Ax by Todd Bitler

 

Photographs by Jan Riser.

Creek Inlaid Pipe Tomahawk by Todd Bitler

This is a hand forged head replicated from a Creek original located in a museum. The head has a straight sided bowl with a hand filed rope design bordering both ends (at the opening and back). The neck is stepped with a chevron where it meets the eye. The eye of this tomahawk is round with a blade molding and a curved leading edge. The underside of the blade has two notches where the eye and blade adjoin. The hickory handle has been hand shaped and drilled with three pierced pewter bands, meaning the wood pertrudes through the band like the original. The pewter mouthpiece has four rectangular piercings that displays the handle wood through the pewter. The handle was stained a deep red simulating the finish of the original. The head has been aged and rubbed back emulating the patina of the original as well. It is stamped with a touchmark.

Copy and photos from Todd Bitler.

Southeastern Woodlands Ball Headed War Club by

Replicated from an original club with Southeastern provenance. This massive ball club is made from a hornbeam root burl found on the historic Scioto River in central Ohio. The overall length of this war club is 16.5" which makes it different from most Eastern ball clubs. The oversized ball was hand carved and shaped to closely match the original. This club shows it's true origin as a root burl with eclusions, grain cracks, swirling grain characteristic of all great ball clubs. The club has been aged to show great battle use.

Copy and photo supplied by Todd Bitler.

Fin Back Ball Club by Todd Bitler

A Great Lakes Eastern Woodlands Club which is stylized after an original war club from a Canadian museum collection. This hand carved single piece construction is from a hardwood root burl. The front of the ball and top of the handle has a carved fin or spine like protrusions replicated from the original. The handle is faceted and ends with a lanyard hole also like the original. This club has been stained dark and aged to resemble hard use in battle.

Copy and photos supplied by Todd Bitler.

Octagonal Wood Handled Dagger with Wooden Sheath by Todd Bitler

This hand forged blade is made to resemble one salvaged from a broken small sword tip. The blade has a hammered medial ridge that runs the entire length; it also has a through tang and a brass octagonal endcap. The crossguard is hammered from iron and ends with two small flattened round finials. Behind the crossguard is an iron band that protects the handle from the guard. Blade is tapered and thin and is sturdy with good flex in the tip. This dagger has great balance and holds extrememly well (not blade or handle heavy). The blade has knicks and dings to resemble its wear of being used as a frontier knife. The blade is aged and stamped with touchmark. The sheath is made from pine with a brass endcap and a brass entry guard. On the entry guard is a brass belt clip with a shell design soldered to the cap. Both brass guards are scalloped and inletted into the wood. On the wood are several totems; one depicting a thunderbird with a heartline; the other figure is a turtle depicting a clan animal. On each side of the belt clip are incized carved figures representing kills or a kill record and captives taken by the owner of the knife. My interpretation of this knife and sheath is a battle trophy taken from a rifleman or possibly a market hunter redecorated by its new native owner. Touchmark is encased in a diamond shaped piece of brass soldered to the back of the brass entry guard.

Copy and photo supplied by Todd Bitler.

1710 Clubb Butt Fowler Made by Todd Bitler – Made and Donated for the 2010 CLA Live Auction

Club Butt Fowlers were some of the first guns brought to this continent through the Upper Hudson River Valley by the Dutch traders who established a trading post at Fort Nassau. Once this post was abandoned, these guns were then taken to Fort Orange, farther up the Hudson River. This region was heavily populated with many Native American tribes eager to trade furs for newly discovered goods with the gun being one of the most valuable and important items. These fowlers were well liked and became popular from the 1650s well into the late 1700s.

The Club Butt Fowler that I replicated is featured in the “Early American Flintlocks” by James B. Whisker and David B. Hartzler. The original is in the David Condon Collection.

The 69 cal., 50” hand-turned round barrel features a two-piece brass sighting rib on top.
 A dove tailed steel rear sight is proportionally positioned between the two-piece brass sighting rib. The front sight is a low blade type made from brass and silver which is soldered to the barrel.


The ignition for this fowler is supplied by a Brown Bess lock that has been reworked to resemble an early Dutch style one. I flattened the round Bess plate, stepped the tail and added file molding. To maintain the early style of the original, the round faced cock was also flattened and the bottom of the plate was banana shaped. I elected to use English Walnut for the stock, which is what the original was made from. The stock blank was donated by Dunlap Woodcraft.

One of the most unique aspects of the gun is a double set trigger. I used a Davis trigger but wanted a different look for the front, so I forged a long slender front trigger, more closely resembling the style of the early originals.
 To cover the double triggers, I made a rifle style guard, very similar in shape to the original. It had a somewhat c-shaped bow and a curled finger extension that laid up against the bottom of the wrist which set it apart from other fowler guards. This guard fits very well with the gun and is extremely comfortable.

The butt plate was replicated from a Hudson Valley fowler seen in Tom Grinsdale’s book “Flintlock Fowlers: First Guns in America”. The various custom decorations on this gun include shell style tang carving, double barrel molding, ramrod entry pipe molding, thin lock and sideplate molding, wavy entry pipe accent on the side of the fore stock, and a deep wrist notch into the side of the butt stock.
 A silver and brass escutcheon decorates the wrist area, which is engraved with small border lines.
 Engraving on the fowler was done by Ken Netting and performed in a Dutch style. The lock is engraved with tulips and florals. The top brass barrel ribs are done with small rococo and vines. The butt plate has a large Dutch tulip and various other flowers and vines. A stylized bird standing on a limb decorates the bottom of the trigger guard.
 A silver cartouche has been chiseled into the barrel and is stamped with my touch mark. Also the top brass rib has been engraved with my name, which closely follows how original makers distinguished their work.
 This gun was stained with traditional stain recipe that I formulated, and coated with a hand rubbed oil finish. All parts of the fowler were aged to resemble a 300 year old original.

All features of this gun are hand made by myself with the exception of the lock and the double-set triggers.


More information about the making of this gun, the history of Club Butt Fowler, and Todd’s work as an artist can be found at his web site. There is also a zoomable photo gallery of the gun which shown close-ups of the gun. (This is an amazing piece so go look at the photo gallery for more photos and close-ups of Todd's work.)

The CLA Live Auction will be on Friday, August 20th at 4:00 PM.

Copy and photos supplied by Todd Bitler.

Single Shell Guard Cutlass Sword by Todd Bitler

Hand forged 30" x 1.25" single fuller blade

Iron hand hammered single shell guard with curling top quillon and lower sweeping knuckle guard ending in a half round iron button finial - the guard also has an inward curling thumb ring. Finishing out the cutlass is a hand filed octagonal bone handle with a brass band where the sword meets the guard. Also, on the handle is a matching octagonal domed iron capstan; tang of the sword runs through the handle and is peened over the capstan. The bone handle has several small stress cracks, stains and slight yellowing to signify age. This sword has great aging and supreme balance and weighs just over 1/5 lbs like the original. The blade stamped with Todd's touchmark.

These swords were held in a storage locker in a room called the hold under the deck of the ship. Weapons including swords, muskets, pistols, and powder were locked up and only provided to the ship's occupants when needed. 

Copy and photos supplied by Todd Bitler.

Octagonal Handled Scalp Knife by Todd Bitler

The hand forged blade with classic trade knife shape. The handle is hand made from osage orange into a octagonal shape ending in two wedding bands. The handle has been notched and blade slid into handle and held in place with two copper pins; it has beeen stained dark and highlighted with wear patterns. The blade is very thin and tapers from the back to the tip which makes for a well balanced knife (not blade heavy or handle heavy) and is aged and stamped with touchmark.

Copy and photo supplied by Todd Bitler.

Lenape (Delaware) Quilled Neck Knife Sheath by Mike Taylor and a Wood Handled Scalp Knife With Four Pointed Brass Star by Todd Bitler

This is replica of a 1760s sheath featured in William C. Orchard's book The Technique Of Porcupine Quill Decoration Among The Indians Of North America. This ornate sheath has several different quill techniques which include single quill zigzag, two quill zigzag, single line technique, and single line edge beading. Quill colors used in this sheath consist of naturally dyed red, yellow, black and natural porcupine quills; Natives were experts at finding natural dyes from plant matter and different barks and using natural mordants to obtain these vibrant colors. This sheath is made with natural dyed blackish-brown smoked braintanned deer hide. The pocket that holds the knife is lined with birch bark as were many originals. The naturally dyed red deer hair fill the hand rolled brass cones and are topped off with #8 white trade beads which also border the outline of the sheath.

This hand forged knife has a long thin blade that resembles a table knife. The blade is thin and tapers from the back to the point and retains good flex and a razor sharp edge. The tang of the blade is notched into the front of the handle and secured with copper pins. The handle is made from osage orange and swells on the end where a brass four pointed star is inletted. The brass star in stamped with my touchmark as seen in the photo. The knife has been aged to resemble a well-used original.

Copy and photos supplied by Todd Bitler.

Todd Bitler Hoe Blade Spike Tomahawk

This hand forged head measurs 5" wide by 9" long and is replicated from an original. The head has been pierced with a round eye and a sweeping hook as the spike; the flat wide blade is similar in shape to an 18th century hoe. The handle is hand made from figurd ash and is 19" long. The handle has a natural curved belly that ends with a sprial shaped knob. This tomahawk is very light weight with great balance. The handle has been lightly stained and has been aged to give it the look of an original. This piece is stamped with a touchmark.

Copy and photos supplied by Todd Bitler at Native Workshop.

Pierced Effigy Ball Club by Todd Bitler

This is a replicated from an original war club from the Ralph T. Coe Collection which is hand carved from a hardwood ash burl. The top of the handle directly behind the animal's head is outlined with an incised carving. This war club features an animal holding the spiked ball in its mouth. The handle of the club has been pierced in front of the hand hold and is outlined by an incised line carving. Directly in front of the piercing is a hand hammered wide brass band as seen on the original. Finishing out the war club is a hand forged tapered iron spike with touchmark. This club resembles the aging of the original with ding marks and scratches.

Copy and photos supplied by Todd Bitler.

Todd Bitler Spiral Painted Pipe Tomahawk

This hand forged head that was copied from an original pictured in Peterson's tomahawk book. Originally it was a pipe tomahawk head and the blade was cut down to a spike. The ash handle was replicated from an original in the book, Indian Tomahawks & Frontiersmen Axes by Hartzler & Knowles. The book's description of the handle states that the alternating spirals were painted red and green. The painted handle uses original colonial colors of alternating red, green and black. Finishing the end of the handle is a hand poured pewter sprial chevron mouth piece. This pipe tomahawk is hand drilled and smokable. It is stamped with a touchmark.

Copy and photos supplied by Todd Bitler. More of Todd's work can be seen on his web site Native Workshop.

Todd Bitler

Photos by Mitch Cook.