Ádám Bodorics – All Steel Bauernwehr and Scabbard

This stylistically unique and custom crafted Bauerwehr bt Ádám Bodorics has a sharpened and well tempered blade which is solidly constructed and matched to a hilt of steel. The dagger comes with a scabbard of wood hich is sheathed in steel and completed with a steel hanging belt loop. The dagger feels quite capable and authoritative in the hand and its blade has a thick spine to ensure it has excellent durability. A certificate of authenticity is included and signed by Ádám. Below are Ádám’s own thoughts on his custom creation:

The Bauernwehr is the dagger-sized relative of the Messer, and it also exhibits noticeable variation. This specific piece has no historical analogue as far as I know, rather it’s an interpretation of a trend present on a variety of different sidearms from the period. All-metal and full-steel sidearms appear with some regularity from the end of the 15th century.

We see it on an early rapier, a glorious Kriegsmesser, several quillon daggers, stortas – so to me it made sense to create a Bauernwehr in this style. The blade is hand-forged and ground from 80crv2 and is heat-treated to 54-56 HrC. It has a minimal amount of distal taper to avoid making it too hilt-heavy. The false edge is also fully sharpened. There is a narrow and shallow fuller on both sides along the spine. The tang extends into the hilt only partially and is heavily tapered. The entire hilt is forged, ground, filed and chiseled from a single piece of mild steel. The “bolster” and “pommel” areas are marked out with pairs of filed lines, further decorated with chiseled lines. The fuller extends from the “bolsters” all the way through the “pommel”, with the sides further emphasized with a filed border. The “grip” area is lightly decorated with chiseled diagonals, emulating the puff&slash fashion slowly coming into vogue by the end of the century. It is secured to the blade by five steel rivets peened and filed down. Three rivets are along the tang, one at the edge end of the “bolsters” and one at the spine end of them.

The Nagel is also embellished by filework and chiseling, and is peened on the other side, with the peen filed down very close to the fuller of the grip. The entire hilt was cold-blued with a light touch bringing out the high spots, highlighting the details. The scabbard is based on a variety of dagger scabbards, redesigned to fit the curved blade. It has a wooden core and a mild steel cover fabricated from multiple pieces. It emulates the puff and slash fashion of the 16thcentury and has a relatively simple and subdued finial. The suspension is a chain made up of strips and rings of steel, based on a period original, terminating in a steel belt loop. It is also cold-blued and highlighted to match the hilt.