(Pattern Steel) Scottish Dirk
Jul 2, 2008 15:39:59 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2008 15:39:59 GMT
My first attempt at a handmade Scottish (Pattern Steel) dirk:
I was inspired by my heritage, of course!... it began with the vision of a row of eucalyptus trees growing happily and healthily in a row near my workplace. all but one... this lonely dead, 120 foot tall giant needed to serve a further purpose! I wandered over and snapped a branch. after months of carving and whittling, the result was a pretty nice looking piece of wood, amazing color and quite hard in the center.
After adding the traditional brass (Scottish thistle patterned)tacking and brass wire braiding, I was ready to add "Big Sam's" blade. a Patteren Steel piece I acquired quite cheaply on ebay from a maker in India. (may still be available). I used antique brass doorknobs for the pommel and guard and a nice antique brass button of a lion tearing a scroll. (I think it's an Austrian symbol but I'm not sure, so if anyone knows, please pass me the info).
The only regret of the project is that the tang of the 14" blade was only 2.5" long... instead of shortening the blade shoulders to extend the tang or welding an extension (::shuddering:, I decided to work with what I had.
I simply used one "rivet" (a piece of brass dowel bought from a local hardware store) to secure the blade to the guard via a hole thru the tang.
to give it a good balance and secure hold, I cheated a bit by filling the entire hilt with a rock hard acrylic poly-resin.
Then a bit of work on the blade had rendered a decidedly paper sharp edge!
Then finished the project with a hand-tooled leather scab (one of my many passions) with a outer lace and hit it with an antiquing gel.
I hope you enjoy viewing this (as close to historical as I could make it-) piece as much as I enjoyed creating it.
I was inspired by my heritage, of course!... it began with the vision of a row of eucalyptus trees growing happily and healthily in a row near my workplace. all but one... this lonely dead, 120 foot tall giant needed to serve a further purpose! I wandered over and snapped a branch. after months of carving and whittling, the result was a pretty nice looking piece of wood, amazing color and quite hard in the center.
After adding the traditional brass (Scottish thistle patterned)tacking and brass wire braiding, I was ready to add "Big Sam's" blade. a Patteren Steel piece I acquired quite cheaply on ebay from a maker in India. (may still be available). I used antique brass doorknobs for the pommel and guard and a nice antique brass button of a lion tearing a scroll. (I think it's an Austrian symbol but I'm not sure, so if anyone knows, please pass me the info).
The only regret of the project is that the tang of the 14" blade was only 2.5" long... instead of shortening the blade shoulders to extend the tang or welding an extension (::shuddering:, I decided to work with what I had.
I simply used one "rivet" (a piece of brass dowel bought from a local hardware store) to secure the blade to the guard via a hole thru the tang.
to give it a good balance and secure hold, I cheated a bit by filling the entire hilt with a rock hard acrylic poly-resin.
Then a bit of work on the blade had rendered a decidedly paper sharp edge!
Then finished the project with a hand-tooled leather scab (one of my many passions) with a outer lace and hit it with an antiquing gel.
I hope you enjoy viewing this (as close to historical as I could make it-) piece as much as I enjoyed creating it.