Hi, there,
I´ve just finished a dirk and would like to show it to you. Hope you´ll like it.
Handle is Cocobolo with brass, length overall 16 1/2´, blade length 12´, blade width 1 1/2´.

Greetings from Germany
Thomas[/img]

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Not bad, quite good in fact. The handle looks a little rough but that's no necessarily a bad thing, good complexity as well and it's better than anything I could do, I also like the large knot in the center.
What materials did you use for blade steel and the handle?

Handle is Cocobolo with brass. I give a linseed oil treatment to the wood, because I personally don´t like staining. With the linseed oil the wood gets more durable.
The rough appearance is intented, actually, because I try to copy authentic dirks and don´t want to create an over-perfect piece of art.
The blade on this one is a common blade sold by companies like CrazyCrow or Track-of-the-wolf. They are of decent quality, although I have to reshape them in respect of taper especially. So a new heat treatment is needed, too.
But those blades are a great alternative to my self made blades, especially for dirks of the late jacobean era.
Cheers
Thomas

Very nice job. Wish I could do that.

Thomas,


Beautiful job! Did you make the blade too? My hat is off to you for your carving, carving cocobolo must be extremely difficult.

Ken Speed

Hi Thomas,


I reread your post, I missed your comments about the blade the first time.


Sorry,

Ken

Hello Thomas,

Nice work on the dirk. Your hard work has really paid off. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work. :)

-Todd

Nice work but I wonder about the blade design as it seems to have more belly than most dirks I have seen that are a bit more triangular and pointy: This would make the blade a better cutting/slashing blade than a more thrust oriented dirk.

Not that I don't like it, and I don't know the variants of dirk blade shapes well enough to know if this blade shape was rare, common or not traditonal: Just curious about the design/aesthetics decisions involved.

Thanks for your kind comments.
Jean, actually the blade isn´t as bulky as it appears in the picture. It´s an effect my camera did produce. The shape of it is oriented towards late jacobean dirks.
@Korey- the times of handmade blades from Solingen seem to have vanished. Unfortunately there are only very few blade smiths left, who forge their blades by hand.
Regards
Thomas