Fabrice Cognot knives and daggers

[admin]

I'm putting this sticky thread up for Fabrice to post pics in of commisions he has made.

[Fab]

Thanks again Matt, that's just great and just for my birthday, it just rocks Though I am not worth it

Most of the stuff I made was already visible in the "sharp and pointy things" thread http://test.fioredeiliberi.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=144, but I hope you won't mind a repost.
And all this will be shown in no particular order, though it will be rather obvious to tell the oldest things, as they're probably uglier than the later stuff.
Such are the benefits of learning.

Not all these objects were comissions.
Some have been made as gifts, suprises or just for fun.

So, here we go, in no particular order :

A set of medieval-ish eating knives, made in the summer of 2005 :

What's wrong with them is the type of steel used (rather poor quality), and the curved back - most medieval eating knives were straight. Box wood, brass tube rivets and bolsters. As a side note, the pouch, belt and buckle, points and shoes visible on the pic were also made by me - and could have been better made too.


A simple ballock dagger, made in July 2004 for reenactment/educational purposes :

Unknown steel (probably mild steel) blade and fittings, oak handle. The scabbard was made by Kurso (this time with a wooden frame), I only made the scababrd fittings. Lost wax cast throat is tin, scabbard end is 2 mm mild steel sheet, cold forged :



At the same time, and for the same purpose, this roundel dagger :

The steel has been slightly cemented, and I can say it was harder after quenching. Oak handle, mild steel fittings.


A skinner, made for Sarah's bro in 2005, that apparently was quite useful to him for slicing sausages at his NCO school :


Old file, differential oil quench, tempered to yellow, boxwood handle, brass tubular rivets.

A camp knife thingy, Sarah's father christmas present in 2005 :


Unknown steel - coming from a locomotive pantograph contact strip.
Clay quench - though the hamon doesn't appear that much on the pic.


Made with the same steel :


A gift for my mate Ben, presented to him at the Dijon 2006 private closing dinner.


And again :


A present for a gentle Austrian fellow called Harry.


This simple friction folder was made from an old file, as a gift for a friend :




and finally, this tiny box opener :




That's the end of the not-really-commissionned-but-rather-intended-as-gifts-or-for-personal-use things.

Now, the comissionned stuff.
One thing that is good to know about the things I make on demand, is that if it is the first object of a given type I make (roundel dagger, kukri, bowie knife, kerambit, stiletto, whatever....), people get a special price, as I take part of my 'payment' in the learning/making process
(that, and the probability that the first of its kind will not be without flaws...).


A ballock dagger. Cherry wood, mild steel fittings, 1075 blade, full quench, tempered to purple, 4.5 mm thick at forte :



Scabbard is (as above BTW) veg tanned leather, hand tooled. Mild steel fittings.
I'd better not mention the price ; let's just say that if I had to do the same again, I'd ask for at least 200 euros with the scabbard.


A pair of friction folders :


Old file, clay quench (bottom one), diff quench (top one), yellow temper, boxwood handles.
I hope they'll go at about 55 euros each.


The Four Friction Folders :

Two of them with oak wood handle, the others with box wood. All blades except the small one are 1075 steel, quenched in linseed oil.
I have other pics of their making, will probably post them later.
Small one is from an old file, differentially quenched, though the hamon is not visible on the pic.

Grinding and finishing have been kept to the minimum in order to save costs :
they'll go at about 35 euros each. One of them is already sold (allegedly).

The Wolf Dragon friction folder :

from the same batch as the FFF (well 3 of them at least), 1075 steel and all. Except that I didn't quite like the handle, so I decided to ornate it a bit.

one one side of the handle, a dragon of sorts, and on the other side what's supposed to be a wolf, as you can nearly see
(sorry for the low quality of the pics - contrarily to the others, this one looks better IRL).
I polished the blade better than the others, to match the amount of work on te handle.

I hope at least 60 euros for that one - though if asked gently it can be lowered, soft-hearted as I am.

The "29" :

I made this Balisong for Benj, one of my group who was in GPM this year.
Batanga style. Handles are mild steel and aluminium. Rivets are 2mm nails.
Blade is 1075, clay quenched, tempered to yellow. OAL 8" 3/8 unfolded, 4" 7/8 folded.

It went for 100 euros, means that next one I make I'll charge at least 200.

And finally, the Dijon 2006 Burgundian roundel dagger prize
This was comissionned by de Taille et d'Estoc director yours truly, as a prize for the Dijon 2006 raffle. I quite liked that fantastic dagger we had the chance to play with in Vienna last october, but I combined it with its sister dagger, on which I did not fancy the handle as much while I liked the blade.
Thanks Gav for the first pics :




Here are other views :




A cose-up of the etching :


and a top view, to show the reinforced point (for stabby-stabby):


Handle is boxwood, brass. Blade is 1075, made from a 40x4.5 mm bar.
Full quench, tempered to blue (for springy-springy). Hand polished.

I wish I had more views of the scabbard.

That is about all for now - but more to come soon.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Fab

[admin]

[the_last_alive]

OMG the Dijion dagger is gorgeous.

[Paul]

Some excellent stuff there Fab!

I guess I must buy more raffle tickets next time.

[Fab]

I forgot that one :



A present for Matt E. Old file, partial quench, boxwood, brass.



And my ugly reenactment blunt mild steel roundel dagger :



I should start thinking of what I'd rather make for Dijon 2007 - any ideas ?

[the_last_alive]

I should start thinking of what I'd rather make for Dijon 2007 - any ideas ?

How about a Kukri?

[Fab]

I'll put it on the list. I was thinking of a main gauche based on those they have in Chalon.
Or a seax, if I can get time for pattern-weldy-weldy.
I wouldn't want to do something too long in terms of dimensions, but still keep historical - and preferably within the time range of the things we study.
A baselard seems horridly too common nowadays.
A ballock dagger would be little fun.

Anything else ?

[admin]

A cinquedea .

[the_last_alive]

I'll put it on the list. I was thinking of a main gauche based on those they have in Chalon.
Or a seax, if I can get time for pattern-weldy-weldy.
I wouldn't want to do something too long in terms of dimensions, but still keep historical - and preferably within the time range of the things we study.
A baselard seems horridly too common nowadays.
A ballock dagger would be little fun.

Anything else ?

I'd be interested in what you would do with a main gauche...

a seax would be damn cool too.

[Fab]

A cinquedea .

I might be limited in terms of dimensions - though by then I might have acquired a bigger quench tank. And all these fullers are a pain to make. Besides, most cinquedeas have ivory handles - and ivory is forbidden now.

I could still make a small one, like the one on the left :
http://www.myarmoury.com/albums/displayimage.php?album=14&pos=205
perhaps with by-knives. Though then again, withour ivory it wouldn't be the same.

Still, I admit I aim for a high end product, so that people really want to buy lots of tickets

[Paul]

A cinquedea would be excellent...

Instead of elephant ivory, you could use mammoth, whale or walrus.

A sax (but, please, the "Frankish"* model with the curved back) would also be excellent, but perhaps a bit too early for what we do. I think nobody has a
historical clue how to fight with one.

(*Frankish isn't the right term because they have been found everywhere, but I it makes people understand what I mean.)

A main gauche would also be nice. There are so many options... Personally I like the version with the two side blades that pop out.

Of all these suggestions, I think you should go for the main gauche.

But a fancy stiletto would also be very nice.

[admin]

The easiest alternative to ivory or any of Paul's suggestions would be bone. You can buy boiled and hardened bones for dogs to chew - that would be fine to work with I think. But maybe not worth the effort for the Dijon prize dagger - I have seen cinquedeas with wooden hilt plates.

[Harry]

oh man.... you are quite gifted fab! great knifes!!! I still want to know if there is a folder left to buy!

[Fab]

Thanks Harry

There is

[Harry]

MEEEEE MEEEEEEE MEEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEE



the left one or the semi-folded one!

[Fab]

Ok then. I'll see how it goes, and discourage people from buying one of these two

[Harry]

harr harr harr.... show them a picture of me and tell them "for not buying this knife HE won't come home to you for a short "visit""

[Fab]

Showing just a pic of you without saying nothing will either send them running away and/or puking their innards out anyway :p

[Harry]

yeah buddy... I love you too!