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Aed Thompson
Location: Staffordshire, UK Joined: 04 Nov 2011
Posts: 26
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 Posted: Mon 28 May, 2012 6:49 am Post subject: Læwatan; Staffordshire Hoard Wælseax |
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I couldn't resist posting some pics of my dad's latest project; an attempt to reconstruct the seax that the famous style-II Staffordshire Hoard seax hilt-platek567 would've adorned.
The blade is 35cm long, comissioned from Paul Binns to fit k567 exactly and falls into Schmalsaxe type-1 of Schmitt's typology. The blade was produced by twist-welding two bundles, each composed of 9 layers, with a steel edge hammer-welded on afterward.
The lower-guard was produced by George Easton of Danegeld, and the k567 replica is precisely to scale.
The handle is made from English wallnut and cow-bone sheet, while the atrophied "upper guard" to protect the end of the handle and accommodate the cnæpp was produced from copper-alloy and buffalo-horn matching the lower-guard and corresponding sword.
The cnæpp is a mini replica of the fascinating Staffordshire Hoard piece k711, in gilded copper alloy.
     
And, as a bonus, here's a simple triangular buckle for a sword-strap I threw together this weekend.
Aed Thompson
Thegns of Mercia
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David Clark
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| Posted: Mon 28 May, 2012 8:49 am Post subject: |
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That is gorgeous! I am really loving the plade profile. What is the blade-spine width?
And the buckle is awesome too.
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Tim Lison
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| Posted: Mon 28 May, 2012 9:14 am Post subject: |
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Magnificent! This is top notch! What will you do for a sheath?
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Aed Thompson
Location: Staffordshire, UK Joined: 04 Nov 2011
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Mon 28 May, 2012 10:49 am Post subject: |
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Thanks very much for the positive comments!
The blade is a little over 4mm thick, and 36mm wide, to fit neatly into the 4.5x37mm triangular slot in the hoard k567 hilt-plate.
I'll definitely post pictures of the sheath when it's done. I believe the plan is to use thick vegetable-tanned leather lined with lamb skin to further cushion the blade. We toyed with the idea of making a wooden-core sheath for it, but decided this would be a bit bulky for a seax of this size. The decoration of the sheath should be impressive, though I don't want to give too much away  .
Aed Thompson
Thegns of Mercia
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Paul Mortimer
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| Posted: Mon 28 May, 2012 1:23 pm Post subject: |
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Looks excellent Aed. Please give your father my congratulations.
Paul
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Sam Barris
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| Posted: Mon 28 May, 2012 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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Ooo! Yes, please. 
That's wonderful work.
Pax,
Sam Barris
"Any nation that draws too great a distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools." —Thucydides
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Matthew Bunker
Location: Somerset UK Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 483
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| Posted: Mon 28 May, 2012 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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What a lovely looking beast. Nice work from all concerned.
| Aed Thompson wrote: | | . I believe the plan is to use thick vegetable-tanned leather lined with lamb skin to further cushion the blade. We toyed with the idea of making a wooden-core sheath for it, but decided this would be a bit bulky for a seax of this size . |
I don't understand this. If you use the right materials (1.5 mm/2mm thick wooden lathes and 1mm leather ), it needn't be bulky at all, any more than a properly made sword scabbard would be. The trick is getting the right sort of skin to line it with. Sheep or lamb skin from modern breeds tends to be too curly in the fleece and thick in the skin, which does lead to a bulky object overall.
Look to an old breed (like a Ouessant, or even afghan goat) which has the thin skin and long straight hairs of ancient animals or go for a different animal altogether (I used beaver in Paul's new SH scabbard).
Plenty of evidence for wood cored seax sheaths, none I can think of for fleece lined leather ones.
"If a Greek can do it, two Englishman certainly can !"
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Bruce Tordoff
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 29 May, 2012 12:40 pm Post subject: Staffs Seax |
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Hi Aed,
Gotta say, that looks really nice, as you know I made a replica of the 'other one', so its really nice to see one, using these fittings. I think the overall effect is real pretty, so as Matt said, good show, to all concerned.
I hope your scabbard does it justice, good luck.
Bruce
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David Huggins
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| Posted: Thu 31 May, 2012 12:06 am Post subject: Seax |
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Indeed. I spotted this on George's FB site and was pleased to see his fine work hilting Binnsy's excellent blade. Congratulations to Dr.Thompson and well done, it's good to see another interpretation of the magnificent Hoard
artifacts realised.
best
Dave
and he who stands and sheds blood with us, shall be as a brother.
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Aed Thompson
Location: Staffordshire, UK Joined: 04 Nov 2011
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Tue 17 Jul, 2012 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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Pseudo-gravedig. Here's pics of the sheath.
The chape is based on (though not an exact replica of) the c8th Westminster Bridge "zoomorphic scabbard fitting" (by George Easton, once again), while the embossed decoration based on a biting beasts motif from the book of Durrow bridges the gap between the wolf's head and the simpler biting-beasts on the STH hilt plate. Together, it's hoped the seax and sheath will help illustrate evolution of this particular aspect of Style-II.
CLICK TO EXPAND ---->http://i50.tinypic.com/ke8akx.jpg
Aed Thompson
Thegns of Mercia
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Tim Lison
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| Posted: Tue 17 Jul, 2012 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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Wow! That is really good! I love the wolf head! Tremendous stuff.
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