Hi All,

I have a series of Landsknecht pieces to make for a single client and thought it may be interesting to post it up as I go.

The pieces that will form part of thread will be a 'misericord', a simple bronze handled dagger that is classically Landsknecht. An eating set and scabbard. A Katzbalger with scabbard and a super fancy dagger with a sculptural handle and a silver scabbard.

These pieces are naturally going to take a while to put together so patience will be required.

The client wants a Katzbalger with a blade about 68-70cm long and a fancy fishtail pommel that is quite long, so it leaves very little grip between the guard and the pommel. There will be a scabbard to follow and this will be fitted with a suitable chape and will be harnessed in a typical Landsknecht method of being horizontally worn and lashed in place.

The blade is 69cm long, 5 cm wide and is just under 5mm thick at the guard and is of lenticular section. The black pen marking on the blade is to see if the client would like the side fullers taking further down.

I have made a master fabricated from 6 pieces and will have it moulded and cast in EN9 (modified) which is about .7% carbon, the brass parts will be steel on the finished item. I decided to keep it straight and curve it afterwards for production reasons.

I have started to carve the pommel and will post up pictures in a day or two.

I hope you enjoy watching the progress.

Tod

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Sehr interessant, danke viel mals!!!

I'm impressed and envious at the same time.

Maybe my next piece won't be Italian...

That is definitely going some place I like. I can't wait.

Hi Tod, i was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing how you did the decorative shaping on the guard. Was the basic profile on the guard lathe-turned? I'm curious about your process on this.....
Your detail work is stunning, as always.
thanks
Jesse

Thanks all for you support and I will need it, because this project is going to run and run.

Jesse Belsky wrote

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Hi Tod, i was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing how you did the decorative shaping on the guard. Was the basic profile on the guard lathe-turned? I'm curious about your process on this.....

The basic roughing out of the guard into the divisions was done on a lathe and the simple rounded forms were also shaped on a lathe, but the rest of the decoration in the tight spiral dividers and the long lazy sections is all hand cut as is the file work on the guard block and the guard finials.

Regards

Tod

Sold. Oh rats this one isn't for sale. Anyway, I give up Leo, I'll be in touch looks like I may have to wait a bit but we are going to have to talk about another project. :)

I'm going to enjoy this! :D

That one is going to deserve by-knives.

It will be having byknives in due course.

I also finished the pommel, took some lousy pictures, but is now posted it off for casting so until the real deal comes back, this it.

I find that getting detail in with jewellers wax doesn't really work for me and I also like working in metal beause then the part looks like it was cut into metal originally; wax pieces can have a different feel. So I made the guard in metal. The pommel though is easier in wax and is softer in form so I used the wax for this part.

For mace heads I like to use beeswax as again it gives a totally different and authentic feel to either working direct into metal or jewellers wax.

The pommel is quite flamboyant and fishtail as this is what the client wanted and I hope I have captured a suitable level of form and detail without going too off the wall.

I would expect at least 3 weeks before anything more happens on this one, but there will be more work on the eating set, scabbard and the misericord in the meanwhile.

Until the next one

Regards

Tod

Tod

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Gets better by the hour! I have to try casting.

Hi All,

The guard is at the casters being moulded so I am told 3 weeks, which means 4.........

I have also made the master for the scabbard chape and I will work on the eating set this week, so maybe some progress pictures as that develops.

The master for the chape is made from a modelling resin and will now be sent away fro lost wax casting in bronze.

I hope you like it.

Tod

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This project is really cool Tod! I love the chape. Seems so simple but I know it wasn't. I have the laugh at the guard, I know it will be curved later but it just looks so funny being that long! The pommel looks great too! Can't wait to see this one finished...

Gorgeous! Very true to the period.

Is there shrinkage in the cast compared to the modeling resin?

And it's looking spiffy as always

Ben Anbeek wrote

Quote:

Is there shrinkage?)

Yes there is shrinkage at every part of the moulding process, so it gets compounded. From hard master to rubber, from rubber to wax and from wax to steel. In many instances this is a problem and you have to work round it, for a chape it simply means it will fit a bit lower on the scabbard.

Tod

Beautiful!

Feel like working on a Bauernwehr in the not-too-distant future? ;)

Fantastic...

A cinquedea sword and now a katzbalger...It's great to see you are widening the scope Leo and to have a chance of following your progress is even better. The variety of techniques you are using is very impressive, and I can't wait to see how your wax and resin castings will turn up. Is that another blade from Owen?

Cheers,

Julien

Love the file work and makes me hope there will be some on my Eared Dagger but then those details are up to you as I'm not micromanaging it ....... as promised, but just saying that this kind of file work is extremely attractive. ;) ;) :D :cool:

I sort of understand what you mean about working directly on steel since even if " carving is carving " and in large part visualizing and cutting the shapes the resistance of the material gives the work character due to the resistance of the material to cutting with the files.

I'm doing a little filework myself on the head of a walking stick with a cast stainless head I'm modifying and the feel of the file teeth cutting the steel seems to be a great part of the fun.

Thanks all for the supportive words.

Mark T wrote Beautiful!

Feel like working on a Bauernwehr in the not-too-distant future?

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Oh Yes - love 'em Julien M wrote

I can't wait to see how your wax and resin castings will turn up. Is that another blade from Owen?

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Yeah me too...........I like it so far as well, but there is of course plenty of room for trouble. I actually made the blade, shorter ones I don't mind doing, its just the longswords I am less keen on, but I think I might have another go on my next one; I have a Mary Rose backsword to do in the near future. Jean Thibodeau wrote I sort of understand what you mean about working directly on steel since even if " carving is carving " and in large part visualizing and cutting the shapes the resistance of the material gives the work character due to the resistance of the material to cutting with the files.

I think you are exactly right; the end result will look different depending on what you work the master in and so I try to use a similar material where I can. Sometimes, like the pommel, the result was gong to be much quicker in wax and the look not so different, so you have to make a commercial decision and opt for one material over another, though given a free hand I would have preffered to work direct into metal for this piece.

The guard, pommel and chape are at the casters and so I started on the eating set, which I need to do before I start on the scabbard as they also need to fit into this as well.

I have opted to take the detail of the pommel of the katzbalger and so make a set of three items. The knife and pricker would have been odd if they had the full fish tail pommel, so I opted for a half pommel form. The two items would also have been out of proportion if they had the same size pommels so these are the reasons for these choices.

The scabbard for the eating set is not so ostentatious and just has some simple decoration incised and pressed in. This will lift out far more when the piece is dyed and polished.

I am just off to look at the scabbard binding.

Regards

Tod

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