[M. Adair Orr]

Peter,

You made the comment describing the changing degree of twist along the pommel. I appreciate the generalization, but the exciting thing about this detail to me is that they vary dramatically. Naturally we are talking about a form of decoration common for 60 years or more. Without even exploring the wide range of departures (like branch pommels) or applied decoration, only looking at the simple spiral lobed style, I am really amazed at the range.

As you described, many incised flutes do start at the grip end of the pommel at a steep angle, but as I had mentioned, many also start off closer to parallel with the tang having only a very slight angle. Some maintain a gradual incline toward the tang button only straightening as they crest the crown of the pommel, others subtly recurve on themselves. For a single type of embellishment, there is a tremendous diversity of historic examples. This is why I wanted to be able to template a style quickly and try many variations in ink lines before I commited to carving.

My personal taste for pommels where the more abrupt the transition, or the more accentuated the waist is, the tighter the twist becomes, almost as though one was forging a twist in a tapered section, where the smaller cross section provides less resistance.

Best,

-Adair



PHOTO credits belong to Nathan Robertson and Hermann Historica.

[Nathan Robinson]

I suspect that one of the reasons that you find those examples particularly attractive, as I also do, is because they mimic shapes from nature. They are/or they mimic shapes resulting from the forging/twisting process.

[Mark T]

[M. Adair Orr]

I have finally gotten back to working on this pommel project. I had to rebuild my lathe to proceed.

I turned the profile and left it attached to the parent stock, then made several sheet metal templates to test different spirals until I had what I wanted. The process was quick and allowed me to get on with carving the thing. I've left the profile of the pommel a little oversize. I will cut the profile down again after the rough chisel work.

-Adair

[Radovan Geist]

Nice! Those sheet metal templates look like a good idea.

[M. Adair Orr]

Thanks,

It allowed me to quickly try different curves and trace them onto the pommel blank. It's a more difficult thing to visualize than I thought. Even the current result is not as I imagined from the lines I drew.

It's a lot of fun to make these, and faster than I thought it would be. Chisels move material quickly and are well suited for the contours. I put this back on the lathe and added more taper. Now it is time to break out the riffler files and cut this free from the parent material.

-A.