questions 12 century dirk ,hostoricly correct ?

E

Eric M Ericson

Joined
Jun 29, 2001
Messages
379
OK I did get the forge working, I have a blade for a 12th cent. scottish dirk, with integrell forged pummel, ( hollow ring that was probobly used as a reliquary, )
I understand how the handle was made, and what they were made of, in the 16th and later centurys but i don' find anything specificly on dirks of the 12th c.

the blade that I have copied is rather deteriorated. the reliquary ring is smashed. the grips are completely missing, and it is badly rusted. I have a fairly acurate copy forged and ready to be ground.

the question are;
what materials were used?
are there any special shapes that were used in that period?
what is the correct way to treat the ring pummel?
(I figure it was 2 sides fit and rivited. again, of what material)

your input would be would be wonderful

thanks EE
 
From what little I know of dirks. The handles were commonlly blackwood or boxwood. One was found growing around some of the Scottish bogs I think, not sure which one.


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Was thinking that if there are any still in existence, in the hands of collectors, then Bernard Levine would likely be able to help.

Edit: I checked with my favorite search engine. Either my PC is screwed or the engine is. Checked Google. Got this list of links to things Scottish. A couple of them might have the information you seek. Most of the things I looked at went no further back than 1600. Here is the link URL:
http://www.lmce.com/~marko/celtic.html#scotlinks
 
Eric
Find yourself a copy of "The Scottish Dirk" by James D. Forman.
It is # 62 in the historical arms series put out byMuseum Restoration Service Alexandria Bay N.Y. and Bloomfield Ont.
It's ISBN 0-919316-26-3 . This is a great 55 page booklet with about 100 great photo's of Dirks and sgian dubhs dating from the 1600's
to the 1970's.

If you can't locate one let me know I think I've got a second copy floating around here somewhere.
Try a Scottish supply store they usually go for about $10.00 Cdn (that's @ $4.00 US).
While your in the store have a laugh by looking at the P.O.S. Dirks they sell for astronomical prices.

Jim Ziegler
 
You might try looking at the Sword Forums On Line Magazine site.
They have a discussion forum and also allot of neat info on antique weaponry.There on line magazine is really helpful also.Here is a link to there main page so you can check it out if you would like.
http://swordforum.com/main/
Hope this might help you out some.The guys on there forums are really knowledgeable about this type of stuff.
Bruce
 
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