[JG Elmslie]

I hope this will interest, or tempt a few people, just finished and available right now:

Loosely based on an example of a multi-part hilt rondel dagger in the collection of the Legersmuseum, Delft, published in JP Puype's "Arms and Armour of Knights and Landsknechts" (2010), this is entirely hand-worked, pierced and engraved brass hilt parts compromising of an octagonal upper rondel engraved with a depiction of St Barbara (The patron saint of gunners and siege engineers), based on a German engraving by Israhel van Meckenem in the collection of the British Museum (Museum number 1843,0513.213 ), and an offset octagonal lower rondel with extended and down-turned tab for wear on the hip, pieced with a quatrefoil motif repeated on the sheath parts.

The wooden hilt components are of c.4000-year old bog oak, and the hilt is attached to the hand-forged and ground blade of EN42j carbon steel by a hidden internal pein plate. .

the sheath is of two-layer vegetable-tanned leather, the outer of high-grade Italian horse-hide, the inner of skived calf hide. The back seam is glued, rather than sewn, a detail which can be seen on a number of original sheaths from this period, and the hexagonal section chape and collar are both hand-formed from brass sheet brazed with silver solder (for the seams) and traditional lead-tin solder for the fixtures.

Given the degree of complexity in the hilt, this item is available at £600 GBP, plus shipping.

Length (in sheath) 340mm,
Blade length 211mm, Grip length (inside rondels) 96mm.
Weight: overall, 228g, blade only, 180g

And several photographs:

[J. Hargis]

Heart attack!

Fantastic, James!

- Jon