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Myles Mulkey





Joined: 31 Jul 2008

Posts: 250

PostPosted: Sat 22 Aug, 2009 9:55 pm    Post subject: Opinion on this Viking Sword         Reply with quote

This is a fixer upper that I did over the summer. Tell me what you guys think both in terms of historical accuracy and in appearance. (By the way, this is NOT a high quality sword. Its more or less just for appearances, but it will cut and may cut better with a little work.)

I purchased this sword for $20 a few years ago before I really knew anything about swords. All I knew at the time was that carbon steel = good, while stainless steel = bad. You can find it all over the place, but I happened to get mine from Budk (man I feel dirty just for saying that...) Laughing Out Loud

I started out by unscrewing that awful rattail tang and pommel attachment. The handle included wasn't all that bad, but there were three or four nails (yes, nails) underneath the faux leather wrap, so I just made a new one out of oak and wrapped it with hemp cord. Next, I straightened out the crossguard (I just like the look of the straight guard better) and then I had to do some work on the pommel and the tang. Turns out the threaded welded rod on mine was only an inch and a half long or so. I sawed off the tang just below that threaded rod weld, but that left me with too little tang to peen it down. So, I went up the blade about an inch and three quarters with a hacksaw, going slowly so as not to create enough heat to ruin the temper (like this sword has one anyway...). This made the blade a bit shorter, but I don't think its much of a loss Laughing Out Loud . Next, I extended the fuller all the way back to the guard using a dremel multitool (all I've got). Then, I drilled the pommel all the way through. I fitted all the hilt parts on the blade, annealed the end of the tang with a small torch, and peened away. I then decided to antique the blade based on the tutorial here on myArmoury, and I'm really happy with the result. Let me know what you all think.



 Attachment: 125.43 KB
Sword after peening [ Download ]
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Myles Mulkey





Joined: 31 Jul 2008

Posts: 250

PostPosted: Mon 24 Aug, 2009 4:30 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Is it at least more accurate than it was?
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Viktor Abrahamson




Location: Sweden
Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Likes: 2 pages

Posts: 74

PostPosted: Mon 24 Aug, 2009 5:06 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hello.
Is the picture taken from an angle? It looks like the grip is atached a bit off center.

/Viktor
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Elling Polden




Location: Bergen, Norway
Joined: 19 Feb 2004
Likes: 1 page

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Posts: 1,576

PostPosted: Mon 24 Aug, 2009 5:14 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

My overall impression is that the pommel is a bit to small, but othewise the convert looks nice. The grip could tapper a bit more, but overall nice.
"this [fight] looks curious, almost like a game. See, they are looking around them before they fall, to find a dry spot to fall on, or they are falling on their shields. Can you see blood on their cloths and weapons? No. This must be trickery."
-Reidar Sendeman, from King Sverre's Saga, 1201
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Paul Hansen




Location: The Netherlands
Joined: 17 Mar 2005
Likes: 5 pages

Posts: 845

PostPosted: Mon 24 Aug, 2009 11:04 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

The blade puts me off and although the grip looks better after the modification, I'm still not too enthousiastic about it.

That is, until you take the price into account. For $20, I think it's really quite nice and I might just snap it up if I came across this sword somewhere. Big Grin
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Gavin Kisebach




Location: Lacey, Wa US
Joined: 01 Aug 2004

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 650

PostPosted: Mon 24 Aug, 2009 11:38 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

A friend of mine gave me the same sword, and it hangs in by bedroom. It's a starter sword and not much else.

The blade is very heavy and slow, the fuller is very narrow, the grip is overly large and uncomfortable. The blade finish is chromed, which is not a bad thing if you like shiny blades (I don't). The pommel is not badly shaped, though it seems that it should be a two piece pommel with pins, but that is a level of detail that is far beyond the $50-200 sword market.

I think even in the "starter sword" bracket it gets a resounding "Meh".

As far as the re-grip, I think anything is better than a black grip for a viking sword, so I like your new grip, though I might have shaved the wood down a bit while the leather was off. The straightened guard looks surprisingly good; that was a good call I think.

There are only two kinds of scholars; those who love ideas and those who hate them. ~ Emile Chartier
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Neil Schiff




Location: Las Vegas, NV
Joined: 03 Jun 2009

Posts: 70

PostPosted: Mon 24 Aug, 2009 1:00 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I have the same sword (my first sword, in fact). The grip was coming off, so I removed it, along with the risers. I will be doing a more thorough re-grip when I am done with my current projects. Personally, I think it's one of the better (if not the best) sword available for $20, as long as you're not expecting anything more than a wall-hanger or costume-piece...the fact that it comes with a pretty well-built wood-core scabbard helps a lot in this regard.
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Christopher Finneman




Location: Sartell Minnesota
Joined: 20 Mar 2006

Posts: 159

PostPosted: Mon 24 Aug, 2009 1:09 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

This too was actually my first sword. Although slow and somewhat heavy it took a decent edge cut good and looked decent from a distance. Although not that historically accurate after a few years of light use it took a good patina to it.
The only thing wrong with mine was the lousy threaded tang. And I mean lousy the tang was a typical rat tail threaded at the end about the width of two penny nails side by side. If you have the chance weld up the tang a lil bit to make it a lil more durable. Mine broke just by swinging it.
But yeah I got mine for 35 bucks nearly 15 years ago and it is still a nice very cheap beater.

Proudly it stands until the worlds end. The victorious banner of love.
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Myles Mulkey





Joined: 31 Jul 2008

Posts: 250

PostPosted: Tue 25 Aug, 2009 3:54 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks for the replies everyone. I hear you on it still being a p.o.s. Laughing Out Loud but I'm actually pretty happy with the result.

Victor, I'm not sure whats up with this photo really, but it looks straight to me in person. I think I'm at a slight angle here and the shadows in the background make it seem even more off center.

So the overall consensus is that for $20, it's not too bad? That's what I'm going for at least.
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Myles Mulkey





Joined: 31 Jul 2008

Posts: 250

PostPosted: Tue 25 Aug, 2009 4:02 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Here's a picture of the blade finish after antiquing, and another of the hilt, which doesn't look so off center in this picture. Sorry they're so blurry. I had no camera, so I took these from my cell phone.


 Attachment: 146.38 KB
[ Download ]

 Attachment: 151.99 KB
[ Download ]
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Richard Hare




Location: Alberta, canada
Joined: 15 Mar 2008

Posts: 135

PostPosted: Tue 25 Aug, 2009 5:39 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hello Myles,

I think Any sword is an entrance into another and interesting world, and this one after the work looks better than it did, so I'd give it a thumbs up!

If you ever have the binding off the handle, you could taper the grip a bit narrower at the pommel end, that wouldn't hurt.
Do you have any "finish" on the hemp cord?
If not, a rub with some beeswax will give it a bit of a polish but won't make it slippery, and will hold down the hemp fibres.
I think in this case the blade looks a lot better aged as well!
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Myles Mulkey





Joined: 31 Jul 2008

Posts: 250

PostPosted: Wed 26 Aug, 2009 11:26 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Richard Hare wrote:
Hello Myles,

I think Any sword is an entrance into another and interesting world, and this one after the work looks better than it did, so I'd give it a thumbs up!

If you ever have the binding off the handle, you could taper the grip a bit narrower at the pommel end, that wouldn't hurt.
Do you have any "finish" on the hemp cord?
If not, a rub with some beeswax will give it a bit of a polish but won't make it slippery, and will hold down the hemp fibres.
I think in this case the blade looks a lot better aged as well!

Thanks for the tip, Richard! Happy
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