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"How to" make a pugio
Come now Magnus. Surely you have been at work on a pugio and sheath for nearly as long as me. Why throw all that time and effort away? If necessary have two. Wear one and use the other to make someone else look really good. I know you have followers over there in Canada. At Kelmarsh Hall last year I met a couple of Canadian women while I was looking at a WWII search light, who said they knew a man in Ontario who was famous as the local Mr Roman empire. Guess who they were talking about. 8)

Cesar,

My pugio is still a long way from completion. It has been underway for ten years or more now and is actually the underlying reason for my interest in pugiones. In 1995 I ordered a reproduction pugio blade from an armourer in New Zealand. When it arrived I found that it seemed to have a very exagerated shape which did not look like pictures I had seen. It also had a type 'I' tang which was much too long. I reaslised that to make it right I would have to modify it sustantially, including cutting the tang shorter. Doing this would have meant losing the pommel expansion and so before I took a saw or grinder to the piece I thought I should do some research to find out if there were any surviving pugiones with shortened tangs. By the time I found one and was ready to get back to work, several years later, I had read nearly everything there was to read on the subject and was already handing out advice to all and sundry about daggers.
Now, several years later, the blade and tang are in a state I am more or less satisfied with and I have a type 'Bii' front plate awaiting engraving and inlaying. The blade is technically type 'A' with a reasonable midrib but I have brought it to a shape which is more typical of type 'B' blades (the miniature Mainz galdius shape). The tang has been modified so it now finishes just above the central expansion, which has itself been reduced substantially from its original size. Various bone offcuts are currently waiting to take their places as parts of the inner plating on the handle and a piece of 4mm mild steel plate has been rough cut in preperation for shaping into a pair of triangular section grip plates. An oak offcut has been shaped shaped to the right profile and cut into two halves and is currently awaiting further shaping. I have not yet decided what design to inlay onto the front plate. Originally I had planned to do a complicated design based on both the Velson sheath and one from Hod Hill but I have decided against that as my skill at inlaying will not be good enough for a long time yet. Currently I am considering either the plate from Xanten (Obmann's D33) or one of the examples from Chester (not included in the pictures in Obmann).
However, with a sword and scabbard to finish as well and a three month old baby to attend to I am not sure when my pugio will be finished. If things end up being substantially different I will post up a 'How to' which would be complimentary to the excellent one you have produced here.

Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers.  :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.romanarmy.net">www.romanarmy.net
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Were the women cute? lol

I haven't abandoned all thought of trying my hand at making a pugio, but I think of all things I would attempt a blade first, though that's a way bit in the future.
____________________________________________________________
Magnus/Matt
Du Courage Viens La Verité

Legion: TBD
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great job Lucius,
I now that's a lot of work

Luc
LVCIVS VVLPES
Luc De Vos
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Yep, Thats pretty cool! Nice to see the step-by-step photos! 8)
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
Titus Flavius Germanus
Batavian Coh I
Byron Angel
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Cesar,

Great work and pictures. Where can I purchase a pugio blade blank to allow me to work on my own reconstruction? Will your blacksmith make one for other RAT members?
Sulla Felix

AKA Barry Coomber
Moderator

COH I BATAVORVM MCRPF
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Very interesting - good work, Cesar!
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Thanks.

The artisan who mades it sure can make more blades. He's name is Jose Manuel Pastor. Mainly he makes iberian stuff, but he makes some roman items. He accepts custom work: helmets, blades, belts, scabbards. His speciality is the repousse, or embossing.

I have asked him for some pictures of his esplendid work. But he's very busy, as all the blacksmiths, and don't have sent yet.

I have put some posts here with his work:

-The horse plume of our optio Tibisius.
-Some Montefortinos of our republican impressions.
-The blade of present post.

He has made 2 blades for Hispaniensis (now i'm working in that project).

I will speak with him to ask prices, etc.
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Thanks Cesar,

Cannot wait to see the Haspaniensis!
Sulla Felix

AKA Barry Coomber
Moderator

COH I BATAVORVM MCRPF
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Psst... :wink:

I have posted some samples of J.M. Pastor at Marketplace section.

Enjoy it!
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Is there a way to see the pictures that have disappeared?
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This thread is over 10 years old, so unfortunately probably no.
Greets!

Jasper Oorthuys
Webmaster & Editor, Ancient Warfare magazine
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Dear Mr Reimer,
I think your best chance would be either to contact Crispvs or L. Alfenvs Avitianvs by private message: I am in civvy street, but both are I believe still active, and though I cannot find Senor Pastor via the Internet, you might be able to search the forum for more recent threads on the subject of pugiones if you want to make your own.
Patrick J. Gray

'' Now. Close your eyes. It's but a short step to the boat, a short pull across the river.''
''And then?''
''And then, I promise you, you'll dream a different story altogether''

From ''I, Claudius'', by J. Pulman after R. Graves.
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