Posts: 180 Location: Washington, DC
Thu 25 Sep, 2014 8:13 am
Thanks gentlemen, I'm glad you like it. :)
Radovan, good question about the pommel. I would have loved to have some kind of side view of the pommel for a number of reasons...I'm almost certain there is additional etching along the sides of the pommel, but since I couldn't see it clearly I chose not to invent something.
I agree that the pommel is slightly lenticular. Mine actually is as well. It started as 3/4" thick overall, and then I rounded it so that the sides are 9/16 thick while the center remained at 3/4".
I think the lighting in the photos of the antique accentuate the curve of that surface, but it may have more curve than my version. I was actually surprised by how lightweight my pommel turned out. I was worried it would be too heavy, but that was unnecessary. I didn't weigh it in its original blocky 3/4" thick form but once I had rounded it it weighed only .5 lbs, which is on the low end for my rapier pommels. This turned out to be fine for the Hanwei blade I used, which is hollow ground and quite light. I was also aiming for a
balance point close to the hilt which many stage combat folks prefer. A WMA rapier fighter might prefer a longer blade, and the slightly further out balance point. The blade on the original is about 41" long (based on scaled images).
So, its possible the original pommel is more massive (thicker in the center) or even that it's less massive. (more lenticularity resulting in thinner edges). It would be great to examine the original up close......