Members DJole Posted October 21, 2018 Members Report Posted October 21, 2018 (edited) I recently was gifted a rondel dagger simulator (Cold Steel model) in my longsword class. This particular dagger design has a pretty, floral/star design on the rondels, which actually are rather jagged and pointy (as you will see below). Those rondels can scratch and scrape a bare arm. I read that some people modify these by taking them to a belt sander and grinding off those tips, but I decided to do it differently. I wrapped the lower rondel (the one most likely to scrape a person's arm) with a leather "boot", kind of like a steering wheel wrap. Then, I thought that I should make a sheath for it, so that I could actually carry it and even use it during longsword practice (as a secondary, backup weapon). But this dagger is triangular in cross section, and those rondels don't lie flat, so what kind of sheath would work? Also, the balance point (where the knife will hang blade-down correctly) is actually on the rondel itself, so any working sheath will have to go past that. But the rondel is round... so...what to do? My brain said, "It's got to go into a little cup, kind of like an inverted ice cream cone (the cake kind, not the conical sugar cone kind.)" A bit of research later on confirmed that this "cup" method is actually shown in medieval art, which made me pleased. And of course I have to break out my tools, to make it look nice: I decided to lace up the triangular portion (since it will likely see some wear), and I actually used my filigree punches for decoration here. The color is a British Tan antique paste, from Tandy, which I have had for...hmm...many years now! I am pleased with the barrel stitching (the round bottom of the cup)-- I have nearly got it figured out! The triangular part (to the left) is not yet riveted to the cup (on the right) in this photo. Here is another shot of the dagger, resting in the cup: And now for a shot of the "boot" around the rondel: The boot also creates a nice friction fit against the sides of the cup. The last thing to do will be to create the hanging loops -- I'm thinking of some way to do a dual system, so I can hang it vertically or horizontally. Edited October 21, 2018 by DJole added text Quote
Members ScoobyNewbie Posted October 21, 2018 Members Report Posted October 21, 2018 (edited) Very cool! Avante mon brav! probably spelled the last bit wrong, but still... Edited October 21, 2018 by ScoobyNewbie Quote
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