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yet another freakin seax topic


omalley

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So they spent a lot of time sharpening? :lol:

-Gabriel

The fundamental cause of trouble is that the stupid are cocksure, while the intelligent are full of doubt. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher
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So, here are a couple crappy pics of some seax projects.

 

I got good length out of the longseax, but not the width I was hoping for. It's a bit wonky. I may play with it some more. Like 29 in. long, 37mm wide
The two Frankish style are 1060 as well.
Thee sword, is the Sword I am making form the bloom I made at War of the Wings. Iron age 32 in. blade as is.
The shorter seax is multi-bar PW of bloom.

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Mark Green

 

I have a way? Is that better then a plan?

(cptn. Mal)

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Thanks guys. Yup, that does seem to be the case.

 

I love that one Jeroen. I made that last week. In 1060. I've been working out the amount of material I would need to make them in bloom.

Pics soon. Cutting the fullers this week. :)

Jeroen is very likely correct about these seaxes being mostly iron. From all the studies I have seen, these bigger war blades were almost always just iron, or maybe a bit of steely bloom.

I have made a few up to about 20 in. from steely bloom. By the time you get them welded up, and drawn out, there is very little C remaining.

 

The smaller, every day seaxes seemed to have a lot more C content.

 

 

 

If you look at the section of this one for example, there's not much steel in there, and very little of it is exposed at the edge, now corroded away. Also only the very edge is hardened. So it's easy to mistake this for being iron only.

 

SAX.w37t8.LeaR.LeytonEngland.9th.MEF.jpg

Edited by Jeroen Zuiderwijk

Jeroen Zuiderwijk

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Ah ha! Thank you for clearing that up Jeroen!

With all the knowledge bombs you guys are dropping on the seax, I am finding myself more and more enthralled with them.

-Gabriel

The fundamental cause of trouble is that the stupid are cocksure, while the intelligent are full of doubt. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher
follow me on Instagram @raggedravenforge

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Awesome. That was a high dollar seax :)

 

Just goes to show how precious steel was. Likely hearth refined bloom.
The best way to use it. Just for your edge.

 

I have made a dozen seaxes exactly like that. Much easier then PW, where you weld the steel on the edge.
Great find, thanks for sharing.

Mark Green

 

I have a way? Is that better then a plan?

(cptn. Mal)

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Ah ha! Thank you for clearing that up Jeroen!

With all the knowledge bombs you guys are dropping on the seax, I am finding myself more and more enthralled with them.

-Gabriel

 

That's why I do it :) And so that I can admire more beautiful recreations being made. Mark, you're doing a fine job there!

Jeroen Zuiderwijk

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  • 6 months later...
  • 1 year later...

So what is up with the line along the blade here? Is it a thin fuller, an inlay, corrosion in a bad weld, or something else?

Also, do we have any remains of the sheaths with these blades?

 

28906782_10212925674391345_141731564_n.jpg

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."~Proverbs 27:17

Nobody ever left foot prints on the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave butt prints on the sand of time? ~Unknown

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I would say it’s the imagined line of the original blade within the rust... like the tips.

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forging soul in to steel

 

owenbush.co.uk

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On 3/6/2018 at 10:22 PM, Philip Patton said:

Also, do we have any remains of the sheaths with these blades?

Do these help?

Seax sheath 2.jpg

Seax sheath.jpg

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“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”

The only bad experience is the one from which you learn nothing.  

 

Josh

http://www.dosgatosdesignsllc.com/#!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg

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This is the only single-edged sword I'm aware of that was found with a chape, which indicates it had a typical scabbard.  The earlier, Vendel blades had yet another type of sheath... This complicates things, a seax with a 20" blade for instance could have any of the three types depending on location and time period.  

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  • Like 1

George Ezell, bladesmith

" How much useful knowledge is lost by the scattered forms in which it is ushered to the world! How many solitary students spend half their lives in making discoveries which had been perfected a century before their time, for want of a condensed exhibition of what is known."
Buffon


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Geographic location plays a huge role in what the sheath looked like.  Langsaxes like the one you asked about are from Norway(ish) and had swordlike scabbards like George said.  The ones Josh posted are from Sweden, and are shorter Gotlandic war knives.  The "hunting knife of Charlemagne" has a distinctly different style of sheath, as do those of the Vendels across the Baltic from Gotland and what little we have from the Thames at the Museum of London.  

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Thanks guys!  I have a friend that wants me to make him a 20sh" seax and I am working to figure things out to make him an awesome one to his liking.

For this style of this sheath are they only Vendel age or do we have some that are Viking?

P1030810.JPG

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"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."~Proverbs 27:17

Nobody ever left foot prints on the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave butt prints on the sand of time? ~Unknown

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Philip, That thing is beautiful! A bit "pointy" maybe, but beautiful none the less.

“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”

The only bad experience is the one from which you learn nothing.  

 

Josh

http://www.dosgatosdesignsllc.com/#!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg

J.States Bladesmith | Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JStatesBladesmith

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I'm pretty sure that's Edvin's work, he makes a very nice version of the Baltic war knife.

11 hours ago, Philip Patton said:

Thanks guys!  I have a friend that wants me to make him a 20sh" seax and I am working to figure things out to make him an awesome one to his liking.

For this style of this sheath are they only Vendel age or do we have some that are Viking?

P1030810.JPG

They tend to be thick and narrow, with a nice wedge cross-section, in some ways they remind me of bayonets... The point is usually in line with the spine, but also occasionally drop-point style or centered.

Edited by GEzell

George Ezell, bladesmith

" How much useful knowledge is lost by the scattered forms in which it is ushered to the world! How many solitary students spend half their lives in making discoveries which had been perfected a century before their time, for want of a condensed exhibition of what is known."
Buffon


view some of my work

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19 hours ago, Joshua States said:

Do these help?

Seax sheath 2.jpg

Seax sheath.jpg

 

Those are completely different saxes. They are the baltic type, and are essentially unrelated to the Norwegian single edge saxes/swords. Very different blades, size, construction etc., and there's no cross-over in any features, other then both being single edged blades. 

Edited by Jeroen Zuiderwijk
My text ended up in the quote.

Jeroen Zuiderwijk

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/barbarianmetalworking

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On 7-3-2018 at 6:22 AM, Philip Patton said:

So what is up with the line along the blade here? Is it a thin fuller, an inlay, corrosion in a bad weld, or something else?

Also, do we have any remains of the sheaths with these blades?

 

28906782_10212925674391345_141731564_n.jpg

It's possibly a groove, like on this one:

 

SeaxStraightBack.jpg

Jeroen Zuiderwijk

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/barbarianmetalworking

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  • 6 months later...

Great thread! Hear is some more. Check out this seax from the Thegns of Mercia two years in the planning bottom picture here's a link. http://www.thegns.org/recent-reconstructions/atororn-a-kingly-late-7th-century-killing-seax

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Edited by Aaron Woods
Adding.
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  • 1 year later...

I picked up some interesting info today from a FB group called The Seax Files. I don't have a good reference of time period (late 5th-early 8th century) but the sheath and suspension system was detailed. Parts of the text talk about stitching being "normal" but this one also had iron wire stitching. Grave find in Buttermarket Cemetery. This just in: 7th Century, England.

1 Overview.jpg

2 Description.jpg

3 Details.jpg

3 Sheath.jpg

4 Added data.jpg

Edited by Joshua States

“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”

The only bad experience is the one from which you learn nothing.  

 

Josh

http://www.dosgatosdesignsllc.com/#!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg

J.States Bladesmith | Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JStatesBladesmith

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