow and bolt) for a show, go back over all of the safety warnings concerning firearms, and then add one more. Arrows are hard to control. As a kid I once shot some arrows in my backyard, using the hanging fruit from a lemon tree as targets. One arrow glanced against a twig – not a branch, mind you, a twig – and the deflection sent it thirty degrees up and over an eight foot fence, landing in a yard two houses away. I don’t know how you can really make a stage safe enough for firing an arrow, but I suggest that it begins with building a “safety” zone, a great big angled funnel with two kinds of stopping materials at the end. The arrow can be slowed by something like a mattress, hay bale, or thick Styrofoam, and then will need to be stopped by something like thick plank plywood (not pressboard). Using only one type of stopping material won’t do.
Placing the arrow on the bowstring is called “nocking”, and when nocking the arrow do so with the arrow pointed towards the ground. Only raise the bow and arrow up when ready to fire, and then only directly up to the “safety” zone, never towards a person. Only after you have sighted the target do you draw the arrow back. [If the show requires that someone threaten another with a bow and arrow, how about using a non-bending false bow with an elastic cord as the string? Even then, don’t actually point it at anyone at anytime. You can always point upstage of where the human is and the audience will never know the difference. Why? Because the audience has no depth perception.]
There are three ways of pulling back on the bowstring. The Mongolian draw, in which the thumb hooks around the string and the forefinger gently keeps the arrow in place, is very strong but hard to control. The Mediterranean draw is the most common, and utilizes the first two or three fingers hooking around the string. I’m not thrilled with this method for stage, since we’re usually trying to fire lightly, and the finger tips often scrape on the string during the release. This in turn can make the arrow fly significantly off to the side and too low. The best draw for stage is the pinch draw, which is the only one that grasps the arrow, not the string. It is a weaker draw, which is good because you don’t want too much force anyway, and leads to a very clean release for superior accuracy from relatively novice archers.
Mongolian draw – not very helpful Mediterranean draw – much better Pinch draw – best of all
Because you will be firing from a very short distance to the target, your arrow will probably not strike at the spot directly in line with the arrow when you aim. Why? Two things get in the way. First, an arrow will flex side to side as it leaves the bow. This oscillation evens out over normal target distances, but it doesn’t have a chance in the short confines of even an outdoor theatre. Second, and more importantly, since you’re drawing at much less than the maximum for the bow, the arrow shaft will be more affected by scraping against the bow as it leaves the string, pushing it off target by several inches. How to compensate? A lot of practice and absolute consistency of draw. I would go so far as to make a mark on your forearm and always draw the string to exactly that distance every time you practice. That way your draw is always the same.
¨ Even if you aren’t planning to shoot with the bow, be careful of who has access to it. A simple stick fired from a bow can pass through the human body. Never leave this lethal item unattended or not in your direct control.
¨ If for some reason it is necessary to shoot the bow, get lessons from an experienced archer, especially if using a wood bow. Wood bow techniques are very different from those for modern or compound bows.
¨ Warm up the bow. Pull the string gently and slowly back about ¼ of full draw about ten times. This is a good idea for modern bows, and absolutely critical for wooden bows. There are very few things in life as exciting as having a bow break in your hands and near your face as you are about ready to shoot.
¨ Here is the order: First nock, then aim, then draw. Do not deviate from the order.
¨ Never pull the string back sharply or with a jerky motion.
¨ The string must never be pulled back to more than 24″ beyond its resting center.
¨ Never aim for longer than 2 seconds at a time. The stresses on a bow, especially wooden ones, are tremendous. Don’t add to them.
¨ Insure that the path the arrow will travel is clear of all objects or living things. You should also take into account that arrows will ricochet, flying well off the intended course by glancing against even soft objects.
¨ Also, do not dry-fire the bow. Without the generated force being transferred to an arrow, the power from the released string can transmit enough stress to the bow to cause it to fracture.
Crossbows are merely bows laid down and connected to a wooden stock and some sort of trigger. Because it uses a trigger, and triggers are mechanical devices, and mechanical devices can fail at any time without warning, the crossbow on stage is the most dangerous item imaginable. Most crossbows use spring steel for the bow instead of wood, so even the smallest ones can generate a huge amount of force. Here in our shop we’ve made some large replicas with very weak plastic bows, so weak that the bolt can only travel about forty feet or so, but you still don’t want to be on the receiving end of one of them. The crossbow must never be pointed at anyone at anytime.
Heed the one universal rule in operating crossbows – first draw, then aim, then load. You absolutely must not deviate from that sequence. So don’t you think you should read that again? Because the crossbow could fire at any time, loading the bolt (arrow) must be done immediately before firing. Be sure that your actors understand this, for it is different than that for a regular bow and arrow.
There are three ways that a crossbow string might have to be drawn. With the weakest bows (those of a 10 to 20 lb draw strength) the string can simply be pulled by hand and hooked over the string catch, the little hook or nub that sticks up through the frame until the trigger pulls it down, releasing the string. For stronger bows, let’s say 50 to 100 lbs, simple hand strength needs a bit more help, which it can get using an integrated pull. This is usually a straightforward rod attached to the stock. As it is pulled back, bends on the rod hook the string, which is then drawn back and hooked onto the string catch. The rod must then be pushed forward so it doesn’t get caught in the fired bowstring. Most novice users will at least once forget to do that last step, and then when they fire the crossbow not only does the bolt fly out but the rod is driven into the frame, doing quite a bit of damage.
There was another way to span a strong crossbow by hand, but without using the hands to pull on the string. Instead a hook worn on a waistbelt, and the bowstring was hooked onto it. the foot was used to push down on the stirrup and the hands were used to merely guide the string onto the catch. This one was fairly popular amoung Germanic crossbowmen beginning the thirteenth century.
The strongest crossbows will often require a mechanical drawing device called a spanner, most commonly a crank or large lever that is either built onto the bow or is removed after the string is drawn. The same stirrup described above was still used, but more to provide stability while operating the crank or lever.
Whether weak or strong, all crossbows fire a little differently than regular bows. Whereas normal arrows are notched so as to fit in to the bowstring for spanning and firing, bolts have flat ends that are placed near the string, but not actually touching it. When the crossbow string is fired, it jumps up slightly as it begins to move forward, and if the bolt is too close, the bowstring can skip right over the bolt end, missing it entirely and causing a crossbow misfire. So just remember to leave a little bit of space between the bolt and the string when you load the bolt.
Whips and Chains
And here we’re going to include all impact weapons that have at least one moveable part, in other words, articulated weapons. These weapons all share two benefits over regular weapons. First, the articulation means that the ends can move at much greater speed than a solid weapon of the same length and weight, therefore can transmit more force. Second, they are more difficult to defend against, for stopping the movement of one part may not stop the movement of the rest of the weapon. The drawback is that the swinging end is very hard to control. If you miss your target it can swing back at you, and if you successfully hit the target it can bounce back at you. I advise not using an articulated weapon in a stage fight.
“cracking a whip”
It’s so tempting for a director to try to add someone cracking a whip in some shows, especially big brawling scenes found in “Man of La Mancha” or some such. The problem is that whips are dangerous, and there are very few actors who are so experienced with a whip that they can guarantee the safety of everyone else on stage, or even themselves. Whips need room, not only to swing and crack, but for the bounce-back after the crack. Most of the time the end of the whip travels to the side of the operator, but not always. Anyone who has cracked whips for a while will be able to show you a couple of welts from a particularly nasty bounce-back. The face is in such obvious danger that anyone – anyone – who cracks a whip should wear eye protection.
Whips are made of long strands of braided leather wrapped around a stiff handle at one end and then gradually narrowing to one thin strand at the other. What makes a whip “crack” is getting the tip to go faster than the speed of sound. That creates a pressure wave that we hear as a mini sonic boom. The same thing happens when we snap a towel. Since getting the tip of thin leather to move that fast is difficult, usually a small length of fabric called a “cracker” is tied to the end of the leather.
There are many styles of whip-cracking, but all involve the same basics; first getting the whip to move in one direction, then suddenly getting it to come back on itself very quickly by flicking the handle in the opposite direction. If the flick is timed right, the end of the whip will make a 180 degree hairpin turn so sharp that the tip moves at over seven hundred miles an hour, an incredible speed that creates a temporary vacuum in space. The rush of air to fill the vacuum creates the “crack”. But it also means that now the entire whip is moving pretty quickly in that second direction, which likely as not is back towards the operator. That’s where things can get nasty.
If the director insists, there are a couple of things you can do to attempt to reduce the danger. First, get an expert to give instruction to the actor. Not someone who is pretty good but a true, experienced, expensive teaching expert. These are specialists, not garden variety fight choreographers. Next, consider using a carriage whip instead of a regular whip. Carriage whips were specifically designed to protect the user against bounce-back by making the handle very long. That way the whip will tend to bounce toward the far end of the handle rather than at the operator. It won’t look cool at all, and it won’t protect anyone else onstage, but at least the operator is somewhat safer.
Here are some very basic notes on cracking a whip, or actually what to do if your whip cracking (having already been taught to you by an experienced instructor) starts to loose its reliability.
It is most likely that for the show you are working on, you have been given a six foot whip, due to the size constraints of the space in which you are to perform. And for safety’s sake, I certainly wouldn’t want you to use anything longer than that. But a shorter whip is harder to crack than a longer one, and certainly much harder to learn on. Why is that? The reason has a lot to do with how the whip itself moves through the air.
In order to make a whip crack you need to create a wave that travels from your hand all the way down to the end of the whip. In its simplest form, the wave looks like this as it travels down the leather: U Now, obviously, you can’t throw something at 700 miles per hour. Even the fastest baseball pitches max out at 100 mph, and that wave motion that you create at the handle of the whip is only traveling at an anemic 30 mph. But the construction of the whip, which includes a tapered shape and material that starts stiff but gets progressively softer as it reaches the end, allows the wave to flatten out as it travels, without losing any of the energy. As the wave gets tighter, it moves ever faster, finally going beyond 700 mph as the tip flicks around itself. With practice, you’ll learn exactly when to pull your hand back in the opposite direction, you have increased the speed even more. So that brings the total amount of speed from your arm to let’s say a 50 mph throw, but the tip will end up flipping around itself at over twice the speed of sound.
A long whip is rather forgiving, for you get more time and distance for that wave to increase its speed. You can even get a good crack from a “standing start”, holding your arm by your side and then flicking it out in one short snap. So even if you are a little sloppy in your regular throw, you’ve still a good chance of getting a decent crack. On a short whip, your technique has to be nearly perfect and you have to start off with a fairly fast throw to begin with, with full arm extension behind and in front of the body. So if you are getting a lot of “almost crack”, here are some things to look for:
1) Are you transmitting enough energy to the whip? When things go wrong, it is easy to get frustrated and try to increase the arm strength in an effort to muscle through the problem. But that just stiffens up your body, slows down your hand, and generally makes matters worse. The secret to speed is in relaxation. When you’re relaxed, you can use your entire body to generate the wave, and then add a little more with your shoulder, more with your arm, more with your hand – all of it adding up to a smooth transfer of power and a much faster wave.
2. Is your whip moving in a straight line? If your hand is accidentally adding a tiny extra movement, it gets exaggerated by the whip, and then the wave never gets a chance to build up speed. You might also have begun to “pendulum” your throw instead of moving your hand in a straight line. You’ll know this if the tip starts jumping up to your face on the bounce back. Remember that you have to bend your elbow during the throw.
3) What’s happening behind you? If you aren’t allowing the whip to start off in a straight line behind you before you start the throw, you’re making life much harder for yourself.
One last thing that you might want to try: Dip the cracker (the string on the end) in water before going on stage. It will both help flatten out the tip and reduce air resistance, both of which can increase the terminal speed of the loop. Not by a huge amount, but it can make the difference between a swish and a crack.
By the way, the fabric crackers at the end don’t last too long. They fray considerably each time you crack the whip, so have to be replaced every so often. Instead of buying specially made “crackers”, just tie on a shoelace. Much cheaper.
By the way: Whips have never been used for warfare, and only for punishment/torture when the victim has no way to move. You have to be at just the right distance – the full length of the whip – in order for the speed of the tip to do any damage. If someone should ever try to attack you by cracking a whip at you, just walk towards him and take the thing away from him.
Flails
Different than whips in that the strands, either of leather (called a cat-o’-nine tales) or linked chain, are fairly short, about one or two feet long. Because of that, you can’t “crack“ a leather flail. There’s just no way to generate that kind of speed with such a short length. Instead, the flail is used simply to beat someone with the strands, and certainly enough speed builds up that the leather strands will cut skin. So how do you pretend to flail someone onstage? I like using a flail with strips made of felt. They move wonderfully through the air, having the appearance of having weight while causing no danger to the actor being struck.
Flail Maces
A short pole, a length of chain and then a spiked ball on the end, and you have another articulated weapon. Medieval warriors found that these can do a huge amount of damage, capable of breaking bones with very little effort. Much like the Japanese nunchuk, the drawback is that the swinging end can easily come back and break the user’s arm or ribs. Also, any link in the chain could break at any time, sending a solid object flying out (with your luck, out into the audience). Never use any kind of flail mace in a stage fight.
Knives
Knife blades are usually single edged and are primarily cutting tools. Although knives are used as weapons, they usually have a primary utilitarian function unrelated to killing – as opposed to daggers.
Since most real knives, even the cheap ones, are so strong, you rarely have to worry about fight worthiness. If you are thinking of purchasing a knife for stage, you can’t do any better than picking up what you need at a garage sale or thrift store for a couple of bucks and then grinding down the edge and tip until it isn’t sharp. That makes it as safe as any other prop. As with the swords, remember to check for temper.
There are a number of replica knives and daggers, and those are made of non-tempered steel and have weak tangs. Careful: some of these won’t bend if you test them but instead will simply snap in half. When in doubt, pass it up.
Blade lengths come large and small, thick and thin, but there are a few specialty styles that you might be asked to find:
Retractable knives – Also called collapsible knives. Here is a prop that can never be made safe. A retractable knife has a floating blade rather than a fixed blade. Inside the hollow grip, the shortened blade tang is surrounded by a compression spring. When the tip of the blade is pressed against something, the blade retracts into the handle, and then is pushed back out by the spring when the “stab” is over. Well, most of the time.
There are other times when the blade presses ever so slightly along the edge of the handle opening. When that happens, the blade does not retract and the actor gets impaled with a blunt “fake” blade. That is exactly what happened rather famously during a performance at an opera in New York. The singer was not only impaled, but she suffered a collapsed lung which could easily have proved fatal. When examined, the knife was found to be in perfect working order. Insurance companies began reviewing the injury rates related to these items and concluded that they are too dangerous to use. Most insurance carriers will not cover injury claims for a show in which a retractable is used, even if the injury had nothing to do with the knife, because they consider the use of retractables to be proof of an unsafe work environment. I consider them so dangerous that when I go to theatres to evaluate their weapons stock, I advise immediately destroying any retractables I find, metal or plastic. A retractable knife cannot be constructed, designed or retrofitted to be safe.
In case anyone is missing my point here, let me simplify. All retractables must be destroyed.
Gravity Knife – Also called a flick knife, the blade has no tang and again floats in the handle. Unlike the retractable, there is no spring inside to push the blade out. Instead, a small spring presses against the side of the blade, gently holding it in place. When an exterior button is pressed, the spring is lifted, allowing the blade to drop into any new position until the button is released. The blade can drop in or out according to gravity (hence the name), or with a little practice it can pop up with a flick of the wrist (hence the other name). Never use a flick knife as a retractable. It is just as deadly, possibly more so.
Paratrooper’s Knife – Also called an OTF [out-the-front] switchblade. Just as in the gravity knife, the blade lives in the hollow handle until it pops out of one end, but this knife is double spring activated. A simple slide switch on the side of the handle can both open and close the knife with one hand. Pretty rare nowadays, but since you might run across one and someone suggests using it as a retractable, let me just say: illegal and extremely dangerous.
Switchblade – This kind of knife doesn’t have a floating blade, but one that pivots like a folding knife. Unlike simple folders, switchblades are spring loaded, so the blade can pop open with a simple press of a button. The blade swings out sideways, then locks in place in the open position until a release tab is pressed, allowing the blade to be folded closed. So switchblades need two hands to close but only one hand to open.
The purchase, distribution and carrying of switchblades is illegal for civilians in every state of the union, exceptions being for police officers and military personnel. We civilians cannot legally purchase nor build one with a blade length longer than three inches. The closest thing you can find is the novelty switchblade comb. If you need the look for West Side Story, you can always buy the novelty, remove the plastic comb, and drop in a very lightweight piece of thin sheet aluminum to make it look like a knife. It won’t last long, but it is the right look. Here’s how:
1. Open several times and check the strength of spring. No need to waste your time if the comb starts out defective. Notice that the “safety” slides on its own, so you’ll need to put a drop of glue or little piece of tape on it so that you can always open the knife.
2. Spread open the spine of the comb by sliding a strong knife blade in between the spine and the plastic comb. Gently wiggle the blade to pry up the spine. Continue along the length of the comb.
3. Separate the plastic comb from the spine.
4. Cut off the plastic comb just where the teeth begin. Do not remove the bottom piece of plastic.
5. With a pair of tin-snips, cut out a length of very thin aluminum for your blade. An aluminum soft drink can works out fine for this. Use the piece of comb that you cut out as a template for the width, but give the length an extra inch or two to make your life easier. [Some people try to use thin steel for the blade, but the spring mechanism of the comb simply can’t take the extra weight, and the comb starts to fail in just a few rehearsals.]
6. Slip the “blade” into the spine, making sure that you are not covering the small hole on one side of the spine base.
7. Close down the spine so as to secure the blade in place. A couple of turns on a table vise work best, because you want a nice even flattened finish in order for the blade to operate easily.
8. Using the tin-snips again, trim the blade so that it has the shape you want.
That should be it. If the assembly went well, the knife should be working fine. If not, or if the knife starts to fail in the future, try the following fixes. Naturally, these things don’t last forever, but before you throw it away, one of them just might prolong the life of your prop.
Naturally, these things don’t last forever, but before you throw them away, try these quick fixes. One of them just might prolong the life of your prop.
First, keep in mind that the handle is where the blade lives, so is of necessity hollow. It is also made of very thin soft aluminum, so each time that you press the release button, or even stick it in your pocket, or even when we wrap them up to ship to you, it compresses slightly. Not enough so that you would notice, but every time it’s used the handle gets just a little bit squished.
The first clue that something is going wrong is that the blade won’t pop out, or if it does, it seems that the spring seems weak. It’s never the spring. Each time that the blade pops open, it should do with a satisfying smack. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to open up the handle.
In order to do that, you need to have the knife open, so you may need to hold the release button down and give the blade a good strong pull to release it. It might need a stronger tug than you think, so be a little assertive with it. Then stick a wide bladed tool into the handle just above where the release button is (as shown). Twist it back and forth a couple of times until the handle opens a bit. You don’t need to open the entire handle – just the area above the release button. That should do the trick. Nine times out of ten, this is the fix that fixes. This is also good periodic maintenance, and should be done about once a week or any time the blade feels slightly sluggish. [Sometimes the handle doesn’t get squished, but the release button itself will sink down and not rise up again. It’s actually a variation of the same problem, and the fix is the same as well.]
It didn’t work? It could be that the blade itself is slightly twisted or bent and is rubbing against some part of the inside of the handle. The blade is made of soft aluminum too, so if you can spot the bend, you should be able to twist it back using a pair of pliers or even just your hands.
On rare occasion there is a little bit of resistance at the pivot point. One drop of WD-40 will allow for smooth going. It certainly can’t hurt and might be all you need to bring it back to life.
Lastly, there is that silly safety button that slides up and down. What a nuisance. Just bring it down to the open position and either tape it in place or put in one drop of glue to keep it from moving.
After that, you’re on your own. But seriously, most times these will get the prop working again in only a few minutes.
Butterfly Knife – Something like a folding knife, but the blade pivots on two pieces that combine to make a handle. By holding the closed knife by one part of the handle, the other part can be swung around in a full circle. Swing one way, the blade is exposed; swing the other way, the blade is back inside the handle.
There are a couple of drawbacks on using this knife. All three parts are free moving, so the blade never locks into place, making it inherently weak and giving it a perpetually loose feel. Also, the opening of the knife requires some dexterity, for you have to catch the spinning part of the handle when opening the knife in order to get the blade to stay open. More than a few knuckles have been soundly rapped during the learning process. In addition, its sale is being restricted in many states. Lastly, it has only limited theatrical use. The knife hasn’t been around for too long, was never terribly popular, and only seen on the street from the late 1970’s to the mid-1990’s. Even then it was more of a novelty than a serious knife fighter’s weapon.
Polearms
Not many shows use them, which is a shame because they add so much flair to a fight. But if the show calls for some, you might be pressed to quickly find some, or more likely, build some.
Some of the same rules that apply to fight-worthy swords still hold true here, but in a relaxed form. You want to make sure that the head of the weapon is made of a resilient metal such as steel, but it need not be tempered steel for it will not be under that constant blade-to-blade contact that you would find in a sword fight. As a matter of fact, in most polearm fights the ax blade will very rarely strike anything, with most attacks blocked at the neck of the weapon. Yes, some of the points will bend on occasion when you use soft steel, but a simple pounding with a hammer and they’ll be as good as new in no time. And you certainly don’t need heavy duty framing steel. I’ve seen quite a few weapons in theatre props cabinets made of steel so thick that the weapons were positively dangerous – to everyone’s feet should one of these things be dropped. I’m not suggesting you use 20 gauge sheet metal. The last thing you want is a floppy halberd. But if you stay with 16 or better yet 18 gauge you’ll have plenty of strength. No, the big concern with poleweapons is with the pole.
The steel head of the polearm picks up a lot of momentum every time it is swung, and naturally that spot between the steel and the wood gets a little weaker each time. Add to that the act of striking that very spot with another weapon during a fight, and sooner or later the wood is going to snap and the head is going to fly off. You can minimize the chance of that happening in both the type of pole you select and in the way you build the polearm.
You’ll be lucky if you can find some choices in the wood. What you are looking for is nice round stock about an inch to an inch and a half thick and about five to six feet long without any weaknesses (knots, cavities). Ash wood, the kind used in baseball bats, is wonderful but very hard to find in round stock. You may have to settle for whatever you can find, but first ask around and see if you can find some martial arts oak quarterstaffs (also called staffs, staves, or the Japanese term bo). These are great because they can take a lot of abuse, even a certain amount of broadsword strikes, without causing deep fractures. Some might even have tapered ends, which will make fitting the heads onto them much easier.
The second choice is also a martial arts quarterstaff, but made of rattan. Rattan staffs are ideal for quarterstaff fights because it isn’t really wood, but a fibrous grass. It is flexible and very light, so it’s easy to handle and doesn’t hurt as much as oak during accidental contact. And because its structure is continuous fibers rather than grained wood, it will show damage as the fibers begin to separate weeks before actually breaking. Wood poles don’t give you any such warning; they just suddenly break one day. So why not always use rattan? The flexibility of the staff is greatly magnified once the polehead is attached, and since the staff is so light anyway the off-balanced completed weapon actually feels heavier. That makes it a bit temperamental to control, especially trying to stop the forward momentum during a full swing. Some people simply never get used to it.
Third on the short list is hickory. It’s certainly strong, but is also pretty heavy and you’ll be hard pressed to find a six foot length of it. You will, however, be able to find up to four foot lengths at just about any hardware store. Just ask for the tool replacement handles. (Pick up some extra drill bits and saw blades, because going through hickory builds up a lot of heat and quickly dulls the sharp edges of your tools. You’ll need some replacements.) Your weapons may end up shorter than you wished, but they’ll be stronger than any others.
OK, you’ve searched everywhere and can’t find oak or rattan and you really need something longer than the available hickory. Then all you are left with is pine, specifically, closet rod. All lumber yards and most of the larger hardware stores will carry this in eight to twenty foot lengths. Just tell them what you want and they’ll cut it to the length you need. This stuff is fairly inexpensive, and you can work it with basic tools and stain and varnish it to look great, but it is in no way as strong as any of the other choices. Pine grows very fast and leaves a lot of air gaps in its grain, so it can fracture pretty easily. Since it’s meant for closet rods, it is also only available at an inch and a half diameter, which is right at the limit of comfort for a polearm fight. If you choose pine, you have to make up for its deficiencies by how you attach the head.
Which leads right into – constructing the polearm, and here again you have to make a choice, although it’s pretty straight forward. Either socket or sandwich.
If you have oak, rattan or hickory, you can cut out the shape of the weapon head of your dreams from 16 or 18 gauge steel and have it welded onto a section of steel tubing as close to the diameter of the pole you have chosen. How long should the tube be? It doesn’t really matter, for the stress point is always going to be at the point at which the wood slips into the steel. Once you have welded the polehead sheet onto the tubing, just drill the tube and pole through and through and pop in a nut and bolt to hold everything in place.
What’s that you say? You can cut out the metal but you don’t have a way of welding it onto a tube? Then you’ll need to use the sandwich method, which is also what you’ll need to do if you are using pine closet rod. Before you cut out the weapon head, add a long “tongue” or tang to the outline. This is the part of the blade that will live inside the pole. Once you have the head cut out, you’ll need to run the wooden pole lengthwise through a table saw. Not the entire length, just enough so you can fit the tang into the slot. Fit it in, drill several holes (at least three) and bolt the assembly in place. This should be fairly strong, at least as strong as is possible with whatever wood you’ve found.
But wait, you say, why can’t I use a socket on the pine pole? You actually can if you provide a way to dissipate the lateral stress from that one point at the bottom of the socket. The only way to do that is to weld some flat steel straps on either side of the socket that can travel about three feet down the length of the pole. Drill five or six holes through what is in effect a reverse sandwich and each bolt therein should alleviate some of the stress on that pole. But you’ve also added more weight to the overall weapon and made it pretty thick along half of its length, making it much harder to wield.
Found Objects
Simple props that are not normally recognized as weapons may find their way into the fight, and when that happens they are referred to as found objects. Sometimes in a brawl it’s fun to have a nearby object used, or perhaps, as in The Miracle Worker, the object at hand is used to lash out at someone. Nothing against the props or the people who have provided or built them, but the odds are that at first it will not be up to the stress of being used in a fight, so must be reinforced for stage combat use. It is impossible to make an exhaustive list, but what follows are some examples of some found objects required for various productions.
The example from The Miracle Worker is a good one, for Helen strikes Ann with the doll with which she has been playing. The doll required for historical accuracy has a ceramic head sewn onto the fabric body. Well obviously you can’t really hit someone with the ceramic head – you’ll hurt someone that way. But even if the strike could be managed so that it doesn’t knock out the actress playing Ann, the stitching holding the head on will break after a few rehearsals and the head will soon fly off. Better to use a doll with a hollow rubber head and reattach it to the body using much stronger material such as fishing line. For added strength, make sure that the fishing line runs through the body and all the way down through the legs and into the shoes. Now you have transformed a weak prop into a sturdy prop. [That still doesn’t mean you can smack at someone with the doll. Check out the playlist section of the book for some tips on this scene.]
In several shows, a bedpost, picket from a fence, or a banister (balustrade) is “kicked” out and used in a sword fight. Always fun to see and play with, but we have to make sure that the wood is strong enough for the fight. If the wood is uniformly thick, there might be no need for further reinforcing, but most balustrades are thin and won’t survive being hacked at by anything thicker than an epee-bladed sword. A few wood chips flying away might be acceptable, but to prevent the wood from shattering when struck by a broadsword or sabre, the entire length should be drilled through and a roughened steel rod or piece of re-bar needs to be epoxied inside. I like using epoxy rather than wood glue, for the epoxy makes a much deeper bond into the grain of the wood and adheres better to the steel.
Tools: crowbars, shovels, brooms, hammers, pickaxes, etc. Most of these items are by their nature very solid, so the safety issue comes in 1) making sure every day that the head is securely attached to the handle, and 2) making sure that the item is light enough so that the actor can control it. Fighting with something like a crowbar seems simple until you realize how even a tiny tap with the thing can snap someone’s rib or leg like a matchstick. You might be better advised to try to find rubber or hollow substitutes for certain props. But rubber has its limitations: too soft and the audience can see it waggle during the fight, too stiff and it hurts like hell to be hit by it.
Some of the wooden-handled tools might need some reinforcement with a steel rod running through its length, or perhaps removing the wood completely and directly welding a hollow steel substitute handle.
West Side Story is a great show for found object fighting in general, and a few common sense pointers can keep it and similar shows fun and safe. Make sure that metal trash can lids (directors love them) have the center handle removed, because those things will hit your actor without dissipating the energy around the rest of the flat of the lid, and that really hurts.
Use light weight thin-wall aluminum instead of plumbing pipe, sand all wood to prevent splinters, use no glass bottles, but also no “break-away” bottles because, well, read on.
Break-away glass – Really expensive, but you know that already. Breakaway glass is made of either melted sugar or plastic resin, and is of course much safer than real glass because the broken shards are indeed less sharp than broken glass. But what a lot of people don’t know is injuries are still fairly common with breakaway bottles:
* Once an actor has been hit by a bottle, he usually is supposed to drop to the ground. The shards cut through costumes, skin, and even thin-soled shoes.
* The actor holding the bottle can get cut by fractures running through the “non-broken” leftover of the bottle.
* The bottles have fairly thick bottoms, and getting struck by that can lead to a nasty concussion.
* The broken pieces don’t know that you want them to stay on the stage. Sharp piece have flown out to the audience.
My strong recommendation is to avoid using breakaways if at all possible.
Helpful hint: If you want to use a broken bottle for a fight, scour the local stores for plastic look-alikes [i.e.. shampoo bottles?, soft-drink bottles?], then cut out a ragged broken bottom, sand the edges, and finish by sealing the inside with a painting of rubber cement. The broken bottle is then “found” by a character from somewhere on the set. If he finds it in a trash can, you can always use an off-stage crash box to provide the illusion that the character has smashed the bottle while it is still inside the can, and can then pull out the “broken” bottle.
If you want to include a bottle smashing over someone’s head in a barroom fight, you might want to try having a pre-broken bottle hidden amoung the other bottles on the shelf. By grabbing it and quickly going into the swing, the audience will never be able to see what the actor has in his hand until just after the bottle smashing bit. The sound of the strike can come from a crash-box off stage or behind the bar. You’ll save a bit of money and keep the stage safer.