It's been about 2 years since I posted about my Akinakes.. Time fly's man.. I just wanted to post some updates since my last visit on this site. I hope everyone on Antiquers is doing well! Since my last post about this I have done quite a bit of digging to say the least. Firstly I became friends with Dr. Khorasani, although we do not talk anymore. He made me a Razmafzar, his Youtube is RazmafzarTv. I trained with the akinakes quite a bit and learned a lot from him. I have nothing but love for him and I felt bad for leaving the Razmafzars, but I had to. A mix of being a single parent and in college. Also a ISA fiasco where a certified ISA member acted unethically handling my journey; That was settled through the ISA though. My desire to focus on researching the akinakes faded. Although my research focus faded I still train with it almost daily. The balance, ergonomics, weight, and agility of this blade is almost therapeutic to wield. I wish I could be more descriptive than that. I am considering uploading videos on wielding it and all the nuances I have discovered. The balance is truly insane. About a year ago I made a scabbard for the Akinakes by myself. I have many photos but I don't want to go over the post limit of 8. I hand chiseled it out of oak (ohh the hand cramps), wet molded the leather and saddle stitched it, and then set a lapis stone in the completed scabbard. I spent so much time carving it so it matched the blade to where when you insert the akinakes it literally locks into the core. It's extremely satisfying I also bought a microscope and a digital camera that attached to the microscope. I have countless photos but here are a few. The patina on this has stratified cuprite. It is layered, with many colors. Some of it on cleaned spots still goes into the metal and some of it, especially some red spots, is bubbling out. On the blade (hilt and blade are two separate pieces) there is a cleaned spot. Under the microscope you can see a dendritic structure. From the research I have done, those patterns are hard to fake.. This is for sure a Persian style Akinakes. I know that at this point. Really the next thing I need is accurate metallurgy and scans. Which is a big reason why I stopped researching. They are impossible to find. I found a French company that would do it but they had to drill out sample to test in their lab. No one is drilling my Akinakes! Anyways, I just wanted to share. Especially the scabbard, I think its cool
I wouldn't let some yahoo drill holes in that either. You need an old-school metalurgist to take a look at it. Alas, most have died of old age.
Metallurgy is a tough subject, sooooo much Math involved. I started down that path in school and it is daunting to say the least. I was confused at first why I could not find answers on this thing, but now I know why lol. It takes a smart person to be a metallurgist. I feel like a yahoo for even cleaning it some. It is my doubt layed out on the akinakes. The least I can do now is protect it from other yahoos .
