to the guy who said the material does not matter with artifact weapons - it does. it does a lot.
the artifact bonus damage is added to whatever the original material damage is. so a wooden artifact weapon is not even as good as a base level adamantium one.
anyways, best strange artifacts for me was an aluminium spear. that was my first every artifact in DF ever.
the next year i got my second artifact. it was a cave spider silk thong with a picture of the aluminium spear on the front. it menaced with spikes of goblin bone.
ive also gotten several turtle bone chains menacing with spikes of iron and gemstones. and a turtle shell animal trap. that trap was so great that when i put it in my chasm to get purring maggots it somehow managed to catch turtles.
i got an iron toy hammer with a picture of its creator being tormented by large roaches. which was amusing.
i also managed to make a well which had an artifact adamantium bucket, artifact raw adamantium mechanism, and artifact adamantium chain. i remember feeling sad that you could not get artifact bricks as i constructed it in my main dining hall with an adamantium block.
i have several special workshops with super valuable materials nearby, and when a dwarf gets into a mood i forbid all my other workshops except those ones, and unlock the super valuable materials stockpiles. that way i now allways get carp leather or giant scorpion chitin stuff studded with star saphire and green diamond, with hanging rings of platinum. its nice.