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Eric
McHugh,
Cutler, Scabbardmaker, Blademaker
Gallery of Past Work
Eric is a talented blademaker and cutler
in his own right, and will take a limited number
of custom commissions.
Contact him through Mike at Albion
Customer Service concerning quotes
and wait times for your custom project.
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15th
Century Rondel (Royal Armoury, Leeds)
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This
dagger was inspired by a rondel in the Royal Armoury at Leeds.
The discs are made of iron rings. A wooden spacer is inserted, and
the top and bottom plates are riveted in place. I believe that they
used this technique to keep the weight down since solid iron discs
would make the dagger very top heavy.
The blade is W1 and the grip is maple burl.
The sheath chape is based on an example from Towton. The trumpted
top of the sheath is depicted in art work and other pictures.
Stats
Overall length: 21.375" (54.3 cm)
Blade length: 16" (40.6 cm)
PRICE: $900 USD SOLD
plus $25 shipping (International shipping will be determined at time
of sale)
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Steel
Rondel Dagger
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This
dagger is based on several daggers I viewed while in Europe and several
others in various publications. The blade is forged from W1 (which
is a high carbon steel used in making drill bits).
The blade is hollow-ground on all three sides. Each side is 12mm (0.47
inches) wide.
The guard, grip, and pommel disc are all mild steel. In addition to
the careful hollow-grinding, this dagger features extensive filework
on the guard, grip and pommel disc. A number of originals served as
a source for these patterns.
The leather sheath was made by my business partner Tami Donisi. The
sheath is decorated with scribed lines. Tami also helped with polishing
the dagger.
Overall Length: 32.5 cm (12.8")
Blade Length: 22.5 cm (8.9")
PRICE: $1,000 SOLD |
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15th
Century Hollow-ground Long Rondel
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One
of my good friends says, "Rondels are ugly!" To a point I agree, they
are not the most attractive daggers from the medieval period, but
the importance of the rondel dagger to the late medieval period cannot
be minimized. Rondels are one of those ubiquitous weapons from the
late medieval period. They appear at European courts, military battles
and civilian use. Like most medieval weapons there are those rondels
that are stunning and those that are more base.
The rondel that I am offering for sale is the result of my study trip
to England with Peter Johnsson. It is based on the close examination
of several "military" style Rondel daggers in the Royal Armoury at
Leeds. David Edge in his book Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight,
describes the basic design and function of the Rondel:
The blades of these daggers tended to be of a strongly
triangular cross-section, designed principally for punching through
armour and mail and not for cutting. The dagger reserved primarily
for administering a coup de grace (final, merciful killing strike)
or was used in extremis...(125)
This rather large rondel would have been the sidearm of an archer
or infantry soldier (or even an armored knight) and would have been
used to finish the job on an unfortunate enemy or drawn in a moment
of desperation to save his life. Primarily a thrusting weapon, the
stout tip on this weapons would have been maneuvered between gaps
in plate armour, under an arm pit or even thrust through a visor on
a helm.
This hollow-ground, triangle shaped blade is nearly 11.5 mm (0.5")
thick at the base and tapers to a sturdy 3.3 mm @ 1 cm behind the
tip. In spite of its thickness, this is a very fast and agile weapon.
The hollow-grinding has effectively reduced the weight of the blade
while maintaining the powerful thrusting ability of the blade. At
54.6 cm (21.25") in length, this rondel has impressive reach.
The blade has been polished to a smooth, consistent satin finish by
Tami Donisi (business partner and forge-hand). The fittings are made
from late 19th century architectural iron. It has been etched to bring
out the natural strands in the iron. This technique gives the fittings
an attractive "faux pattern-welded" appearance while still utilizing
historic materials.
The blade has been inset into the lower guard disk by the use of a
drift that is the same profile as the blade. The disk was heated to
forging temperature; the drift was then pounded into the center of
the disk. This formed an inset that was slightly larger than the blade
profile and allowed the shoulders of the blade to be recessed into
the guard disk (this can be clearly seen in the photos below). This
was a method that was often employed by medieval smiths. The result
is a clean, tight fit between guard and blade.
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Sheath
design
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The
grip is made from African Blackwood. This rondel comes with a historically
inspired leather sheath with iron chape. I've included a design sketch
that was used for the creation of the sheath.
Stats
Blade: 54.6 cm (21.25")
Overall Length: 65.6 cm (25.825")
Steel: W1 (high carbon tool steel)
Fittings: Late 19th Century Iron
Grip: African Blackwood
Complete rondel and sheath suite: $1,300 SOLD
(US shipping included, international shipping cost will be determined
at the time of purchase).
I take the following forms of payment: personal check, money orders,
cashier's check or PayPal (please add 3% to final price).
If you are interested in purchasing this piece, contact me at ericmycue@verizon.net
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Soldier's
Rondel (Rehilt Project)
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Blade
is pattern-weld from MRL. Hilt discs are mild steel and grip is English
Boxwood.
A similar Rondel would sell for $950 in pattern-weld and $550 mono-steel.
SOLD |
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Towton
Long Rondel
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This
example of a long rondel dagger is the kind of back-up weapon an
archer might have carried. It has a hollow-ground parallelogram
cross-section.
Eric has based this blade design on an example in the Museum of
London.
An example of the disk like fittings is found in Germany, but they
were a very common style for military daggers all over Europe.
It is
a stout blade for use against heavily armored enemies, designed
as a close-quarter weapon stiff enough to penetrate the mail and
padding between armor plate. The blade is hand-forged and hand-ground
from 1095 steel. The grip is stabilized birch that is bound with
linen cord, then covered with leather.
Kevin Iseli will be making a period sheath with a forged chape,
included in the price.
Specifications
Overall length: 25.75"
Blade length: 21.375"
Width at hilt: 1.28"
Width 1" from tip: 0.405"
Weight: 1.5 lbs
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Eric McHugh Towton Long Rondel....SOLD |
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