[Thom R.]

Recently I approached fellow mA member Gabriel Ghazarian to help me re-hilt a type XVIII blade that I had sitting around in my shop and I wanted to share the results with you. Gabriel is an outstanding craftsman and a great guy to work with; communications over email were as easy as if we were face to face, and after a few experiments I think the end result was fantastic. In particular, being a geologist and metallurgist, I am fascinated by the samorodok process that Gabriel has mastered and my research shows it to be quite an old process, not necessarily out of line with 15th or 16th century technology.


overall view



closeup of hilt

Now if you can for minute - take another look at the first photo and make a guess as to how large this blade is. Realizing there is some distortion in the photo - however I don't think you can tell necessarily how large the blade is without a reference point or object. I make this assertion because this blade is an older ATrim that is .....................
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................... 22 inches in length. At one time Gus made small blades as part of blade sets. These small blades were generally on the order of 20-24 inches long, with overall lengths on the order of 26-30 inches. I really love these blades, however, I have found that with standard hilt components, the blade's POB was too close to the hilt, giving it a "large dagger" feel with an inappropriate pivot point and balance. This is why I turned to Gabriel, because I know that one of Gabriel's specialties is in fine models at consistent scaling; and I just had this feeling that if given properly scaled hilt components, this blade would feel like a proper sword. Note that Oakeshott has documented a number of these smaller swords, and although initially labeled them as swords for young boys, later in his copious footnotes he stated that he ultimately believed them to simply be riding swords, or swords to carry about town or at market..... easily carried - yet fully effective weapons. And to this end, I think our experiment was correct, with Gabriel's new work on this blade, it has the feel of a sword again, both in terms of its balance and its pivot points.
weight: 700 g
Overall length 29 inches
Blade length 21.75
POB 2.75
COP 17.5 (very stiff sword so have to use the gentle edge tapping method to get the node)
PP when held at cross 18, near to, but just out in front of the COP

As far as aesthetics, most of my swords and scabbards are rather plain, but in this case I wanted a more highly refined look, with samorodok inset into J pommel, type 9 cross, small ferrules, and faceted hardwood grip. On one side of the pommel the samorodok is incuse, while on the other side it stands out above the rim of the pommel, with the intent that this side could be used as a seal for wax (note the backwards 'R' in the samorodok on that side - don't ask me how he did that )

As always all comments welcome. My main point was that proper balance in a sword is in part dependent on its hilt components; and I think this particular experiment was very conclusive in that regard. tr

edit: below is the sword next to an Albion Burgundian

[Nathan Robinson]

Googlel only has 7 results for the term "samodorak". Please describe the process....

[Thom R.]

Honestly, we will have to get Gabriel to describe it properly. My understanding is that you take a slug of metal, cast & ground to whatever shape you want to work with, then by applying heat selectively across the surface, you draw the metal up/down, in effect bubbling it up in places to create the texture and you can also add back in other metals during this process. I believe Faberge used this and you see it on a number of Russian/ Eastern European antiques. I wish I knew more. (I think its a Russian term so the English spelling might be phonetic) tr

(edited to correct my dyslexia as per the following post)

[G. Ghazarian]

Hello Guys, thanks for your interest.

Nathan, your spelling was a little off, the correct word which is russian, is "samorodok". basically it means "reticulation".
Googling these two words will give an ample information about this jewelry and the process, popularized by Faberge in Imperial Russia in the XIX and XX centuries.

Thom has it right in principal, It is done with fire or torch and is dependent mainly in the technique and expertise in the control of fire.

In a nutshell, it is explained here http://www.jewelry5.com/glossary/r.htm just scroll down to the word "reticulation"

Enjoy

[Nathan Robinson]

My spelling was Thom's, from his original post. Now I can find a ton of information on the 'net. Cool stuff. Thank you!

[G. Ghazarian]

Sorry Nathan, no disrespect was meant or implied.

I apologize if any is taken.

Gabriel