Lauri Carbon 77 and knotted masur birch

Just finished this small viking knife with a Lauri Carbon 77 and some knotted masur birch. Simple pattern work on sheath, brass fittings with tinned bronze inlays with a matched hanger.

Hope you like it!

 

 

 

Starting on some belt fittings!

Started on the matching belt for the red tarsoly. The customer wanted the tarsoly and the belt to look like a matching set I will make 70 new brass fittings.

Here is some pictures of how I make the fittings.

 

 

 

10th century Magyar-style tarsoly

Just finshed with a 10th century Magyar-style tarsoly. Bright red leather with simple incised line decorations on the lid and a center locking mount. Brass edge fittings, a simple folded strap end and eight square strap mounts with brass rivets.

There will be a matching belt with some posh fittings soon to follow!

Hope you like it!

 

 

 

 

Audhumbla at Medeltidsveckan in Visby!

Back from a wonderful week at Medeltidsveckan in Visby! We spent the week at Kapitelhusgården outside St Drotten and had a splendid time with a lot of old and new friends. I had about a dozen knifes with me for sale and only two left at the end of the week.

I forgot to take pictures on a couple but here are some of the knifes, hope you like them!

Ivy (Hedera helix) handle with lots of grain. Triangular blade from Aage Fredrikssen. Green veg tanned leather sheath with brass fittings and simple line ornamentation.

A small women fibula knife. Masur Birch handle, lauri carbon blade. Brass fittings and chain suspension for attachment to fibula.

Medium sized seax with two suspension points on scabbard. Linden wood handle, blade by Thomas Cederroth. Brass fittings on knife and around sheath.

Large Leuku with viking style scabbard. 4 mm thick full grain leather. Hourglass shaped flame birch handle, two suspension points.

Another small women fibula knife. Cherry handle, lauri carbon blade. Brass fittings and chain suspension for attachment to fibula.

Back from trip with a large seax!

I just came back from a two week trip to Norway. Spent some time in the mountains hiking and getting inspiration as well as visiting Borre viking market. I had a great time and got to talk knifes with a lot of great people!

I forgot to take pictures of most of the knifes I brought with me but here are some I managed to snap some pictures of.

First is a large seax with scabbard. Flame maple handle, red dyed wet tooled leather with polished brass fittings.  Blade is 15N20/1095 with a gentle etch. Three point suspension.

 This is up for sale, 3800 SEK or 450 €. Contact me for details.

 

Some of the knifes that I brought with me to Borre vikingmarket:

 

 And some pictures from Borre vikingmarket!

Brass is flash!

Brassy project finished! Large knife with two suspension points on scabbard. Flame maple handle, pattern welded blade and brass fittings.

Hope you like it! More pictures below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to peen a rivet

I have got quite a few requests to show how to peen a rivet. I had some time to take a couple of pictures showing how I usually do it and I hope this will be helpful. Of course this method is not the only one and this is only how I've learned myself so take it with a grain of salt. However, I have probably peened a couple of thousand rivets by now so it obviously works quite well.

1, Here is the fitting I start with. I have already marked and drilled the holes, my brass rivets are 2 mm in diameter so I drill the holes with a 2 mm drill bit. Be careful to get the holes straight through both the brass and leather and insert the rivet.

2, Here is the tools for the job. A wire cutter, a small ball peen hammer (100 g), some brass rivets (2 mm) and a broken off saw blade (more of this later).
 

3, You will need a hard and flat surface to peen against. I use a block of steel, but an anvil or a piece of railroad track works just as well. 

4, Put a rag or a towel between the peening block and the fittings. This will prevent scratches and dirt on the leather.

5, Now, take your broken off sawblade or anything else that is 1 mm thick and has a hole in the end. Carefully place the piece over the rivet.

6, Use the wire cutter to snip off the rest of the rivet, leaving a short piece. 

 

7, This is what it should look like. You could do all rivets like this before staring to peen or cut and peen and the moving to the next one. Be careful so the rivets don't fall out, it's a hassle to put them back in when they are so short.

8, Use a small ball peen hammer and carefully tap the rivet directly from the top. Use the saw blade to align the taps on the rivet. Do not strike to hard, gentle taps is the key to getting a good peen. The hammer should be doing all the work so just let it fall against the rivet.

9, You should have something like this. A flat rivet head that has been mushroomed over the metal.

10, Use the other side of the ball peen hammer (the ball side) to gently shape the flat rivet head. I usually tries for a round head on this side as well.

After this step the rivet is finished. Use some time to smooth the rivet out and then give it a good polish like you would do with the rest of the brass. I peen the rivets before any polishing and this helps to buff out any marks left by the hammer and tools.

If you don't have rivets with a finished head just use a piece of wire and make the two sides like above.

I hope this is helpful!