A viking age friction folder for the magic troll

Here´s a friction folder I made for the magic troll, my lovely UMMIBÄR;-) (Hey, it´s spring, what do you expect...?*ggg*).

The blade (some 60mmx 2,5mmm) is Damascus out of 1.2842 and crucible steel I found in the woods, the handle´s a stag antler tip with a brass pivot. Peening went not too well, and there´s a tiny hairline crack. With this type of one- piece design it´s crucial to have a straight surface in the pivot area before peening the pivot over the handle. Due to the lack of offset in the scroll I had to file the handle down a bit too much. Having no time left, I peened it over very carefully, but still, the crack developed. It´s tiny, and the magic troll can easily fill it with epoxy, and the knife will still work.

I am still learning the how-do´s on this type of knife, but generally it´s slowly growing on me and I start to like those very much.

On the bench: Viking / Rus age replica blades work in progress-and the question of the Kopis edge line

Currently I am working on my first genuine replicas / museum artefact interpretations, and I am faced with some difficulties. First and foremostly, I am inspired very much by the Novgorod Viking age finds. The culprit is, there are some of the blades found in Novgorod showing a somewhat "recurve" blade line, as the Kopis style blade below. That blade you might know from another post. As you can see in the pattern, the blade is forged that way.
(picture courtesy of http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/NovgorodMetalp.html)

As you can see, the topmost find, not identical to my interpretation, which follows the lines of this one:

 picture by http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/NovgorodMetalp.html

 is also presumeably forged that way, because the fuller (top photo) follows the edge line.

But there is a problem Mielenko pointed out: If you look at old kitchen knives which have seen a lot of hard use you will often notice a recurve edge line, too. This is often due to a mistake in stropping. If a knife is sharpened a lot just where the edge became dull the blade will develop this edge line, because the edge always gets dulled near the handle first. If you look closely at the second knife in the topmost picture you might get the impression too. The knife has seen a lot of use apparently, for the edge line is drawn in quite a bit and also shows a recurve form. So I must admit I have gone to liberties with the design. I simply cannot tell whether the longer blade actually is authentic.

I have thusly decided, since I am forced to interpret anyway, to dismiss the authenticity a tiny bit and do something of an interpretation again.

The little blade, however (ancient crucible steel and 1.2842) follows the lines of a great many finds and thusly poses no problems whatsoever. I like how the pattern shows, even if it did not weld that good. That´s the problem when you work with salvaged steels - you´ll never know what you get!

But the blade is coming along nicely, with a nice and crispy hardness and great flexibility, so watch this place for news!;-)

Progress on my Rus reconstruction - and Lúgra Móros

 The first steps towards my new Rus knife have been made, and I realized in the process that the Kopis knives I love so much actually have a historical background. One of my all - time favourite and ritual knives, Lúgra Móros (the moon-mare) is very close to a Novgorod find without me intending. In fact, I was always having the opinion, it was more of a Celtic design (hence the Old Gaulic name), but it seemingly also has roots in the Achaemenid Kopis but also in the younger Pishqabz. I wonder a lot of things these days. Could it be that the Varangians who served as a Byzantine palace guard served as a cultural vehicle to submit Persian or general Oriental weaponry and culture to the North? Or was this style of edge line original to Viking culture? What with an Irish influence) Quite certainly an Anglo-Saxon influence can be dismissed. I am fascinated by the thought that the Varangians, when returning home to Kiev or Scandinavia, brought Oriental wares with them (this is well documented). I also wonder whether Varangians also came in contact with Iranian and Oriental Martial arts? Plus, it is safe to say that at least one Russian martial arts and combat style of the medieval ages that was a predecessor to Systema originated in the Ukranian region around Kiev / Novgorod. This is a speculation of course. But a fascinating one...;-)

Anyway, the design of my Rus blade went a bit off the mark of the original drawing, but it is still somewhat historically accurate, for it mixes characteristics of the several Novgorod finds. The deviation is due to my forging it out of memory and not making a scheme out of brass or wood beforehand. This will happen next time. As is, the blade is 115x5mm in dimensions and made out of 45 layers of historical crucible and file steel. A first etching only revealed a tiny bit of pattern, but it is forged out in Masame technique to show the strands better. Below is a small whittling / neck knife I made for fun.

News from the magic troll´s shop;-)

 Now this is a blade I made for the magic troll...;-) A Seax, three layer laminate, carburized spring steel / mild steel, 120x 3mm or something. This is after she polished it some.

 In the meantime she made this at Susanne´s shop...Susanne is a friend of hers, a gold smith tutoring her a bit... and seeming to learn summat, too;-).

 Then the magic troll made this out of my crappy steel;-).

 I LOVE those carvings.

 ...lost for words...

Am I proud? BOY, am I!!!!;-)

SHE! HAS! DONE! IT! AGAIN!

 So the magic troll has done it again. She mailed me with a picture of her FIRST! knife she has ever made, with a Lauri carbon steel blade, walnut, buffalo horn and reindeer antler fittings. Note these carvings. I am not quite sure if I should hate her or love her even more for her skill... guess the latter will do fine, though;-). RESPECT!!!!!!!

This is a spontaneous carving she did because she felt like it, a fitting for a Birka pouch. Reindeer antler... DOH!!!*ggg*

Yet another blog I follow;-)

Now this is a blog by a person who really keeps inspiring me in a big way. It´s Petr Florianek, aka Gullinbursti, an artist from the Czech Republic. He now has a blog, and I really recommend it!

This is an example of his work:

A damascus knife for the magic troll;-)

 Originally this should have been a Chrismas present, but I messed up, so I gave it to her this weekend.

A short (85mm x 3mm ca.) damascus blade from Zwissler damascus, 15N20 and 1.2842, selectively tempered. Titanium bolster and a yew handle. Better photos will follow soon! And I am looking forward as to what sheath she will make for it...;-)