MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
afternoon....
minivader is doing a project this term on the Romans (what did they ever do for us??) which involves parent/child collaboration. Most people go for cardboard shields or helmets...
"No" says minivader "I want to build a Roman sword! A REAL one!"
Right says I, O....K! what sort of roman sword? a small one? (shows minivader the types of gladius available)
"That one" he says pointing to the hispanic type of gladius (curvy type, biggest they ever made)
so here is the template we made this afternoon
[img][url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/636/22664920852_0655d23f53_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/636/22664920852_0655d23f53_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/AwPDks ]DSC_0648[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr[/img]
it'll be made out of O1 tool steel with either hard wood or brass hilt and pommel and a hard wood and brass handle
further pics as the build progresses!
Needs a scutum as well!
I look forward to your ww2 project.
You'll get arrested taking that into school!
😯
😆
muddydwarf... nah i leave them for the rest of the year to build!
5TH it'll brobably be an officers sabre or a bayonet
mitsumonkey... already cleared it with the teacher! 8)
Now, are you going to make him a Hamata or Segmentata to go with it 😉
if i had the time i may have given it a go, but its only a 6 week project. that said the hamata would have taken years!
I think a Segmentata would be easier, still weigh the poor fella down though! I've tried a Segmentata, surprised how heavy it was even when compared to my C15th armour. Mine was heavier but did cover a lot more.
yeah... a 3/4 mail suit would be bad too, he is only 7!!!
*subscribed!
(Way to make me feel all the way unmanly, signed, shitdadcantmakenuffin 😛 😉 )
Shouldn't you make two? It's not like you can play sword fighting by yourself.
monkeyfudger, don't feel bad, i make knives (soon for a living) so this is just a bit bigger than my normal stuff.
5th... he's bloody dangerous with a lightsaber, there is NO WAY i am playing with real swords with him! *shudders and clutches imaginary bloody stump* 😯
My Dad makes authentic chain, plate and ring mail armour if you are looking for a suit 😉 (pricey though as he does everything by hand).
thats the way of it bubs... handmade is always pricey, usually better though
Sounds like the perfect excuse for a trip down the scrappies looking for leaf springs 🙂
You'll get arrested taking that into school!
Nah. Standard issue in the 'Stoke these days. Badlands.....
ninfan i just bunged an extra piece of steel on my last order, that way i know its going to be true and of good quality.
CFH very true sir , especially in some of the outlying villages 😉
Brilliant. Minivader is about to take on legendary status at school.
Yo, blud! Step to me in da hood and you iz getting da fresh organic buffalo mozzarella all up in yo grill, yagetme?
Daftvader, got a website/Facebook page?
CFH ... yeah! you iz needin to find me som o dat rare wild boar from your hood for dissin me! you fink you is tuff enuff to be in dis place man, get me some buffalo biltong blud!
monkeyfudger... not yet, that will all be happening (including a possible YouTube channel) in the new year after i have started trading.
get me some buffalo biltong blud!
Rumour is he's selling the place to Chris Evans! The biltong is really rather delicious, though!
they are good friends, not sure if it would change the quality of the food as evens is likely to not have a clue about the farming side.. sheckter has learnt some hard lessons over the years but has made a good business there
Just in time for the zombie apocalypse 😀
That's already started!... Just ask chewy!! 😆
daftvader - Member
That's already started!... Just ask chewy!!
Yeap! Plenty of zombies out there ... scare the shite out of me. Therefore, I need plenty of big knives ... 😆
That Roman short sword looks nice ...
I was at one of the historical castle two months ago where there were plenty of big swords around so played with few of them, I must say most of the big swords are meant for breaking bones only especially knight with body armour. Too heavy for me to be useful and even the one handed sword is too heavy.
Not sure how I would survive medieval fight ... 😯
I really wanted to take minivader up tother royal armoury at Leeds but ended up at the one at Fort Nelson... Next half term hopefully
Is your son known as Arthur of the family Pendragon?
We just call him Wort!!!
Daftvader = dadoftheyear
😳 
8)
chewkw - Member
...I must say most of the big swords are meant for breaking bones only especially knight with body armour...
About 30 years ago I had a blacksmith friend make me a Highland claymore. It was heavy, but with the big pommel, surprisingly well balanced.
I set up a post in the back garden and got stuck into it. By using one hand near the hilt and the other close to the pommel it could be swung with surprising speed with economy of effort. Ditto for thrusting.
I also learned to wield it one handed, but it was harder to control. However my ancestors were no doubt a lot tougher and skilled at using these claymores than I would ever be, so it's possible they used them like that.
It wasn't much use against my brother using a long spear, he could have deaded me any time, but it would have been devastating used on an unarmoured man with a shorter sword. It split a shield no trouble.
Where it would have been particularly effective would have been against a horseman. A nimble man could dodge a horse and then whack it on the rear legs. The injuries would almost certainly bring the horse down and then the horseman would be at the mercy of its long reach. If he was armoured the sheer weight behind a blow would have probably flattened him.
For that matter a whack on the shins with it would bring down anyone. 🙂
I can't help wondering if that was how it was used by the Highlanders, who seemed to be quite effective against armoured horsemen.
epicyclo if you haven't discovered him already then [url= https://www.youtube.com/user/scholagladiatoria ]scholagladiatoria on YouTube[/url] is your man for explaining the fighting techniques of the various sword types (including defending against spears).
GrahamS - Member
epicyclo if you haven't discovered him already then scholagladiatoria on YouTube is your man...
Thanks. Just lost a couple of hours... 🙂
quick update... minivader blued the steel today and scribed the template ready to start grinding...
[img][url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5643/22740303412_3eee5a120f_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5643/22740303412_3eee5a120f_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/ADtZWL ]DSC_0650[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5650/22754248505_97870ec5a8_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5650/22754248505_97870ec5a8_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/AEHtkp ]DSC_0651[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr
further information and pictures as events warrant!!! 😀
further work and progress by myself and minivader. got the rough shape done now just need to sort the final shape out by hand then start on the profile of the blade
[img][url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5730/22786011665_0790fb222a_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5730/22786011665_0790fb222a_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/AHwgq6 ]DSC_0663[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[img][url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5629/22762542576_d401c8a516_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5629/22762542576_d401c8a516_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/AFrYSC ]DSC_0667[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr[/img]
Bet the neighbours love you... 😉 good work though I love getting involved with the kids projects...
Very cool - what's the big sparky machine?
i'm very conscious of the noise and having 2 small kids it never goes past 6, which is a bugger cos id love to work later ... but i love getting minivader involved in projects, even if he has the attention span of a gnat!!!
the big machine is a 50x2000 best grinder maid by a Czech company called Haim, built for metal grinding and it has some specific heads for knife making
It's a brilliant project.
I'm sure he'll make short shift of any barbarians at his school. 🙂
Why blue the steel?
do you sell the sparks on, once the bucket is full?
the steel is blued to mark out the shape from a wooden template we made (pic at the top of the page)... unfortunately there isn't a market for second hand sparks! 😀
Daftvader do you ever work in Damascus steel? I've been having a look at some nice looking blades...
no i dont i'm afraid... just O1, D2 and if requested Niolox. i personally think that damascus, while exceedingly pretty, isnt that practical for a bushcraft type of blade. they can take a hell of a lot of looking after and can be really susceptible to rust. bloody pretty tho
Agreed, definitely more of a ceremonial thing for looking at than actually putting to work.
its even worse if its a cheap one...
Agreed on the Damascus blade and rust,
I have a Japanese Damascus hunting knife, a beautiful blade that holds an edge really well at nearly 60 Rockwell but it does show 4 little rust specs right on the cutting edge half way up the blade .I polish it out but it always comes back even though I oil it before I put it in its sheath.
skiboy try using renaissance wax
I've got a WW2 Japanese knife - presumably a fighting one - taken off a dead soldier by an uncle in a bullets beat blades type incident. It's still bloody sharp.
I'd like to see some pics of that epicyclo...
About time for an update please 😀
Indeed.
I don't know the circumstances behind this kukhri, but my dad was stationed out in Singapore during WW2, and I know he served with Gurkhas out there, from the odd little story he told me, like the ears that magically appeared every morning, decorating the barbed wire around the base, but this has been around as long as I can remember, so I would guess my dad was given it by a Gurkha, which makes it seventy-odd years old, at least, possibly eighty.
Sadly, my brother got his hands on it and left it in his garage, so it's got a bit shabby, the leather around the wooden sheath has all but gone, and the blade is showing some corrosion, and there's a small piece of wood missing from the hilt, but it's still bloody sharp, and I treasure it, as something that was my dad's.
He died when I was thirteen, so I'm sure he would have told me more had he lived, and I got older.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Not just a weapon, it's an everyday tool, as well.
Sorry been really busy with other things hopefully get some stuff done this week...
Right, a bit of an update, i have managed to get the primary bevels done then ran into a bit of a glitch with the flats not lining up. so i have decided that it will be an elliptical or convex grind. this will cause issues for the polishing but the can be overcome easily enough. I'm wondering how long before minivader gets bored with polishing, mrsvader gives it 5 minutes i'm not sure!!!
so here are some pics, not the best as light was rubbish.
primary bevel...
[img][url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5720/22977427530_cabe025b10_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5720/22977427530_cabe025b10_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/B1rjFC ]DSC_0711[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[img][url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5675/23273186215_1c11c22458_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5675/23273186215_1c11c22458_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Bszari ]DSC_0710[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr[/img]
convex bevel
[img][url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/730/22676506074_bb2b73e37a_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/730/22676506074_bb2b73e37a_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/AxR2dE ]DSC_0720[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[img][url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/733/23278785996_e771d2fba7_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/733/23278785996_e771d2fba7_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Bt4S4f ]DSC_0724[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/75575925@N08/ ]daftvader77[/url], on Flickr[/img]
cheers
8)
CountZero - MemberI don't know the circumstances behind this kukhri, ...
Nice Kukhri ... You can still use it to defend yourself against any zombie attack with that.