Comments?

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I am a bit worried about your comment. I'm about to buy an eating set from this guy, but you got me thinking (which is never a good thing...)

Are you questionning Tod's research at large or only for the pieces you mentionned?

To make that absolutly clear, I would never recommend to buy _anything_ without research.

And as far his eating sets, those I've seen all can be compared to findings.

Quality over quantity is how I do things. I have bought enough gear I was not happy with in the past.

Flonzy

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I have one of the DT Ballock Daggers and it's a nice knife with a bit of a fancy finish. FYI that they don't come with a sheath or byknives.

There are two options from them. Chef and I had some long discussions about the dagger design.

EDITED PORTION:

Here is the picture on Del Tin's website regarding the two versions of the ballock dagger.
I have the one on the right as part of my coustillour portrayal.

I too like the A&A dagger set. It is similar to the custom one Chef had made years ago.

Below is a picture of an original set that was for sale recently as a surviving historical example.

Quote from pages 313-314 from 'The Archeology of Weapons' by E. Oakeshott:

'..., a feature which in the late sixteenth century came to be called a ricasso, a term which has been used ever since to describe a thickened portion of a blade immediately below the hilt. Examples of the type - Bertus: he's talking about the rare swordtype XIX here - are found as early as 1360 (one of the Alexandrian swords dated 1368-1369 is of this type, with a ricasso), but most mediaeval ones come within the fifteenth century. As a type it is far more typical of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,..."

I hope that helps

I don't like the baselards from Tod's Stuff because they seem to have pop-rivets

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Originally posted by Friedrich:

In our opinion, one is appropriate for a mid level portrayal, the second (with the guard quillions pointing down the blade) is really more appropriate for a high(er) level portrayal such as man at arms.

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now which is which? i have the DT with the wooden balls and the metal quillions. the other has a metal pommel and metal balls.

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Now we have proper sized pictures to discuss!!!

The ballock knife on the blue background was on sale from Peter Finer, if I remember correctly...I snapped it from the internet, too, and together with my friend Rainer made quite a decent replica of it. There may be flaws, still, but as a frist try at a replica that deserves its name, we´re pretty proud of it.
http://www.katzbalger.com/dolche.htm

Regards

Ivo

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Originally posted by Herman:
...
I hope that helps

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I don't like the baselards from Tod's Stuff because they seem to have pop-rivets :eek

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Where?

Generell I'd say if you don't like it- don't buy it. Or: if it doesn't fullfill your needs, don't buy it. Just cause some stuff of Todd does have flaws doesn't mean all has.
Here's the one I received
(he did send me an image with a selection of about 10 daggers to choose from)

Edit:
Please don't mind the bad photo, the blade looks rather weird here.

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Originally posted by Ivo:
The ballock knife on the blue background was on sale from Peter Finer...

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I'm pretty sure you're right. I had saved the picture a couple of years ago and I honestly couldn't remember who to credit it to. thanks!

I have several of Tods blades, and have spoken with the man himself on many an occastion.

I have never seen any of his stuff with pop rivits, and from what I know of his ethics I don't think he would ever consider using them!

As always this is just IMHO, but the surgeons razor and pen knife i have from him are surperb, and when I asked for referances for the design, several books with contempory illustrations where produced from beneath his stall!

The main problem with Tod is he hates making commissions, so trying to get him to make me a C.14th traveling surgeons set has been a nightmare! He also only ever seems to make one of things, as he gets bored with mass production! this does mean most pieces are fairly unique, which is in some ways a bonus!

If anyone has any referances for Surgeons sets of this kind it would be much appreciated!

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Originally posted by Hugo:
Woodcrafter,

Are you questionning Tod's research at large or only for the pieces you mentionned?

Hugo

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Ah well I went back and had a more detailed look at his site. His spoons are wrong. He includes a 'pricker' and I have never heard of such a thing, unless it is a cannoneers pricker to pierce the bag of powder prior to priming the gun. Not a 14th or even a 15th common item. All his knives have riccassos which are not 14th or 15thc according to the 'Knives and Scabbards by MoL. He mentiones misercordia to kill friends and lovers who received mortal wounds. There is no evidence of this ever happening. His pen knives have really long scale tang handles on them. I have seen no evidence for this. According to Knives and Scabbards there is one find with a short bone handle on. I do like his wooden bowls, and the wood spoons are more accurate. However his axes, though looking really good are best compared to
Gransfors Bruks AB Sweden who make IMHO some of the finest axes going. Check their Swedish Broad Axe to Tod's Broad Axe. Then click on Tod's broad axe so that the picture gets really big. It looks to me as if there was some sanding of the handle going on. Before anyone gets excited, I own one of the Gransfors Swedish Broad Axes. In fact I am holding it now and looking at Tod's pic. Even the counter bore in the hole in the handle, the faceted handle end and the curve of the handle are exact. The only thing missing is the embossed logo on the handle near the head. But what has me convinced is the smith's marks KS on the poll. This is the smith mark of Kjell-Ake Sjolund. Each of the 10 smiths that work in Gransfors has their own mark...

Would I buy from this gentleman? No, but that is only my opinion.

[ 01-28-2004: Message edited by: Woodcrafter ]

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Originally posted by Jens Boerner:

Und what buckles?

What exactly Do you thing is improper, please give examples, with images.

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His antique buckles are sewn on, when they should have a buckle plate to attach them to the leather. Visit medieval buckles

Using _Knives and Scabbards_ by the Museum of London ISBN 9-780851-158051 as a guide;

Yes I am going to generalize, for details read the book :-)

Handles are of two types: Whittle and Scale. Neither is an indication of quality. This is the age of cheap labour and expensive materials.

That means scabbards are highly decorated with punching and other marking methods. Jens posted a picture of what I would call an inaccurate sheath/scabbard. It is lightly decorated and has a modern 'frog' to attach it to a belt. Scabbards/sheaths had a cord lace through them to tie them to belts. Nothing in Knives and Scabbards (NS) is seen to have such a modern 'frog.' However this may have been his addition.

This labour before material also means a cheap knife would be thin and liable to break easily. If you could afford it, you would have a stronger knife, more expensive (and better) materials, more expensive decorations like inlaid silver wire, etc.

KS has charts, lots of charts. Again I will generalize...

Rivets were solid and hollow, in silver, iron, brass.

Shoulder plates and end plates. No knife in KS is complete without such trappings. They were made in brass, copper, gunmetal, silver, tin.

Blades were marked by the maker, sometimes more than once. These marks were sometimes inlayed. If two marks, one could be inlayed and the other not. This was done with E-M14c tin, brass, or L14c tin, copper, brass, gunmetal.

Knife handles chart is too hard to sum up, so I will list materials used,
bone, copper, brass, horn, tin, alder, beech, birch , box, holly, maple, oak, willow/poplar, yew, pomoideae.

Blade decoration used pattern welding, overlaid wire, inset disks, groove and groove with decorated backs.

Blades were double edged, single edged and pointed or blunt depending on the use. They were sharp for the full length of the cutting edge, there were no riccassos. Knives are named after their handles, so a Roundel dagger can have a single or double edge to it. Same goes for a Baselard. A whittle (thwitle) refers to a simple knife blade that the tang passes through a solid piece of handle and is peened over on the end cap.

Finally whittle vs scale handles. From the 12thc to the L13thc it is whittle tangs. Early-M14thc only 8% are Scale tang. L14thc has 33% scale and E15thc 66% is scale.

What this means is a rich knight of the early 14thc would be proud to have a whittle tang knife. It will be richly inlaid as he could afford the silver wire. The blade and tang would be stout high quality metal. His sheath would be highly decorated (stamping, incision, painting and guilding).

There were folding knives and scissors.

Here is a recreation very closely modeled after the knives and scabbards in _Knives and Scabbards_. It is also inspired by the Ave Marie knife.

The above picture was made by my friend Mathieu Fortin. It was his second attempt ever at any knife work. No powered tools was used at any stage of this knife. He made the punch to mark the blade. He also had to make the awl to sew the leather. [ 01-28-2004: Message edited by: Woodcrafter ]
Here is another copy of the original Ave Marie knife that was sent to me some time ago. It is apparently made by:

Jeffrey Hedgecock
Maitre of "The Red Company-1471 www.theredcompany-1471.org
Armourer, Co-owner, Historic Enterprises www.historicenterprises.com

[ 01-28-2004: Message edited by: Woodcrafter ]

[ 02-16-2004: Message edited by: Woodcrafter ]

[ 02-17-2004: Message edited by: Woodcrafter ]

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15th C. surgical set from armabohemia.

What a cool site.

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Armabohemia's bullock dagger with watered steel blade.

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Originally posted by Woodcrafter:
[B]His antique buckles are sewn on, when they should have a buckle plate to attach them to the leather. Visit medieval buckles

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That means scabbards are highly decorated with punching and other marking methods. Jens posted a picture of what I would call an inaccurate sheath/scabbard. It is lightly decorated and has a modern 'frog' to attach it to a belt. Scabbards/sheaths had a cord lace through them to tie them to belts. Nothing in Knives and Scabbards (NS) is seen to have such a modern 'frog.' However this may have been his addition.

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This labour before material also means a cheap knife would be thin and liable to break easily. If you could afford it, you would have a stronger knife, more expensive (and better) materials, more expensive decorations like inlaid silver wire, etc.

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Shoulder plates and end plates. No knife in KS is complete without such trappings. They were made in brass, copper, gunmetal, silver, tin.

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Blades were double edged, single edged and pointed or blunt depending on the use. They were sharp for the full length of the cutting edge, there were no riccassos.

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What this means is a rich knight of the early 14thc would be proud to have a whittle tang knife. It will be richly inlaid as he could afford the silver wire. The blade and tang would be stout high quality metal. His sheath would be highly decorated (stamping, incision, painting and guilding).

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Here is a recreation very closely modeled after the knives and scabbards in knives and scabbards. It is also inspired by the Ave Marie knife.

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The Ballock Knive Friedrich has posted (the original one on the blue background)was on sale at LionGate. The pics are still online, if anyone should be interested.
http://www.antiqueswords.com/ew46.htm

Regards

Ivo

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The second "Ave Maria" knife shown in your post above is one I made, yet you don't note that in your post.

While I like it when my work is appreciated, it really pisses me off when my photos and work are not properly credited. Officially, posting pictures in the way you have done is copyright infringement.

Could you please edit your above post to include where you are lifting pictures so those of us who do the work get credit?

I purchased a ballock knife from Tod's Stuff a couple months ago.

It was single edged, no ricasso, handle of boxwood, a nice tooled leather sheath with an inner layer of leather for stiffening.

The finish was "utilitarian" but not unattractive.

My only complaint is that the handle is on at a slight angle. A bit annoying, but not really noticable.

He quoted three months delivery time, but delivered in two. He sent me pics of the knife when it was done for approval prior to payment and shipping.

All-in-all, a fine common soldiers grade ballock knife for a decent price. I'll buy from him again.