DELIBERATE DESTRUCTION - Film and TV weapons 

*BREAKING:* _Deranged man destroys life's work in front of internet audience_

I found it very entertaining to see tod telling the story as he was weathering the piece and I never thought I would hear him say "he's a greasy guy"

Watching someone so skilled destroying the most beautiful pieces is as much heart wrenching as it is amazing XD

this isnt destroying, this is finishing the art, and i have a lot of respect for the talent I've just beheld.

Omg, mentioning the salt water gave me chills, lol. At first I'm like NOOOOO! Then I remembered the point of the video. Great video.

I used to restore antique furniture and used a similar set of methods to age new parts. Much harder than it looks but with a bit of practice it gets quiet easy. Most important part is to age things logically such as when Tod pointed out which way up a dagger is worn or how it was held. Great video.

The way you describe your process and encourage the audience to try it for themselves, I can only imagine your full name as "Tod Ross".

What kind of dagger do you like? Salt and Vinegar

Every time you mentioned the owner of the Quillon dagger; liking his chicken, being a slob, being a fat guy, not being able to fix things well... cripes sounds like you were talking about me! Much love sir and keep up the good work! I think I've got to distress my quillon Dagger now

Ageing is like ogres, it has layers

That was quite painful, and don't have a personal attachment to these things.

Great work, nice and subtile. One thing that always frustrates me peronally is over-aged really really beat up props, you see alot of post apocalyptic stuff for example where people carry really grimy and beat up, almost to the point of being unusable weapons. if a guy is out in the wilderness and has to survive with what he has got he is going to take care of it.

This is so interesting to watch (once you get over the pain of seeing those beautiful weapons being „destroyed“). It’s not only a nice look behind the scenes of move production, but it’s also just relaxing to listen to you, imagining how those weapons got woren of and what their history is! Please make more of those videos!

13:40 that moment just blew my mind... also who knew sawdust could be so useful. And now I’ve got a bit of it thanks to making my own crossbow. Great video as always!

I don’t think I’ve ever been more truly fascinated with a RU-vid video than this one. Bloody brilliant! Sir, you are a great artist. I commend you!

"He must have been drunk and comatose to do it that badly." Some people claim they make better art when not sober, so...

"Oh it's so anoying! You paid loooots for this." I don't know wether I should cry or laugh to be honest.

Mustard makes a nice patina on carbon steel. It leaves a mottled pattern. Put it on thinly and let it fully dry. Three times works best for me. It worked great on my "antiqued" hatchet.

Love how this starts as well all do, gloves on.. and quickly descends into.. nah gloves off and filthy hands... good to know this is a thing regardless of skill level !

Sounds like the "story" for the weapon needs to be decided on first. Then, replicate what would happen during that story as best you can...without overdoing it and destroying the weapon or scabbard. I rather like how you don't damage the weapon's edge. Even with a weapon that's led a hard life, if it's still used as a functional weapon, you'd expect that any nicks to have been polished out. The hilt or scabbard may be wearing out, the blade may not be kept as clean as it should, but the edge...that could mean the difference between living and dying, according to how well it's been looked after.

I found out, after years of use of my swords that a very important factor of age on the handle is the colour of the gloves of the owner. With use, those gloves get wet with rain or sweat and eventually the colour transfers to the handle. I think it's quite interesting, a blackened handle is fine for someone wearing black gloves! There were gloves of every colour, red, blue...

I love listening to tod in the background while I'm working on projects

Interesting video, I enjoyed it. I was a professional blacksmith for years , made mostly 18 th century knives and axes. I made many “Antique “ ones. I had to do them so they had to pass and not just look like what someone thought looked old I used to see knives and iron that were aged with bleach and they looked like things that were aged in bleach. To do a good job you have to know what an original aged piece looks like whether an old butcher knife or a $5,000 Bowie knife. What you don’t normally want is an even finish because things usually don’t age like that. I usually rusted iron up using a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid. Heat the surface up some first. Then sometimes I’d sprinkle some black powder on it and light it. I liked to put the piece outside under black plastic. The plastic builds up the humidity. Check it after a day or so to make sure you didn’t age it to much. When satisfied use baking soda to neutralize the acid.

Wow! That certainly works Tod, you looked much older at the end.

When it comes to the work you do for movies or TV-shows, like The Witcher as an example, how much of that is of your own design, and how much of that is done according to their specifications, rather than what you yourself thinks looks good?

I picked up the Bauernwehr dagger from Tod Cutler about a month ago and love it, considering the price point, and am extreeeeemely considering a custom commission one of these days, when I feel a bit more comfortable with dropping well over $1000 on a sword. I'm just so impressed by the work.

Now to buy a modern replica and see if I can put one past on Matt Easton...

I've never felt so conflicted watching a craftsman work! The crafter/engineer in me can't believe what Tod's doing to these fabulous pieces that must have taken _a long time_ to make... but the artist/roleplayer in me is intrigued by the techniques & the aesthetic he's getting by destroying them! 😵

Love that mace, simple brutal timeless.

I make quite a lot of distressed furniture, one method for aging especially the legs and edges of the tops, is to use a length of chain, I have several different link sizes and types. I find chain gives quite a good random effect. I also have a lead fishing weight inside a rope monkey fist that is excellent for bashing pine.

Very cool and useful vide, I'm saving this one and will pass it on when I have the chance., I really like the methods that you mention and seem a lot better, more realistic than other techniques I've seen recommended, most notably using spray paint or a spray bottle. The reason I don't like the spray paint/spray bottle method of applying weathering is because they leave a distinct dapple pattern which, to me, screams artificial.

If anyone is reproducing aged underpants for film and television I have many actual examples to use as references.

Someone tweet this at Adam Savage, I bet he'd love this.

27:09 'The other thing you need to be careful with heat..' nearly puts a blowtorch to his arm

Splendid job. Thanks for your excellent performance

This was great. A little hard to watch all those awesome knives being beaten up but I love the Tutorial nature of the video.I'd love to see some How to forge Blades and fit guards and hilts etc. Making sheaths and scabbards as well would be awesome.

Tod adds realistic backstory to justify wear on items that most viewers will look at for 5 seconds and move on or wont even notice at all, let alone know what they are even looking at if they do

Thinks to self: ooh wonder if an aged feder would look good. *Looks at feder. (hundreds of scratches, dents, slight discolorations that never cleaned out right, faded grip wrap that's been changed twice and still has cuts in it, slight bend in the final third of the blade...) Nevermind, they'll get bloodied fast enough on their own 😂

Six years ago a drop of paint fell on my scabbard, which is wood wrapped in suede. I hurriedly cleaned it off, and was left with a dark smear on my previously pristine scabbard. I was mortified. Tonight I watched this video over dinner, and Jesus Christ man...To cheerfully violate your work in such a way. I couldn't look away. I HAD to see what you'd do next. Terrifying stuff.

Hey Tod, speaking of movie props, have you ever seen Hero with Jet Li? I've always wondered about the foot-bows they used, were they real? Were they ever used in Europe? And what would the design elements of it be?

Ageing and weathering is my favourite part of any prop making, this is such a pleasure to watch, though I do wish we had more closeups as you worked and a little more focus on the results at the end, shame there was hardly any.

Hey Tod, Would you like to do a video on what kinds of daggers or weapons in general were prevalent in the Netherlands during the medieval era? I think it would be really interesting to see as there's not much to find on it. Great work!

About 18 years ago, I took a hemlock sapling that had been felled during yardwork. Took it for a walking stick. Shaved the bark off with a cheap BudK "ninja sword". Sword chattered along the staff, took some divots and whatnot, even with lots of sanding, didn't smooth out very well. Last year, I was out at my mother's place with access to a ventilated garage. Put a few coats of wood-stain on, which soaked in heavier into the chatters. Given my plan to make it look old, I was actually kind of thrilled with the result. Still looks a bit artificial, but once I get the copper accents put on that I want, it'll look dynamite.

Gone back to this vid, just bulled up my dagger collection, 8 of them are your excellent Cutler collection, the only thing I DING up are usable tools, hopefully, I will not be using any of my ornaments soon.

"Brass antiquing fluid" is Windex. Ammonia puts a great patina on most copper-based alloys.

You know he’s good with knives when he calls them “Tod Cutler pieces”

Todd you're the greatest

The vinegar finish looks cool as

Thank you for all these tips

What's nice about this is, I just happened to have my trusted hiking knife on the kitchen table, the one I have had for about 20 yrs, as I watched this. And I can relate to some of the beating Tod made: my all leather sheath has been re stiched with a different color on one plase, it has greasy marks here and there, it also has a puncture where I once placed my knife in badly. I have treated it with beeswax a couple of times. The beltloop has a cut also.. I don't know the story behind that though.. AND it has a mystery heat injury on the backside... I have deliberately aged the blade with mustard at some point, to try and give the blade an oxidation layer to protect it. All this to say, my knife has seen some trips, but has been in storage for most of her (yes, it is a she, that's another story) years. Aaaannnd now comes the story of why I know my knife is a 'she': 😅 When I bought her, I was visiting Salla, a "mountain" in northern Finland, Lapland. I bought her as a souvenir, and had 'Salla' burned to her sheath right then and there in the shop... Years later I found her in one of my cupboards when I was packing for a boyscout trip, and on that trip, I realised that my knife actually has a name, etched right there on her sheath.. After that trip I have always refed to her as 'Salla'. And last summer I made a roadtrip that went through Salla and I took a picture of my Salla in Salla.. That was a nice moment for both of us.

Actor: why does my prop smell like coffee and vinegar?

Absolutely brilliant video. Ticks all my nerd boxes, though I did wince quite severely a few times.

As a maker I both loved and hated watching you damage your beautiful work

Always love your video's Tod. This is the first time I've heard about the Tod Cutler collection. I checked it out and those daggers are pretty affordable so I went and ordered me a 14thC medieval quillon dagger TC79. I can't wait! Not going to weather it though, it hurts just looking at you "destroy" these pieces! :D

I showed my father this video. His first comment: "Why not give it to a bunch of elementary students and tell them to go wild? That'll really show some wear and tear." And I had no comeback to that. I mean seems rather logical, lol. And yes, he is joking-ish.

I have always found that if you forget to hang stuff up properly in a pavilion tent and leave it on a tarpaulin on wet ground you’ll achieve unrivalled pitting overnight.

Such a good video and message ;) Thanks a lot, I really enjoyed this!

Could you try launching a crossbow like pull back the string, attach it to a solid object and fire it see how far it flies reckon that would be brilliant to watch

Todd, that was an amazing video, thanks for putting in the time.

Finally a use for instant coffee!

For antiquing steel/iron make a "damp box" and use a mild nitric acid solution (i.e., nitric acid). For antiquing brass/bronze/copper change out the nitric and instead use vinegar. I can send you sketches of how to do this.

thank you tod this was a really fun video! kinda took me back to larp making characters n stuff thinking about where the kit has been before hitting the field. i'm not scared to decorate my leather bits now :P hope your well

You made weapon props for them? I did not know. That is kinda awesome.

My Lord! Im watching this while waiting for my new made scabbard to dry and its just painful! :) Great video although i would categorized as horror.

I always wondered just what was used to etch a blade in the old world.

Очень круто! Wonderful work!

Some of this is stuff that I would do like the wax and the little scratches to make a pattern but some of this physically hurts me as a person like I would never be able to keep some thing that had been damaged to the point where it became less good at what it actually is unless it’s like a family P swear it being broken doesn’t keep you from remembering the person who it belongs to

This is fascinating !

I wonder how much he makes doing this lol looks very fun and pretty simple to do

„...because you can’t get in there, just like in real life you can’t get in there“ Tod mocking us

Very effective.

24:21 As a single, that hurt.

Neat! Any thoughts on simulating mold damage? Preferably without leaving actual mold spores on things.

as someone whos saving a bit of money up to get a dagger or mace off your site, this was mildly painful to watch. Really informative and entertaining video though, your videos are never boring.

Sorry for putting this here, Tod. But I hope you can watch Joerg's latest video. His request is screaming your name and would be an awesome collaboration! Just hope you have the time and interest!

yeahhh the vinagar!!! you want to really distress the leather recruit a dog to play fetch with it some ha

Hey Todd if you steam your ferric chloride it only takes about 45 mins for results, card them off and you’ll have a rough French gray

Have you thought of using Blood? Blood meal is cheap, safe and should give interesting results...

i tried something with a helmet and at the end it was cleaner than before.

I love it, but man it makes me sad too, those items are beautiful.

I quite like a back that's.... well this isn't Scholargladiatoria I should keep that comment to myself... Good video like always!

Elementary Iodine crystal stain even stainless steel. It reacts a lot if useful.

Are we gone see some of these weapons on the big screan in the future? or is this just for showing us "how it`s made"

the funny thing about the shade at people doing their own art centuries ago is that that's still the case now, shit go on gunbroker or similar websites and you will see some absolutely gaudy "art" on firearms that was done yesterday. Tod is right in that not everyone is an artist but perhaps for those people they don't care, they're making it theirs (and also severely overestimating their abilities, given the prices people try to pawn their shit off for)

Weathers and messes things up - Looks like my kit...

That's amazing (at the same time a cit crushing to see these brand new items get destroyed, but as you said - they still look well done, just aged). I wonder if you sometimes use real blood (for example pork blood) for blood stains? Or is it better to use some red dye - less natural, but less problematic in odour and degradation?

Where did you learn all these techniques and ways to colour nicks? Trial and error or some book?

Really love how the Mace ended up and the more fucked up crossguard dagger

How well do these pieces hold up to being cleaned and polished? As if you were giving it the impression of a working tool that had seen the wars but has been maintained?

Good ol' Ferric Chloride. Follow the directions and keep in mind it has a strong exothermic reaction with Aluminium. So...tossing a shop towel wet with FC into waste bin that has metal shavings or dust might make for a bit of a surprise (smoke, fire or...hmm what's that funny smell?) :)

I just put my stuff out in the chicken house for a week or so. Or if you want a fast aging, toss them in the manure pile. They'll stand cleaning when you bring them back in to the shop, but definitely are "aged"

I always feel like the ageing process adds 10 to 20 to 30 years worth of ageing. What would a 1 year or 2 year or 5 year old knife/scabbard look like?

Are those daggers going to be cheaper now after they are worn out, or are they going to be more expensive because they are degraded professionally? :-D

Tomatoes add quite a patina to knife blades, quite quickly.

the best way to make a blade look worn? Wear it. Take it with you into the woods and use it. Eventually you'll drop it, ding up the handle, scuff the sheath, touch up the edge, and discolor the blade. It'll look well-used because it IS.

I noticed that you didn't bend the scabbards much, especially where the fittings are? Those I've seen are usually badly bent.

This is Art Attack for professionals.

A point not mentioned that applies to armor more than weapons do not degrade the thing to the point that it looks like nobody would have survived it. Most ridiculous example was in the First Star Wars movie they were wearing helmets that made you wonder who died in it and how it was recovered from the battlefield.

Do you use sets of homemade medieval knives in your home kitchen?

Gonna employ these technickes immedieately, i made a sheffield style bladeforgers hammer from a cheap hammerhead, and im not at all happy with the new and shiny fresh of the grinder look...