Greetings,
I thought it time for me to start my own Blog as it will. I cant think of a better place to do that than here. My thanks as usual for the gang at myArmoury who make this all possible.
I am just about finished with the details on this Angus Trim 14th Century Longsword. I have been wanting to challenge myself a bit and had some interesting ideas for a Crusader themed scabbard.
My good friend Allen Foster made this core, and I am really impressed with it. The lines are sleek and it fits the sword very well. We collaborated on the designs and in the end took a sampling of both of our ideas.
Feel free to give feedback, as I sometimes don't know whats crap unless some helpful soul points it out to me.
The details are all hand carved and engraved. Materials are solid copper and nickel.
Thanks to Russ at Tritonworks, I am now working on Jean's Doge and another Doge with Geometric designs that will be quite challenging.
Good day, and thanks in advance for your feedback.
Sam

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Well that is exquisite. It is hard not to sound like I am using hyperbole, but all of your work tends to be of exceptional caliber.

If you do not mind sharing, how are the throat and locket pieces secured in place? Did you chemically plate the copper? An interference fit would seem like a very tricky thing to pull off.
I have thought of epoxy as being preferred over hammering tacks into such a nice and thin walled core.

Jared,
Thanks for the positive comments. I did lightly epoxy these into place. They are basically form fit but I was concerned that over time they would fall off and possibly get lost.
I did electroplate the copper to double marine specs on all the fittings. I then chemically blacken them and then selectively
polish them.
Each piece takes me about a full day to complete. Cost is approx $100 for each piece, so in most cases its very reasonable considering the time it takes and material costs etc..
Im having fun and learning, thats whats important right now...
Sam

Seriously " impressive " and I'm afraid that we will all be running out of adequate descriptive words for your work and based on the drawings you posted for the fittings of my Doge and the pics here I can sort of pre-visualize how " Impressive " they are going to be. ( Impressive twice in one sentence ...... I did say running out of words would be a problem. ;) :p :lol: ).

That is breathtaking. Great work. Just great.

Jean, Allen and Tim,
Thanks Much for the kind words. I know having a Knight on a Knightly sword was a stretch, and knew it would either look pretty good, or be quite cheesy. Figural designs are fun to do but can bite you quickly if they don't have an authentic look
to them. I figured people would either hate or like the design so Im glad its the latter.
It is my goal to do some things I have not seen before. I know some of will not be to everyones taste, but thats the spice of life.
After I get through the commisions that are quickly racking up, I will be working on some more projects with Allen and also want to do a bronze age Celtic sword with Russ. It will be historically correct in design, so that should make folks happy. Also at some point I will be carving some full size Viking shields for Jonathan W.E. Im still crazy about the Celtic/Viking stuff, that wont soon change.
Thanks again for the kind responses!

Sam,
Interesting stuff here. From an artistic standpoint, these are very attractive. I don't know that I've seen historical designs quite like these, though. There were many fancy scabbards on effigies and brasses, though, with complex metal fittings. Gothic eye (http://www.gothiceye.com/) has a lot of pictures of effigies and brasses.

I think there is a market for more artistic things like what you've posted, but there should also be a market for more historical themes too.

Chad,

Quote:

Posted: Thu 10 Jul, 2008 6:23 am Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sam, Interesting stuff here. From an artistic standpoint, these are very attractive. I don't know that I've seen historical designs quite like these, though

You are correct. I did get the idea from an effigy, but made it from my own design. I try to think about what could have been possible when making the designs and not get too caught up in the fact that I have not seen it before. The Locket and chape I feel could have been done in period, but are not based on something I saw. Allen had sent me some of his ideas and I just sat down and drew them freehand and they felt right, so I went with it.
I know I wont make many friends in this arena making it up as I go along, so there will be plenty of period correct designs
as well. Its really up to the person commisioning the work. If I have artistic freedom its very possible that it will end up being something "in the style of".
Thanks for the wise words Chad!!

Chad,

Those are very impressive numbers and I defer to your superior knowledge of history on the subject. Being at a disadvantage mainly because of the short period of time I've been interested in the subject, I sometimes try to rely more on what sounds logical to me.

My only point is throughout history; art, architecture and sculpture have ridden the waves of change together. It can be seen from the Gothic traditions to the Baroque period to the Impressionists. If art & architecture had ridden the same wave during this period one could assume the metal art of the brass effigies had some similarities to the metal art of the scabbard fittings. Although I do understand that just because it's logical doesn't make it correct. Therefore, I stand corrected.

Gang,
I knew this was going to come up and Im glad it did. I make metal because I can be creative! If it wasn't for that, I just plain wouldn't do it at all. Lord knows its not for money :lol:
I would love to make everything I create make everyone happy, and be period correct and look just right, etc.
Obviously thats not possible.
Honestly I am still learning about what an ornate "period correct" scabbard detail "must" look like. I know there are many hundreds of plain or slightly engraved or slightly cut on versions out there folks can buy. I probably wont be making any of those.
I collect and reproduce Parade Armour made for Kings and Royalty and for some reason have grandiose visions of what I can accomplish in my own work. I guess some of that rubbed off on me...
Is it for everyone? Probably not, but that should be ok.
I have been thinking about starting a thread, asking folks to give me ideas and drawings for period correct scabbard furniture etc.
Ha, then if its not period correct it will be all our faults!
I still stand by my need to be creative and do new things. How boring would the world be if we could only replicate things
that had already been done. :\ I know its time to Duck :\
If that was the case I would not have carved this design and tried to make metal out of it.
Sam

I want to make stuff like this!
AhhhaHhahahahah
:p

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Sam,
You only need to be historically correct if you want to sell fittings to people who want historically correct things. Don't worry about pleasing everyone every time because everyone has different goals, standards, budgets, desires, etc.

You're obviously welcome to make whatever you want. But when you come to a site subtitled "A Resource for Historic Arms and Armour Collectors" you shouldn't be surprised if some people want historically accurate things. :) As I said, there's a market for both things. Decide what you want to do and run your business the way you want to.

You can search for historical scabbard info on our forums; lord knows I've posted plenty of pictures related to scabbards and their belts and fittings. Also, buy books on brasses; there are a number on my myArmoury reading list and I've reviewed them to let people know what I think about them. You can't expect others to do all your research for you. :) There is also the rare and expensive Stothard book on effigies.

There's a market for replicating what's already been done. You just have to decide if you want to join that market. No one is forcing you to be accurate nor talking down to you if you decide not to be. :)

Chad,
All great points. I know how important being accurate is to the community. I don't mean to be callus to that fact. Truth is I really do want to make accurate pieces and am learning about whats acceptable and whats not. I did do quite a bit of research and concluded the design would not be improbable in period.
Thanks for the tips on the Effigies. I have been looking at quite a few of them lately. Even put one on a scabbard :)
I was under the impression that not many scabbards survived other than whats been documented in drawings etc. (Im fully aware of all the Celtic examples) Is that not the case?
Thanks
Sam