Justin King
Well-Known Member
This dagger is based on an original 16th century design that is associated with the Landsknecht mercenaries and resembles the katzbalger type short swords that they favored. Originals of this type are rare and appear to have been in fashion for a short period ending around 1525. The original that this piece is based on is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This one has a customer waiting, which is good 'cause I'm having trouble keeping my hands off it and my wife is getting jealous...
This is an "obsession piece", as I am starting to think of them. I get inspired by a photo of a period original and it will sit in the back of my mind for months or even years, until I finally have to get it out of my system. I started this piece over 2 years ago (lots of shelf time in the interim) and it took form in reverse order, starting with the grip since that was the most difficult part. The original has a hilt of bronze, I chose to re-create it in mild steel due to a personal aversion to yellow metal. I have forgiven myself
The guard and hilt are forged and fabricated by hand, with no castings present. The hilt was broached to recieve the tang using a file that I made by hand specifically for this project. The guard was made in straight form and then bent into shape with a torch and a bending jig, and lots of little adjustments. The blade was by far the easiest part of this piece, not that grinding dagger blades is easy for me. The assembly is threaded and features a capstan-type nut that is file-worked into a floral pattern. The tang is rectangluar and quite substantial for most of it's length, being reduced to round section only for the last 3/4"of it's length and threaded 1/4-28.
16" overall, 11-1/4" blade, 1-1/4" wide
1084 carbon steel blade, @ .235" thick at the ricasso with a moderate distal taper (proportional to the profile taper)
Digital heat treat including normalizing, Parks AAA quench oil and 2x 2hrs temper at 450F, tang is given multiple torch draws
1018 mild steel fittings, forged and fabricated by hand (no castings are present)
Assembly is threaded
Weight is approx. 14.4 oz, COG is 1/4" past the guard, roughly at the end of the ricasso/plunge
This is an "obsession piece", as I am starting to think of them. I get inspired by a photo of a period original and it will sit in the back of my mind for months or even years, until I finally have to get it out of my system. I started this piece over 2 years ago (lots of shelf time in the interim) and it took form in reverse order, starting with the grip since that was the most difficult part. The original has a hilt of bronze, I chose to re-create it in mild steel due to a personal aversion to yellow metal. I have forgiven myself
The guard and hilt are forged and fabricated by hand, with no castings present. The hilt was broached to recieve the tang using a file that I made by hand specifically for this project. The guard was made in straight form and then bent into shape with a torch and a bending jig, and lots of little adjustments. The blade was by far the easiest part of this piece, not that grinding dagger blades is easy for me. The assembly is threaded and features a capstan-type nut that is file-worked into a floral pattern. The tang is rectangluar and quite substantial for most of it's length, being reduced to round section only for the last 3/4"of it's length and threaded 1/4-28.
16" overall, 11-1/4" blade, 1-1/4" wide
1084 carbon steel blade, @ .235" thick at the ricasso with a moderate distal taper (proportional to the profile taper)
Digital heat treat including normalizing, Parks AAA quench oil and 2x 2hrs temper at 450F, tang is given multiple torch draws
1018 mild steel fittings, forged and fabricated by hand (no castings are present)
Assembly is threaded
Weight is approx. 14.4 oz, COG is 1/4" past the guard, roughly at the end of the ricasso/plunge
