Tervehdys.

Here´s a couple of items I made during the summer. As the subject says, a katzbalger and a dagger. The blades are both made of leafspring. Handles are from stained beechwood with brass plates. I treated the handles with gunstock oil, and they came out to be quite glossy -maybe a bit too much. At some point I might try to aply some wax to the handles.

Some measurements:

Katzbalger
Length: 65,5 cm
Blade length: 53 cm
Weight: 0,984 kg (I think it was that...)

Dagger
Length: 53,7 cm
blade length: 40,5 cm
I haven't measured the weight yet..

The katzbalger was something I wanted to try, because of the beatiful characteristic shapes of it. -And also, I didn't have one yet ;) The handle is supposed to look a bit used. I thought it would match nicely to the rustic-looking crossguard. Sword is still waiting for a scabbard. Oh, and the handle might still be a bit too chunky compared to the originals.

The dagger was the other piece from the large two-handed sword that I put in half. From the smaller piece I made the Holbein dagger. This dagger is quite big, and I don't know if it has any historical examples. Then again, it's not trying to be any reproduction...it's just an experiment. It could also be some kind of a big hunting knife, a think...

Some pictures attached.

-T

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katzbalger [ Download ]

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katzbalger handle [ Download ]

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katzbalger crossguard [ Download ]

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dagger with scabbard [ Download ]

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dagger crossguard [ Download ]

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dagger with scabbard 2 [ Download ]

Excellent work Toni,

I especially like the grip on the sword.

Have you tried the kind of twist work that you did on the cross guard before? Its something I haven't had a go at yet. looks great.

Nick.

Thanks Nick.

I've done actually quite lot of this kind of twisting before, but not on swords. I made forged paperknives few years ago, and used the same method with them. With katzbalger my heating equipment were a bit inadequate, and it was some hard work to do. But if you have have proper tools to work with, it's no big deal. Just heat the metal enough until you start to twist. Go for it :)

-T

Your work is beautiful! I love the katzbalger. The aging on it looks perfect.

Thank you for posting these photos. I'm looking forward to seeing your next project.

Best wishes,


David

Thanks again.

I've done some cutting with milk cartons and the grip worked just fine. I just believe it would work even better if it was a bit slimmer -But I'm no expert either... ;)

Next week I might have some time to think about the scabbard for my katzbalger...I'll propably make a basic wooden one, and then wrap it in leather. If someone has more knowledge about any historical examples, I would be grateful for some tips. Especially the suspension of the katzbalger is something I'd like to get more information about. As far as I know they were carried horizontally, but some details would be nice.

-T

Ok.

Here it is. Wooden core an wrapped in leather. I didn't have a piece big enough to cover the whole scabbard, so, that's why the brown tip ;)

I thought that brown hangers might then match better..

I also wanted the scabbard to look a bit used, so I "aged" it a bit with various objects and sandpaper. It might need some oil or wax to the surface..

The rear hanger could have been a bit longer...

Any comments are welcome.

-T

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katzbalger in scabbard [ Download ]

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scabbard hanger [ Download ]

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in scabbard 2 [ Download ]