As this thing is about to leave me for realms far too much to the West of here, I present you a big, fat basilard with a lot of presence.


[ Linked Image ]

[ Linked Image ]

The entire H-shaped hilt has been hand-forged and shows (well, under the scales, that is) a profile very similar to what's visible on period examples (browse this site's galleries for a quick check) with a deep groove in the grip resulting from the hand-forging, and a flattened ring forming the upper bar - but that was also the point. The 'quillons' also were drawn from the same stock of 1075 40x6 mm bar. As you can see, the grip thickens towards the top, as observed again on several examples.

The blade shows (fainlty) a differential temper, the thicker areas near the spine remaining unhardened. The fullers were first hand-forged in, then ground to shape.


Scales are elm wood from my father-in-law's very own garden, with brass tubular pins.


The scabbard is vegetable-tanned leather, naturaly dyed with vinegar and iron oxydes ; the fittings are mild steel.



Though basilards of this era tend to have a more triangular blade, 'fat' examples such as this one are also known, and the customer wanted something to match his remarkable physical presence. Oh, and until recently my thumb was here to prove it does cut too - I was simply hand polishing the blade when I noticed this red, liquid thing on my right hand. Healing proved far more painful than the faint brush I barely felt....



Dimensions :

Length : 403 mm
Width : 71 mm
Blade : 281 x39,8 mm ; 5 mm thick.
Max tang thickness: 8 mm



Making this beast of a basilard (for such an early type, I mean) helped me to answer several questions and test a few theories I had about the processes involved.


The only bad thing......is that I now want to make more of these !

Well that one came out really nicely!
Good work Fab :-)

(nice to see you have time for this kind of work in between your writing: satisfying, I´m sure ;-)

What a lovely piece! Nicely Done.

Blimey that is a good looking dagger :eek: :eek: :D :D :D
Phil

Fabrice

Great looking Baselard. Is it based on a surviving example at all?
If so have you got any pics or information on the original?

What's the weight by the way?

Thanks

Danny

Hi Danny


It's not a slavish copy of an original, if that's what you're asking. But its dimensions and features (and details and, well, flaws) are closely inspired by several examples that I should be able to list if I could manage some time for that (which is hard for me at the moment).

I haven't weighted it, but I suppose it's in the 300 grams range (with the scabbard).


And thanks :)