Well I really don't have much to add and a lot to learn, But when I asked Jake Powing about the seax I saw a demo of him making he directed me to this topic on the Bladesmiths Forum.

http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=15743

I also found this thread while using the search function

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...esentation

Good lord, those are some handsome looking blades in this thread. I must (!) have one.

Luka,
We are basing this piece of an example from a museum in the Netherlands ... I do not have the specs with me but I will try and get those posted over the weekend ...

Paul,
I do not have a specific example to reference at this point ...
Honestly that was one of the reasons I started this thread ...
Thanks for your interest .
Tim

I've been watching this thread with interest, as I am a saxophile...

There are, to my understanding, two basic types of blades referred to as langsaxes.
There is the Nordic, or Scandinavian style, which has a relatively straight spine and the edge curves up to meet it at the point. These often were given full sword fitting, that is an upper and lower guard and pommel just like your typical 'viking' sword. The handles were short, and metal mounts are fairly common even if not mounted as swords. I tend to refer to these as single-edged swords. To complicate things, some were smaller than the swords, ranging in size from full swords down to the infamous 'viking women's knife'. I admit I do not know as much about these weapons as I would like.

Then, there is what I tend to think of as the 'Netherlands style' or 'German style' langsax. These had relatively straight edges, and backs curving down (or in the case of the British variant, angling down) to meet the edge. The points were, well, pointy. The few examples I've seen with surviving handles had very long handles compared to the Nordic type and contemporary swords, 8 to 10 inches of handle, like the earlier breitsax. Guards and pommels were likely nonexistent, or at least none have survived that I know of. Tangs are unpeinned, and blind...i.e. the tangs did not run the full length of the handle. Blades were wide, and thick, 'v' shaped in cross-section. These were a completely different breed than the Nordic style saxes.

This is an interesting example of the 'German style' langsax with an intact handle:
[ Linked Image ]

Carry on... :)

I know very little about it, and my attempts to learn more has so far been fruitless.

The handle appears to be one piece of cast bronze, to my eye.

I have yet to see a perfectly straight edge on a langsax, they all have some curvature, however slight. The main curvature is near the tip usually, with some having a subtle curve over the entire length of the cutting edge. Sometimes you have to hold a straight-edge up to it to see the curve, but it is always there. There may be one that is perfectly straight, but I haven't seen it yet... :)

Here a two nice examples from the Netherlands.


This is another nice example with a mostly intact handle.
[ Linked Image ]

Good morning
Thanks to you all for your interest and the information posted ... I am trying very hard not to drive myself(and Ryan)crazy with questions regarding his progress ... There have been some minor setbacks - Ryan`s power hammer went down and requires some repairs but progress is being made ... I am going to ask him to post pics of the process on this thread .
Keep well all.
Tim

Posted: Yesterday at 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: Question on original example

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Tim Mathews wrote:
Luka,
We are basing this piece of an example from a museum in the Netherlands ... I do not have the specs with me but I will try and get those posted over the weekend ...

Hello Tim,

I've not had time to join in on this thread. Which sax are you working on? I've actually handled a good deal of saxes here in the Netherlands, or at least seen them up close in the museums. So I may be able to give additional details. N.b. a few of the saxes that I've also got published do NOT match the dimensions in the publications, at least not when it comes to the thicknesses. So bare that in mind that these are not reliable.
_________________
Jeroen Zuiderwijk

Hello- Thanks very much for your post ... I hope to have time this weekend to dig out the information on the exact piece we are using as a model ...Thanks again for your interest and kind offer !

The only A-S knife I have seen with horn/bone/ivory is a very small knife, almost a pen knife and described as such. It does have interlace decoration on the handle.

best
Dave

Hello all
I hope to meet with Ryan on Thursday and give him the Antler ... The primary concern at this point is that the marrow will be to thick on the Antler to use ... If that is the case we will look at using sections of the Antler for scales for the hilt ...
Thanks again for all the input !
Best
Tim

Hello all,
For anyone who is interested ... The Elk Antler is not going to work for hilt material - we are thinking wood wrapped in rayskin with bronze rings in the center of the hilt and at the point where the hilt meets the crosspiece and also where it meets the pommel ... Ryan was having issues with the iron for the billets and is going to use 1050 and L6 ...
This conversation took place right after Thanksgiving afer a few single malt scotches so if there is an error in the nomenclature it is on my end - not Ryan`s ... With the Holidays upon us we have not been able to converse much but I am going to try and attach a rough sketch of what we are doing ... Subject to change ...
Thanks in advance for your comments,feedback and suggestions .
Best
Tim

I am having trouble with the attachment ...
I beg your pardon ... I will try from Home this evening .

All I have to say is wow. This thread and all the threads it leads too really filled in many questions I had on seaxs and the reconstruction methods of the scabbards.

Hello all ,
I am unable to to attach the sketch as of yet - I have it in pdf format and am having trouble converting to jpeg ...
At any rate as I feared I was incorrect on the materials ... It will be 1080 and L6 ...
Thanks again for all the encouragement,feedback and suggestions.
Best
Tim