This project was experimental from the start. My original concept was for a Tudor or 16th century dagger but not necessarily purely traditional but incorporating some of my personal influence.

I thought what is more Tudor than roses since that is on their family crest so I decided to incorporate a rose bud into each end of the guard for this dagger. To do this I had to make the guard from three pieces:

To accomplish this I started with some 5/8" 416 round bar. I then turned the ends & center bored them on a lathe before forging the middle to shape. I also did some filework to the ends to create more of a feel of a rose bud. The centers of the rose bud were turned on the lathe from some 1/4" 416 round bar and silver soldered in place before bending the guard to shape.

For the blade I wanted to make an entirely new Damascus pattern. For this I used an irregular initial billet of 1080 & 15N20 with the interior layers being without the 15N20 & solely of 1080 and slightly off center.

After welding the initial billet I did a cut & stack in which I reversed every other piece to create an irregular "W" pattern with a solid carbon steel center. Here's the result after tile cutting & welding: