I've just come into possession of a new knife from Króka Thurston's Workshop. It was not made custom for me however. It's part of an experimental "budget" line he's putting together. As he put it, there ought to be authentic knives at a cheaper price-point so everyone can join in the fun without sacrificing authenticity. And because I like supporting his work and was already considering have a back-up knife to Eriargarch, I went ahead and picked one up.
In his words -
I think the best way to describe these is "polished over scratches", as there are still some grind marks visible. Likewise, the handles were shaped with rasps, and that is still visible in places.
The blades are 1084, 76mm long, 15mm wide, and 5mm think, and fully heat treated. They're based on Coppergate 2765, but, similar blade shapes can also be found in the Early Saxon period.
Handles are apple wood, "in the round" secured with a modern epoxy resin.
The sheaths are bark tanned goat hide, after Coppergate 15638, with a hand sewn back seam, and hand tooled decoration. Back seamed sheaths like this are found from the mid-9th century through to the end of the C11th.
I must say, this bark-tanned goat hide sheath is amazing and the irregularity is such a cool reminder of pre-modern manufacturing methods. I'm quite happy with the whole thing and plan on keeping it with me in my satchel for those small jobs where Eriargarch might be a bit too big. It's quite beautiful in it's simplicity!
