Today's update:

[ Linked Image ]
The Workbench: A Confederate Foot Officer's Sword
An article by Sean Flynt

[ Linked Image ]
Windlass Steelcrafts Confederate Foot Officer's Sword
A hands-on review by Sean Flynt

[ Linked Image ]
A Visitor's Experience: Alabama State Dept. of Archives
An article by Sean Flynt

As always, you can see our Complete History of Updates listed right from our home page.

You need to find some REAL sabers, Nathan ... B-)

Sean congratulations on a great series of articles and the level of detail on the " Workbench " article is very useful and interesting.

I think many people don't appreciate the amount of work that such articles take as it included doing the work on the sword and documenting it at the same time as well as writing clear and easy to follow descriptions of how effects were achieved.

As well the quality of the writing is evident in it's precision and at the same time entertaining style. :D :cool:

Oh, and the usual " myArmoury " quality of photography should also be favourably commented on.

Now I really want to take a trip to Alabama. But since I can't take any more time off from work for a while, I'll just settle for looking at the pictures in that excellent museum article again.
Cavalry sabers are neat, but production sabers always seem too big for me. Its nice to see what other people are doing with them though.

Sean,
I really enjoyed all three of your articles. It was great to read something completely different from what I might expect to find in a myArmoury feature. I expected to find the visitor's experience to be the most relevant to my interests, but I found that the workbench article was quite a nice arena in which to discuss the specific features of period swords and to share the detailed research you conducted to make your Windlass piece as authentic-looking as possible.

In addition to French swords of the Napoleonic period, Confederate swords are amongst the most widely faked swords on the market. I am curious about your thoughts on the ethics involved in antiquing a reproduction of such a sword. I like that you kept the plastic grip, but would it be obvious to someone that the grip core is plastic? When the sword does leave your collection, what measures can you take to make sure it is not mistaken for an original?

Thanks for your great contributions this week!

Jonathan

Sean,
Thanks for answering my questions. I hadn't thought of it before your response, but your article does give insight into what to might distinguish a modern-made artificially aged sword from a genuine period piece--very valuable for antiques collectors.

Thanks again,
Jonathan

Well done, Sean. The workbench articles are always enjoyable, and it was interesting to read what a bargain the WS sabre turned out to be. The big surprise for me was your article on the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Just from the name, I would have expected the place to just be a building filled with file cabinets and moldy old documents.

I know it's been a loooong time, but I just had to pop in and say well done, Sean. Your latest antiquing job is phenomenal! I have learned to appreciate Windlass' sabers too, so your review and workbench article caught my eye. Outstanding! Thank you. :cool: