Hello myArmoury community,

I'd like to share my latest completed commission, the "Andy Davis "Angrod" Dagger Handmade Scabbard". This is a very unique piece, and as such a very unique scabbard was made.

Comments are welcome, and thanks for looking!

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The scabbard is OF COURSE EXCELLENT (your standard of work.) The dagger itself, although not the subject of your post, is worthy of some comment. (Was it cable damascus, or hand forged and scraped/ inlayed? Species of wood on the handle?)

I am going to guess that this is intended as a straight vertical suspension for whatever belt the owner may happen to have. As we go down to this scale of implement, I am as of yet decided at what point one chooses a sheath over a wood core scabbard. I am curious to hear what drove you to your decision (owner's specification, whim, etc.)

Thanks Jared.

I really have no idea as to the specifications of the dagger. Hopefully the owner will chime in with some details.

The suspension allows for the dagger to hang on the right side of the hip with a slight forward angle of the hilt, hence the slightly bigger loop on one side of the suspension. As for the sheath versus scabbard debate, I perfer wood core with blades over 10". It looks better in my opinion, and functions better for longer blades. This particular piece the customer requested a scabbard.

EDIT: I just got the some of the details.

Forged by Andy Davis, Angrod is a dark antiqued double edged dagger with a keen edge and a slender shape. The design is completely original, made to have functional flowing organic lines that work with it's user well. The blade surface is blackened and highly antiqued with a light texture, while the edge is cold, clean & shining. The grip is carved from slightly charred maple and the fittings from 80 year old iron.

That's a beautiful combination of rustic detail and nice aesthetics. I love the textures in the blade, hilt and scabbard. The whole package screams "Robert E. Howard" to me.

Any idea why he called it the Angrod dagger? Angrod is a Noldorin Prince in Tolkiens mythology, so was this dagger envisiged as being possesed by him or was it just the borrowing of a cool sounding name? The name is derived from Angarato which is given to mean "iron-noble" or "iron-champion" so either way it seems to be a fitting name for the dagger..

WOW…
This was definitely the last thing I was expecting to see today on myArmoury…
My own work getting an awesome custom made scabbard from DBK!

I am absolutely honored! :)
Truly, this is such a cool thing to see and I am a huge fan of the work you do Brian!
Plus that scabbard looks about 1000 times better than anything I would have made for it! Haha



As for the dagger itself...

It definitely was a unique, almost freestyle piece while working on it in our shop.
I actually started forging it not really knowing what it would become, just letting the hammer and steel do the thinking.
And the way the blade shape turned out it definitely gave an ancient Noldorian dark feel, thus the blade texture and charred maple grip.

Quote:

"Was it cable damascus, or hand forged and scraped/ inlayed?" - Jared Smith

Thanks Jared,
the blade is not damascus. It was forged from 1075 carbon steel, and when the forging was done I shaped it with rough stones, sharp rasps and even forged some of the steel with a large rock instead of a hammer, all following in one flowing direction to give it the strange light texture on the blade. Then finished it by etching in ferric chloride and polishing with oil and steel wool.
The single rune letter "A" and the patterns following it on the blade were not meant to hold wire inlay in them, they were engraved in simply to be bold silver accents contrasting against the dark aged steel.

Here are the exact specs of the dagger:

Steel type: 1075
Fittings: 80 year old iron
Grip wood: lightly charred Maple
Overall Length: 15"
Blade length: 10"

And here are more details and photos as given on our website: http://maddwarfworkshop.com/Knives%20&%20Saxes/Angrod.htm

Quote:

"Any idea why he called it the Angrod dagger? Angrod is a Noldorin Prince in Tolkiens mythology, so was this dagger envisiged as being possesed by him or was it just the borrowing of a cool sounding name? The name is derived from Angarato which is given to mean "iron-noble" or "iron-champion" so either way it seems to be a fitting name for the dagger.." - Paul Watson

Thanks so much Paul!
You are exactly right, I loved the name Angrod as used by Tolkien in his mythology. So it only seemed fitting to name it after that simply. I suppose if you wanted to consider the dagger to once have been owned by him you could, but at the time I simply chose the name because it sounded right. haha


Bu yeah, again thank you so much Brian for sharing this! I had no idea the owner was planning on doing this so it was a pleasant surprise for me. :)
Absolutely made my day. Thanks everyone!

God Bless
Andy D.
- the MAD Dwarf Workshop -

You're both excellent artisans and more than worthy of the spotlight!

Andrew, I'm sending an email your way with a few questions.

M.

Awesome, well done. I am a huge Tolkien fan, so any time someone attaches work to the names, I look pretty close. This is a good example of doing it right.

Thanks everyone for the compliments. The praise makes it all worth while.

Brian, how long have you been doing this kind of leatherwork?

Also, may I get a shot inside of the scabbard?

M.

Only two years? You must be some kind of sorcerer...

M.

I've been a craftsman working with wood most of my life, and artistic ventures come naturally to me as well.

Wow Brian... that is one of my favorites of yours to date, beautiful work.

Andy also... LOVE the dagger. I'm soon aquiring something from Andy... can't WAIT to get my hands on it. It's going to need a home (IE - Scabbard) at some point soon also... ;)

Hi Brian,

Who came up with the design of the scabbard? It's sometimes hard to imagine how to dress up a scabbard without going overboard and ruining instead of complimenting the sword.

I'm kind of in the same boat with the commisions that you're going to be working on soon. I'm not sure what's the best way to compliment the sword vs. the danger of going too far versus staying too plain.

Of course the sword has to be detailed to the same level I would imagine for balance but colors and textures? I don't even know what is possible.

Eric

Great, that actually works well for me since besides picking out the basic features I like, I only have vague ideas. From all I've seen so far of your work, it'll be in good hands. Exciting!


Eric