Late medieval longsword -- myArmoury.com

Lukas MG · Industry Professional

Late medieval longsword

I just finished this late medieval longsword. I would classify it as a XVIIIa due to the fuller but it shares the slender outline and thick base of the type XVIIIb. Overall I consider this to be a well rounded mid 15th century longsword and a perfect companion for someone reconstructing German longsword fencing of the period.  

Stats:
Overall length: 132,5cm
Blade length: 100cm
Blade width: 4cm
PoB: 9cm
CoP: ca 63cm
Weight: 1654g

The pommel and guard of this sword stem from a Regenyei feder which broke after long service. As this sword will by my and my fencing club‘s main sharp sword for training and cutting, I thought it very fitting to re-use them. The guard was slimmed down noticeably because I considered the original a bit overbuilt (the material Regenyei uses for the guards is excellent btw, very hard and tough to work on). The pommel retained most of its original form and was just cleaned up a little.   

This longsword offers very attractive handling characteristics. Held statically, it‘s not a light sword but once set into motion, the weight its hardly felt. With the forward pivot point right at the tip, point control it excellent. The sword flows comfortably through cuts and thrusts, turning with very little difficulty and moving easily through all techniques of German longsword fencing. The blade features a non-linear distal taper starting from 8mm thickness, giving an extremely rigid base with a more flexible and lighter upper third to make the point lively and quick in hand.

I am very happy with how this sword turned out, it is a very good training tool as well as a beautiful and dependable weapon. We hope the next club-intern cutting party is not too long off, despite the current situation!  

Johannes Zenker · Posted: Thu 30 Apr, 2020 10:48 am Post subject:

Nice work. I would say that it also has the rather distinctive long handle of type XVIIIb, which to me makes a much more important difference between an XVIIIa and XVIIIb than cross-section and silhouette. The blade would likewise be very long for a type XVIIIa and even an XVIIIb. I'd love to see documentation of some original XVIIIb with those proportions.

I like how the refinished Regenyei parts look. Much better than I would have expected.

Lukas MG · Industry Professional

An original of similar proportions though more massive overall can be found here:
https://www.zornhau.de/original-der-woche-7-original-of-the-week-7/

Jean Henri Chandler · Posted: Wed 13 May, 2020 8:11 am Post subject:

Aesthetically pleasing, looks like a good cutter and a very serious sword. Would love to hear how it performs in the cutting party.

J

Teodor Švanda · Posted: Thu 21 May, 2020 9:12 am Post subject: Sword steel

Good and nice work, pretty sword. I'm a starting bladesmith from czech republic, can I may ask what steel was used for the blade? Thank you

Lukas MG · Industry Professional

I use only 56Si7 for sword blades.