Some seaxy knives I've made
Oct 30, 2012 23:05:36 GMT
Post by Hrafnríkr on Oct 30, 2012 23:05:36 GMT
I’m not entirely sure whether to post this here or in the sword making section of the forum, so moderators, feel free to move the thread if it pleases you.
I recently joined this forum and thought I’d share some of the work that I’ve done. All of these are nothing more than the work of a novice, and I call these seaxy knives because they differ from the originals in various ways. I do however hope the historical inspiration in visible in one form or another.
It all began last summer when visiting my grandmother's farm and found a crude and heavily patinated knife (really just a flat bar with a 5 cm long edge at the end) and a handful of files. I set to work immediately and by the end of the weekend I had made a broken back thing that was supposed to be a seax. When I got home I polished it, gave it a crude stacked leather handle and forgot all about it until this summer. In the meantime I’d learned a few more things about seaxes and felt that the one I’d made didn’t look quite right. I removed the handle and reworked the blade, and also built a little primitive forge to heat treat it. During the water quench I got my first “ping”. I managed to salvage most of the knife though, but had to make it shorter than planned. Since this removed the knife out of “short seax” territory, I decided to be a bit adventurous with the handle.
There is one dark spot on the blade that I left there as a memento from the knife’s previous life as a farm tool. I also kept the pattern left behind after the fire scale got knocked off during the quench. I’d never seen something like that before, and felt that it added some character to it.
Overall length: 27 cm
Blade length: 14 cm
Width: 3 cm
Thickness: 3 mm
Handle material: birch, birch bark and sheep bone
I recently joined this forum and thought I’d share some of the work that I’ve done. All of these are nothing more than the work of a novice, and I call these seaxy knives because they differ from the originals in various ways. I do however hope the historical inspiration in visible in one form or another.
It all began last summer when visiting my grandmother's farm and found a crude and heavily patinated knife (really just a flat bar with a 5 cm long edge at the end) and a handful of files. I set to work immediately and by the end of the weekend I had made a broken back thing that was supposed to be a seax. When I got home I polished it, gave it a crude stacked leather handle and forgot all about it until this summer. In the meantime I’d learned a few more things about seaxes and felt that the one I’d made didn’t look quite right. I removed the handle and reworked the blade, and also built a little primitive forge to heat treat it. During the water quench I got my first “ping”. I managed to salvage most of the knife though, but had to make it shorter than planned. Since this removed the knife out of “short seax” territory, I decided to be a bit adventurous with the handle.
There is one dark spot on the blade that I left there as a memento from the knife’s previous life as a farm tool. I also kept the pattern left behind after the fire scale got knocked off during the quench. I’d never seen something like that before, and felt that it added some character to it.
Overall length: 27 cm
Blade length: 14 cm
Width: 3 cm
Thickness: 3 mm
Handle material: birch, birch bark and sheep bone