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Scott Roush
Industry Professional
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 Posted: Wed 20 Jul, 2016 1:10 pm Post subject: Dirk, Castillon dagger, spears... catching up. |
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Well I apologize for the long lapse in posting.. so much going on. I've also been having a hard time taking my pieces all the way to the absolute final stage lately. As my own standards go up.. I find it hard to finish a piece that I'm not 100 percent happy with. Anyway.. here are some pieces that are VERY close to being finished. I don't have the final pictures yet.. but you will get the idea and I do promise to update this post.
The first is this Scottish dirk. This is a commission and the pattern welded blade was requested. The wood is African blackwood and there are nickel silver fittings.
And here is what my reference calls a 'Castillon dagger'.... 14th/15th century. I would like to learn more about this style as I find it hauntingly beautiful. The original looked so much like a small sword that it inspired me to give a go at designing my own version using Peter Johnsson's sword design theory. That turned out to be very enjoyable as I was pleased that almost every important aspect of the dagger was determined by the geometric relationships. i.e. the width of the blade, the diameter of the pommel, and even the curvature of the guard. The 16 inch blade was forged from 19th century wrought iron that I carburized into blister steel and then refined into shear steel. I forge welded on a wrought iron tang (in a manner very similar to what you see in the Illerup Adal swords)..and this is visible at the blade/cross junction. The grip is holly and the fittings are old iron that has been fire blued.
This image shows the nice pattern in the old wrought iron. Also.. I'm not yet happy with the transition between the grip and the pommel. That will be addressed.
Anyway.. A little more work on the hilt details and then I will be putting this dagger up for sale.
I also recently finished this Anglo-Saxons style seax with Trewhiddle carving in bog yew from the UK (this has been sold):
And some axes and spears... not finished of course!
 The first one to the left is pattern welded and the socket is overlayed in bronze. This will be available upon completion. And the longer lance-style spear to the right will also be available.
So let me know if any of the non-commissioned pieces above catch your fancy and we can discuss finishing them up.
Also.. I've recently conducted a very successful steel smelt and am in the process of working up what will be a very nice bar of high carbon bloomery steel. I don't yet have a plan for this as I'm waiting to see how much I actually have left after consolidating. But feel free to shoot me some ideas!
http://www.bigrockforge.com
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Patrick Kelly
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| Posted: Wed 20 Jul, 2016 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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The dirk is amazing, but the Castillon dagger really speaks to me.
"In valor there is hope.".................. Tacitus
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Scott Roush
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 21 Jul, 2016 3:48 am Post subject: |
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| Patrick Kelly wrote: | | The dirk is amazing, but the Castillon dagger really speaks to me. |
Thank you Patrick. That dagger may be my favorite thing that I've made.
Here are some pictures of how the blade was made.. using blister/shear steel methods. It is possible these daggers could have been made with this process as it was first described in writing in the 15th century.. although it didn't become widely used until later.
These are the 19th century wrought iron bars we used as starting material:
Here is the canister in which we placed the iron bars with charcoal powder and then sealed:
Here we are retrieving the bars after a few hours soaking in the forge at welding temperatures. The original method was done on a much larger scale at lower temperatures and could take a week or more to complete:
Here are the bars of 'blister steel' that were then forge welded together and folded to refine. You can see the pitting and the presence of cementite on the surface which are indicators that the iron became saturated with carbon.
http://www.bigrockforge.com
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Scott Roush
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 21 Jul, 2016 4:34 am Post subject: |
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Also... I just happened to see this while looking for more information on these 'Castillon daggers'.. Leo Todeschini made a more accurate version of the same dagger. And lovely work too.... I was wondering why more people hadn't been tackling such a wonderful form:
http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=30284
http://www.bigrockforge.com
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Terry Thompson
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| Posted: Thu 21 Jul, 2016 6:34 am Post subject: |
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As far as the Castillan dagger; Todeschini's version may be more faithful to an extant piece, but aesthetically, I like the narrower point of the blade (more misericorde-like) and the transition from a substantial diamond to the needle point. It's elegant.
I also like the larger, flattened quillons of your version.
Your dedication to the steel fabrication process is fantastic. Thank you for sharing photos and information on the forging process. It makes the end result of the finished piece all that much more impressive.
-Terry
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Patrick Kelly
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| Posted: Thu 21 Jul, 2016 7:32 am Post subject: |
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Great photos Scott, thanks for sharing them.
"In valor there is hope.".................. Tacitus
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Scott Roush
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Mon 25 Jul, 2016 9:12 am Post subject: |
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| Terry Thompson wrote: | As far as the Castillan dagger; Todeschini's version may be more faithful to an extant piece, but aesthetically, I like the narrower point of the blade (more misericorde-like) and the transition from a substantial diamond to the needle point. It's elegant.
I also like the larger, flattened quillons of your version.
Your dedication to the steel fabrication process is fantastic. Thank you for sharing photos and information on the forging process. It makes the end result of the finished piece all that much more impressive.
-Terry |
Thanks a lot Terry. I have no idea if geometry was used in the design of daggers like this.. but when I took on this project I was more interested in making something aesthetically beautiful (in form and proportion) rather than a replica. I think the geometrical approach was a success anyway.
Well I have the pommel peened on now.. so will try to get some final pictures of this piece. As well as the dirk.....
http://www.bigrockforge.com
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Scott Roush
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 26 Jul, 2016 6:58 am Post subject: |
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The Castillon dagger is now up for sale on my website with final pictures:
[/img]http://www.bigrockforge.com/castillon-dagger-from-shear-steel/[url]
And here are the final pictures of the dirk:
 [/url]
http://www.bigrockforge.com
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Keith L. Rogers
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| Posted: Sat 10 Sep, 2016 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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I'm catching up on posts. Great works all, but that 'Castillon' is arresting to me. It isn't as true to the original as Tod's, but your interpretation is more aesthetically pleasing to my eye. Just gorgeous proportions. Bravo.
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This is a standard topic