Long time no see...

BrB

Joined
Sep 16, 2003
Messages
452
Hey there all good people!

Long time no see! Life has been VERY busy lately and my day job has taken most of my work time. Free time? No way... twins can be very demanding, though the joy of a man´s heart.

In any case, I think that in the near future I might completely freeze all Brazilian Bladesmiths website operations until I can find the time to provide the kind and quality of services our costumers, knifemakers and friends expect from me.

But until the end of the year we´ll have some fun!

For now I would like to show you a VERY special piece made by Eduardo Berardo. It isn´t only special because of what it looks like, but for what it means.

The sword is some sort of roman gladium / fantasy hibrid with integral bolster and full tang. It was inspired by a dagger made by Burt Foster. In fact, this one:

fosterdagger13lz2.jpg


It´s made of ingle piece of damascus. I don´t have details on the construction of the billet and size of it, but I´m working on it.

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While Berardo was working on this piece that we have planned together, a tragedy came to happen. His father was getting back home from a fishing trip with a group of friends and the truck they were traveling lost its way (dirt road) and crashed. He passed away instantly.

Berardo didn´t stop working, regardless of the grief, and named the sword "Legacy" as tribute to his father.

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As you can see the proportions and design are very sober. The blade is wide, but not heavy.
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The bolster was made in the integral gaucho style.

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The tang is very thick for proper balance, since there is no pommel. It works very well and the looks can be deceiving.

Luciano Dorneles examined this sword and said "I have never seen a double edged blade with such a good grind. Even in shorter blades, and that include mine."

Hope you like the view and the story. It has surely touched me in a special way.

Jeff Velasco
 
Just checked with Berardo and here´s a few data:

Overal lenght: 20"
Blade lenght: 14"

Damascus is W pattern (Filicietti style) of O1 and 15N20.
 
That's a sad and at the same time inspiring story. Great dagger/sword and if it isn't sold yet, to PTGDVC or someone else, I would be very interested.

Marcel
 
A special piece in more ways than one. Thanks for the pics and story. My sincere condolensces to Eduardo.

Roger
 
Just got word from Jeff that this beauty will be staying in Brazil.

C'est la vie :grumpy:

I have had my eye on Berardo for a while, definitely a maker to watch.

P
 
Good news are Berardo is a very productive man. He has a great deal of orders and has managed to make over 47 knives in two years... almost one every two weeks. His backlog right now is march 2008. But since he is in a local show at this very moment he might get some new orders and the line might be bigger on monday morning.

Jeff
 
Crazy good freaking knife. I might prefer a slightly "pointier" blade but at any rate really, really good work.
 
Thank you all for your comments.

It was a surprise to me that this sword was sold in Brazil.

Our market has been slowly but strongly growing and the level of craftsmanship of our makers can finally fit inside the local collectors budget.

In fact, it is not their prices that have dropped or the collector´s budget that has increased, but recognition and understanding of the techniques involved and the perception of the custom handmade knife truly as a work of art.

Jeff
 
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