Hello and thanks all for the owerwhelmingly positive response.
Glad you like what you see :) .
The color of the pommel that seems to go towards yellow is a result of lighting and reflexes, I think. The guard and pommel ar both forged from the same steel and treated with cold blueing that is rinsed and rubbed with fine steel wool to get a lighter grey finish.
You could apply that finish to the blade itself, but I do not think it would be durable, as any resharpening would wipe away the thin surface. On a hilt it will keep longer and might eventually blend with natural darkening of the metal.
Regarding the duel specification: this is something that relates to a number of aspects that work together: mass and heft (dynamic balance) edge geometry and edge shape/sharpening.
If a similar sword was made for the battle field rahter than to be aiming towards personal defence/duel I would change the charcter of the heft and the edge geometry. I would make the blade stiffer and give it a sturdier point. It would probably end up a bit heavier as well, but it does not have to be much less agile, just with a slightly different character in the swing.
Historical type XIVīs are also varied like that: some are more crisp and nimble, others sturdier. I like both kinds :)
This time, however the goal was to make a sword that offered as much as possible in attentive and ready balance: a cool willingness to act with the precision and timing of the swordsman.
Hypothetical question. Could a sword with handling properties similar to this one be made by changing the grinding processes on the Yeoman/Sherriff blade blank to build an Albion NG "dueling sword" XIV to add to the stable, the thought being to save R&D on having to design a blade blank from the ground up? Might be a worthwile project considering the folks studying I.33.
. . . not that the Sherriff is slow by any measure, but I'm just saying. . . :)
Cheers!
. . . not that the Sherriff is slow by any measure, but I'm just saying. . . :)
Cheers!
Peter, your talent is so awesome and extraordinary!
Something I know each and everyday when I pick up my Albion Vassal that you designed for Albion Swords!
My eyes bugged out when I first saw the art concept of the Vassal, instantly I knew I had to have it, no matter the cost!
Now I look at this creation you did of the medieval sword and once again my eyes bugged out!
Sometime, when your up in Wisconsin at Albion Swords I gotta drive up there to meet you and shake your hand. Besides, I'd love to see they're shop where all their beautiful swords are created!
This sword is truly beautiful and I love what you did with the crossguard and the whole sword from pommel to blade tip!
It's a Hummer!
Sincerely,
Bob
Something I know each and everyday when I pick up my Albion Vassal that you designed for Albion Swords!
My eyes bugged out when I first saw the art concept of the Vassal, instantly I knew I had to have it, no matter the cost!
Now I look at this creation you did of the medieval sword and once again my eyes bugged out!
Sometime, when your up in Wisconsin at Albion Swords I gotta drive up there to meet you and shake your hand. Besides, I'd love to see they're shop where all their beautiful swords are created!
This sword is truly beautiful and I love what you did with the crossguard and the whole sword from pommel to blade tip!
It's a Hummer!
Sincerely,
Bob
Just adding my complements on a very attractive sword and I also like the piercings in the guard.
The blade looks a bit narrower than the Sovereign or is it the same (close ) width but only looks narrower because it's has a longer blade ?
How close would the handling be to the Sovereign as a point of comparison ?
The blade looks a bit narrower than the Sovereign or is it the same (close ) width but only looks narrower because it's has a longer blade ?
How close would the handling be to the Sovereign as a point of comparison ?
The "Homage" sword is around 1150 grams, so it is right between the Sovereign and the Yeoman/Sherriff in mass. The blade is longer and a tad less wide at the base. I also use different diameters on the wheels for my belt grinder, than what is used at Albion (metric vs. imperial). All this makes for sublte differences in character.
The "Homage" sword would be closest to the Yeoman/Sherriff in feel and the greater weight of the "Homage" would partly be from a proportionally heavier pommel.
Both the Sherrif and the Yeoman were developed to have a lighter blade than the Sovereign, just to meet the interest for slightly handier siblings of the Sovereign. I canīt see another version of this blade that is even lighter: that would demand a fundamentally different design. An even crisper edge geometry is difficult on a sword model of this type that is going to be used by so many different swordsmen, with different styles, expectations and skill levels.
Fine tuning a sword like I did with the "Homage" really belongs to the realm of sinlge piece custom work. It is basically different from swords that has to work in a series, allowing for inevitable small variations, still resulting in good performance and lively dynamics.
There is also a difference in price as well...
A sword from my workshop will end up about five times higher in price than a similar sword out of the NG line.
While I spend a couple of weeks or a month working on a single sword, Albion will produce quite a few more swords in that same time period.
The "Homage" sword would be closest to the Yeoman/Sherriff in feel and the greater weight of the "Homage" would partly be from a proportionally heavier pommel.
Both the Sherrif and the Yeoman were developed to have a lighter blade than the Sovereign, just to meet the interest for slightly handier siblings of the Sovereign. I canīt see another version of this blade that is even lighter: that would demand a fundamentally different design. An even crisper edge geometry is difficult on a sword model of this type that is going to be used by so many different swordsmen, with different styles, expectations and skill levels.
Fine tuning a sword like I did with the "Homage" really belongs to the realm of sinlge piece custom work. It is basically different from swords that has to work in a series, allowing for inevitable small variations, still resulting in good performance and lively dynamics.
There is also a difference in price as well...
A sword from my workshop will end up about five times higher in price than a similar sword out of the NG line.
While I spend a couple of weeks or a month working on a single sword, Albion will produce quite a few more swords in that same time period.
| Peter Johnsson wrote: |
| Fine tuning a sword like I did with the "Homage" really belongs to the realm of sinlge piece custom work. It is basically different from swords that has to work in a series, allowing for inevitable small variations, still resulting in good performance and lively dynamics.
|
Out of curiosity... How do you fine tune a sword's dynamics, as a smith? I'm asking because I'm currently figuring out ways to balance for example a stick, to reproduce reliably all the dynamic caracteristics of a given sword (i.e. point of balance and pivot points). I see several possible strategies to do that, depending on where you add/remove mass, and what goal you seek at each stage. I'd love to hear your opinion about that.
Aside from that, I have to echo what everybody else said... Kind of a dream sword indeed :)
Regards
| Vincent Le Chevalier wrote: |
|
.... Out of curiosity... How do you fine tune a sword's dynamics, as a smith? I'm asking because I'm currently figuring out ways to balance for example a stick, to reproduce reliably all the dynamic caracteristics of a given sword (i.e. point of balance and pivot points). .... |
Hey Vincent,
I canīt really give a good and full ansver to that question in this format. It would demand far too much time and space.
You can get a sketchy idea of sword dynamics from balancing a stick, but it will never really tell you the details or how they work together, as a stick has uniform mass distibution while a sword blade does not. That is the real core of the matter: the *self balance* of th sword blade, *unmounted*.
You need to work with this first, and possibly re-work it as neccesary. Redo untill satisfed. Much more time is spent with files and stones than with hammer and anvil.
After you have set a good basic blade shape, you can start experimenting to see what type of balance give what results and determine the ideal you seek.
Vary grip length and pommel weight and you will see rather quickly the general tendencies of how vibration nodes, balance point and pivot points work together.
Read through any of my many posts on this topic and you will get a more detailed description. I have outlined the principles many times.
I cannot stress enough that you need to start with a good blade shape to get anywhere near a proper sword. Sword shape and dimensions also need to correspond to actual types (not just the out line and ball park weight). Otherwise a rapier will never behave like a rapier, nor will a long sword behave like a long sword. This is *not* a case of determining pommel weight to find an optimal balance point, but start and end with blade shape, cross section & distal taper.
There are far to many swords made today that are just like sticks of steel mounted with pommels and guards.
This is not just a matter of subtle differences, but really a difference like night and day. It has an especially big impact on what you can acheive with fine tuning a sword to seek specific combinations of node placing and pivot point spacing. A straight stick in wood or steel will not give the same results as a proper blade.
You can also get drastically different results with blades of different type/character. It has to do with how quickly and how much the mass changes along the length of the blade. Different types will naturally behave in certain ways, just becuase of "signature" mass distribution according to type.
What I look for when fine tuning a sword is how the manipulation of the placing of pivot points and nodes change the feel and function of the weapon. I seek a personal ideal, but also keep an eye to what is in the character of the type. You can do this using your intuition, but I find it really helps looking for specific things in the dynamics & comparing to data from originals as a support for the search of the intuitive "perfect".
Peter,
Many thanks for this interesting answer. Actually, it seems that what you observe is closer to what theory suggests me than I expected (so there must be some truth in physics after all ;) ).
I will not expand on that in this thread, but for the record my goal was not balancing a stick with just a pommel, as I'm convinced that it cannot work (a mathematical proof can be made), and it has been said many times before indeed. So I allow addition or removal of mass anywhere along the stick (thus including a possible tapering of the "blade" part), the idea being to determine how "far away" from a simple stick the sword I'm trying to mimic is, dynamic wise. So in the end of the process I'd expect my stick not to have a uniform mass distribution at all...
I think I'll start another thread about that tomorrow, and stop hijacking this one now :)
Regards
Many thanks for this interesting answer. Actually, it seems that what you observe is closer to what theory suggests me than I expected (so there must be some truth in physics after all ;) ).
I will not expand on that in this thread, but for the record my goal was not balancing a stick with just a pommel, as I'm convinced that it cannot work (a mathematical proof can be made), and it has been said many times before indeed. So I allow addition or removal of mass anywhere along the stick (thus including a possible tapering of the "blade" part), the idea being to determine how "far away" from a simple stick the sword I'm trying to mimic is, dynamic wise. So in the end of the process I'd expect my stick not to have a uniform mass distribution at all...
I think I'll start another thread about that tomorrow, and stop hijacking this one now :)
Regards
| Vincent Le Chevalier wrote: |
|
I think I'll start another thread about that tomorrow, and stop hijacking this one now :) |
Vincent,
Please have a look through our Spotlight Topics, as this subject has been discussed many times.
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