Hi Nate, for many years I used a chunk on the end of a stick. The handle would be 16 to 18 inches long, harvested from broken sledge handles and the head would be in the neighborhood of 80 cubic inches of hardwood, an old pallet might be a source - 3 x 4 cross section. My current favorite is the 4 inch diameter x 18 inch stem from a dogwood, I carved the handle just so with a draw knife. That sucker packs a serious punch. Looks like Alley Oop's dating cudgel scaled down 50%.