[Chad Arnow]

Boris,
I love everything about it except the blade. That triangular ricasso isn't something that's usually seen historically. The hilt work is beautiful.

[Mark Moore]

I personally love the lines of the blade. Not a replica of an existing piece, but a beautiful stand-alone dagger. Bravo!...........McM

[Boris Bedrosov]

# Chad
I absolutely agree with you.
But as mentioned, the blade was made in 2008, when I my knowledge was inferior - and this is the result from this.
Since then, I've seen many rondel daggers - both historical and very well-made high-quality replicas. If I have to make another such dagger now (or in the future), it will be quite different and far more precise.

BTW, I have just some very scarce memories of how I made the blade
I only remember perfect sanding up to grit #400 before the heat-treatment (there was no one to tell me it's absolutely un-necessary); and the couple of hours of hard labour to clean the oxidation after the heat-treatment with grit #400 again

[Boris Bedrosov]

For the scabbard of this dagger I chose classical leather wrapped wooden core, instead of more historically precise leather one.

The work followed the same steps as the scabbard of the Type XVa sword, the wood is beech again - actually some remnants from the sword.
Two halves marked and cut into shape



And both chiseled

[Boris Bedrosov]

As I was under an impression that some forum-mates were interested in the "wooden sticks trick", I would like to show the whole process step by step with appropriate images.

Here we go:
* take one of the planks and mark where the holes will be



You need a pair near the mouth, a single hole at the point and another or two pairs distributed evenly between them. As this scabbard is short, I have a pair at the mouth, another at the point, and a third somewhere in the middle.

** drill the holes on the contact surface



I use 1.8 mm drill-bit. Also, I found it better to do this on the drill-press - it gives me well-drilled, perpendicular holes.

*** the plank with the holes drilled



**** match very well both planks (you could use the blade itself too) and clamp them tightly - here just two clamps are enough indeed



***** remove the blade (if you used it) and drill the other plank THROUGH holes already drilled



This could be done on the drill-press also, but for me it's better (and easier) to work with a hand-drill

****** now we have both planks with matching holes, drilled on them

[Boris Bedrosov]

* now it's time to prepare several wooden sticks about an inch long



Here I used safety-matches sticks, cut in halves with rounded corners

** glue them in the holes of one of the planks



It's not a bad idea to sharpen the points of the sticks - this will help later. Take several minutes of rest, while the glue is drying; and after that you could make a test-fit (this is purely optional).



*** apply glue over the contact surface



**** and insert the sticks protruding from one plank through the holes in the other



***** press the planks



****** and using a rubber mallet just hammer the contours of the scabbard lightly, in order to let the excessive glue out





******* finally, clamp the core

[Boris Bedrosov]

The scabbard after some passes over the belt-grinder - this time everything was so fast , that I wonder WHY I shaped the Type XVa scabbard with files by hand



As I wanted the front rondel to be partially hidden, I cut an octagon from a piece of plank and glued it at the mouth of the scabbard - thus forming the bottom of the "nest"



For the walls I used piece of 4 mm thick plywood with inside cut, which repeated the contours of the rondel



All was glued together, fitted to shape, the corners cut, filed and sanded

[Boris Bedrosov]

The chape for this scabbard was made, following the already worked off technology (needs additional sanding and polishing)



The decorative cut is the same, as the one of the sword scabbard - I had the idea to make both scabbards matching in style. Yes indeed, it would look like that the owner had ordered the weapons at different masters, while the scabbards had been made by one.
Two views of the scabbard with the chape





And the dagger in



and out of it



As clearly seen, the scabbard is quite longer from the blade. As I have the PoB at the front surface of the front rondel, I have to make it longer with massive chape, in order to get the PoB as forward as possible.

[Boris Bedrosov]

Some progress with the leather wrapping:

* all the raisers plus the "nest" glued



** the "nest" at the front



*** and at the mouth



**** finally - the dagger in the scabbard

[Boris Bedrosov]

Some proggress with the scabbard made recently.

The chape sanded and polished



and the leather wrapped, the chape glued





Actually, this was the second (and the final) wrapping
The first one was made with other leather (I had some pieces I wanted to get rid off), but this leather wasn't the best choice. During waxing it showed some very strong tendency to shrink while heated and I stripped it from the scabbard, replacing with already tested leather - the same I made the wrapping of the sword scabbard with.

[Boris Bedrosov]

And with this post, the rondel-dagger is actually completed

The leather strap for the belt - the colour is extremely dark "bordeaux" (wine-red colour), due to combined effect of the oil and wax



And the strap attached to the scabbard.



I did this by wrapping two cords (running paralel each other) around the scabbard and the strap. As there is no any glue or adhesive, I rely only on the friction and tight wrap.





I'm not sure if this would be permanent or temporary finish. As a whole, I'm not quite well satisfied by the result and it's possible to change it someday. The only thing that boders me is the fact that many things made as temporary, usually get to be permanent

And the dagger in the scabbard





Very soon I'll provide more and better images of the finished set.

[Dean F. Marino]

A trick I've used in the past....

Looking at this photo:



At the very BASE of your leather strap, just past the cord wrapping.... consider adding a stitched "extra piece" of leather - it will act as a wedge, absolutely preventing the strap from coming out from under the cord wrap - even under great stress.

[Boris Bedrosov]

Gorgeous!
Thanks for this idea.

[Boris Bedrosov]

The finished piece

[Boris Bedrosov]

And some more

[Peter Messent]

Stunning result! I'm not big on rondels, but that is very nice - I love how you recessed the flower petals, and also the 'nest' on the sheath!

[Boris Bedrosov]

Well, that finishes this project!

I would be glad to read your comments.
And please, feel absolutely free to criticize me, especially on the technical issues.

[Dean F. Marino]

That is a lovely job - as you always do .

[Mike Jia]

Beautiful stuff! It's probably a bit late now, but i was thinking the pommel would look rather fetching if the flower design was enameled.

[Kai Lawson]

Are you going to take a picture of the rondel and the type XV together?