I think it is about time that I introduce Ilya Alekseyev to you folks. Ilya came to demonstrate at our hammer-in in 2011 and pretty much never left. He is a truly talented armourer that has recently expanded into one hech of a bladesmith. http://imakeswords.com/ilya.htm

This piece is his first norse style piece. He mostly likes to work in crucible steel/wootz, so he chose to go that route. This blade is made up of a many different bars. The lighter sections are forged out and folded a few times and gives a more dense pattern to the steel. The middle bars are 400+layers of wootz/1075/15n20. The darker sections of the blade are low layer crucible steel with either one or no folds.

The overall length of this sword/seax is 27.5". The design is his own. A mix of a few different styles.
The fittings are wrought iron with silver wire inlay. The wrought sandwiches antler with brass rivets holding them together. The "pommel" is hand engraved. The handle is walnut with an antler middle section.

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for more pictures please visit http://imakeswords.com/ilyahybridseax.htm

For his first attempt at this type of piece, I am quite proud of him. He has a real drive about him and is never scared to tackle new processes. I will be sure to post some of his armour work as it is his true passion.

I should add that this piece is currently for sale.

As always questions and comments are welcome and thanks for looking!

Hello! Is this still for sale? I'm rather interested in procuring a seax for a Rus'/Baltic Iron Age kit, and this is one absolutely beautiful blade. I simply love when one is able to see the subtle nuances in a blade, presenting themselves like the grain in wood. The handle, too, is... well... simply amazing. I would be proud to own such a thing.

Lovely work here from Ilya Alekseyev, reminds me a bit of Petr Florianek & Scott Roush's style.

Thanks, Jon

Ilya also makes outstanding custom armour made from 4130 steel to casts of the individuals parts. I am the proud owner and user of a set of 14th C Russian cased greaves with knees and a matching set of bazubands with decorative etching that He made and I am in his que for some other pieces. He's a true artist of many talents and no small skill. One of these days I plan on getting a sword made by him as well