Wow, I had forgot about this one.

Had some changes along the way, but the sword was finished up the end of September of last year. There was a problem and the blade chipped the weekend when I delivered it to Nate. There were rumors, drama, and a bunch of crap....it is all addressed in this post.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=2728&highlight=

I'll post the finished pics here as well and some more I found before it was finished. As you will be able to see though one of the biggest changes that happened was the guard material. I liked the buffalo horn very much, but it didn't go well with the walnut and the walnut I had used wasn't giving me the look I wanted. So I ordered some horn blocks from Origindia and replaced the walnut. Without a doubt the best change I made.

Most of the inspiration for this sword came from a sword we found in Navarro, plate CXVI. There is also a very similar British example of one of these as well, although I would have to dig out research to tell you what book it was found in. With no real measurements to work from, I tried to make dome size in relative proportion with the blade as to the domes on the original. At one time I had (still do) a ton of drawings with dome sizes anywhere from 1/2 inch to 1 inch, at various angles to each other, and with various grip lengths. In the end it come down to what captured the look and feel best for us, or maybe just me. *G*

One of the hardest and most stressful things about this whole project was making the seats for the domes to set in. The domes are set close enough together that if it was off the slightest that it would show pretty bad. Depth wasn't as much of an issue, but still had to maintain it as close as I could. What made it so stressful was that I had one shot with the horn and if I messed up it was ruined. Thankfully it worked out OK, and that I was able to reused the guards with the exception of the center domes.

As I said in the post above, I am using the guards, guard plate, grip spacers, and a new blade to rebuild the sword. The grip was destroyed when taking it back apart, not that I probably would have reused it anyway. The grip was the one thing I never way totally happy with on the finished sword. Currently the new blade is about 90% ground, just need to do a bit more to straighten the ridge line a bit and it will be ready to go. I finally received my horn order the week before last that I put in something like the second week in January.

I'm looking very forward to getting back to work on this project and finishing it up. Then I can work on my own personal la tene, the other part of the horn order. *G*

Shane

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rough cut horn guards

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Also, here is a picture of the new blade in it's currently ground state along with my lenticular blade.

Shane

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Once again Shane, that's a beautiful sword. I'd love to have one in a similar style.

Hi Shane Allee

Thanks for the information.

The sword you made is realy great. And i look foreward to other celtic sword projects that you would be doing.
I didn't know there whas so much material in a bulls hoorn that you could actualy make these shapes out of it, i always thought these things where hollow. :eek:

I myself have also a (la Tene) blade (bout it from Nathan) that I would like to hilt up one day.
That's way al the questions.
And I am playing also around with the 6 (12) domes idea. I don't have the Navara book, but I definatly would like to buy one!

At the moment ill try (hard) to carve a Liebau sword like hilt out of wood...

Hi Guys,

Well, I am anxious to get the reincarnation of this sword in my hands again!

It's really a horrible shame that the experimental tempering and drama all occured to the last blade, because Shane had done a marvelous job on it.

Really looking forward to the new baby!

This type of sword and blade is mainly based on the Navarro plate as Shane mentioned, also this style seen in the British Wetwang Slack sword and a few others. The rivets in the hilt seem to be fairly common in the La Tene I blades, but seem to be smaller. In archaeological drawings they are often set out to the side, as if the original excavators (from 19th century or early 20th, generally) did not know what to do with them.

Going through the pictures, drawings, etc, Shane and I identified that there seem to be at least 4 different "rivet" styles. They also might be more than mere decoration. As Folkert intimated, and Peter J speculated this past October, these rivets may have been used to fasten 2 halves of the grip sections together where the material used was fairly thin---like horn sheets or bone, ivory, etc.

The actual sword type Shane is replicating for me is more of a "threshhold" piece. It retains much of the profile taper style reminiscent of La Tene I. However, the taper is already beginning to be less dramric, and the width at the base is less than the average La Tene I. Also, the blade length is fitting a more "standard" La Tene II length. The taper is not yet the typical subtle taper of the Middle La Tene, and the cross section of the blade is more toward the La Tene I style, and less toward the lentoid and "flatter" flattened diamond cross-sections that typify La Tene II and carry into La Tene III

This particular blade would be at the upper end of the blade length for this sword, though not unheard of (I would say most of the transitional rivet-hilts seem to be slightly shorter, 1-2 inches less in the blade than this one, from what I extrapolate using the drawings and scales). This one being longer suits the proposed owner (yours truly :D) and my long, simian-like arms.

The time scale for a sword like this is at the threshhold cusp of the La tene I to La Tene II transition---although some of the La Tene dating systems would classify this as La Tene II, directly. It comes in at a time when the warfare style was changing, and the warrior's panaply reflected the gear of a heavy infantry mercenary. A very exciting time, which I like probably best of all the La Tene phases.

Of course we'll get some more pictures when the reborn sword is finished.

Thanks for the pic of the "Rivet Hilt LaTene Sword From Navarro" Kirk ;)

Folkert

Thanks for posting the pictures. That hilt is stunning.

Thanks Guys,

I went ahead and scanned the Wetwang Slack sword and another rivet hilt from Gournay III. As Nate mentioned, there several other rivet hilts out there, but these three were a big help since some of the rivets were still in position.

The hilt for my sword is inspired from the base relief at Pergamon, Turkey that Connolly and possibly a few others have illustrated. After working with the horn I've been hooked, so I'm going with a brown horn. Originally I wanted what they call a honey colored horn, but was unable to get it thick enough. I am excited to start shaping the brown because it does appear to have some of the translucency that I liked in the honey. Somewhat reluctant to post the design prior to starting, but what the hell.

Patrick, things have been going slow the last year, but I hope to change that if at all possible. The current plan is to work more on designing and cutlery work so that I can get more out the door and maybe a bit of money coming in. *G* So with any luck, the money from Nate's sword will fund having a few falcata blades made. Then I would like to continue with the pattern of having a few blades of a certain type made. Seems that I could go on for awhile just with all the different types of la tene blades. Had a chance to study a la tene III Romano british/ roman spatha blade that is pretty high on the list right now. I'll probably try to stick with Viking age and old though, there seem to be enough people doing the other. *G*

Shane

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Wetwang Slack sword

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From Gournay III

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Shane,

Just let me know when you plan on making another sword of this type. You might just have a customer!

Thanks again Patrick, I'll let you know..

Shane

This project working with Shane has been a good learning experience and an eye-opener in several ways, as to what swords of this type *should* be like.

The first sword, with its edges appropriately thin, was a wicked cutter and thruster, without a doubt the fastest sword I have handled (well, OK my Irish shorty may be faster, but it's only 16" blade)

The original finished sword was so speedy that I could use each edge, fore and back hand in successionm with nary a pause. This blade could really go snicker-snack. That's something that does not come through from pictures no matter how pretty.

Similarly, the lentoid Shane is working on and discussed with me gives me a new appreciation. Many of the La Tene II's are slender, graceful lentoids, quite thin in width, and almost delicate looking. However, with a properly done lenticular section, this blade is quite a demon. It is thick enough in the center for a good thrust, and slim enough to be quick as thought. The relatively thin breadth does not really impede cutting potential much. the cross section is basically 2 appleseed "sword edges" melded back to back. As Shane says, "this blade is basically all edge". And this does not even get into the broader lentoids, with a somewhat meatier "reinforced" edge all the way acroos the cross-section Shane wondered what this type *couldn't* cut, given the mechanics.

These lentoids are quite obverlooked, I think, because they are less visually appealing than all the fullering, ricassos, and midridges one sees on other (later) swords. I also thinkt hat sometimes modern enthusiasts dismiss the complete lentoid baldes as "crude" or perhaps "primitive. But these modern perceptions really hide a wonderfully designed, well-conceived and efficient weapon type.

Cool stuff.

Can't wait for my baby to be reincarnated (true to Celtic form) :)

Shane has roughed out and fitted the grip...

This time it's a slight bit shorter, to match Navarro's ratio studies. It's also a more simple barrel shape, that seems to appear a good bit in artwork and originals.

I have a vague idea of doing some engraving on the hilt later, and the smoother surface will make a great template. This first shape was a bit large swell, I thought, for my hands (Shane is a good bit bigger than me )

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Here is the grip slimmed down a bit and a little more finished...

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another one

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Neat!

Looks very nice, indeed.

Wow that looks really nice! hopefully Albion will start making next gen. celtic swords once they finish all those other cool models. :D

Great job, this thing is going to look awesome when it's finished!


-Michael F.

Ah, I need more smithing experience! Anyone know where I can find an Anvil? Do you have any pics of the blade? I'm interested to see how that's coming! I'm also curious as to how you peen a wooden pommel. Very interesting! How are you planning to Wrap the grip?

-Michael F.