Dagger/Dirk Help -- myArmoury.com

Sean Flynt · Posted: Wed 23 Mar, 2005 1:11 pm Post subject:

Will do. For starters, here's the catalog shot of AC's 8" and 12" Arkansas Toothpick. I assume these are made by Windlass Steelcrafts, but who knows? I'll be rounding the shoulders of my blades. I may use a thick brass or steel plate between blade and hilt, but that may prove to be the greatest skill challenge of the project.

Matt G. Meekma · Posted: Wed 23 Mar, 2005 1:15 pm Post subject:

Ok now things are getting way too freaky for me Sean... Looked at the same blade several times and thought that it would make a great Ballock blade. Way too many coincidences here, Are you Stalking me? Laughing Out Loud

Sean Flynt · Posted: Wed 23 Mar, 2005 1:20 pm Post subject:

Just the coincidence of great intellects. Razz

Sean Flynt · Posted: Thu 24 Mar, 2005 6:30 am Post subject:

Mark Millman was kind enough to forward a couple of links. The first is a fascinating site about the Mary Rose. The thing to notice here is the information about original ballock daggers of ca. 1545. Don't miss the accompanying article, which contains wonderful construction details. Click on "Next" in the bottom right corner of the page for a nice description of the famous Mary Rose basket hilt sword.

The second link is for a UK manufacturer that produces replicas of the Mary Rose ballock daggers.

Thanks, Mark! Great links!

Mary Rose Historic Trust's site
http://www.maryrose.org/ship/hand1.htm

Interknife
http://www.interknife.co.uk/

Sean Flynt · Posted: Thu 24 Mar, 2005 6:51 am Post subject:

Ooohh! Check out Interknife's bare blades. These would be great for a shorter dagger. They're narrower than the AC blades and very inexpensive. That Damascus Seax blade would be fun to work with, too.

http://www.interknife.co.uk/shopping/homebuilders.html

Jay Barron · Posted: Thu 24 Mar, 2005 3:01 pm Post subject: Oh my!

That third dagger from the left is the most *ahem* anatomical knife I have ever seen. I think I'd feel a bit weird gripping it. Eek!

Matt G. Meekma · Posted: Fri 25 Mar, 2005 10:17 pm Post subject:

Kinda digging the first one on the Right as far as handles go. Little bit to small overall, but like the design.

Sean Flynt · Posted: Tue 29 Mar, 2005 12:47 pm Post subject:

Update: My blades arrived on Saturday. $29, including shipping, for the pair. They are made by Windlass Steelcrafts and are very well finished--a great bargain at $13 each! Very stout tang. Although these are really too wide for a Dudgeon, I think they'd be a pretty good choice for a Holbein dagger. Now I'm eager to see the 12" version of this blade.

I'm approximately halfway through carving the hilt for my Dudgeon/Dirk hybrid. I'm using only handtools so far. I'll use a Dremel to cut the curve out of the base of the hilt and for the corresponsing shaping of the blade. I bought a propane torch for the burn-through of the tang. The drilling went better than expected since I was free-handing it. I just drilled from both ends of the hilt block so at least the entrance and exit would be centered. The shaft met pretty well in the middle of the grip, off by maybe a millimeter.

After browsing through the book Steel Canvas (American arms) last night I'm thinking about using the second blade for an American knife of the early Federal period.

I'll update and post photos as I'm able.

Sean Flynt · Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2005 7:28 am Post subject:

Update:
This weekend I confirmed my amateur status by driving my attractive, pristine and carefully crafted dagger 4 inches deep into a hardwood stump in a futile attempt to peen the tang. I finally wrenched, drilled and chiseled it free after wallowing around on the floor of my garage for about half an hour. The blade took quite a beating and was badly gouged by the drill bit (I broke the bit). I also cracked the hilt with an off-target strike from the hammer. Apart from the bit, my pride was the only loss. I fixed the hilt and ground out all but the worst marks on the blade. I've decided to antique this piece to conceal/explain the flaws left by the Stump Incident.

Lessons learned:
• When finally peening this piece, I'm going to use the bench vise that has served me well throughout the process.
• This is a surprisingly strong blade/hilt combo. Even my unconscionable abuse at the stump only slightly damaged the weapon.
• Keep the exposed tang short. I had the brilliant idea of using .25" and forming a domed peen. Thus the drama described above. The newly-reduced tang end is approx. 1/16" and just barely clears the opening of the washer beneath. I'm hoping this won't require more than a few taps to spread over the inside edges of the washer. We'll see....
Maybe I should get some photos of the almost-finished piece, just in case.

Matt G. Meekma · Posted: Mon 04 Apr, 2005 1:07 pm Post subject:

Thanks for posting again Sean.

Been curious to see how you were coming along with the project. Glad to hear you were able to save all of your work with only minor damage.

Hope to see some pics of it soon.

Sean Flynt · Posted: Wed 13 Apr, 2005 7:58 am Post subject:

I've created a new thread for the completed dudgeon project because I suspect that the finished project will be of more general interest than the background discussion of this thread, and will take the conversation in a new direction. I trust Nathan to correct if that's not appropriate:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=3817