[Alex Indman]

Showing off my latest project.
Caucasian weapons were never my thing, this is likely going to be a one-off project. I just took a sudden interest in making one of these, after visiting several museums last year that happened to have either original Caucasian daggers, or local (Turkish, Serbian, etc.) derivations.
So this is a relatively simple (in terms of blade design and overall decoration) version of a Caucasian dagger. They are also known in various languages as Kinjal or Kama.

I chose what I believe was the most common and simple blade type across the Caucasus (and not seen anywhere else): one deep single fuller on each side, shifted a little off-center to make sure they don't meet in the middle. Hand-cutting these fullers was an interesting experience, but I think they came out as intended in the end. I used 1084 steel, as for my previous projects.

Since my amateur heat treatment setup is limited to about 8" blade, this is basically a child size dagger for Caucasus (they were apparently pretty often made for boys in about this size). Full size traditional daggers were mostly big things, like 15" blade or even more. On the other hand, I saw a couple relatively short daggers of this general type that were displayed as related to Russian army in WW1. So maybe some were made shorter for more practical use in WW1 trench fighting conditions.

Handle is buffalo horn with nickel silver pins. I chose hidden tang design, which was not as common as full tang on originals, but still found on quite a few and I just like it better.
Sized for a 4-finger grip for a child or a comfortable 3-finger for adult. From what I was able to find, seems like 3-finger length handles were often made even for big adult sized daggers. Most of the traditional ways of gripping these apparently expect 3 fingers on the middle part of the handle.

Scabbard is traditionally made of wood covered with very thin leather glued on, and nickel silver fittings (except for the twisted wire on the chape, that is fine silver).
Suspension system is also, AFAIK, uniquely specific to the Caucasian daggers. Simple (even somewhat crude) looking with that knotted leather loop, but it works.

Hope the pictures are good enough. Comments and critique welcome!

[Dan D'Silva]

Looks good . I wouldn't have thought to use (dimpling?) as a fill design, but the fine texture and sharply-defined outline make it work. It's nice to see a repro of one of these that isn't as barebones as the ones the big knife companies offer.

What brand/alloy of nickel silver did you use? It looks like you were able to get a good shape and fit on the chape.

[Dan Kary]

That's awesome! Well done.

[Alex Indman]

Thanks guys!

This is 752 NS sheet stock from Jantz Supply. I annealed it before shaping, it helps with getting good fit.

I used dimpling (random strikes with a small rounded punch) to fill the empty spaces simply because I couldn't think of anything better within my limitations. Unfortunately, I have no artistic ability to even try reproducing any of the traditional intricate ornament types you would find on Caucasian weapons...

Alex.

[P Ullrich]

Nice work! Has a fancy, formal dress look. How did you form the chape?

[Alex Indman]