Neil Burridge budget khopesh!!!
Oct 19, 2012 14:40:42 GMT
Post by birdman on Oct 19, 2012 14:40:42 GMT
I have had an interest in all kinds of weapons since I was a kid. Being from a Christian family (NO, I AM NOT TRYING TO START A RELIGIOUS TOPIC HERE, MODS!), I also enjoyed reading the Bible, especially the stories about the conquest of Canaan. One church my family attended had an illustrated Bible, and in the back, along with maps and such, there was a picture of swords, axes, and armor that were used in Biblical times. One of the pictures that interested me most was a funny-shaped sword. Many years later I found out that that sword was called a khopesh, and that it was a Bronze Age weapon that was used during the time of the conquest of Canaan. I had seen many steel replicas over the years, mostly cheesy wall-hangers, but none of them really appealed to me - they had the general SHAPE of a khopesh, but not really the SUBSTANCE of one, if you can understand my meaning. I had even considered casting one of my own, and even have plans for a charcoal-fired foundry (part of the "Gingery Machine Shop" series from Lindsay Publications), but never got the ambition to actually do it. Local foundries wanted an arm and a leg to do the job.
My reprieve came after joining SBG (gads, I LOVE this forum!!!), and I found out about Neil Burridge at Bronze Age Craft. Recently, I took the plunge and ordered his "budget khopesh". After sitting in customs for a week and a half (GRRRRR!!! :evil: ), it finally arrived in yesterday's mail:
I ordered mine with the edge already forge-hardened and ready for final sharpening, since I did not want to have to send it back to England to have it done, and wait on customs AGAIN. I must say, Mr. Burridge's reputation as a craftsman is very well deserved indeed. I am currently waiting on some olive-wood for the grip slabs (Egyptian/African acacia wood seems to be rather hard to come by, and Australian acacia just isn't the same).
The sword is 23-5/16" overall, of which 18-3/4" is the total blade length, and 13-7/16" is cutting edge. The blade is nearly 3/8" thick at the spine. Point of balance (before adding the grip slabs) is right where the "crook" starts for the cutting portion of the blade. Believe it or not, the tip is actually sharp enough to thrust with. I would not expect this sword to be a bottle slicer - the thickness of the blade would tend to preclude that - but I have no doubt that it would have been a very nasty combat weapon 3,500 years ago. Holding it in my hand, I can imagine the armies of Joshua marching around the walls of Jericho!
I will post more photos when I have the grips done, by the way.
Now, I need to find out what a khopesh scabbard would have looked like..
My reprieve came after joining SBG (gads, I LOVE this forum!!!), and I found out about Neil Burridge at Bronze Age Craft. Recently, I took the plunge and ordered his "budget khopesh". After sitting in customs for a week and a half (GRRRRR!!! :evil: ), it finally arrived in yesterday's mail:
I ordered mine with the edge already forge-hardened and ready for final sharpening, since I did not want to have to send it back to England to have it done, and wait on customs AGAIN. I must say, Mr. Burridge's reputation as a craftsman is very well deserved indeed. I am currently waiting on some olive-wood for the grip slabs (Egyptian/African acacia wood seems to be rather hard to come by, and Australian acacia just isn't the same).
The sword is 23-5/16" overall, of which 18-3/4" is the total blade length, and 13-7/16" is cutting edge. The blade is nearly 3/8" thick at the spine. Point of balance (before adding the grip slabs) is right where the "crook" starts for the cutting portion of the blade. Believe it or not, the tip is actually sharp enough to thrust with. I would not expect this sword to be a bottle slicer - the thickness of the blade would tend to preclude that - but I have no doubt that it would have been a very nasty combat weapon 3,500 years ago. Holding it in my hand, I can imagine the armies of Joshua marching around the walls of Jericho!
I will post more photos when I have the grips done, by the way.
Now, I need to find out what a khopesh scabbard would have looked like..
I can't wait to get one of these next.
)
