Dagger ID, MN Garage Sale find

Craig Johnson · 31st August 2006, 05:04 AM

Hello All

I hope this finds you well. I have been away for a while but thought this might prove a puzzle for someone.

Fellow came down to the shop the other day and brought a dagger he had gotten at a garage sale. Asked if I knew what it was. It stumped me but had some interesting features so I thought I would post it here and see what the gestalt thought about it.

The piece has about an 11" blade and a four-inch grip. The scale grip is made from a very dark dense wood and I believe bone. The bone side is decorated with circles around dots. Very neatly done. Two copper rivets anchor the scales and there is a spacer liner of very thin copper between the scales and the tang as well as the bolsters and end cap.

All the work has evidence of hand file finishing. The brass or bronze bolsters are made from irregular thickness half pipe pieces and held in place with a rivet.

The blade has a rough fuller on one side and seems to have been forged as forge scale can be seen in a few places. The rest is filed and shows those deep black scratches in a feathery layout that indicate hand use as opposed to powered grinding.

Blade has a nice thickness to it at the hilt and tapers to the point feels good in the hand and would make a good tool as well as weapon.

The scabbard is something the peaked my interest even more in a way as I had not seen something put together this way before. The lower portion is a steel tapered sleeve brazed up the back on a lap seam. The central section is black leather stitched up the back over wood. The top is a copper sleeve that is soldered with the crenellated seam construction you see in old pots.( I know there is a name for this but it is slipping my mind at the moment.) The two copper bands are separate pieces and held closed by rivets at the back through the out turned ends. The hanger on the back is quite something as it is an upside down J shape where the long arm is riveted to the back of the steel sleeve and the upper bend wraps tightly around a ring that looks almost like drawn rod. The short end comes back down and wraps tightly around the rivet holding the ends of the middle copper band together. Pretty handy and a nice piece of forging, the finish is all the hand file finish.

The interior of the scabbard are three pieces of wood friction fit tightly into the scabbard leaving space for the blade and almost half the grip.

Does this style look familar to any one?

It could well have been made by some one with some skill in there garage shop but somehow its got a different sense to it than something made local.

Interested to hear your comments.

Best
Craig

31st August 2006, 05:04 AM	#1
Craig Johnson Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 12	Dagger ID, MN Garage Sale find Hello All I hope this finds you well. I have been away for a while but thought this might prove a puzzle for someone. Fellow came down to the shop the other day and brought a dagger he had gotten at a garage sale. Asked if I knew what it was. It stumped me but had some interesting features so I thought I would post it here and see what the gestalt thought about it. The piece has about an 11" blade and a four-inch grip. The scale grip is made from a very dark dense wood and I believe bone. The bone side is decorated with circles around dots. Very neatly done. Two copper rivets anchor the scales and there is a spacer liner of very thin copper between the scales and the tang as well as the bolsters and end cap. All the work has evidence of hand file finishing. The brass or bronze bolsters are made from irregular thickness half pipe pieces and held in place with a rivet. The blade has a rough fuller on one side and seems to have been forged as forge scale can be seen in a few places. The rest is filed and shows those deep black scratches in a feathery layout that indicate hand use as opposed to powered grinding. Blade has a nice thickness to it at the hilt and tapers to the point feels good in the hand and would make a good tool as well as weapon. The scabbard is something the peaked my interest even more in a way as I had not seen something put together this way before. The lower portion is a steel tapered sleeve brazed up the back on a lap seam. The central section is black leather stitched up the back over wood. The top is a copper sleeve that is soldered with the crenellated seam construction you see in old pots.( I know there is a name for this but it is slipping my mind at the moment.) The two copper bands are separate pieces and held closed by rivets at the back through the out turned ends. The hanger on the back is quite something as it is an upside down J shape where the long arm is riveted to the back of the steel sleeve and the upper bend wraps tightly around a ring that looks almost like drawn rod. The short end comes back down and wraps tightly around the rivet holding the ends of the middle copper band together. Pretty handy and a nice piece of forging, the finish is all the hand file finish. The interior of the scabbard are three pieces of wood friction fit tightly into the scabbard leaving space for the blade and almost half the grip. Does this style look familar to any one? It could well have been made by some one with some skill in there garage shop but somehow its got a different sense to it than something made local. Interested to hear your comments. Best Craig Attached Images Last edited by Craig Johnson; 31st August 2006 at 05:08 AM. Reason: lost picture