Hello all,

a bit of a progress report on a Cinquedea I'm working on for my early 16th century Landsknecht thingy. I got a blade made after an orignal sold in an auction and am now in the progress of making the elements that decorate the hilt after doing the crossguard.
I'm shaping the hilt after an original in the Met: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/searc...nformation

Cheers,
Martin

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Great work so far. I love the brass inserts.

-A.

That's looking really good.

Most of the pieces that make up the hilt are done and ready for assembly:

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Not a single comment?
This is great work, especially for an amateur (I remember your previous projects well). Keep it up, and keep documenting this!
Cheers,
J

Again, excellent work.

I'm curious about a couple details. You've cut out the profile of the grip in wood, but the image shows a faily large pommel. Is that pommel solid or a cap? Similar question about the brass bands that you have prepped for inlay into the wood grip; on the original are they set into the flat of the grip only, or do they collar the entire perimeter?

I can't wait to see this grip in someones hand. The design looks like such an ungainly thing to hold, but I know there is good logic to it. Hopefully you can provide a photo when you are done.

-Adair

Thanks for the comments :-)

M. Adair Orr wrote:

I'm curious about a couple details. You've cut out the profile of the grip in wood, but the image shows a faily large pommel. Is that pommel solid or a cap?

I *think* it is a sort of cap from what I can make out of the pics I have, but after a bit of experimenting (and because of lack of time, need to finally get this one ready) I decided to do it solid. Which means I will need to cut back the end of the pommel. Material is blackish horn btw. as with the original.

Quote:

Similar question about the brass bands that you have prepped for inlay into the wood grip; on the original are they set into the flat of the grip only, or do they collar the entire perimeter?

They are set in only. At the moment they are oversized and will be cut/filed back considerably along with the shaping of the horn hilt plates

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I can't wait to see this grip in someones hand. The design looks like such an ungainly thing to hold, but I know there is good logic to it. Hopefully you can provide a photo when you are done.

Well observed and my opinion as well. It also is fairly small, I measured the original and its proportions repeatedly and that's what is really is. And yes, I'll provide more updates over the next few days!

I'm waiting for the completion of this project. The simple blade attracts me more than the more common, multi-fullered blades. Could end up being a new favorite look for the type!

Some progress, I'm hoping to get the Cinquedea completed (without scabbard) this weekend. The side view shots give a view of the hilt construction, which is interesting IMHO in that it is kind of only semi-filled between the hilt plates.

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Hours of filing, sanding, cursing and sweating later ... almost ready except for the engraving of the pommel. I'm very much in love with the shape and proportions of this weapon. And, like the originals it is modelled after, those little asymmetries and imperfections make it very lively - plus it puts it into my skill range ;-)

(why is it that some pics show up, while others only appear as a downloadable attachment?)

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Very nice so far, Martin!

That is looking really really nice

Very very impressed by your work on this piece - you made the all process look as easy as a walk in the park.
What kind of équipement do you have to silver solder? Looking Forward to see the scabbard too (most cinquedea scabbards I've seen in museum had exquisite leather carved renaissance motives - daunting!)
Thx,
Julien

Thanks for the encouraging comments all :-)

Julien M wrote:

you made the all process look as easy as a walk in the park.

Be assured it did cost me a few nerves :-P

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What kind of équipement do you have to silver solder?

Nothing special (see pic) except for one thing perhaps, which is a greyish silversolder paste I only recently discovered exists (http://www.bengs-modellbau.de/werkzeug/loetzubehoer/silberlotpaste-zum-hartloeten). Works pretty much like the pastes available for tinning if you know those. I found this very helpful brazing the rosettes that have almost 40 smallish pieces to it that I brazed to a bottom plate in one go. Since the actual solder is in the paste it can be applied very precisely. Worked really well for me.

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Looking Forward to see the scabbard too (most cinquedea scabbards I've seen in museum had exquisite leather carved renaissance motives - daunting!)

Indeed - will go to the State Library in Munich today to do some research on that, actually. In the meantime it's back to shoemaking ...

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That is a fantastic piece of work Martin, as Julien says "all the more impressive for a non-professional"

Really really stunning piece and as a shoe maker I have a fell that the scabbard will be a thing to see as well.

Really well done.

Tod

Thanks for the kind words, Tod, all the more as they come from such an expert maker! :-)

Nathan - thanks for the pointer, that's the info I was looing for but was somehow too blind to find :-P 800x800 max, got it now!

I really like this sword! Nicely done! There is something about the adornments on the handle, paired with the simpler, single-rib blade that really works!

Picking it up again, I have decided on what type of scabbard to make for this cinquedea - I'm going to go with a scabbard from Armi Bianchi Italiane that has 2 by-knives, see below at bottom. The scabbard will not have the metal band at the top, which apparently is a modern addition.

I have prepared the inner layer of the scabbard and am now working on the by-knives. The pick is done, started cutting and grinding the shape of the knife . For these I'm repurposing one of a few sets of cheap and very large knife and pick I bought years ago, see the before-after pics and how they are going to be placed on the scabbard.

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And another step ahead on the weekend - completed the sheath. 2 layer construction with stamping after a surviving original only slightly larger than mine. Next is the chape and then, finally engraving the pommel to finish the whole project off eventually.

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