With there being some interest in balloch daggers, I thought I'd post some pictures of a homemade early dirk, which carries some traces of the balloch dagger, and hasn't quite arrived at the final dirk shape.

The upper guard is made of black horn, as the normal thin wood can split away quite easily.
This is a sort of rough copy of one I saw, that was made in 1640's (I think!)

Sorry the carving on hilt is full of fat, I hadn't noticed it 'till I took pictures. It's there from butchering the last deer!....

Blade is made from buggy spring.

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A wonderful piece of work! I really like the overall look of this dagger, everything just fitts!

About how thick is the back of the blade at its base, if I may ask?

Jan

Wow, now that is a beauty!

that is nothing short of jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Wow.

Now this is what I call a good looking dirk ! I like the blade finish a lot... kinda rough polish with nice crisp fuller and engraving... great job Richard !

That is a very nice dirk and you did a terrific job. I do have to ask just how practical it is to butcher a deer with a dirk. That is not a knife I would choose to use for that purpose.

Very nice and thanks for sharing your work with us.

Well,
I'm a bit surprised you like it as much as you say!
Thank you!

Jan,
The blade is about 7/32" thick at hilt,(or a bit over 5mm) and tapers all the way to the tip.

Lin,
Re use,
I've carried it when hunting, as I hunt with a flinlock, and in an emergency, this would be my "second shot" if you get my drift.
It's not ideal for gralloching a deer, but works and i've never cut into anything "nasty" with it! It does work very well for cutting one up, as it's flat ground and works very well for slicing up the backstraps and such, and is sturdy enough to pry things apart if a bit frozen, yet springy enough to not break.
Whenever there is something to cut up, it generally shares the work with a little carbon steel kitchen knife.
I've given it to my daughter for when she goes walking in the woods, but it gets "borrowed" on occasion, and when we have meat to cut, she always asks' "Do you want the dirk?"

I think that is how a dirk is meant to be used.

Best wishes,
R.

I love the harmonious rugged/antique (not mirror polished) but high quality character of your dirk. That would be a fantastic and convincing movie prop. Well done.

I would like to attempt something similar, and wish to know how you shaped (rough estimates of dimension, etc.) and made the tang and handle. Is the wood two halves that have been glued together? Is the wood flared out as part of the transition into the pommel fitting? Antique like darkened and splotchy wood character is gorgeous on your dirk, but also makes it a little hard for me to decipher from photos viewed on my notebook sized computer screen! Any photos of the dissasembled work in progress would be appreciated. My "knife maker" forge is fully assembled and loaded with propane. I have another couple of months until I get hammer and tongs.... (My hobby is paced as gifts and overtime pay, not from primary family income.)

Thanks for posting what you have done.

Jared Smith

Nice. well exicuted

Richard,

The dirk looks fabulous. I love that you've retained hybrid ballock form. Nice work.

Hello Richard,

I also reiterate everyones praises of your wonderful work of art. It is correct in proportion and look in everyway. Thanks for sharing the photos of your prized possession. :)

-Todd

Well,
It is very nice to receive all these positive comments, and I'm Still surprised how much you all like it! But I'm also a little bit worried too. I sort of get the feeling that there are not that many nice, plain working dirks out there. Surly, that can't be the case, can it?
(Makes me feel like if I started chewing them out, I could sell one or two without much bother!..........and no, I'm not advertising!.....)
I would Love to see other examples of normal working dirks, on this or on another thread!

For myself, I just plain hate the looks of anything that looks like it was squeezed out of a tube. I like simple, but not boring. simple and pleasing.
The blade was quite highly polished before I put some age on it, but I don't like things to look too new.

Jared,
Can't give you actual dimentions right now, it's in Sarah's room, and she's still asleep!
The grip wants to be made so that when it's grasped tightly, your hand wedges in betwee, the "guard" and the pommel so it can't slip. Just make the 'guard' and 'pommel' in proportion to this and it should look right.
I will give dimentions later.
The hilt is made of one piece of wood, with a hole drilled through for the tang, and seeing as the tang is tapered most of the way to the threaded end, the hole is widened with a fine chisel, or a small square file untill the tang fits .
It hasn't been apart since I made it a few years ago, but if it hasn't glued itself together, I'll take it apart and take a pic of the pieces.
It weighs a shade under 10 ounces BTW.

Jean,
The hilt's made out of an off-cut from when I made tha matchlock shown on the "Persian firearms" thread.

Craig,
I think it was in the booklet "The Scottish armoury" that I saw some of these early dirks, with the vestiges of the ballock knife remaining..

Re. other folks work, I think Glenn McCann (I think I have the name right) does some of the very nicest work that I've seen.

Attached is pic of gunstock made from same piece of wood...

All best,
R.

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