Slinging.org Forum - big seax for big guys...

Berhthramm

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big seax for big guys...
Nov 6^th, 2010 at 6:00pm

I made this one for a friend.

I smith it in carbon steel (XC75) and temper it in oil (I can speak more about heat treating but I'm not sure to have the good word in english).

It's a type III in the Wheeler classification.

I do a lot of the wok (about 80% with hammer and anvil, the rest with files and a little bit more with electric tool).

The handle is scandinavian birch.

51cm total
37,5 cm for the blade
4cm wide
4 mm thickness

here're pics :

and the test :

http://entertainment.webshots.com/video/3066042990048954661HFlkOY

(hope I post that in the good section and that the thema is ok, if not please just delete.

A little bit more than one years ago a friend asked me for a seax, it must be a type III (Wheeler typology), it must be long an dit must be elegant and razor sharp.

I start working…

Here’re pics just after fire work, I try to push the hammer work a lot (my grinding machine is not a performer and hammer work is more histrically accurate than « stock removal »… I finish the work with a little hammer based on Mastermyr (that’s just for fun)…

After that my friend Gildwin takes it and work it on his backstand to correct some little thing.

I take back the blade and finish the work, here it is :

(the last pics was shoot with the flash an dis more accurate with the wood real color)…

And here’re test video :

This first is my personnal ritual after finishing a blade, i use to finnish in the middle of the night, usually 2 o’clock, first « does it shave ? » (if not it must be sharpened more, a knife wich can’t shave is not usefull), and after that I’m usually hungry so let’s go for a little piece of saussage… (french dry saussage)

http://entertainment.webshots.com/video/3045529160048954661SuYEWc

And here’re my classical cutting test :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dluuNcvBnEo&NR=1

here’re dimension :

total lenght : 590 mm

blade : 460mm

wide : 32mm at base of blade et 36mm at the « broken back ».

weight : 360 grammes

thickness : about 4mm (a little bit less)

steel is « carbon steel » (XC75)

tempered in oil and selective heat treated

It’s based on the big war saxon seax of the Xth and XIth.

Cheesy

And some other litlle cut and thrust with this big saxon :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtubtQie_oA

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« Last Edit: Nov 7^th, 2010 at 6:47am by Curious Aardvark »

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Berhthramm

Tiro

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Re: big seax for big guys...
Reply #1 - Nov 6^th, 2010 at 6:02pm

Here's my personnal one, a big type II, just for fun.

it's a seax Roco...

Roco Seaxifredy of course...

Shocked

XC75

Same type of work than the other one (lot of anvil of hammer if possible and minimise the stock removal).

some test

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3036534670048954661qhfnGf

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3029742100048954661dQTscZ

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3040461070048954661IqOStA

fumble... Wink

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3008115520048954661WbzpMP

one slash on a small piece of wood to see penetration.

handle is mapple burl.

blade is 40,5 cm

wide 4,4cm,

thickness : 4mm

blance point : 8,5cm

weight : 540g

and some "agricole test"

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3016129480048954661JQwlLD

ensuite un peu de travail come avec une plane (facile avec cette longue lame) :

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3006508390048954661tmAySa

pieces of wood after using it as a tool (do not remeber the name of this tool for bow making or for make a flat surfae on wood).

making small wood :

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3028054380048954661YOcWxJ

flexion

http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3034027380048954661eKcPSB

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Masiakasaurus Forum Moderation Offline mah-SEE-a-kah-SOR-us Posts: 6069 Alabama, USA Gender:	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #2 - Nov 6^th, 2010 at 6:17pm Wow! Those are beautiful seaxes!
Back to top	Pikåru wrote on Nov 19^th, 2013 at 6:59pm: Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all. ~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~ IP Logged

Berhthramm Tiro Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 45	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #3 - Nov 6^th, 2010 at 6:25pm Thanks. they were a pleasure to smith, and to play with. I hope I can smith again soon.
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xxkid123 Past Moderator Offline Hallo, ich heiße kartoffel Posts: 4807 new to california Gender:	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #4 - Nov 6^th, 2010 at 11:44pm i really love seaxes, and i think Scandinavian birch is really beautiful wood. put the two together..... also, what makes something a seax, and not just a large knife? to me it's because it looks like a knife with a 'clip' point, except that the sharpened part is the completely straight part.
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Berhthramm

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Re: big seax for big guys...
Reply #5 - Nov 7^th, 2010 at 6:41am

at all related to old german/frankish ethymology scramasax mean : big knife...

and that's what we learn by one of the first textual description about it : "cultris validis quos vulgo scramasaxos vocant" (Grégoire de Tours).

So for me it's just big knife. According to Wheeler it's impossible to give a clear classification and a clear definition of what a seax is, wheeler try to give a four part classification, with form of the blade and period for criteria.... And the type 1 is at least NOT a broken back.

As I work on 11th I made more type III or IV ... or only big knife (as Charavines knife).

some of the big knife you can see on 11th "pictures" evidence (ood way is to find in Bible the arrestation of Jesus, and to search Pierre in this pictures). are typiclly shaped as a bowie knife (less the bowie guard).

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timann

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Re: big seax for big guys...
Reply #6 - Nov 7^th, 2010 at 6:50am

Berhthramm, your big knives are simply fantastic.

If you make them really sword lenght you could make real guards and pommels for them, like on the double edged swords. I know this was at times done here in Norway.

I guess they was usually just mid-size single edge fighting/utility knives.
Probably rather common, even, because a double-edged sword made by an expert sword smith was apparently way out of reach for , say, an average Norwegian farmer and his sons and workers. But smiths and smithys was common, and making big knives was not that difficult for smiths which made edged tools like knives, axes, schytes and sicles all the time.
timann

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Curious Aardvark Forum Moderation Offline Taller than the average Dwarf Posts: 13965 Midlands England Gender:	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #7 - Nov 7^th, 2010 at 7:00am are the pictures showing up for everyone ? Can't see them myself - checked the IMG links and they are sound. So could just be me. If everyone else can see them I'll not meddle
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Masiakasaurus Forum Moderation Offline mah-SEE-a-kah-SOR-us Posts: 6069 Alabama, USA Gender:	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #8 - Nov 7^th, 2010 at 9:30am Curious Aardvark wrote on Nov 7^th, 2010 at 7:00am: are the pictures showing up for everyone ? Can't see them myself - checked the IMG links and they are sound. So could just be me. If everyone else can see them I'll not meddle I can see them.
Back to top	Pikåru wrote on Nov 19^th, 2013 at 6:59pm: Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all. ~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~ IP Logged

Paleoarts Interfector Viris Spurii Offline it don't mean a thing if you aint got that sling! Posts: 1993 oceanside, CA Gender:	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #9 - Nov 7^th, 2010 at 9:41am gorgeous work!
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Berhthramm

Tiro

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Re: big seax for big guys...
Reply #10 - Nov 7^th, 2010 at 1:19pm

timann wrote on Nov 7^th, 2010 at 6:50am:

Berhthramm, your big knives are simply fantastic.

If you make them really sword lenght you could make real guards and pommels for them, like on the double edged swords. I know this was at times done here in Norway.

I guess they was usually just mid-size single edge fighting/utility knives.
Probably rather common, even, because a double-edged sword made by an expert sword smith was apparently way out of reach for , say, an average Norwegian farmer and his sons and workers. But smiths and smithys was common, and making big knives was not that difficult for smiths which made edged tools like knives, axes, schytes and sicles all the time.
timann

Absolutely...

Single edged sword, with a sword guard and a pommel, are a particular norvegian sword type, according to Petersen or Oakshott, they're typical of Norway and of the IXth and Xth century, at all there're evidence of this type of sword in all the influence zone of the norvegian viking, in Scotland, Irland.

Some of the big saxon type IV are near sword lenght and perhaps too "rich" to be only hunting knife (but it's a clear possibility)...

We got to remember that wearing a seax is not only wearing a tool, it's the sign of the social status of the bearer : "look I'm a freeman with the rigth to carry a weapon".

I've to look on my old link in computer cause I've found a long time ago to nice document about seax.

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Berhthramm Tiro Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 45	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #11 - Nov 7^th, 2010 at 1:33pm a little book in pdf : http://deposit.ddb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=97806027x&dok_var=d1&dok_ext=pdf&filen...
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Berhthramm Tiro Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 45	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #12 - Nov 7^th, 2010 at 1:49pm and a thesis from Nancy Persson about single edged sword : http://berbove.free.fr/reconstitution/Persson.pdf
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timann Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 2504 Norway Gender:	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #13 - Nov 8^th, 2010 at 11:45am Thanks for those links. The first one had many interesting drawings of archeological finds, and the other was written in Swedish, which I can(and therefore did) read. timann
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Et Cetera Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Slinging Rocks Into Windows! Posts: 1550 Gender:	Re: big seax for big guys... Reply #14 - Nov 18^th, 2010 at 8:50pm Very nice! I wouldn't mind having something like that! Sorry if this was already stated, but what are these generally used for? A specific thing? Also, I like the pictures! What king camera do you use?
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