Hi Kronkew,
there is a small chip out of the handle next to where the metalwork finishes....which reveals a very small gap, inserting a piece of wire I have found that there is a 2mm depth before it hits the 'tang'. The 'chamfered bolster' is 17 mm diameter which suggests that the tang is 13mm (ie 17mm-2mm -2mm) in diameter (assuming it is round). The hilt is solid with no signs of adhesive, pins etc ....so I have no idea how its fixed
The 'flats' are small depressions....perhaps the tang area was heated , held with tongs and 'burned' into the antler
Some school boy calculations seem to suggest that the 'tang' is 7.5 -8.5 cms. The dagger weighs 200 g, as the balance point is at the end of the handle, the hilt end weighs approx 100g, steel is 7.7g per 1cm cubed, assuming the 'tang' is round and 13mm along its length it weighs approx. 70-80g (I think around 20g-30g for the antler... its approx. 1g per 1cm cubed (lets say 100 -20 =80) 77 g would mean 10cm cubed of steel ....which equates to 7.57cm of 13mm diameter 'rod'. There is a fair bit of speculation ..there are alot of 'approximates' ..the tang may even taper, meaning that the tang is even longer.
Hi Tom,
the 'paper knife' is in fact an asparagus knife, which Kronckew correctly ID'ed for me (originally it was 'handle less') Its actually an interesting 'mistake' and seems to be very collectable.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5014