Making a Rondel Dagger

This design is based on this 15th century rondel dagger found in the Metropolitan Museum. A close runner up was the a rondel dagger found at the Wallace Collection.

I experimented with the design and made a few small modifications, but given that this dagger is supposed to be functional as well as aesthetically pleasing, I went with a simpler design.

The overall shape was cut with an angle grinder from a lawn mover blade, but still had to be forged to its final shape and heat treated

The bevels were roughly formed with an angle grinder, and steadily sanded using several different grits of sandpaper until I finished it with a piece of 400 grit paper, which gives it a nice satin finish.

The rondels that give the dagger its name are plain carbon steel cut from 14 gauge plate, however I would not recommend anything thinner. I polished them to a 240 grit, but gave them their finish with a wire wheel. The handle is made from the heartwood of red cedar. I drilled a hole all the way through and heated the tang. I then did what is called a burn-through, where the tang burns a hole in the handle to give it a tight fit.

The handle was shaped with a simple belt sander and polished with sandpaper, steel wool, and a scotch-brite pad. I finished it with oil to bring out the deep red color. The rondels were given one last polish with steel wool, and then blued with gun bluing and oiled for the blackened steel look.

For the final assembly, I used two-part epoxy, then cut off the excess tang and peened it down. I blued the peened end of the tang, then gave it one last coat of oil.

I made the sheath out of leather, and did not add a wood core. To do this, I made a wooden blank of the blade. I then soaked the leather and sewed to it around the blank to form it.

After that I died the leather red, but I also used and antiquing gel to get that rich mahogany color, as well as make the small amount of tooling I've added  become more visible. I then added a satin finish to protect and seal the leather.

One problem with rondel daggers is the fact that the center of gravity is in the handle rather than the blade. To help the dagger hang, and protect the end of the leather, I made piece called a chape. I used a rod that I use for forging arrows and hammered a piece of 16 gauge metal around it. A small piece of square stock is welded to the tip and filed decoratively.

The last piece was a throat. It was also a piece of metal wrapped around a form which I then welded a loop to the add a leather cord for attaching to a belt.

Private message received from a reader...

"I see a lot of talent there!  Study of some metallurgy and machining/welding processes are skills that are in huge demand these days.  I don't know if that's what you're interested in but your skills at this age certainly point to that being something you'd enjoy and would be very good at!  Knife and tool making is a very specialized skill that I've always found really interesting.  Design and development of tooling and dies for manufacturing are huge too, on top of the skills to run the machinery (lathes, mills, forges, etc.) to make that stuff."  ~Kevin

Making a Sallet

 With the exception of a single conical helmet this was the first true helmet I ever made.

Its based on the a sallet found in Nuremberg Germany and was supposed to be the first peice in my late 14th early 15th century harness. similar to the one below.

Initially I had intended to create it the historical way by a process known as raising wherein by hammer and heat a single piece of metal is beaten over a stake until it comes to a semi-spherical form.

Given my limited tools and experience, however, this proved to be an enormous waste of time and gas.

In the end it cut I and welded it using a mig welder.

The other three things I did too it was create a German style half visor and added the historical ridge at the top. I installed a liner by sewing padding to leather then riveting it to the sides of the helmet. Unfortunately, while it fits it came out somewhat too tight so I may make another helmet

Milanese Mitten Gauntlets

This type of gauntlet is called Milanese style Mitten Gauntlets. The inspiration for them can be found on the famous Avant armor set in Glasgow. The back of the hand and the cuff are cut and bent to shape to form an hourglass shape for a high degree of flexibility without sacrificing much protection.

 

The main part which protects the fingers where formed from a rectangular and almost semicircular shape. both of which were lightly dished and then deeply dished around the edges to decrease the size of a seam that would form in the opening or closing of the gauntlets.

Due to the way that I cut the main part of the hand, however, I was unable to use the same style of thumb protection that is on the Avant set gauntlets. Instead I used a style of thumbs similar to those see on the equally famous gauntlets found at Churnburg Castle which is held in place by leather suspension rather than a hinge.

All that was left was to assemble it all together by light riveting the hinges and tightly riveting the parts held on be leather suspension. I also added some leather straps to help hold the gauntlets more tightly onto a glove.

Norman Helm

My quest to create a decent helmet has taken me many places. I have scoured Goodwill stores and scrap piles for raw material. I have read obscure books on the functionality and purpose of different types of medieval armor. I have delved into the minds and tutorials of an eccentric Ukrainian hobbyist. I have done all of this to create a helm.

In the heat and frost, I wrought it from mithril and steel, pounding away at the hardened metal until from the dust it emerged; a Norman helm.

But like all great adventures, the journey was long and trying. Often it did not go as was expected; sometimes I even thought of turning back, but I pushed forward. It began in a land of grass and trees, when I first happened upon the art of weaving maille. Though the links from which I wove my armor were soft and weak, it made me dream of what could be.

For years I labored. Not hard work, but tedious and taxing on one’s patience and concentration. Hours every day passed me by. But when I held aloft the creation that which I had wrought, my heart was filled with not but satisfaction.

Its polished silver rings glittered in the light, and its edging the golden light of brass shone defiantly. I thought that nothing I had made before could triumph over the beauty and majesty of my great work.

But as any true craftsman knows, it did not long last. My hauberk was finished yes, but by itself it was little more than a tediously crafted decoration. Articles and accessories followed suit. First came forth the soft gambeson, the protector from brutish blows. Then from oak and mesh came the shield, a defender from what a body dare not take itself. A brais and a tunic had existed long before, but for long I had felt the urge to create the most difficult piece of all; the mighty helm.

It began when I spotted a large and thick piece of metal at a store. Looking at it, I assessed that it would suit my purposes. I had not the tape to measure, but my eyes judged that it was of significant value and size.

This is where our story takes an unexpected turn. My eyes were set on the creation of a sallet, the most versatile of the helms. When I found it lacking in size, I then turned to the mighty bascinet, strong and fair. But alas again I was foiled. In the tradition of my hauberk and the constraint of my metal’s size, I began the construction of the ancient Norman helm.

I was foolish to have used the bowl, for it was wrought of mithril. Though it is strong and does not tarnish, it is taxing to work and takes long to finish. For many days my hammer fell and rang upon the silver steel, the hard metal morphing into use.

At last, upon the third day, they were suitably wrought. Their form dished strong and stout, their facing planished smooth and clean. Twas then and only then, that with that fire of the sky I joined them to become one again.

Yet my troubles far from over, as I gazed upon my creation, I began to feel what I would later find be true. This stout cone which I had made was inept in size. I scoured across all places I knew to look but alas no more mithril of suitable size was to be found. It pained me to join the fair mithril with lesser iron, but it had to be thus. So from a lesser iron I beat out a band and with the same power as before joined it to the helm.

Of my last piece of the fair silver steel, I cut and joined to it a crucifix as a protection for the face. The time had come at last when all the components of metal were to be joined through the pounding of rivets; it was time for the parts not of steel. To join it all together came a band of leather; its shape was such so that it could be riveted to the helm. Holes for the aventail were also made and the padded lining cap was shorn and joined.

Thus it was born, a Norman helm.

 

the plates before and after dishing

after planishing

half welded

entirely welded

after grinding

cresting a band

the band after welded

padding

leather band for aventail

as scrap piece for the nasal plate

aluminum rivets to attach

Adding a ridge with a blunted chisel

hammers I used, a blunted chisel, and a trailer hitch for a ball stake

completed