* The cloth cover - I use the same red velvet as on the khanjar; seems quite bright-reddish because of the sun-light.
Here the cloth is already sewn with the inner side out.

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Here everything is OK with the outer side out, just minute before the velvet was drawn over the core; the seam runs alongside the bottom contour of the core.

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** With the cloth in place and trimmed, I made some paper patterns for the fittings - the mouth and the middle were the easy ones, while the chape was somewhat tricky as it needed several approximations

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*** All cut in brass, annealed and waiting for repousse

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**** After several hours the repousse was finished, thousands of dots added and all fittings were annealed again.
As this work was done when I was still in a great hurry to finish the pieces, I don't quite like the result. I think I was better with the khanjar fittings, here the quality was badly affected by the time constrains.

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Meanwhile with the kilij.....

* The horn scales were trimmed to the tang, drilled, sanded and glued
Note there are brass separators between the steel of the tang and the black horn.

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** Made more than an year ago (with the flowers for the khanjar), some brass flowers were finally taken out from their hiding and some copper tubes - cut

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*** Afterwards, the job was the same as shown previously with the khanjar
- cut the slots for the flowers with the Dremel tool;
- apply some epoxy in the slot;
- put the flowers, copper tubes and brass rivet, riveting everything firmly;
- when the epoxy dries off any excesses are removed and any protrusions from the rivets - filed

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As mentioned, the grip would end with a pommel, made as a separate detail.

* The future pommel after the raw shaping and fitting to the tang and scales

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** The result after final shaping and sanding; the holes for the rivets were also drilled

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*** The pommel mounted on the tang; steel rods immobilize it, passing through three of the holes while the fourth is ready to accept the rivet

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**** With all rivets done, the pommel was re-filed and re-sanded again.

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Somewhere around this moment the kilij was almost ready. What was left to be done were some stones on the grip, between the flowers.
As I have used mother-of-pearl earlier (on the grip of the khanjar), this time I wanted something different - at least to acquire some new skills, working with other materials. Quite easy, I decided to use gemstones here.

As a combination of colours, I chose one that was very typical for the Ottoman world - red and blue. AFAIK, this combination has a strong symbolic meaning, as blue repels the evil forces, both natural and un-natural, while red attracts the good ones; as such this combination could be seen on a vast number of items and weapons in particular.
Interestingly, while red could vary in great margins (depending on the wealth and taste of the owner, I suspect) - ruby, red coral, agate, jasper and so, in its majority blue is presented by turquoise.

* The gemstones I acquired for this project - turquoise and beautiful banded red agate

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** The stones after cutting
Unfortunately, the new material made me some trick - despite good quantity of water used during cutting, I managed to break one (the prettier) of the turquoise stones, which was replaced with another simpler one

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*** And one quick view what I want to achieve as a result

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Generally, inserting of the stones is the same as inserting of the mother-of-pearl - cutting of the slots, preparing of brass strips for the cassettes and proper inserting (with epoxy on the bottom of the slot). After the epoxy dries out - removing of any excesses and closing the cassettes.

***** All slots cut and first of the stones inserted

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As a continuation of the previous post:

***** All stones inserted and the epoxy dried out

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****** The excesses removed and the cassettes - closed; finally the horn got its polishing

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******* Some pictures of the finished kilij; more will follow when the scabbard and belt are also ready.

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The hilt is a bit too glitzy for my liking, but the blade is fantastic! The fullers are lovely, and that yelman is something else - awesome work, Boris. :D

Man, that thing is gorgeous, and it looks like a cutting beast. Do the stones (which are beautiful, by the way) affect the ergonomics of the grip negatively? It looks like something I'd want to wear gloves while wielding.

# Dara
I would use gloves anyway ;)
Actually the stones have quite good influence on gripping. I feel the grip better as they work as a checkerings. Even without gloves for me everything is OK!

Meanwhile the scabbard was finished:

The long narrow strip was bent and glued over the seam and the middle and mouth soldered

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Before soldering, the mouth was repoussed again, this time in the area of the forward langets. Here, I needed some very good sinking of the sheet, as I wanted smooth draw of the kilij
You could see also the method I use to immobilize the detail before soldering - I usually wrap it with several wire bonds. As the soldering progresses I'd remove the bonds one by one.

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The forward fitting is very similar to the one of the khanjar with main differences the size and wire I used at the tip. If you remember it was steel on the khanjar; here I used copper wire with tin covering.
Several wire bonds were used here also.

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The scabbard after this step was completed

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The short narrow strips will hold the clips with rings

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They were soldered to the mouth and middle sections and then the clips were riveted.
After the cloth was washed up carefully and the inevitable dirt - cleaned, the scabbard was ready

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And a little bit "fast-forward", the scabbard and the kilij and still unfinished belt

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Hello Boris! I recently read through the whole thread and it is quite an amazing project. Thank you for working so well with detailed information about what you did. I feel like I learned not just about the Yushman style, but also the considerations that a maker must have for a project.

Do you consider the project complete? If so, I would request a picture in full regalia for us, from a couple of angles, with the weapons, shields, everything you did. There were some earlier pictures of you in battle, which were very nice, but before the sword was completed, etc.

If the project is not complete, what do you have planned to do next? It is a wonderful and epic thread, thanks for sharing.

As the belt is already finished (pictures will follow very soon), I consider this project completed.
Well, I have some plans in my head to make another pair of bazubands - not hinged but plates connected with maille - something like that

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Several months ago I had a custom order for such construction and found them to be quite comfortable in use. But for now this is only some plan for the future.

As for the pictures of the whole set - my intention is such.
But for now, I have to main obstacles - the winter - I really don't want to done the whole set while it's cold and snowy; and my weight - as I've put some extra kilos on (shame on me.....shame......shame), now I need to lose them and this would be a task waiting for the spring.

Boris when I thought I couldn't be more impressed with your work you manage to exceed my wildest expectations in the quality of your work in all respects !

The various skills you had, or had to develop, using hand tools and I assume some modern tooling is amazing.


Someone did mention that the level of decoration on the handle of the sword wasn't to their personal taste, and maybe too gaudy but I assume that it matches the cultural tastes of the time and place of the originals.

I think that person still thought that it was very good work, and I'm not criticizing their personal preferences: Just adding that these things have to be judged with their historical context in mind.

I guess you can say that the whole project is basically complete, but maybe some accessory sub-projects might fit in as additional kit a rich and wealthy warrior might also own ?

Since I haven't re-read the entire " Making of Topic " these might already be made, like some sort of polearm(s), bow(s) or matchlock musket ? Maybe even a Bardiche ? ( Assuming that these where also used in Asia, although they seemed popular in Eastern Europe and in Russia ).

Boris, you are simply amazing! Well done, again! :)

Thanks guys, for your kindly words!

# Jean
Indeed, I have some plans to enhance the project in the future.
Apart from already mentioned bazubands, I would like to see my reflex-bow incorporated here with an Ottoman-style bow-case and quiver; some teber (this is an Ottoman battle-axe, often double-leafed) instead of bardiche or musket (which are actually later for my time period); or the traditional silk-braided wicker kalkan shield.

But all these are really some plans for the future; for now this project is complete and the case - closed.

Being honest, the belt is the most controversial part of my set.
During the research, I was unable to find an artifact, dated earlier than the 30s of 16th C - about some 80-90 years later than my period.

The most influential for my work was the belt of a sabre (definitely of Islamic origin, most likely - Egyptian), once belonged to Knyaz Fyodor Mstislavskiy, now in possession of Moscow Kremlin - inventory #5921 (as you might see, I used some ideas for the scabbard fittings also)

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Additionally, if someone is interested in, there is a good article, named "Eastern sabre belts" on the subject (in Russian) by Vladimir Prokopenko, with a lots of images, sources and external links http://www.kitabhona.org.ua/libwar_armor/sabelpodves.html

The carrying straps with riveted buckles and grommets added.

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The connection between the proper belt and the carrying straps is via relatively small plates, which re-distribute the weight. I made them from thick bronze plate (about 2.5 mm), adding some center-punch and cut-through motives

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The same plates on the belt - moving them left or right, I am able to adjust the position of the sabre as I want it to be.

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The style of buckle I used for the belt is classical in the Ottoman-influenced world, although again a bit later.
It consists of two plates - one with a hook, the other with a ring - similar to the mandalma locks I used while making the cuirass.
The plates cut from steel, sanded and blackened, with holes for the rivets drilled

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Before blackening, I cut additional plates - this time in bronze, which are smaller than the steel ones.

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As a decoration, I put some semi-spherical stones - jasper and agate - arranged in successive columns

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Later, the outmost columns of agate dropped off; the rest of the stones were inserted in bronze plates and the whole - riveted to the steel base.

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In order to prevent the stones from falling, each hole was cut with conical shape, instead of cylinder. This was achieved with two drill bits - with the first (diameter about 0.5 mm less than the diameter of the matching stone) I drilled a simple cylinder; and with the second one (diameter about 0.5 mm bigger) I drilled with extreme care, working only with the forward cone part of the bit. Thus, the stone sit well in the hole, but do not fall out. Just in case, I applied some epoxy also.
After that what was left was to attached the buckle plates to the belt.

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What a neat buckle/clasp decoration. I think it looks good, without being gaudy like rhinestones. Are wicker kalkan shields typically fronted with a more solid material, or are they covered with some type of fabric/skin? Are they covered at all?

Well, kalkan is actually very light and flexible shield and IMHO its flexibility is its main advantage.
Usually it's not covered with fabric or hide or whatever, just sometimes is reinforced with radial metal brackets

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In few words, the construction is long, slightly tapering pieces of some durable and flexible wood (wicker, rattan, maybe hazel and so) running in a spiral manner around a wooden circular core; each of two successive rows are bound with cord (hemp for cheaper shields, silk for expensive, high-rank ones) running in 8-pattern manner - the cord runs around both rods, forming a pattern, strongly resembling the number "8".

If you are more interested, our good friend and myArmoury forum-mate Tibor Szebényi from Hungary, gives a detailed instructions for DIY project. These come from extensive research and could be found on his blog http://mamluk.webnode.hu/equipment/shields/