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Just a head's up; this is a work-in-progress post that's pretty picture heavy. March 20th through 31st my girlfriend and I traveled to Cyprus on vacation... with additional ulterior motives. She was featured in a motion graphics and animation festival hosted at the European University Cyprus, shortlisted to the top of her category. She is also addicted to anthropology. I went there for inspiration on my next blade, and to get my hands on old iron and steel. We traveled the country visiting historical sites and landmarks. The Gladiator's house provided many inspiring mosaics. Sadly, museums lacked when it came to ancient weaponry, although often exhibited a wide range of styles due to the many forces that had occupied Cyprus over time (although I must admit I am spoiled by living in NYC a train ride from the Met). Occasionally we were able to visit the shops of fellow craftsmen. Everyone there is extremely friendly, and will serve you tea while telling you of their family. Got to visit a fellow blacksmith in Nicosia, wonderful gentleman that's seen his country go through many drastic changes. Oh, and there are cats everywhere... we love cats :3 I found a goodly lot of usable metal. The machete was found in the sub-basement of an antique-restorer's home, and has seen some serious use. The scythe was the least decrepit of what I could find in Nicosia. The pony and horse shoes look to be fairly old and used, with the nail still hanging onto the larger one. The prize find was an iron ring used to weigh large loads - still has Greek lettering on the surface. The door hinge (like the shoes and scythe) came from the dark corner of one or another antique store. One of the shops I visited was a woodworker that conveniently had recently taken down a 200-300 year old olive tree and had the perfect pieces of seasoned wood for me... for $12 I got three small blocks perfect for a knife handle each, and a huge chunk 9.5" x 12" x 2". I tried to explain to him how hard/expensive it would have been to get all of that back in America, but to them olive trees are all over and can be a hindrance. Lastly, I visited a leatherworker that sold me a piece of goat leather that stood out to me, and passed off some scraps with the fut still on I'm thinking of using for a detail on the sheath. I very much like his product and want to use it for my day job (product designer) creations too. Currently the metal is sitting in vinegar to strip some of the nasties away. Initially I wanted to forge a gladius or xiphos, but my personal preference towards Anglo-saxon skull-splitters let me to the kopis. I am thinking of patternwelding the machete with 15n20 and forge-welding the iron as the spine. The scythe and horseshoes could be used to forge a sister blade if the demand is there. The blade's tang will travel down through the pommel and become the horses' mane. The horse head and mosaic pattern will be 3D modeled to appear as if they are sculpted from tiles, then 3D printed in brass or bronze. The olive wood I picked up will obviously be used for the grip (with the Greek pattern embedded). Comments and critique welcomed, Theo

Twisted low layer 1095 and 15n20 blade, forged to shape with integral guard and pommel. I had to forge weld on a little more from another billet so the guard has some funky stuff going on. Cyprian olive wood stabilized with blue resin in cracks. This is the wood I brought back from Cyprus a LOOOOOONG time ago in this post https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/41849-cyprian-kopis/?tab=comments#comment-428465 hoping to use it on a Kopis... ended up going on this short sword instead. Medallions are 3D printed cast brass and have the Nazz logo in the center. Leather sheath by Justin Kirck. Let me know what yall think! Theo