My rondel daggers
Aug 30, 2012 17:04:07 GMT
Post by birdman on Aug 30, 2012 17:04:07 GMT
Just thought I would share a couple of daggers from my collection:
The top one is a Deepeeka, with an 11-3/4", single-edged blade. Kult of Athena has these for $41.95, but IIRC I got this one on EBay for about $10 less plus free shipping. It was blunt as all get-out when I got it - typical of most India-made blades I have seen, and especially true of Deepeeka. I had to take it to a belt-sander, followed by a Smith carbide sharpener (cheap knock-off of an Accusharp) to get a good edge on it, and I destroyed part of the etching at the base of the blade in the process (I'm not a fan of etched blades on functional weapons anyway), but now it DOES have a sharp edge. The blade is 3/16" thick, and remains so for nearly the entire length of the blade. Not necessarily a desirable trait in a sword, but in a dagger of this type, which is SUPPOSED to have a very stiff blade, I don't think it's a big deal. The tang appears to be properly peened, and the fittings are good and tight. Not a bad deal for the price, and seems to be reasonably authentic.
BTW, I am currently working on making a more authentic scabbard for this one. If anyone is interested, I can take photos of the process and put it in a separate thread in the "customization" forum.
The bottom rondel dagger in the picture I bought on EBay from a seller called "everydaysavings", again for a decent price. It is less of a dagger than a hilted spike. The "blade" is more-or-less an equilateral triangle in cross-section, about 1/2" or so wide per side at the base, and 13" long. I have not attempted to disassemble it, but the tang appears to be threaded. It is not as delicate as it appears, though - I stabbed the point repeatedly into the hood of an old truck that is laying around the yard (I tested my war-hammer on it, too), and while it did not penetrate deeply, it DID penetrate with one-handed strikes to about 5/16" deep, with only slight deformation of the point and no loosening of the components. This sort of dagger would have been used to burst links of mail, work its way into the cracks and chinks of armor, or stab through a helmet's eye-slits.
The top one is a Deepeeka, with an 11-3/4", single-edged blade. Kult of Athena has these for $41.95, but IIRC I got this one on EBay for about $10 less plus free shipping. It was blunt as all get-out when I got it - typical of most India-made blades I have seen, and especially true of Deepeeka. I had to take it to a belt-sander, followed by a Smith carbide sharpener (cheap knock-off of an Accusharp) to get a good edge on it, and I destroyed part of the etching at the base of the blade in the process (I'm not a fan of etched blades on functional weapons anyway), but now it DOES have a sharp edge. The blade is 3/16" thick, and remains so for nearly the entire length of the blade. Not necessarily a desirable trait in a sword, but in a dagger of this type, which is SUPPOSED to have a very stiff blade, I don't think it's a big deal. The tang appears to be properly peened, and the fittings are good and tight. Not a bad deal for the price, and seems to be reasonably authentic.
BTW, I am currently working on making a more authentic scabbard for this one. If anyone is interested, I can take photos of the process and put it in a separate thread in the "customization" forum.
The bottom rondel dagger in the picture I bought on EBay from a seller called "everydaysavings", again for a decent price. It is less of a dagger than a hilted spike. The "blade" is more-or-less an equilateral triangle in cross-section, about 1/2" or so wide per side at the base, and 13" long. I have not attempted to disassemble it, but the tang appears to be threaded. It is not as delicate as it appears, though - I stabbed the point repeatedly into the hood of an old truck that is laying around the yard (I tested my war-hammer on it, too), and while it did not penetrate deeply, it DID penetrate with one-handed strikes to about 5/16" deep, with only slight deformation of the point and no loosening of the components. This sort of dagger would have been used to burst links of mail, work its way into the cracks and chinks of armor, or stab through a helmet's eye-slits.