Alveprins 359 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 (edited) Hi everyone... Previously I posted a little sneak peek at something I was working on.. Well, now that little something has come to completion - and I'm ready to share it with those who might be interested at having a look. I've always wanted to give it a shot at a dagger - since this blade geometry has fascinated me ever since I was a kid... And without further ado, after 170 work hours - I give you Vegvisar - the Pathfinder! I have forged this dagger in honor of the four dwarves, Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri - supporting the heavenly dome made from the skull of the jotun Ymir. Today we call this "the sky". Vegvisar is forged in about 140 layers of 15n20 mixed with saw-blade steel - with a core of also saw-blade steel. The sawblade was sourced from a local old sawmill. The ricasso of the blade is engraved and sculpted into a deep relief, with inlaid border of brass, and runes inlaid with copper. On one side the runes KH - my initials can be found, and on the other a single "T" for the god Tyr - as to ensure victory in battle. The handle is in a composite of African Ebony wood, vulcanized fiber, and a steel frame made from saw-blade steel. The steel frame has been engraved in a deep relief, with the names of all four dwarves on their proper side correlating to the cardinal points. Connecting all their names are straight lines of inlaid 24ct Gold. On the front side of the knife - the name "VEGVISAR" is engraved. the sheath is in 2mm thick leather, with a frame of brass. In the middle - near where the handle meets the sheath - there is a steel plaque engraved in relief with my initials in the runes KH, also inlaid with 24ct Gold. On the belt loop I have placed a small brass plaque, engraved with the first rune of all four dwarves. The sheath is hand sewn using saddlers stitches using black Tiger Thread, and stained a dark brown to match the handle. Knife stats: Blade length:10,8 cm Blade width:2,5 cm Blade thickness: 5mm at handle, tapering down to 1mm at tip. Blade hardness at edge: 58 HRC. Handle length:10 cm Handle thickness:1,2 cm And then there's the pictures: I believe that's about it... It has been a learning experience, and having inlaid gold for the first time - I have to say it was a very pleasant experience in comparison to brass - which is much less maleable. For the next one - I'll give it a shot at gemstones... maybe... Alright, have a nice weekend everyone - and peace out! Sincerely, Alveprins. Edited April 24, 2021 by Alveprins typos 10 Link to post Share on other sites
Ron Benson 100 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Wow! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
R. Alex Dorris 16 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Yes! Amazing 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Alex Middleton 831 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Stunning! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Alan Longmire 3,887 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Double-wow! You have certainly established your own style, and I like it. Your work has really progressed exponentially. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Ted Stocksdale 84 Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 That's amazing. Really love it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Alveprins 359 Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Alan Longmire said: ... You have certainly established your own style ... Thanks everyone! I suppose I have Mr. Longmire although the frame for the dagger handle was heavily inspired by the numerous coffin handled bowies I've seen on the forum.. ... With some slight variations of my own of course. Edited April 24, 2021 by Alveprins Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Lester 414 Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 That is a work of art. Doug 1 HELP...I'm a twenty year old trapped in the body of an old man!!! Link to post Share on other sites
Bjorn Gylfason 626 Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 Art piece indeed. The amount of details and different parts that come together in a fascinating way. I really like how even the layers in the blade are and how the define the shape 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Larry Okinaka 11 Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 Dang that is a sweet looking dagger! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Dougherty 1,422 Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 day-um I think that is my favorite of your pieces. 1 -Brian Link to post Share on other sites
Alveprins 359 Posted April 27, 2021 Author Share Posted April 27, 2021 22 hours ago, Brian Dougherty said: day-um I think that is my favorite of your pieces. Thank you Brian! Actually, I will be starting work on another one - slightly different quite soon... I have some ideas brewing - and steel already prepared. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Alveprins 359 Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 Alright, so I wanted to make a special "Certificate of Authenticity" for this blade - but it turned out a disaster... I decided to make an attempt at illuminating some calfskin parchment with gold and silver pen, as well as caligraphy pointed permanent markers. I made the design on my tablet, printed it - taped the parchment to the paper and traced the lines. However - my markers - struggled to transfer any pigment down to the parchment, and only the very first lines from a fresh marker would be nice and clean... after that I had to use the marker multiple times over the same area in order to get a consistent line - which resulted in the line being all fuzzy. Same with the hand written tekst - the markers would turn to sh*t after only a few sentences. After about 8 hours of work non-stop the parchment was finished, but the result was horrible due to me having to do several passes with the markers. Lines were all fuzzy and went from clear in the beginning, to horribly disfigured further down... Anyhow, I decided to print the original design directly on 100% pure cotton paper instead - and went with that. I am left with a horrible feeling though, as I can't get over the absolute failure with the parchment. I think I need to do alot more research on parchment illumination, or just stick to binding "books" as I did previously... Anyhow, this is the result - as it is... For the Seax I am working on - I will bind a booklet like I did with my previous blade - Draumr Gripnir. I will not attempt parchment again in the near future I think. Unless I want to illuminate several pages of parchment, and bind that. I fear the illuminations would crack up if rolled up like in this case... Anyhow - this piece sold only 13 hours after being posted online - so I am off to sharpen it before packing... Until next time - Chiao! 4 Link to post Share on other sites
David Kleinfeldt 9 Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 9 hours ago, Alveprins said: this piece sold only 13 hours after being posted online Surprised it took that long! It's beautiful. Well done. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Charles dP 603 Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 On 4/24/2021 at 7:59 AM, Alveprins said: KH - my initials Wait... your name isn’t Alvin Prince . Oh well. Seriously though, absolute excellent work. There is nothing not to love about this dagger. Into the inspiration folder it goes. 1 "The way we win matters" (Ender Wiggins) Orson Scott Card Nos, qui libertate donati sumus, nes cimus quid constet. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now