Waster Care and Maintenence

Your waster has finally arrived. You gaze over it lovingly, and the first thing you want to do is go outside and start swinging it. Before you do, though, take a little time to protect your $60-$100 investment. You take care of it, and it will serve you faithfully.

Treating the Wood

The first thing to check is to see if the wood has been finished in some way, or if it is still just basically dry. Dry wood is a lot more brittle, and to put up with the kind of abuse that comes from practicing historical fencing, you will want to toughen the wood by filling the pores with some sort of oil. This also will protect it against moisture and mildew.

Some manufacturers will have already treated the wood for you, but if not, we recommend using a mixture of 50% linseed oil and 50% mineral spirits. Other oils, waxes, resins, and mixtures exist, so don't hesitate to check with the manufacturer or your local woodworker or cabinet maker to see what they recommend. Basically, you just wipe the entire waster with a brush or rag soaked in the mixture and let it soak in. If all the mixture soaks into the wood, repeat the process until the wood will take no more oil. It does not hurt to let the waster soak overnight. Once this is done, you may find that your waster will "sweat" a little of the oil; just wipe the excess oil off with a rag or paper towel.

From time to time you will want to retreat your waster to keep it from drying out. It does not need to be often, just periodically wipe it down with an oily rag.

Nicks, Splinters and Breaks

It's called a waster for a reason; even with the best of care, the repeated strikes, parries, and deflections are going to take their toll. You should take the time after each training session to inspect your waster for damage.

Dents in the wood do not present much of a problem, however, nicks and splinters do. The sharp points can cause injury to your opponent, and if not treated in time, a small splinter along the wood grain can turn into a major break. Sand out all nicks and splinters. If a splinter is forming a crack along the grain, you can try to glue it with some sort of adhesive, but our attempts at this have not been successful.

Finally, sooner or later, the unthinkable will happen; the waster will break. If you see a major crack forming in the wood, for the safety of yourself and your partners, go ahead and retire the waster. That is much better than letting it shatter during sparring and watching the hospital staff pick the shrapnel out of your sparring partner.