Well it appears that the Swirk is an unexpected hit - shall I introduce it as a Tod Cutler sword?. Thoughts?

Wait… so you just made that beautiful sword JUST to be a talking point about grip size? You are crazy and I respect that 😂

I swear half of my weapons from DND campaigns are just going be items Tod has made

I would love to see Matt Easton try out your Swirk for practicality and how it wields👍😅 (And it looks beautiful!)

Great point about hand to height proportion. Another aspect to consider is that anyone who was a farm hand or general tradesman would have large muscular hands.

This supersized dirk is one of the best piece I've seen in your forge/workshop - I am enamoured with its style

The way you analyze and consider historical pieces to inform your beautiful designs is such an inspiring process. Reimagining the aesthetics of the past in steel. So cool.

I have a Tod's Blolock Dagger and the Bone 'coffin' handled Bowie (to name a few things I have). A family member said the handles are too small! So I showed them how to actually grip the bollocks, this is soooo Matt Easton, then I showed them how to use the 'coffin top' on the Bowie (where you grip with the little finger closed over the top or the thumb curled over the top. There was a look of confusion mixed with understanding between how it 'looks nice' and how it should be used. I went on to explain how a messer works. They only popped in for a cupper. Back in the late 1980s we had huge issues finding the correct items, so we ended up making our own, and the likes of Bodger, John Buttifint and myself (I am in incognito here) came into the world of historic reproductions. It is so lovely to see Tod et al taking up this and moving it on to great things like this; I am so chuffed with our (historic reproduction) grandchildren!

I would like to see how well the Swirk handles. Maybe have Matt test it on the next weird weapons video? And (in my opinion) it looks fantastic, would consider buying if i was in the market for another straight single edge sword.

This is awesome, I do a lot of research into Irish weaponry and read somewhere that their Skean daggers could have blades up to 21 inches, so seeing a "swirk" is kinda like seeing an example of what I read about

I feel you've missed the opportunity to make a two handed one and call it a Twerk. Great content as always.

Wonderful creation. Also, it's strange how much to my eyes at least it evokes an almost ancient Celtic aesthetic as an iron age longsword

Capwell made a point about his English armor that is similar to this and stuck with me: The closer they made things to the originals, the less troubleshooting they had to do. I found this to be quite true and quote it every time I'm helping someone with a kit!

The "Swirk" makes me think of the old seax. Feels like a very similar concept!

Your Swirk might visually be my favorite sword now. It is like a giant butter knife!

I think messers are a neat example of this, the same basic concept goes from a working knife, to a hunting or self-defense shortsword, up to a longsword or even a greatsword. They've all got a nagel and a riveted wooden grip and one edge, but the ratios change as the length and use changes. But also, on a completely unrelated note, I wonder if the Swirk isn't a decent example for what Sting would have looked like, a giant's knife or a hobbit's sword.

Imagine the size of balls on that if it would have been aan bollock dagger.

Functionally very similar to some iron age Celtic swords funnily enough, the hilt especially. Would make for a cool set.

That's one hell of an object to make JUST for demonstration purposes. I really admire your commitment. Any chance someone like Matt can get their hands on that swirk just to test it? I'd love to find out how effective it is as a sword.

I was taking a look at my TodCuttler daggers and came to the following observations: With TC15 (twisted grip rondel), I could have the handle about 1 cm shorter easily, without wearing gloves. Putting on sturdy leather gloves, the handle space is needed and it locks in your hand well. Looks that Tod got that one close to historical. My ColdSteel training rondel, which has about the same length as Tod's dagger, has a handle that leaves me with almost 2 cm space between the rondels, even with gloves on. Tod's studded bollock dagger TC31seems to fall more into "make it for the taste of the modern buyer". Even with a handshake grip type of gripping, putting the thumb "between the balls" for aligning the blade (that sounds very kinky, lol), there is still a bit of hilt left on the bottom. Overall the grip could be shorter. (it gets more absurd with a blunt sword I own, which as a single handed arming sword has a grip that easily could accommodate two hands)

this is so cool and amusing. Now I kinda want to see a whole series of medieval knives scaled-up to sword length.

On the topic of sword daggers, you should make a video on the actual dagger shaped swords that were used in the 14th and 15th century, the comically large basilards and roundels i see in art have always interested me, and I know they existed because there's a surviving basilard sword and these depictions in art are detailed enough that they dont give room for it to be written off as a mistake

Please make a series of Lord of the Rings swords in your own interpretation. That dirksword makes me want a Tod version of King Theoden’s sword.

I've seen a few dirks and although they were all dirks the handle length did vary. One them had a 14" blade and a 6" handle, biggest blade I have seen was 20" with a handle of 4". This led me to believe that in reality, the original dirk makers made their weapons to the customers requirements or what was seen as best fit. It is a modern construct that tries to standardise everything into set patterns, but they were not a standard item when being individually made. I would love to see you walk / run with your oversized dirk in your sock 😂😂

If you run into the problem with balance (dagger toppling over) when sheathed, instead of trying to change the dimensions of parts of the dagger, wouldn't it be easier to just give the sheath a counter weight at the tip?

I mean, scaling up knives to usable sword proportions actually could make for really cool fantasy swords.

Great lesson on the proportions and requirements of knives, dirks and swords in addition to the need to make them look "right and beautiful"

This actually reminds me of the "estoque de Boabdil", a sword that belonged to the last Sultan of Al Andalus. It's almost just a scalled up ear dagger. The concept is quite réminiscent of this video.

The whole thing actually reminds me of an Iron age Celtic style sword actually. Was that intentional, or just a happy coincidence? Either way it looks quite neat! :)

This is such a great way to tie so many deep ideas together. Philosophy, usability, and aesthetics, neatly forged into one beautiful object. Thanks for the thought-provoking video.

I love the authenticity of your replications

Missed opportunity to call it a swagger

Tod, a simple solution is to put a brass tip to the end of the scabbard to make it bottom heavy, so it stays upright.

Hilarious, I just bought one of your dirks the other day. I watch your channel from time to time, but for whatever reason, I had no idea I could buy from you. So by total accident, I purchased one of your dirks and just now realized it. I'm pretty excited about it

Looking at it and the responses (and my own gut reaction), if you add this to your catalogue, it's going to sell so so well. It's bloody gorgeous❤❤❤

Well regardless of the off proportions and historical inaccuracies of it the sword is a gorgeous work of art and I love the design. Excellent work and I totally want one!

That giant dirk is giving me some bronze age/iron age vibes.

That is in fact a knife a fine one too, very nice explanation, I hope to someday have a well made dirk, and a formal kilt, we'll see if that happens

So when you making a giant sword size Bollock Dagger? Gotta win the measuring contest XD. I'll name it Betty, because Sword + Bollock = Swollok. And what else could a Swollock be called other than Betty? Looking forward to seeing some Betty Swollocks on the channel XP.

I have one of the quillon daggers and a ballock dagger and they are both fantastic.

The Todd saga "A fistful of daggers" "A few Rondels more" "Big Swirk on his hip" etc

Tod please stop making me want things I never knew I needed again and again

TBH, if I had the kind of money such a piece would command, I'd be all-in on a "swirk."

I heard Scottish dirks got up to 20 inches in blade length. Yours seems more akin to some Irish skeans.

This sword should really be featured in Highlander Remake!

You could put a little lead in the sheath to keep it balanced.

I cannot help drooling over the lovely falcion you made as the example piece for this vid. Wow!

I love how people assume that medieval folks were like Ewoks or Hobbits 😂😂😂 Bruh, it's only a couple hundred years ago 😅 Thanks once again for a very informative and creative Chat, Todd 🙏💪

I wonder how large a viking-era sword would be if you scaled it up to be a 'desirable' modern hilt size. Great video, Tod.

I think you forget that the originals were made by craftsmen with the same fundamental problem, they needed to sell their wares. Functionality is part of a customer's consideration, and if back in the day it was the larger part of it functional elements would have been more prominent. If you could pull one of those craftsmen out of time, I don't think they'd give you grief for changing things to suit the current market.

It looks surprizing like a Viking style sword. Its almost like there is a form/function thing going on. What a marvelous looking piece.

Swirk looks like amalgam of several late antiquity and early medieval swords. I love it.

The "Double-Dirk" you're describing sounds like a knife for giants. Beautiful work with the Swirk. I love seeing your historical work, and the way you adjust it for a modern market, but I also love seeing something new in sword design. Especially when that new thing is built on the old foundations, and has a fidelity to the principals of design they engender. Always cool to see a new contribution to the landscape. Thanks for sharing.

That " Swirk" is soooo cool! I wish i had the funds to buy it.

Your SwirkS looks like something you would find at the Rohirrim Sir thank you for the posting utterly a great one

By far my favorite youtube channel. Tod had completely changed my view of swords and sword like items. Unfortunately it has made 99% of all modern "reproductions" unacceptable to me because id always look at it and know it's wrong. Saving up to get something tod makes

That Swirk is actually a realy nice Sword. I am actually Impressed that it didn´t excist. Also that book you have there seems to be loved through!

That swirk looks to me like a late bronze age or early iron age sword built with an 18th century aesthetic. Very cool and I can imagine it being wielded by the main character in a fantasy movie or game.

I love the Blade design. For me, extend the Hilt to a hand and a half so you could use 2 hands if you want, and modify it to add at least some bit of cross-guard protection. That'd probably be my dream sword. That blade though, perfect looking- no idea how useful it is but I love it anyway!

Nailed it in one, "there are so many questions"

You are the best Tod. What a beautiful subject and what a awesome way to illustrate your point.

I love the dirk I got from you. Pure bad ass. The dirk sword (swirk) is just awesome.

At most if you scale things up scale it up to fit the modern era person's hand a bit extra blade length to make it match as well Crossguard/Rondel or whatever else prevents the hand sliding onto the Blade perhaps scale it up further if they are into HEMA for Gauntlets and that is generally all you can do for historical replica pieces or HEMA pieces.

It was interesting watching you thread the needle between "these measurements are incorrect for period reproductions" and not saying "My customers and their more modern sensibilities are wrong". That does beg the question: How much variation was there at the time for personal choices? Anybody who could afford to commission a weapon could also afford asking for an extra inch here, or slightly shorter there, etc. to make it more comfortable for their own use.

10:19 I Liked it too! Great work man!

Swirk is closer to the original, for sure

That was a really interesting video. And that swirk is really nice.

Thank you for taking us on a trip through your brain. It was entertaining. It was interesting. I almost understood half of it. Time to watch the video again.

A dirk that can both cut down men *_and_* saw down trees. Thanks for the video Tod. It's always a treat to watch you.

Tod finally did it. Behold, the MESSEST

It's a variation of the cube/square thing: Doubling the dimensions of a 2D object increase the area by 4 and for a 3D object increases the volume (& weight) by 8. That's why size increase doesn't play nice with balance and structural integrity. Should be obvious I know, but many people seem oblivious to it.

I think you hit the nail on the head. And thank you for your unwillingness. To be another yellow pencil in the box! May God bless you. And thank you for your work!

As a scotsman i love a dirk, very practical, great for everything from preparing food to repelling the english

You do see it sort of happen in East Europe with the Kindjal/Qama but they were mostly daggers & short swords. However I have seen a couple from Persia that did reach arming sword size. They do resize the handles slightly between the dagger versions & the sword types though.

That "Knive" looks like a very nixe sax to me - I like it 😎

Thanks for the explanation, I did not understand beforehand

That swirk is maybe one of the coolest things I've seen! Even for my relatively large hands that guilt like a bit large actually. But man oh man I want a tod cutler version!

Reproductions are great, but its also nice to see something thats a bit different and out of left field. Something unique, that isn't a stainless steel ninja wallhanger, but something that actually took some effort. I think I like the idea of sword sized daggers, and now I want to see more haha! Also, I wanna buy a swirk now. Thanks a lot, Tod, my wallet hates you.

Tod: "I need to make a point about grip size and proportions." also Tod: "I need to make a giant knife to make that point."

Tod, I bought one of your daggers (had you sign the blade if you remember that one) , and though the quality of both the weapon and the sheathe were exceptional, I feel that, for practical use, a counterweight in the pommel area would've been better, to put the center of mass within the grip, thus facilitating changing grip. In regards to having a dagger not hang properly at when in scabbard because of the balance, I'd just add weight to the scabbard. By the way, where does your leather work come from? If you do your own, can you show us how the scabbards are made?

Todd I’m surprised to not seeing you wear a watch you seem like the type to appreciate a proper mechanical watch or automatic

Great point, and lovely way to make your point. But also... This is a spectacularly cool sword. Tod making fantasy weapons inspired by other, related historical weapons is a cool niche and I'm sure you can sell it.

I think another big reason why daggers were the size that they were is that you just cannot effectively reach around with it from a prolonged arm if the blade was longer. What I mean is that the proportion of blade length to arm length sets the limit to what angles you can hit in close combat.

That's a damned beautiful sword.

A bollock dagger of that size would be awesome.

Todd ... excellent video, thank you ... but how about making a leaf blade bronze age type sword ... I am sure many, including myself, would buy one !

I look at that swirk, and I see something perfect for one of my characters to own. Gotta run stats up for it now.

Cool. Now do an Italian stiletto. I've had so many people tell me a stiletto is just a shrunk down rapier, but if you scale up a stiletto it won't be a rapier.

Tod, I think you should consider adding a sub-line of ultra-historically correct daggers to your cutler line that matches the original dimensions exactly. While I appreciate your need to make the daggers marketable, I think you might be surprised at how many of us would like to purchase a dagger whose dimensions are identical to the original. As all of us appreciate history (why else would we be here?), it would be awesome to evaluate the tool they actually used, unaltered by modern sensibilities. In any case, keep up the fantastic work. I am taking advantage of your sale and ordering a dirk today. I'll forgive you in advance for the tweeked hilt. 🙂

As a big fan of the highland dirk I have to say, that Swirk is a thing of absolute beauty! Kinda want to make one myself now!

As a fan of messers, I don't see a single thing wrong with the Swirk. 😉👍 It's _perfect..._

Great video Tod, really enjoyed it! Cheers mate 👍

The giant ceremonial kukri has a handle that is scaled up with the blade and it needs two hands to use it as the grip is so big that it leaves a lot of space between thumb and fingers, even with two hands it is unwieldy. Seeing as the "hand" measurement for horses is almost five hundred years old and my own hand is only a quarter of an inch wider, I think you are spot on with the handle sizes not being that much smaller than todays ones.

Ten minutes+ of Tod rambling. An I have enjoyed each and on of the 640 seconds

This is an interesting discussion and I thank you for starting it. I like to draw and I play TTRPGs and write fantasy stuff from time to time. This made me realize that different races, like orcs, elves, and dwarves are all going to have different proportions on their weapons depending on their strength and hand-size relative to the rest of their body. Definitely food for thought.

When you first raised the swirk into view I couldn’t stop laughing, the blade was so much longer than I was expecting

Great Video as always ❤

Sure not a sales pitch but I liked the look of the Quillon dagger so much I just ordered one.

Another great video Tod!!! I enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

This reminds me of the handles of Viking swords. The originals are fairly small, and a lot of people want larger handles. Also most likely for different grip preferences.