Hand-Forged Quillon Dagger, Carved Lattice

The plainest of the medieval dagger families, and the one that looks most like a sword in miniature. A quillon dagger is defined by its hilt: a straight cross-guard with quillons either side, a grip, a pommel. That is the whole specification, which is why the type covers everything from a knight's sidearm to a townsman's belt knife across roughly four centuries.

The others in the family are named for their hilts too. A rondel dagger has discs above and below the grip. A bollock dagger has two lobes at the base. A baselard has an I-shaped hilt. The quillon dagger is the one that simply looks like a small sword, and this is that: 12 inches of double-edged blade tapering in one continuous line from a broad shoulder to an acute point, on an 8 inch hilt.

Carved. The diamond lattice running the length of the grip is cut into the timber rather than stamped or moulded into a covering, and there is a way to check that on anybody's photographs including ours.

Look at where the pattern meets a boundary — the collar at each end of the grip, or the point where the grip narrows. A carved pattern runs INTO the boundary and gets cut off mid-diamond, because the carver followed the form and stopped where the form stopped. A pressed or moulded one usually resolves neatly, because the pattern was made on a flat surface or in a mould before it was fitted. Look also at the depth of the cuts across the grip: hand-carving varies slightly and a die does not. If the diamonds are identical to the millimetre all the way round, it did not come off a chisel.

730 grams, and this is the number to know before you order. A medieval quillon dagger with a 12 inch blade would historically have weighed somewhere between 300 and 500 grams. This one is well above that — between about 45 and 140 per cent above, depending which end of the historical range you measure against.

Put another way: 730 grams over 12 inches works out at roughly 61 grams per inch of blade, which is the figure we see on our heavy kukris. Those are thick-stock chopping tools. So this dagger is built to chopper stock, and it feels like it: substantial, very hard to damage, and nothing like the quick light sidearm the original was. If you want it closer to period, ask for thinner stock and more distal taper. It costs nothing and it is the build we would suggest for anyone buying this as a historical piece rather than as an object.

Because in a great many jurisdictions the law draws its line at the number of edges and the symmetry of the blade rather than at length. A single-edged knife of the same size is often ordinary; a double-edged, symmetrically tapering blade is frequently classed separately, sometimes as a prohibited weapon, and sometimes with no length threshold at all.

The reasoning behind the drafting is that a double-edged taper has no realistic utility purpose, so the law treats it as designed for one thing. Whether you agree with that is beside the point — what matters is that this is the most tightly regulated shape we make, more so than any of our swords, and the rules vary enormously between countries and often between states or regions within them. PLEASE CHECK BEFORE YOU ORDER RATHER THAN AFTER. We will supply an unsharpened build at no extra cost if that helps, but be aware that in some jurisdictions the classification follows the shape whether it is sharpened or not.

The standard build carries a 12 inch blade and an 8 inch hilt with a 5 inch grip, 20 inches overall. That is a default rather than a fixed specification — everything we make is forged after the order, so the dimensions are yours to set.

Twelve inches is at the long end of the historical range for this type, which ran from around 8 inches up to roughly 14. A shorter blade is more typical, easier to carry and, in many places, easier to own. If you are ordering this as a historical piece rather than a display one, 9 or 10 inches with thinner stock is what we would build.

Yes, both edges sharpened and the point finished, ready to use, unless you tell us otherwise. On a symmetrically tapering blade the edges are worked together so the point stays centred.

Unsharpened builds are free for display or for an awkward import, though please read the regulation answer above before assuming that solves an import problem. A stage combat build — rebated edge, rounded tip — is also available at the same price and is worth considering on a blade this shape.

A carved timber grip with a steel collar at each end, a polished steel cross-guard with flared and canted quillon terminals, a squared block where the blade meets the guard, and a polished steel pommel. Everything metal is forged and hand-finished rather than cast.

Grip material and colour are both selectable at no extra cost — horn, bone, micarta and leather over timber are all available, and the carving can be taken to a different pattern or left off entirely. We will match the scabbard to whatever you choose.

5160 high-carbon spring steel, which we use across the whole range. The blade is forged to shape, quenched, and then tempered back by hand as a separate operation afterwards. Those two steps are distinct and the second is what matters: quenching alone leaves a blade hard and brittle, and tempering trades a little hardness for the toughness an acute point needs to survive being driven into something.

5160 is not stainless and is not meant to be. It rusts if left damp, and in exchange it takes and keeps an edge far better than any stainless we could sensibly forge. We do not make pattern-welded or laminated blades at all, by choice.

Close to the guard, which is right for the type. A dagger wants its mass near the hand so the point can be placed accurately; a blade-heavy dagger is a small chopper and behaves like one.

That said, at 730 grams there is simply more mass everywhere than a period example would have carried, so expect something that sits in the hand more solidly than it should. We do not publish a single point-of-balance figure, because hand-forged work varies and a number an inch out is worse than none. Ask before dispatch and we will measure the actual dagger we are sending you, from the guard.

A black leather scabbard shaped to the blade, with a laced panel over the throat set through brass eyelets, incised decoration on the body, brass studs and a belt fitting. It is built to this blade rather than to a pattern.

The lacing is structural as well as decorative on a scabbard of this construction, drawing the throat closed around the blade so it holds without a retaining strap over the guard. Colour, lacing and carry arrangement are all yours to specify, and a wall mount cut to this outline is a custom forge item we will quote.

Not of a specific piece. The type is genuine and the proportions are broadly right for it, but the flared canted quillon terminals, the carved lattice and the weight are ours rather than copied from a documented example.

If you want something closer to a museum piece — a shorter blade at period mass, a plain grip with a wire wrap, a wheel or scent-stopper pommel, a scabbard with a chape — that is a different piece of work and we will quote it against your reference. It is also, honestly, the version we would rather make for a collector of medieval arms.

Nothing is held in stock. Every blade is forged after the order arrives, which is why the dimensions, the stock thickness, the grip and the carving are all free to change — there is no standard version already made. Standard builds dispatch in 2 to 3 business days; genuinely custom work runs 4 to 6 weeks depending on the queue.

It ships sheathed and braced in a rigid carton, by DHL or FedEx with tracking, typically 7 to 14 business days from Kathmandu. Import duty and local taxes are the buyer's responsibility and vary by country, and please read the regulation answer above before ordering internationally.