MIRIN SCASSELLATI
Designer, Maker, Student
Wooden Dagger
(Spring 2020)
Daggers are one of those props that I seem to keep needing to make. This one is made primarily through whittling, and I added some multimedia elements to add a visual and textural contrast.
The dagger itself is three wooden pieces (the body/tang, cross guard, and pommel), with an inlaid gemstone in the cross guard and a cord grip wrapped around the handle. Getting a close fit on all of the wooden joints was a challenge, but an important part of getting the dagger to aesthetically and functionally work well.
I started off with cutting the dagger outline very roughly with the scroll saw (1). Then the majority of the carving work was done, to create a blade and fuller (2). I carved the crossguard (3) and pommel (4), and then stained the wood. Then I added the cord handle and gemstone (5), and the dagger was done (6)!