The stag Seax!

[Dreadhead]

This is my knife: Stig the Stag Seax. I traded a pouch for the blade whilst at Gudvangen viking market this year, and handled it with some stag antler a dear friend gave me from his farm, and wanted to incorporate the spirit of the stag into the sheath. The loops for retention are from stag antler, and the sheath is tooled with various Pictish stags (designs courtesy of Craig Low) using a tool I made myself from stag antler. The sheath was finished by hotwaxing it to bring some of the colour in the natura leather out without using any dyes.

As the knife is full tang I do not aim to use/wear this for living history. Nor is it a strictly saxon piece with the Pictish stags. It is more a reflection of myself and my tastes; A modern Pictish leatherworker who has taken inspiration from his saxon neighbours to blend modern and traditional styes into a useable and wearable tool.

Here is a video I did with my new gopro to show the carving/tooling process with the antler:

[video=youtube;Arr6NgjkmfQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arr6NgjkmfQ&feature=yo utu.be[/video]

HalfGoat Leatherwork Stag Seax 3 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Leatherwork Stag Seax 1 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Leatherwork Stag Seax 2 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Leatherwork Stag Seax 4 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Leatherwork Stag Seax 5 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr

HalfGoat Leatherwork Stag Seax 6 by Hamish Odinson, on Flickr


Thanks for reading. I'm off to go play with it in the woods

 

[Dogoak]

Looks great Hamish, a stylish but real worker

 

[juttle]

See, I told you there was some fancy leatherwork lurking in the background!

Hamish, if I'd have done that I'd be a very, very happy maker, that's one right good job, the whole package, or, as they say down these 'ere parts, "thas proper!"

Cracking job, mate, very well done!

Bob

 

[Muddypaws]

Beautiful work! I am in awe of your leatherworking skills.

 

[janso]

Really well done fella; looks great!


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[Baelfore]

Lovely work as always Hammish.

Really like the idea of using a piece of antler as a traditional sculpting tool.

:You_Rock_

atb
Ste

 

[quietone]

Blimey, that is awesome. Can I ask if you carved it dry, or wet?

 

[John Fenna]

OK - I hate you!
You are far too talented to like at all and you put us lesser mortals to shame.
Great work, good vid, great music

 

[Dreadhead]

Thanks fellas had a play around with it at rough close this weekend. Whilst it will never pack the same punch as my Kukri, it's not too shabby. Just a bit of fun after all

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[Laurentius]

OK - I hate you!
You are far too talented to like at all and you put us lesser mortals to shame.
Great work, good vid, great music

I hate him too, makes everything I attempt look shoddy and second rate, mind you if it weren't for talented folk like Hamish I wouldn't even be attempting anything in the first place

 

[boatman]

Very nice but why does full tang disqualify from living history?

 

[Laurentius]

Very nice but why does full tang disqualify from living history?

I do wonder about historical reproduction to a certain extent because only so much has survived to us that we copy only those limited examples. There is a saying, abscence of evidence is no evidence of absence. Yes there have always been strong traditions, and in general if you wanted to learn a craft you would have to follow those who taught you, but I cannot help feeling that were nonetheless outsiders in any era, those who did things in a different way because they either had the imagination or liked to do it that way. I expect however being individuals that when there work is found it is hard to place in the archeological scheme of things.

 

[tombear]

A lovely looking functional tool that I'd be proud to own myself.

As a aside, looking from outside, I think most reenactment groups have these guide lines to decrease the number of arguments and to stop ARs like me talking through their noses at them at events. For the experimental archeology side of living history it wouldn't matter a knats nadgers if it was full or stick tang so long as it cuts the same, required the same maintanance etc. personally I think it's rather more important to use a metal that behaves the same way , cuts, stays sharp, rusts/ requires cleaning the same when going for the experience rather than just for display.

I think the reason none have been found is that there were none made with full tangs. There's no mechanical advantage over a strong stick tang ( there seems to be slight majority among those dug up of ones with very wide, short looking tapering tangs, more like a tongues than spikes ) and the Dark Ages were a period of immense metal poverty. The stuff was incredible expensive until as late as the 17 th century due to how it was made. You simply wouldn't waste a ounce of the stuff. I'm no expert but I can't think of any full tang iron/steel cutting tools until well into the Victorian period when the cost of the actual work done on a piece of metal was proportionally increasing compared with the cost of the metal itself. By then you could buy in your materials in all sort of shapes. If you are making something 2 inch wide and a quarter inch thick and you could order it in that way rather than in some big block or square bar stock? Time is money. There's some debate about file knives, I've seen some supposedly period ones that looked full tang but ones with a date/ sound provanance? It's a whole can of worms I'm staying clear of. But shoot me down if I'm wrong, I love learning about this stuff!

just me rambling after too much pancake for breakfast...

ATB

Tom

 

[Dreadhead]

cheers lads

Aye pretty much bang on Tom. Besides I wouldn't go waving this about as a period knife knowing full well it's not. I'll get myself a proper stick tang period blade when I fancy next making a knife

 

[tombear]

For a event just bind the handle tightly with leather and who will know? 'Seen plenty of tongue tanged seax that have no step down from the blade width at all. It would be a shame to cover up those lovely scales even temporary but as a measure until you have a spike tanged job...

Aye, make a little leather sock and bind it on with a strip of leather. Would look a bit 40k Orc but would be comfortable for prolonged chopping.

ATB

Tom


Need to correct myself already here! Found full tang knives from the Roman period ( hells teeth I have a replica of one, how did I forget that! And a lot of cheap late 18 th C trade knives were full tang ( also have a copy of one ) but these periods had proper iron industries rather than what was occurring during the 5th to 11th Cs.

 

[Dreadhead]

Funnily enough Wayland suggested the same thing this weekend. It will work in a pinch aye, as much as it will pain me to hide the handle haha. But it's just another reason to get more knives when I have the pennies

 

[Laurentius]

A lovely looking functional tool that I'd be proud to own myself.

As a aside, looking from outside, I think most reenactment groups have these guide lines to decrease the number of arguments and to stop ARs like me talking through their noses at them at events. For the experimental archeology side of living history it wouldn't matter a knats nadgers if it was full or stick tang so long as it cuts the same, required the same maintanance etc. personally I think it's rather more important to use a metal that behaves the same way , cuts, stays sharp, rusts/ requires cleaning the same when going for the experience rather than just for display.

I think the reason none have been found is that there were none made with full tangs. There's no mechanical advantage over a strong stick tang ( there seems to be slight majority among those dug up of ones with very wide, short looking tapering tangs, more like a tongues than spikes ) and the Dark Ages were a period of immense metal poverty. The stuff was incredible expensive until as late as the 17 th century due to how it was made. You simply wouldn't waste a ounce of the stuff. I'm no expert but I can't think of any full tang iron/steel cutting tools until well into the Victorian period when the cost of the actual work done on a piece of metal was proportionally increasing compared with the cost of the metal itself. By then you could buy in your materials in all sort of shapes. If you are making something 2 inch wide and a quarter inch thick and you could order it in that way rather than in some big block or square bar stock? Time is money. There's some debate about file knives, I've seen some supposedly period ones that looked full tang but ones with a date/ sound provanance? It's a whole can of worms I'm staying clear of. But shoot me down if I'm wrong, I love learning about this stuff!

just me rambling after too much pancake for breakfast...

ATB

Tom

There is probably an entire history of knifemaking ready to be written about this, and I expect the research is not there at this moment because everyday knives have not been glamorous enough to be researched. So far as full tang goes, I think this seems to be a bushcraft thing, perhaps deriving from Mors Kochanski, though I suspect that certain kinds of kitchen and butcher knives may have been made full tang for generations and for reasons that are forgotten to time.

 

[DaveBromley]

Always wondered how you got such clean bevels, i thought i was doing something wrong with the bevelling tool or i was hitting it too hard etc. never even occurred to me to do it that way lol. Thanks Hamish an education as always mate!

Dave

 

[crosslandkelly]

Man oh man, that is a lovely looking seax and sheath. No! Never hide those scales.

 

[Dreadhead]

Thanks fellas I love making these, then they just hang on the wall. I need more time out to play with them properly!