Tod’s Great Mistake, We need to talk about
2021 ж. 12 Жел.
96 130 Рет қаралды
A review and ramble through some of Tod’s material.
You can see his high end work here todsworkshop.com
Please note that when I said Tod’s Stuff, I meant Tod Cutler, which can be found here todcutler.com
To join us in person or online, head to
www.Londonlongsword.com
Thanks Dave; a great walk through of some of my pieces and glad you like them. Looking at the bauernwehr and the dudgeon dagger, I must have been making pieces for you for well over a decade I think, so thanks for sticking with me! Again apologies for the labelling mistake on the packages, but as predicted, you made good use of our mistake so thanks for that and you will be getting your knife delivered very soon.....
I have always loved your work and getting to handle this was a genuine pleasure. Some mistakes have the best endings:). I’ll be back for more soon.
@@LondonLongsword I thought that Todd's Stuff was a dead company? I thought that these days it was Todd's Workshop and Todd Cutler. Pretty good video overall.
@@ArmouryTerrain I think it's Tod Cutler..?
@@ArmouryTerrain its mentioned in the description he meant Tod Cutler (with link)
What a treat to see Tod's stuff being appreciated by practitioners. Found your channel thinking I was about to hear of a Tod scandal.
"Tod's Great mistake: Not supplying me with enough of his fantastic daggers. This should be rectified at once."
Jajajajaja🤣
I picked up a Scottish Dirk from Tod and I showed it to my friend Allegra. Her response to holding it in her hand was, "I feel powerful holding this!". That about sums up the magic of his work
Tod makes outstanding stuff. And his "lower end" items are just incredible for the price. My kit has a long sword and scabbard that are probably in the $2,000 range, but the bit of kit I get most people asking about is my rondel dagger from Tod.
I'm convinced the nagel was originally to secure the crossguard/bolster to the blade, and was cut off and filed flat, until one day someone came to the smith for their bauernwehr early, saw the nail still sticking out, and said, "nah mate, leave it, that gives me an idea..."
That wouldn't surprise me.
My wife bought me a £35 historically accurate folding knife with brass handle from Tod's stuff for my birthday 3 years ago. Love it.
That sounds awsome.. to me with fixed blade knives and the style of folders ....they got it right back then .new knives are looking like cheap gas station stuff these days so I love a classic design ypu can't fake that...so.e of these new thousand dollar etc knives look like flashy junk
I have one as well, it's wonderful and an absolute bargain
I was prepared to be mad at the video because of the title. XD
Happy to see Tod getting some love. I’ve always thought his work is extraordinary.
I think my eyes just turned green im so jealous. Love Tod's work. Hopefully will be ordering something soon
At least now I know where that ring hilted baselard went! My great mistake was to get a cup of coffee and ponder if I really need another dagger. Well done Sir! You beat me to it :-).
Best commercial for Tod's Workshop I've ever seen.........
I really enjoy seeing when a smith does what he wants using historical pieces as a blueprint, I fully understand that historical accuracy is the goal for high end collectors as well as people who want to understand the point and history of a piece by holding it for themselves, for me ive always wondered where smithing would lead if it had carried on with weapon development into the modern era with more cumulative knowledge on techniques and styles, and you really can only do that by letting the smith work the way they want to work and encourage an almost fantasy approach to weapon design (see skallagrims years old video covering the Lord of the Rings weaponry and how valid they would be as weapons in a more real scenario). I've been part of a number of groups regarding both smithing and collecting over the years and honestly there is an unforgivable level of ponciness towards what they call "fantasy" weapons (see - anything that isn't a direct copy of a Peterson type Whatever) but I honestly can't get enough of them. As long as they are functional I'm more than happy to see a smiths skills and vision put on display!
"It is so choice; if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." ~ Ferris Bueller
Well played Sir, I never got a sinking feeling cause I know Tod makes good stuff, (and I know he will take any RELEVANT criticism onboard!) but it was funny to imagine some sphincters clenching up in internet land!
I watched an ad voluntarily. 🙂 Will look at Tod's stuff for Christmas.
I heard rondels were for finding the handle. I think it might have been a video from Matt Easton, but he said that bollock daggers were generally worn unarmored, so the lack of hand protection was fine for finding the handle. Alternatively rondel were worn with armour, and the big discs allowed you to find the handle easily without looking down. Because you were wearing armour it wouldn’t rub against you, and you didn’t have to worry about the breastplate sticking out and obscuring your vision. Also the reduced tactile feedback from wearing gauntlets, you don’t have to worry about grabbing the top or bottom half of the handle and missing the other half of the grip
Rondel daggers were worn in and out of armour.
I'll be using my bollock dagger, in my gauntleted hand, in combat.
That's one mistake I wish people would make for me. Stunning work. I think I know who might be making some custom pieces for me, if/when down the line.
Seriously. I just bought big on Tod's stuff, last night. I was having a heart attack about your big revelation! 🤣
I just ordered the brass handled dirk from Tod Cutler, and I'm very excited. A bit less ornate than the one from Tod's Workshop, but the price is incredible for what you get. I don't understand how he does it.
If that's going to Indy, there's a good chance I'll get to see it in person.
I think it is:). It was treated with the greatest care.:)
I have a few pieces from Tod Cutler and absolutely love them. I hope to someday have the money to get at least one piece from Tod's Workshop.
That was an excellent bit of misdirection, sir. You had me thinking Mr. Cutler had somehow hoodwinked me, and was truly just a hack. I feel quite bad for falling for the flashy headline. I've purchased a couple of Mr Cutler's blades and they are excellent work indeed.
I couldn't agree more. I got a todcutler rondel, and it's amazingly well put together. For the price, it's easy to find crap, and so I was so pleased at how good it was. One thing you'll miss out on, being in the UK, is the customs declaration. I do still get a chuckle out of a rondel dagger being labelled "Kitchen tools". Being one of the least utility knives ever. But I have decided it could work for creating inserts for Chicken Kievs (if I was daft enough to make my own instead of getting perfectly good ones from the butcher)
Beautiful! I have one dagger from him already but just may need a rondel appropriate to go with my harness....
I bought an Antennae quillon dagger and a feasting knife from Tod Cutler to show my appreciation for his KZhead films and I must say I'm amazed at the level of craftmanship for the price. Real quality work and attention to detail.
Speaking of rondel daggers, I don't think I've ever heard anyone covering the angle that makes the most sense to me, so I'll put it here. I don't think that disc is primarily for protection. Consider this. Аfter you stab someone violently in a combat scenario, you will often want to retrieve the dagger for further use. And you don't want wasting time doing that. And there is _an awful lot of blood and sweat_ (a factor many people don't consider) on your hands (or gloves). And the muscles of your hands and fingers are probably kinda tense and even hurting right now. It is probably clear enough where my line of thought is going. To sum it up, it is there mostly to give you additional security in your grip. IMO.
I see that, but from my perspective: why not both? Whatever may have initially prompted the design choice, it fits very nicely into the gaps of a clenched gauntlet which both increases hand protection and provides greater grip security (not only when trying to pull your blade from a target, but also when drawing in the first place). On that last point, consider that you're likely reaching for the blade once already closed with the enemy and under considerable stress. I imagine, then as now, practitioners would prize a design that served multiple ends.
I have had this thought as well. And I believe a proper fitting handle should be on the tight side to facilitate it from slipping
Those are all amazing I would cherish any of these.. thanks for the vidio..was proper..merry Christmas happy new year
So far I only own one piece from Todd, but it's by far the finest piece I own! Beautiful work.
I have two from his affordable line up, and I love them. Excellent quality, and very sturdy.
I've been lusting after some of Tod's pieces for such a long time now, this might well be the convincing I needed.
I love that you bring up disc guards actually being protective. They catch alot of unnecessary slack imo. For daggers and knives I think they work rather well although the nail on the side is more low profile.
I always thought the back of the roundel dagger was to put the heel of ur other hand to give it more force to put it through armour
That’s one option. Though it depends on what exactly we’re talking about. Full Plate? Incredibly unlikely. Gambeson? Nope. Should break maille easily enough, though.
I recently bought a Bowie knife and a 14th century Quillon dagger from Tod Cutler. Very good value for the price (and I had to pay import tax).
Ha! I picked up exactly the same dagger from Tod Cutler a few months ago. It is a great piece for the price. I also have horn handled folding knife that is also very and legal EDC in the UK. When I can afford to, I would love to get him to make me another quillon dagger but with a fancy horn and bone hilt.
I have a similar dagger from Tod Cutler, the 14th Century quillon dagger with a curved guard and it is a great thing. So solidly made and nicely put together. Something that's easy to call the real deal. I admire all of Tod's work a great deal. One day I'll hopefully be able to buy something from the Workshop.
I think it's safe to say that the nail and the guard evolved separately, especially considering that guards are found since antiquity; they just evolved to become more pronounced and more prominent. The nail seems to be more of an extension of the pinning needed in knives.
Bought my wife a dirk from Tod (Cutler). It arrived and I now have to wait to give it to her. I just want to open it!!!
Am I ever grateful I stumbled on this! Was just about to make the mistake of giving this "Tod" fella my business! It's time we start holdin' these "smiths" accountable! Good on u, sir!
I have a whole batch of different daggers from Tod Cutler, love them all. I’ve managed to also get one dagger from Tod’s Workshop (an ebony Rothenburg ballock dagger) and it is just stunning.
5:38 The crossguard predates the _nagel_ by a few thousand years. ;) I wouldn't say they developed independently, because craftsmen making the first knives with _nagels_ would have been very aware of quillons, but it was a neat way to achieve a similar goal in (at least originally) a labour-economic way.
A small unimportant sidenote: In german language substantives like Nagel or Bauernwehr are starting with a great letter.
@@brittakriep2938I have no idea which German words are considered substantives, other than taking the two examples that you listed, but I'll keep it in mind for those ones. =) I believe it's best not to capitalise them in English, regardless, as words of that class are not capitalised in this language. I apologise that it probably looks jarring for a German viewer to see German-language words transformed to fit into English grammar, but English viewers would have the same sense of something being wrong if it were the other way around and when writing in English, English speakers are the audience. I should say that in English, we start each proper noun, such as the names of languages (even German =P ) with a capital letter. We also don't automatically capitalise the first letter after a colon, so I should write your sentence as follows: "A small and unimportant side note: in German, substantives, such as "Nagel" and "Bauernwehr" start with capital letters."
@@Meevious : As i wrote, this is only an unimportant mistake, which looks unusual to a german person with Asperger disorder :-) . Another thing which is ( for a german /austrian/swiss) a bit funny, is the use of the großen Messers. Here, i used the in german language used grammar case, but here the thing is clearly complicated for an english speaking person, who doesn' t know our german grammar, so for me no reason, to critisize this ( das lange Messer, dem langen Messer, des langen Messers, die langen Messer, den langen Messern, der langen Messer would be six possible variations in singular and plural, which remembers me, when i learned french for four years, i had allways problems to find the correct end of french words, because the sound is for my ears the same.) But it is for me good that currently english language is used as international language, in contrast to former centuries, in which French, Italian or Latin was used. For the reason, that English belongs to germanic group of languages, even using many frenchbased words like beef or beverage, it is often similar to German and for me much easier to understand, when you speak about simple everyday things, the words are rather similar, and sometimes the english word is simply a variation of an outdated , rare used german word. And, comming to the end, for me as a german, Britta is my girlfriend, it is rather intressting, that in context of historical fencing English speakers use german words.
Nagel is just a cheap way of stopping the hand. Nothing more to it. Later gets added to crossguards but thats all there is to it.
I have several items from Tod's Stuff & they are all fantastic pieces. I have plans for several more.
Bit of a click bait title there, but it is always a pleasure to see experts gush over fine workmanship of almsot anytype . It is shareing ones love. Which is always a great thing .
Tod's stuff is AWESOME!
Hi Buddy, regarding the rondell - you are correct - the discs are there for protecting the inside of the hand - it also gives a bit a more secure way to hold on the dagger, coz with mittens or gauntlets you COULD have a weaker grip and the discs are giving you a bit security. regarding the Nagel - well crossguards are quite old - I would say way older than the Rüstnagel, therefore I would say the Nagel was a seperate developement for single edged weapons. I hope you are fine buddy - would be lovely seeing you again - I would even make some dumblings - extra for you ;-) cheers and have a happy new year. Harry.
Hi Dave, I never considered until now, but what sort of damage would the rondel roundels do if used as a sort of knuckle duster?
Regarding rondels on rondel daggers, I would refer you to Christian Cameron's videos, which i cant link here annoyingly, where he demonstrates exactly why rondel daggers are designed the way they are. They are designed primarily for armoured fighting (although of course they can be used unarmoured, and there are many treatise showing how, as you know.) But they appeared at the same time as articulated complex steel gauntlets. When you wear a gauntlet the rondel dagger fits perfectly with the armour, forming a complete 360 degree coverage, with the rondels covering the unarmoured parts on the sides of the fingers and thumb. This means an armoured man can use a rondel in the melee of a battle with little danger to his otherwise more vulnerable hands, and both attack AND defend with it. He does a demonstration of this, and it's really very neat. The video is on youtube and you just have to search his name to get to the channel. They are a system, the rondel and gauntlets, perfectly designed to work together.
would the pommel roundel not also be useful when trying to extract the dagger from a stubborn material such as mail or thin plate?
Oooh I clicked this video sooo damn fast! Glad to hear you're enjoy his awesome pieces.
I didn't want to watch this video. I absolutely love Tods videos and his work looks amazing, so I didn't want to watch someone being negative about him. I'm so glad I did watch it as it confirms that Tod does great work. I have a limited appreciation as I'm not in anyway linked to swords in a professional capacity. It was good to see someone with a much better understanding than myself appreciating Tods work. Thank you.
I was 100% certain that the issue would be like "well actually this historic production has the wrong type of crossguard" or similarly pedantic issue
I count my self lucky to have a Tod rondel and there medieval utility knives. The working knives get used for reenactment camp and bushcraft. The largest regularly splits & batons wood and the other two for eating, cooking and day to day pocket knife. They have lasted as tools as well as looking great.
My son came home the other day with a pair of the basic cooks knives sold by Tod. I must say they are very very good. I tried them out preparing dinner. Sharp, safe in design, pretty damn good! Good value (my son bought them...)
Come on, y'all knew Tod would get praised (rightfully so, his work is flawless) here so that's hardly "clickbait".
It seems to me that the appearance of a lot of prising rondel daggers out of people’s hands in the manuals supports the idea that the design was intended to prevent this - it shows that there was an issue which makers and buyers of rondel daggers would certainly have wanted to try to fix. The logic being presented here is similar to suggesting that the presence of cuts to the hand shows that crossguards were not intended to protect the hand, or that injuries to armoured combatants show that their armour was not intended to protect them from injury.
Great video! Amazing daggers!
My opinion, for what it's worth- the top rondel is there to keep the dagger in your hand if you're trying to extricate it from something/someone. It makes sense- if the dagger's stuck your hand could easily pull away from the handle.
Hi Dave, I’ve always been told a bollock dagger was primarily a multi tool for eating etc and not for fighting so only being used for light work, no doubt it could be used as a weapon but could this be why the bollocks are small ?
That is a beautiful dagger. For some reason, I'm more drawn to the budget dagger that you showed at first. If things were different, I would get one of those.
Loved it.
I love the the first three... .. I havent seen any like those from his videos .. especially the first one... And the third one ..
Clicked on the video, horrified, wondering what Tod could POSSIBLY have done... and ended up grinning. Love the video!
I havr to admit, I'd love to ordrer a custom knife from Tod 😍🤩 Something like a seax; functional blade that I could take with me to the woods from anything for a couple of hours to a few days trip 🤩🤩😍😍 In any case, all of those blades are so good looking 🤩
They are all so gorgeous. 12:46 The comment about, "... his material remains..." gave me a brief scare. I was just watching his fight choreography video before this one, and he looked very healthy.
one thing that always gets as a bladesmith me when i watch these is how thick the spines are.
I have to wonder a little bit if the reason that prying rondels is in so many manuals is specifically because they might be slightly harder to disarm and so extra information felt necessary to counter them. I also know very little about it, though, so take that with a grain of salt of course.
Sadly had a bit of a different experience. Ordered a Bowie knife with sharpening. Came with no edge at all, a warp and a slight cork screw and was crooked from the guard onwards, guard tang hole was clearly just cut without attention to fit to this blade. Knife is definitely usable and the steel is well heat treated, and for the price I understand it would come with some imperfections. But sadly it feels like a slitghty... Careless build
Isn't the rondel there to allow you to use your other hand to force or hammer the dagger home?
On rondels there was a remark from someone that it might also help to guide clumsier armored fingers into a nice grip and make it easy to draw in a rush.
Matt Easton has supposed such a use.
@@OhioCruffler Thank you, I was not willing to dig through his and Lindibeige's videos to find out which one it was.
Love Tods work but when i paid for the sharpening service the blades have been dull at best
I have got a Breughel Messer from Tod's stuff, it is not bad at all, though in my opinion the blade could do with a better grind, I believe he has recently started doing bushcraft stuff now, which I may try out some time in the future.
I've got a crossbow from that guy. Feels like a handheld ballista that could destroy the world.
There are few times in life when one falls in love. Glad we could witness one of those times.
Your enthusiasm for fine workmanship matches Tod's own. The purpose of the rondel was of course the same as the purpose of the Cho (notch) on the blade of a kukri.
My belief is that bottom on the rondel dagger is so if you were in a suit of armor and you were on top of your opponent; a knight could easily palm the bottom while pressing down with all his weigh in order to penetrate the opponent's armor.
On the 4th dagger you showed, wouldn't a big flat pommel like that be great for striking with your off hand after stabbing it in to an armored opponent. Like a splitting wedge for splitting fire wood has a big flat spot to hit with a hammer.
Great video! Subscribed!
A few words summed up my love of knives and having a nice knife. "Like having a piece of high end jewelry that can kill."
I have no evidence of this, but that particular style of 2 dish gaurd on rondels would make a lot of sense as an index point when drawing. If your vision is compromised, say by wearing a visor or even a gorget that limits your ability to look at your waist and you're wearing something on your hands that limits you dexterity and sense if touch, having something that will allow your hand to instantly find and secure a weapon, especially a weapon that you will probably need to put in immediate use makes sense.
If you have any examples of nagels pre-ating the 14th century I'd really like to see them, from what I recall from Zakovsky's works, there don't seem to be any.
Oh good. I don't believe I've watched very much of yours, except when linked through or mentioned by Matt Easton, but I've always liked the bit I have seen, but I have watched a lot from Tod, and when I saw this title, I was a bit worried, Tom had actually made a serious mistake, and it was such a relief to see instead of a "this is not right" video I got a "this is awesome" video instead.
Thank you......
I can't justify one of Tod's daggers but I spent £35 on one of his medaevil folding knives and it is absolutely wonderful, a hand made item that has a magic about it, razor sharp, wonderful steel, beautiful horn friction folder.
i thought for a momento that you somehow got your hands on Tod's first bollock dagger he showed recently.
I need to get one.i like the cheap one even...my first love is daggers. My first knife was a Pakistan dagger I called my pirate knife as a 6 year old..I dnt have anything good but I do collect ..I want one for occasional carry..I know that's y I say occasionally
I was eyeing that Baselard with a ring hilt and was sad to see it gone. Now I know who to blame lol
Tod, in discussing some larger daggers, occasionally uses the word "bludgeon". You may not be able to cut through a padded jacket, but you can beat the mess out of a guy right through the padding.
Nice video!
Tod is a master of his craft
I have two of his Daggers and three of his eating knifes, love all of them.
We have been bamboozled
i always assumed a rondul (sorry prob spelt it wrong) was there to use like a hammer, as in a back strike when you want impact function
Nice video. Subscribed
The rondel dagger had IMHO a different design purpose: imagine stabbing something hard with a misericordia with small and thin quillions. You'll slide and hurt your pinkie on that crossguard! Now, imagine that it's stuck in a body and the grip is slippery from blood: how, do you get it out again? The rondel dagger has neither of these problems! Plus, it offers more protection and you can hit the back to drive the blade further in...
Baselard did just fine the knights just wanted something easier to hold with gauntlets while ungloved civilians prefered a less bulky and sleeker design - capital H baselard
@@chroma6947 gloves are definitely another aspect. But I guarantee you that a dish is better for heavy impacts. PS: I know someone who did security and felt a punch. He then noticed someone holding his hand. He had tried to stab him, but he was wearing a vest with a metal plate. The impact forced the hand over the tiny guard... Side-note: I've been attacked by a knife too. Someone threw one at me in class. It hit with the grip and bounced off my back. I'm glad that it didn't fly like big kitchen knives, or it might have looked very different. Although every knife can hit with the handle.
@@edi9892 Yes i agree with heavy impacts a big dish is what you would want, rondels were meant for best of the best chainmail. Baselards also worked for armour as knights even used them in 1200s and 1300s but as full plate comes along rondels come out too. Civilians would also face armour but usually gambeson or some rough made mail is all they would worry about. And the baselard offers a variety of grips handshake,icepick,hammer i imagine this also lead to its popularity.
@@chroma6947 Something to be mentioned is that carrying a rondel isn't a particularly pleasant experience. No part of your body is disc shaped, so it's either got to be loose on your side (and bouncing around) or constantly digging into your side. Even just plain chainmail demands enough padding to be worn that you would never notice it. Just because your opponent has armor doesn't mean you're presently wearing it, and there's plenty of situations (town guard, etc) where wearing the dagger is more trouble than it's worth.
I'm still getting over the fact his surname isn't "Cutler". I used to say.... "Isn't that a prophetic Surname!" . I heard him say "Hello! It's Tod of Tod's Workshop and Tod Cutler here" hundreds of times before one day he mentioned his actual surname.... and it''s not Cutler. Can't stand click bait titles tho.
Ask Todd to make you one. As you say feel and balance with weapon is unique to each individual person and the normally weapons. As Todd worked this he would know the design.
And I thought you were actually going to criticise this great craftsman....... Todd's work is amazing and his channel and research are fascinating. Flaxen Saxon.
Anybody know what happened to Phil Harvey?
"and I am enjoying saying bullocks this much, believe me" - lol
At first I was like "oh no!" And then I was like "noice" 😁
I only wish i had the budget for Tod's work
One interesting note. Triangular cross-section blades are frowned upon in active combat zones and if you're captured with one they might kill you.