Patu With a Modern Twist

A Patu was a traditional club used by Maori and, in modern times, is a strong cultural symbol and would be considered Taonga (Treasure). These were first used in the 17th and 18th centuries and were made from various local resources such as wood, stone, and whale bone.

I'm not really equipped to discuss this further, as while I'm a proud Kiwi, I'm not Tangata Whenua (people of the land), as such, I've linked a few articles below that you might find interesting.

I did however, give this a modern twist in the carving I made, as this will be a gift for a young lad, I picked a design he will like.

https://www.armymuseum.co.nz/maori-weapons/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patu

1. Wood (some sort of hardwood is best)
2. Oil
3. Saw
4. Sandpaper
5. Carving Chisels
6. Lathe
7. Rasp
8. Thicknesser or plane

I started by cutting a length of timber that was big enough to make a decent sized Patu and mounted it onto my lathe. You don't really need a lathe, you could just cust out the rough shape with a saw, but I really need the practice at wood turning and it was pretty quick and easy with this method.

I turned a basic club shape out of the timber and removed it from the lathe.

I used a saw bench to cut the 'club' shape down to a thick board. I did start using a spokeshave to shape everything, but soon realised it was still much to thick and heavy.

I ended up using a thicknesser to take the Patu down to the correct thickness. Make sure to alternate the sides to keep it centred.

I thought this would be a good time to try out a wood carving disc on my grinder, this was very aggressive and shaped the wood very rapidly. I then moved onto a sanding disc to smooth the rough tool marks out.

At this stage, I swapped to a rasp and finished shaping the Patu by hand. The best way to get the right shape for any tool you hold is to keep going until it feels right. Too often, people make handles that look good but feel awful, if it feels too bulky or angled, just keep working on it.

Lastly, finish it with sandpaper until you get a final smooth surface.

Use a pencil to draw out the pattern you want to carve. I'm completely new at carving, so I went for a simple design. But rather than a traditional style of face, I opted for a couple of slightly altered emoji with some Koru (spiral).

Koru features heavily in Moari art, see below for more information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koru

I recently got a set of carving chisels, and this was the primary reason for starting this project. I learnt a lot about carving the Patu and really enjoyed the process. I'll definitely do more carving.

I did cheat a little bit and use a dremel to smooth the carved wood out in a few places.

This is where the beauty of the wood comes out; as you pour the oil onto the wood the grain really pops out. I then used a rag to apply the oil evenly.

The Patu is finished now, and I'll be passing it along shortly.