Stormlink Hand Forged Damascus Steel Flail | 29 Inch Overall with a 3 Inch Head | Damascus Spiked Ball Head on a Patterned Fore Shaft | Reenactment Collector Gift | RK-1357

This is the Damascus counterpart to our chain flail, built on a different logic. The spiked ball is forge welded 1095 and 15N20 and it is mounted solidly at the head of a matching Damascus fore shaft rather than hung loose, with a hand forged chain running from the head collar down to a leather wrist loop. That arrangement is closer to the surviving military flails than the film version is. Where a period war flail carries a chain it is usually short, and the wrist retention is a separate thing entirely, because a weapon you can drop is a weapon you have lost.

Forged, welded, etched and finished in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee, hardened and drawn to 58 to 60 HRC. It ships with the hand forged chain and leather wrist strap shown, free anywhere in the United States, and can be engraved with Elder Futhark runes or a Viking pattern before it leaves the bench.

Specifications

A fixed head flail and why it is built that way

The pattern welding is the reason this one is not hung on a chain. A Damascus ball is expensive in hours before it ever leaves the forge, and a free swinging head spends its life striking things at the worst possible angle and grinding against its own link. Fixing it to the fore shaft protects the pattern, moves the balance back toward the hand, and lets the whole assembly read as one piece of steel from the crown of the ball down to the brass collar.

The chain is still there and it still does a job. Running from the head collar to a leather wrist loop, it gives the retention that a period flail or a horseman mace would have carried, so the weapon stays with the hand if the grip is knocked loose. It is forged link by link, closed by hand and finished dark so it sits down against the etched steel rather than shouting over it. If you want a true free swinging head instead, that is our plain steel flail, built for exactly that.

Why Damascus steel and not stainless

The Damascus here is not an etch or a print. It is 1095 and 15N20 forge welded in alternating layers, drawn out, folded, and welded again until the billet carries the layer count you can see on the finished piece. The two steels are close cousins in carbon content, which is what lets them weld cleanly and harden together, but 15N20 carries about two percent nickel. Nickel resists the acid etch. That is the whole trick. When the finished piece is polished and dipped, the 1095 darkens and the 15N20 stays bright, and the layers you cannot otherwise see come up as pattern.

Because both steels are high carbon, the finished piece hardens properly. This one is quenched and drawn to 58 to 60 HRC, hard enough to hold a working edge and still tough enough for impact work. Stainless cannot do this. High chromium alloys will not forge weld reliably at these temperatures and the chromium carbides that give stainless its corrosion resistance also blunt the contrast an etch depends on, so stainless Damascus is usually a faint grey ghost of a pattern. The trade is care. Read more in Damascus versus stainless.

The hardwood haft

The haft is close grained hardwood, turned to a slight taper so the hand finds the same place on it every time and sanded through the grits before it takes its oil finish. Dense hardwood is chosen over a softwood for a reason that has nothing to do with looks. A dense stave carries the shock of a heavy head into the wood rather than letting it stop at your palm, and it holds a ferrule or a langet tight for years instead of shrinking away from the fitting after one dry winter.

The finish is oil, not lacquer, which is a deliberate choice. Lacquer looks perfect until it chips, then water gets under it and you cannot fix it without stripping the whole handle. Oil wears gradually and is repaired by wiping more oil on. Once or twice a year, a thin coat of boiled linseed or a proprietary handle oil, twenty minutes to soak, then wipe off what has not gone in. See wooden handle care.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it.

Engraving is cut by hand after the piece is finished and before final oiling, so keep the line short and let it sit where the eye already goes. Names, dates, a line of a poem, a maker mark, a unit or a crew number all work. If you are unsure where a line should sit, send us the text and we will suggest a placement before we cut. Full details and examples are on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Damascus needs the same care as any high carbon steel, with one extra thought. The etched pattern lives in a few thousandths of an inch of surface relief. Aggressive polishing, a wire wheel or a scouring pad will flatten that relief and take the pattern with it, and the only way back is to re etch the piece. Clean it with a soft cloth, nothing abrasive, and keep a thin film of mineral oil or paste wax on the steel. Wipe fingerprints off the same day. Rust will start in a fingerprint before it starts anywhere else.

Sharpening does not damage the pattern, because you are only working the bevel and the layers run right through the steel rather than sitting on top of it. Use a whetstone, keep it wet, hold the angle the bevel already carries and work both sides evenly. If the fresh bevel looks paler than the rest of the piece, that is expected, and a light etch will bring it back. See steel care and sharpening with a whetstone.

Forged in Memphis

This is made in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing in this listing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and nothing is bought in finished and re labelled. The steel is cut, heated, drawn and shaped here, the heat treat is done here, and the fitting and finishing are done here by the same small crew. That is also why the lead time is honest rather than instant. Pieces in stock ship within two to three business days. If yours has to be made, or if you have asked for engraving, allow two to three weeks before it leaves the shop. We will tell you which it is when you order rather than after. Shipping inside the United States is free.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand forged. It is not machine made, not cast and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The grain of the wood, the tone the steel takes from the fire and the oil, the exact run of a pattern, the precise curve of a profile, all of it shifts a little from one piece to the next because each one is worked by hand from natural materials. Two hafts cut from the same board will not read the same. Two etched blades from the same billet will not carry the same swirl.

What does not change is the specification. Dimensions, steel, hardness, fittings and build are the same every time. The character is the part that is yours alone, and it is the reason to buy something forged rather than something stamped.

Frequently asked questions

Does the ball swing freely on the chain?

No. On this piece the ball is mounted solidly at the head of the Damascus fore shaft and the chain runs from the head collar to the leather wrist loop. If you want a free swinging ball on a chain, our polished steel flail is built that way.

Is the Damascus real?

Yes, forge welded 1095 and 15N20, folded and etched in the shop. The pattern goes all the way through the steel. You can see it change from broad bands on the ball to fine crowded lines on the flanks of the spikes.

Can I have runes engraved on it?

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page for Elder Futhark, or choose your own Viking pattern in the engraving option. On this piece the brass collar and the leather wrapped grip both take a line of runes cleanly.

Can it be swung or used?

No. This is live steel with a spiked head and three pounds of mass. It is built as a collector and display piece and for film and stage work, and it is not safe to use against a person under any circumstances.

Will the brass and leather age?

Yes, and it improves. The brass darkens toward amber and the wrapped grip takes on the shape of a hand. Neither needs anything from you. If you prefer bright brass, polish the fittings alone and leave the etched steel untouched.

How long does shipping take?

Two to three business days if it is in stock, two to three weeks if it is being forged or engraved. A Damascus spiked head is one of the slower items on the bench. United States shipping is free with tracking.

What is in the box

• One hand forged Damascus flail, 1095 and 15N20 head and fore shaft
• Rosewood haft with leather wrapped grip, brass collars and butt cap
• Hand forged chain and leather wrist strap
• Care and oiling notes for etched Damascus
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

More in flails, damascus steel, maces and viking weapons, and read the guides.