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Dagger 3
Original
| Found: Kessel, Limburg
Age: 2000-1600BC >>> more information |
Template
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To make a model of clay of such a thin object doesn't work. To make a model out of wood is too much work, and requires the right wood working tools. So instead, I cut out the a template from ash bark. By pressing this between the two mould halves, I got a matching print in both sides. Then all I had to do is deepen it to get the right thickness. |
Mould
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Material: clay and sand
The mould is made from clay and sand, and has been baken. |
Casting result
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One of the mould halves was broken, but I still managed to cast in it. The result was very good. The surface is very smooth, and the detail very high. |
Finishing
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While finishing the dagger, I noticed that the dagger has a very high tin percentage. This makes the dagger very hard and also very fragile. It can still be turned into a good dagger, but because of the hardness that will take a lot of work. Therefore I'll finish this one using modern tools. |
Finished blade
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| As mentioned above, I finished the blade using modern tools. The result is better then I expected. It's promising to become a very nice dagger once finished! | |||
Pommel
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The pommel is made from red deer antler, using the base of the antler. This kind of pommel is based on English finds. The pommel serves to keep the two hilt halves together, and also as decoration. |
Hilt
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The hilt halves are made from ash wood, and impregnated with lineoil. The lineoil makes the wood more durable, and gives it a darker color. To attach the blade to the hilt, 4 bronze rivets will be used. To attach the pommel, two wooden pins will be used. |
Finished dagger
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The hilt plates have been riveted to the blade, and the pommel is attached to the hilt with the wooden pins. Due to the rivetting the two hilt plates shifted a little. The blade is also not perfectly in line with the hilt. These are areas which I'll improve on with the next dagger. But I'm very happy with the way this one came out. |
Scabbard
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| Various dagger and sword scabbards have been found that show that they were made from hazel wood, with a leather wrapping glued on the outside and fur lining on the inside of the scabbard. This technique I've applied to this scabbard, though I've left away the fur lining. I've shaped the hazel wood reinforcement with a bronze chisel and knife. This shows that hazel is very easy to shape, which along with the strenght and flexibility of the wood are probably the reasons why this wood was favored for scabbards. The leather wrapping is glued with hideglue, and keeps the wooden halves of the scabbard together. The loop to attach the scabbard to a belt is glued to the back and secured with a thin leather cord. The decoration was pressed in the wet leather and is based on decoration of a wooden sword scabbard from Denmark. | |||
Dagger & Scabbard
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These photos show the dagger and scabbard together. |
Casting result 2
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In a second mould of this dagger I've cast a new blade. I've cast several blades in this mould, and this is the best result. This one I'll be finishing without modern tools. |