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Forum Index » Historical Arms Talk » Brass hilted dirk by Vince Evans !
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 10:43 am
Brass hilted dirk by Vince Evans !
A new one by Vince ..... and she's quite the awesome one at that !



Weight - 1 lb. 5 1/2 oz. (wet formed leather sheath w/brass chape - 2 3/4 oz.), POB - 3/4", Overall length - 18 1/8", Blade length - 14 1/4", Blade width - 1 5/16", Blade thickness - 3/16", Grip length - 4"(pommel to end of haunch), Grip diameter - 1",
Pommel diameter - 1 3/8", Haunch width - 1 1/2", False edge - 5 1/2", Fuller length - 8 3/4", Fuller width - 1/8".
Blade steel - 5160, Hilt - brass, Assembly - peened tang.



Inspired by an original late 17th - early 18th century Scottish dirk (DK 11) residing at the Museum of Scotland Edinburgh !
* Photos of it are in my albums here and here !



In hand ....
The brass hilt has a good heft to it and puts the point of balence right back in your hand !



Pommel view !



My Scottish dirk collection by Vince Evans (Targe by Joe Lindsay)







:-) Alba gu brath, Mac


Last edited by Thomas McDonald on Fri 26 Aug, 2005 2:45 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Chad Arnow
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Posts: 9,557 Location: Dayton, OH
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 10:48 am
Mac,
That's fantastic. I've always wanted one of those all-brass-gripped dirks. That's a great piece.

Congrats!
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 10:59 am
Chad Arnow wrote:
Mac,
That's fantastic. I've always wanted one of those all-brass-gripped dirks. That's a great piece. Congrats!


Hi Chad

Thanks, laddie !

Aye, I've always wanted one of these style dirks myself !
Vince had originally intended this piece for Blade Show West but as fate would have it a couple of things cropped up that gave me the opportunity to buy it !

It's a wonderful addition to Mac's Hieland Armoury !

Original inspiration
Brass hilted dirk (DK 11) -- The hilt of this dirk is made entirely of brass, with fluting around the grip, and decorative lines crossing the slightly domed pommel. Late 17th or early 18th century. Length overall - 18"; blade - 14 1/2". * Colville Collection. -- Text: Plate 54, John Wallace "Scottish Swords & Dirks" (1970). Currently residing at The Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. (* Photo: Ron Luciano, 2003)



Last edited by Thomas McDonald on Sat 27 Aug, 2005 5:44 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Joe Fults
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Posts: 3,646 Location: Midwest
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 11:03 am
First one like that I have seen, limited exposure on my part, but it a very interesting variation.
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 12:30 pm
Joe Fults wrote:
First one like that I have seen, limited exposure on my part, but it a very interesting variation.


"Towards the close of the 17th century metal hilted dirks were appearing, the earliest of brass with "Van Dyke" ornamentation, the very earliest with rounded haunches which quickly became parallel sided. Pewter was sometimes used, as well as bone, and remained popular throughout the Jacobite period. A portrait in Castle Grant, painted by R. Waitt in 1714, shows Alastair Mohr Grant wearing a brass handled dirk, and this is almost identical to a dirk believed worn by Sir John Wedderburn, Bart of Ballendean in the '45. It's sheath is tooled, marked with the initials I.W. and dated 1743." -- The Scottish Dirk, by James D. Forman, 1991.

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Grant dirk 2.jpg
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Grant 2.jpg


Last edited by Thomas McDonald on Sat 27 Aug, 2005 7:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Thomas Hoogendam
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Posts: 252 Location: The Netherlands
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 1:24 pm
Looks like a grand addition to your dirk collection. Not really my cup of tea, but still a very nice dirk.
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 1:59 pm
Thomas Hoogendam wrote:
Looks like a grand addition to your dirk collection. Not really my cup of tea, but still a very nice dirk.


Thanks, Thomas !

Here's a shot that shows a bit of the sheaths tooling !
I really luv the antiquing treatment Vince did to the brass on this piece .... really gives it that nice old look !

Mac

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Steve Grisetti
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Posts: 1,812 Location: Washington DC metro area, USA
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 2:35 pm
Congratulations on another fine VE acquisition, Mac!
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Chris Goerner
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Posts: 356 Location: Roanoke, Virginia
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 2:38 pm
Wow, Mac! That is one nice dirk! I've always liked the looks of the original, but the only reproductions I've seen come far short of capturing the lines of that piece. Leave it to Vince Evans to work his magic. The scabbard really compliments the dirk well.

Congratulations on another fine addition!

Chris
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Jay Barron
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Posts: 291 Location: Albany, NY
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 2:50 pm
Lovely dirk, Mac. How does that tiny grip feel in hand? I like Vince's historically sized grips as most of the repro dirk grips out there are larger than the originals. However, I always wondered why the historical ones were so small.
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David R. Glier
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Posts: 146
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 4:07 pm
The grip is *solid* brass?

I would immagine the handling characteristics would be radically different, then. How does it compare?
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 4:11 pm
Thanks, guys !

Hi Jay

The grips size feels perfect .... I could never go back to the big & clunky !
The more you handle pieces that are sized like originals the more you appreciate the reasons they are made the way they are !

**** A few shots of Mac via the tripod & camera on auto-timer ! ****







Last edited by Thomas McDonald on Fri 26 Aug, 2005 5:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 4:24 pm
David R. Glier wrote:
The grip is *solid* brass?
I would imagine the handling characteristics would be radically different, then. How does it compare?


HI David

Yes, the hilt is solid brass .....
Vince had mentioned that the hardest part of doing this hilt was fitting the tang !
Usually with wood you can drill, file a tad, than burn the tang thru for a tight fit .... with brass there is no burning, only tedious filing to fit !

The feel is very different .... like you have a pair of brass knuckles in hand !
I've heard Highlanders would throw their spent steel pistols in the heat of battle ..... if true, I can easily see this baby being chucked with damaging effect ;-)
The point of balence is squarely in hand and gives the blade a different feel compared to the lighter wood hilts !
It's probably comes down to a case of personal preference, but either works fine in my view !

Mac

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Steve Grisetti
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Posts: 1,812 Location: Washington DC metro area, USA
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 4:47 pm
Thomas McDonald wrote:
**** A few shots of Mac via the tripod & camera on auto-timer ! ****

Glad to see you in period clothing. Which period, I'm not sure.... :lol:
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William Goodwin
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Posts: 1,001 Location: Roanoke,Va
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 4:56 pm
Yet another grand addition to your V-E collection. You'll need to buy another display case before too long......... :cool:

Congrats lad!

Bill
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 5:33 pm
Thanks, lads !

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Henrik Bjoern Boegh
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Posts: 386 Location: Agder, Norway
Fri 26 Aug, 2005 6:07 pm
Very nice!

It's been some time since you came up with pictures of Sergant Thomas MacDonald in full garb and armed to the teeth. Which weapons would you choose (from your collection) when displaying a highlander in the 45' now?

I'm trying to make enough money to get myself a dog-lock musket, a decent dirk and preferably a ribbon hilted broadsword... But it sure takes time! I envy you, Mac :-D

Cheers,
Henrik
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Sat 27 Aug, 2005 3:43 am
Henrik Bjoern Boegh wrote:
Very nice!
It's been some time since you came up with pictures of Sergant Thomas MacDonald in full garb and armed to the teeth. Which weapons would you choose (from your collection) when displaying a highlander in the 45' now?
I'm trying to make enough money to get myself a dog-lock musket, a decent dirk and preferably a ribbon hilted broadsword... But it sure takes time! I envy you, Mac :-D Cheers,Henrik


Thanks, Henrik !

You know .... I'm not sure what weapons I'd choose to wear, for an official updated '45 picture, as I'm in the fortunate position of owning so many awesome ones ? Guess it would depend on my mood that day !
It will be fun to model 'em all, though ! ( do I hear a collective Forum groan here ;-)

Just keep working at it, Henrik, you'll get there ! Half the battle is education and knowing exactly what you want and where you wish your kit to be ! Lots of fine tuning along the way ! Best of luck, laddie !

Slàinte, Mac
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Ben Sweet
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Posts: 519 Location: 831
Sat 27 Aug, 2005 3:33 pm
Excellent.... Congrats Mac on such a fine beauty :!: You just need an all brass basket...
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Thomas McDonald
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Posts: 2,160 Location: New Hampshire
Sat 27 Aug, 2005 5:35 pm
Ben Sweet wrote:
Excellent.... Congrats Mac on such a fine beauty :!: You just need an all brass basket...


Thanks, Ben !

Eljay had mentioned the very same thing when we were discussing possible future projects :-)

Brass has class, Mac



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