Well, the Nazgul Holdout Stiletto met with such success that I succumbed to the Bladegallery.com folks suggesting I make a really big and scary one. This one is a dragonslayer’s poniard, basically an armor piercing dagger designed to penetrate through a dragon’s tough and thick scales.
This one is more than 22 inches long, and is made from half inch square 1045 carbon steel bar.
I decided a Blacksmith Cube Twist, also sometimes called a Rubik’s Cube Twist, would make a cool looking handle, just like the Nazgul Holdout Stiletto, only lots bigger. Above, I’ve begun the process by deeply engraving a center groove on each of the four faces of the 1045 carbon steel bar. I cut a v-groove in a piece of wood to hold the bar “on the diamond” while I cut down to two of the engraved grooves.
Above, you can see the two sets of cross cuts (cut on opposite sides at 45 degrees). The bar is now ready to heat to yellow heat, place in a vise and twist 360 degrees, creating the illusion of the tumbling blocks.
Here is the completed twist
, after wire brushing while the bar was still at red heat.
Above is the poniard after lots and lots of grinding and filing, ready to be heat treated.
Thanks for Looking!