Broadsax WIP

[Charles dP 411]

Or fill the last little bit with cutler’s resin for that more authentic look?

[Kevin Colwell 137]

I mortise every handle. It may not be correct for this sort of knife, but you can shape the result into anything. Split the handle material in half or get two thick scales, chisel and/or mill or route a slot in them to fit the tang with almost no gap around it. Almost. There will be a tad bit of gap, especially in that the slot will be just a little wider side-to-side that the tang. Rough the tang up with sandblast or rough file or checkering file, or 100 grit paper. Put epoxy in the hole wihle open, put either epoxy or wood glue on the mating surfaces, and clamp the whole enchilada around the tang. 

 

Or, skip the epoxy in the hole the first time and just do the mating surfaces. Clamp around the tang, then remove the tang so you can shape the thing off of the blade.

 

When time to epoxy, just do what you described, but focus more on having a healthy amount of epoxy dripping off all parts of the tang if it is cool or poured into the hole if it is warm. put it in place, clamp.

 

If possible, you can also put a pin hole through the whole thing prior to this, and put a pin in at the time of epoxy. Put a small countersink into both sides of the wood, peen a small rivet head onto one side of the pin, shove it through and seat the head. When the epoxy is set, clip off excess and peen the other side to set it. 

 

I love to pin handles while the epoxy sets, especially on swords, because it can be a real pain to clamp the handle. 

 

nice forging, welding, grinding on that seax. I like it a lot.

forgive the long answer. I am wordy in the morning. 

[Pieter-Paul Derks 179]

9 hours ago, Charles dP said:

Or fill the last little bit with cutler’s resin for that more authentic look?

 

 

I'm a big fan of coloring my epoxy to simulate cutlers resin, I use a tiny bit of soot (lamp black) and it looks just like the real deal, but you get the strenght of the modern epoxies.

with seaxes I glue twice as the epoxy will settle and shrink a little. Gluing a second time gives me a nice fillet where the handle meets the blade.

[Zeb Camper 747]

What do you think of the layout? 

 

I gotta draw the other side might go for a run and stew on it. 

[Doug Lester 233]

The layout looks great.  Carving it is going to require a steadier hand than what I have anymore.

 

Doug

[Rob Toneguzzo 517]

It does look great Zeb and will be a really good isolating activity 

[Zeb Camper 747]

Here's where I left this! Got some carving done today. 

[Oberu 25]

Very nice work!  I see a teensy bit of sabering but I think it suits the blade well.  I agree that it's a smidge thick.. most of my earlier work was as well.  I now aim for just enough to get the job done.  This way it's agile and flexible when it needs to be.  (My opinion)  Interesting ideas Joshua States with the dowels.  I've seen it done and wasn't sure how well it worked.  I have a very close friend that is a master blacksmith and he swears by JB Weld.  He says to pack it in warm and then clean off excess and place it in the freezer.  I'm not going to say it's amazing but it seems to work for him.  I love that you went outside the box for the handle and carvings while maintaining the essence.

Edited June 29 by Oberu

[Zeb Camper 747]

Thanks! If by "sabering" you mean chipout, then yes there in those tight ribs I got a little chipping, then switched from the v chisel to a scalpel. The carving is my interpretation of the carvings on a ship in a museum in oslo Norway. They aren't an exact copy, and the design also got some inspiration from anglo Saxon carvings. Still need to clean it all up, so it should all get neater. 

 

Do you mean the blade seems thick? 

[Joshua States 1,405]

I think this is looking very cool Zeb.

[Oberu 25]

Disregard man.. I totally flummoxed there and must be cross eyed from wearing jewelers glasses all day.  I saw a line where there wasn't.  Sabering is where the cutting edge starts to curl towards itself, I've done it on a few blades.. usually triangular dirks.  Can't wait to see it done!

[Rob Toneguzzo 517]

Carvings looking awesome Zeb

[Gary LT 57]

Damn Zeb, this is an impressive touch of artistry and originality.

Nice work! I am inspired.

Gary LT

[Zeb Camper 747]

Thanks guys! You're too nice! I might be able to get started on the other side tomorrow or some over the weekend. 

[Fox Creek 2]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2020 at 9:34 AM, Alan Longmire said:

Ha!  Nailed it, yataghan curve and all. . How are you going to hilt it?

Lovely.  There is a subtle Asian nuance to the blade, even before HT (if I am sequencing the pics correctly)