[Aleksei Sosnovski]

Hello everyone,

I have stumbled upon this thread: http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=21444 and now want to make myself a similar messer. Main reason is that I can get a sheet of 2mm (14 ga) steel that is decently heat treated and is big enough for a messer blade. Making a blade of such sheet is much easier, faster and cheaper than making it from a steel bar. Now my question is: are there any authentic messers with blades that thin? Well, I actually already started making the blade, so answer to my question won't change anything, but I am still curious.

Some more info about my project:
Blade length: 22.5"
Overall length: 27.2" (short handle just enough to fit the hand)
Blade width: 2-2.2"
Crossguard with knuckle protection similar to this one:



Aleksei.

[Nathan Robinson]

It's feasible to make it out of 2mm (14 ga) sheet, but it won't be historically accurate to the grossemesser norm. In a sense, you're making more of a machete dressed up to be a grossemesser. I'm not saying it's not worthwhile, of course.

(for the readers of this topic, the example grossemesser shown above is a piece made by swordsmith Peter Johnsson.)

[Bernard Delor]

For historical awareness and usage design, the thickness of the blade should rather be 3 to 4 mm at the "ricasso" in order to prevent it from being too flexible.