[Boris Bedrosov]

After trimming the ends of the leather laces and punching some holes at the straps





the cuirass finally took shape





And this fills me with pride of what I've done.
I know it's quite immodest, but I think I've done good work - I don't know if there existed such reconstruction somewhere else in the world.

[Tibor Szebenyi]

[Boris Bedrosov]

And the set behind the glass on last Saturday, during the opening day of the above-mentioned temporary exhibition







There was no room for the infantry greaves, that's why they are not here

[Kai Lawson]

I am at a loss for words--that is splendid! It's wonderful to see all the parts together. Do you plan to wear it in combat?

[Michael Wiethop]

Amazing work! I hope I can learn to do craftsmanship like that! Do you have any pictures of yourself in full kit?

[Romulus Stoica]

Exquisite work! The best looking high quality turkish armor I've ever seen! I would love to see you wearing it at an event at the Corvin Castle in Hunedoara some time. Sadly I haven't got the time to work at my own kit ...

[P. Frank]

Boris,
this is magnificent, really I do not know how else to phrase it!
I kept coming back to this topic, reading it from the start, just to see how it developed and it is wonderful to see how it turned out.
Now we need pictures of you wearing it of course.

[Boris Bedrosov]

I see, I have several questions to answer, please excuse me if I do not keep the order of asking

I really plan to do combat with this armour - it's made for fight. I'm not afraid that it could be damaged - I'm mentally prepared for this. Also, I wear a over-garment (I'm in the middle with the red/blue shield in hand, surrounded by my brave Jannissaries)



which covers the whole cuirass and much of the bazubands.
I still do not have pictures with the full kit, because the kit is not ready yet - it lacks firstly helmet and secondly - some weaponry and additional accessories. If asking for pictures with all what I have done so far - these couldn't be taken before the temporary exhibition is closed and my items return home - not earlier than the middle of December.

[Nat Lamb]

Boris, that really is an incredibly beautiful piece of art. You should feel proud.

[Boris Bedrosov]

On Nathan's request, I'm re-posting this one here.
As I've already almost forgot my original post this is simplified one.

So, as a side arm for the kit, I chose a wide-spread in the Islamic world type of dagger, known as a khanjar. The blank for the blade was laser-cut by 65G steel and forged by hand.



I wasn't much satisfied by the initial shape, so I reforged the blade. As a result, it's not so extremely curved and the new cross-section is diamond rather than pentagonal, as in the beginning. After heat-treatment and the first pass on the belt-grinder it's ready for finishing and polishing.

[Boris Bedrosov]

The dagger was finished with stones and sand-papers up to grit 1500



and polished



Although not well visible, the result is a mirror (really) polished surface and one of the best I've ever achieved.

[Kai Lawson]

I really like the look of that--it isn't over done, or chrome looking. Is it diamond sectioned, or is it slightly hollow ground? The tip in the second photo looks a touch hollow ground

[Boris Bedrosov]

The cross-section is diamond everywhere along the blade, there are no sections with hollow ground. I think, you are misled by some reflections on the surface of the tip.

[Boris Bedrosov]

So far, I was strongly delayed by a supplier of mine, who, by his hand, was delayed by his own business partners in Far-East Asia.

Nevertheless, recently I finally got this block



of black buffalo horn for the grip of the khanjar.
After less than a half-an-hour it was cut with a hack-saw into two thinner plates for the future scales.

[Scott Hrouda]

Boris,

I have been away from the myArmoury forum for quite some time. I was recently scanning through many posts and found your “Yushman Project” thread again. Not only is this thread still active, it is alive with beauty, creativity and your wonderful sense of balance & proportion. I have been, and still today, stand in awe of your abilities my friend.

Sincerely,

Scott Hrouda

[Boris Bedrosov]

Thanks for your kindly words, Scott! I really appreciate that.

Although this project took much more time to finish than my earliest assessments, I hope everyone still enjoys watching it evolving.
And this also puts higher standards for my current and future works.

[Kai Lawson]

I love this project! Very glad that you re-posted what was lost.

[Boris Bedrosov]

The scales from the previous post were cut into shape



after that in each one a slot for the tang of khanjar was made.



Here one of the scales is in place



And on the last picture both were placed and screwed on the dagger

[Boris Bedrosov]

So, here we go again.....

For this dagger, I wanted well visible boundary between two black scales of horn and was achieved by additional detail. As I don't know how different people around the world call this detail, I would call it "separator" in the same way how knife-smiths in Bulgaria call it.
In this case the separator is bronze plate, cut into shape



The inner contours follow the lines of the tang, while the outer - of the scales.
The cutting itself was nothing special - first were the aviation snips, followed by some filing until the plate matched the tang



When I bolted the scale the result was like that



and this



Of course, a lot of filing has to come and it is next.

[Boris Bedrosov]

I wasn't at home for several days and upon my return I was so engaged in work, that there is not pictures of the steps, just from the result.
The scales were filed, now they've got the final shape



Now they are "waisted" in the middle, as are the most historical khanjars. The "waist" is not so prominent, but still well-visible.
The separator was also filed, now it's alined with the contours of the grip