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Jean Thibodeau




PostPosted: Wed 05 Jul, 2006 1:05 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

The embossing in the scabbard looks like multiple " Fleurs de Lys " on the pict: That would work well for me as I'm a French
Québéçois with ancestors mostly from Normandy and Brittany with a touch of German and Scottish on the other side of the family.

The new Ballock also looks very promising but more daggerlike than the " multipurpose " previous one. The blade looks very sculptural ( A good thing. Big Grin ) The handle is Hummmm. nice but a little closer to the more ....... embarrassing, leaves nothing to the imagination " Ballock " daggers. Also interesting but I can understand why the " Victorians " called these kidney daggers in polite company. Razz

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John Gage
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PostPosted: Fri 07 Jul, 2006 9:03 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Jean,

Very good. I am glad you like the scabbard. Here is an update of the more sculptural ballock.


Regards,

John



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Jean Thibodeau




PostPosted: Fri 07 Jul, 2006 9:56 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

John Gage wrote:
Hi Jean,

Very good. I am glad you like the scabbard. Here is an update of the more sculptural ballock.


Regards,

John


Really getting interesting there, I'm going to run out of ways to say " Getting better and better ". ( I need to win a BIG lottery ..... Sigh ! Sad Razz Laughing Out Loud ) Your' e going in the right direction there with the historically inspired daggers, glad I' m getting my Ballock before you end up being backlogged in orders for months or years in advance. Wink

( Note: The photography is getting better with using a strong directional light that gives much more information about the shapes and bevels. Flat lighting just does not bring out these details. The only thing you would need to do to make the photo
better would be just a soft fill light on the right side of the dagger to fill in some of the dark shadows and bring up the lighting level just a bit. This fill light should not be so strong as to wash out or flatten the image: The light should still be stronger on the left side. As an example: You have something like a 90% / 10% left / right balance now, a 65% / 35% balance is what you might aim for. Hope this helps. Big Grin Maybe Nathan can give you a second opinion about the above. )

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Nathan Robinson
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PostPosted: Fri 07 Jul, 2006 3:37 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

John Gage wrote:
Hi Jean,
Very good. I am glad you like the scabbard. Here is an update of the more sculptural ballock.

Now that one looks really great! Keep it up, John. I really like where you're headed with all this stuff!

Is the grip faceted on this one or is that just the photo giving me that impression?

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John Gage
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PostPosted: Fri 07 Jul, 2006 7:25 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Nathan Robinson wrote:
John Gage wrote:
Hi Jean,
Very good. I am glad you like the scabbard. Here is an update of the more sculptural ballock.

Now that one looks really great! Keep it up, John. I really like where you're headed with all this stuff!

Is the grip faceted on this one or is that just the photo giving me that impression?


Thanks Nathan,

The grip is octagonal on that one, it is inspired by this dagger found in the album section.My goal is to capture the sleek elegance found in period originals, which is quite a task. I hope that i am on the right track. Would you possibly be interested in doing a review of one of my blades?

I also have a commission for a ballock dagger found in the effigy in the bottom photo. Should be fun.



Thanks for the support,

John



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normal_00689_Dagger%2C%20Europe%2C%20Circa%201500.jpg


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Last edited by John Gage on Fri 07 Jul, 2006 7:50 pm; edited 4 times in total
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Nathan Robinson
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PostPosted: Fri 07 Jul, 2006 7:41 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I absolutely LOVE that sample you posted and am thrilled that you've used it to base a new model on. Nice work.
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John Gage
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PostPosted: Fri 07 Jul, 2006 8:02 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Nathan Robinson wrote:
I absolutely LOVE that sample you posted and am thrilled that you've used it to base a new model on. Nice work.


Yes, i love that dagger too. I didn't want to copy it exactly, but i do plan to replicate it in the near future. The " inspired by dagger" was made to be a smaller scale and more of a cutting knife rather than a thrusting dagger.

Thanks again,

John

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George van der Merwede




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PostPosted: Sat 08 Jul, 2006 7:34 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

John Gage wrote:
Nathan Robinson wrote:
John Gage wrote:
Hi Jean,
Very good. I am glad you like the scabbard. Here is an update of the more sculptural ballock.

Now that one looks really great! Keep it up, John. I really like where you're headed with all this stuff!

Is the grip faceted on this one or is that just the photo giving me that impression?


Thanks Nathan,

The grip is octagonal on that one, it is inspired by this dagger found in the album section.My goal is to capture the sleek elegance found in period originals, which is quite a task. I hope that i am on the right track. Would you possibly be interested in doing a review of one of my blades?

I also have a commission for a ballock dagger found in the effigy in the bottom photo. Should be fun.



Thanks for the support,

John


That is interesting, the effigy is my 13th g-grandfather, Diederik...... Who commissioned that?

kind regards
George
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John Gage
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PostPosted: Sat 08 Jul, 2006 8:27 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

George van der Merwede wrote:
That is interesting, the effigy is my 13th g-grandfather, Diederik...... Who commissioned that?

kind regards
George


Hi George,

All i can reveal is that it is someone you must know very well. Happy


Cheers,

John Gage

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George van der Merwede




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PostPosted: Sat 08 Jul, 2006 8:56 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

John Gage wrote:


Hi George,

All i can reveal is that it is someone you must know very well. Happy


Cheers,

John Gage


I know who it is now, thanks :-)

btw: here is the actual tomb the effigy was taken from:



met vriendelijke groeten
George
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John Gage
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PostPosted: Wed 12 Jul, 2006 7:25 pm    Post subject: Another Ballock         Reply with quote

Here is another ballock in progress. The blade is hollow ground from 7/16 o1 tool steel with a thick diamond reinforced tip and has just been heat treated. The grip is pomelle sapelle and is quite long. Overall length is 18.5 inches and the blade is 13". This will have a very decorative bronze guard and pommel. I wil post more pictures of all of these different ballock daggers as i finish them.


Regards,

John



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PostPosted: Wed 19 Jul, 2006 6:24 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Here is the above dagger with the rough parts added and loosely assembled.


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Jean Thibodeau




PostPosted: Wed 19 Jul, 2006 7:18 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Very nice and what a difference a little more work makes ! The first pict of this one seemed promising or at least I thought it would be once finished.

The guard furniture: Do you know if it served a specific practical function or is it just a traditional style used on many but not all ballock daggers. On some it might be useful in parrying when in wider versions leaving a bit of a space on each side of the blade. Or does it help make a more secure fit in a scabbard so that the blade wont fall out easily ? Finally, is it just decorative ?

Oh, I wonder about the similarities between some ballock dagger blades and some rondel dagger blades.

The single edged ones with somewhat wider blades seem to be more functional as general purpose knives as well as selfdefense weapons and remind me mostly of early dirks. I like both kinds by the way and I'm only commenting on the variety of blade shapes, if I could afford it I would order one of each. Wink

Looking forward to mine though. Big Grin Wink Wink

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Patrick Kelly




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PostPosted: Tue 25 Jul, 2006 4:24 am    Post subject: A ballock dagger by John Gage.         Reply with quote

Here's an in-progress photo of a ballock dagger that will quite probably find its way into my collection in the near future. The overall length is fifteen inches.



This is being made by John Gage: www.extremebladeart.com

John discovered a crack in the wood pictured here so it's being replaced with a piece of thuya burl, a reddish wood. The dagger will also come with a scabbard and I'll post further photos when they're completed. John worked for Albion for a time and I met him during my last visit up there. John's now doing his own thing and seems to be doing it pretty well from what I can see. He's a relatively unknown talent right now but I expect that to change in the future.

I've long wanted a knife/dagger of this type as it's such a classic form from the medieval period. For various reasons this particular item has been very hard to obtain, in spite of several close calls with various production companies and custom makers it just hasn't happened. I've also been looking for a companion piece for my incoming Albion Svante. When I saw the above photo I fell in love with the overall shape and proportion of this dagger and I think it will fit that role very well.
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Allan Senefelder
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PostPosted: Tue 25 Jul, 2006 5:27 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

WOW you got that one! I saw a pic of that guy somewheres and was really impressed with it. I think its a combo of the waisted ricasso and the the swell out the the double fullers and the sharp angular form of the hilt. Nice addition to the collection!
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Jean Thibodeau




PostPosted: Tue 25 Jul, 2006 5:30 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Patrick;

Great looking. Cool Cool Cool I have a ballock on order from John on order myself, although it's a single edged more
proto-dirk kind.

I guess I could go for one like this also but I'm way over spent in advance for my toy budget this year.

This ballock is ALL good: Love the handle and furniture and the blade bevels are "DROOLALISHES " . ( spelling ? )

I'm glad my ballock is close to finishing and ALL paid for before John's work becomes better known. Wink Wink

Nice guy, too, had fun talking to him on the phone. Big Grin

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PostPosted: Tue 25 Jul, 2006 7:33 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That dagger paired with the Svante will be a wicked combonation. The Svante is going to throw off your all black grips though Exclamation

Kenton
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Patrick Kelly




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PostPosted: Tue 25 Jul, 2006 7:35 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks guys,

When I saw this one I fell in love with the design. I love the way the hilt and the blade flow together and the styling of the ricasso area is a neat detail. I've been looking for a ballock dagger for a long time and when I saw this photo I knew this was it. I'm eager to see what John does with the scabbard.

Unfortunately this acquisition will neccesitate the sale of something else but in the end this was one of those things I couldn't pass up.
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Geoff Wood




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PostPosted: Tue 25 Jul, 2006 8:04 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Patrick Kelly wrote:
Thanks guys,

When I saw this one I fell in love with the design. I love the way the hilt and the blade flow together and the styling of the ricasso area is a neat detail. I've been looking for a ballock dagger for a long time and when I saw this photo I knew this was it. I'm eager to see what John does with the scabbard.

Unfortunately this acquisition will neccesitate the sale of something else but in the end this was one of those things I couldn't pass up.


Hi Patrick
Good to see you around here. Nice looking piece.
Geoff
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John Gage
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PostPosted: Sun 30 Jul, 2006 5:23 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Patrick,

Here is an updated picture of the ballock with the start of the new hilt. I am redoing the pommel as well which has not been added yet. Let me know what you think. I hope your back feels better. Happy


John



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