As of a week ago, my only real interests with the various baskets, was that they would work well for handprotection re sidesword action.....

Over the last year, I had sidestepped Mac, Alex McCracken, and one other individual about mounting an Eljay basket on one of my blades, several times........

That's all changed.......

Yesterday I received two Eljay Erickson baskets {mid 15th century, Mac has posted photos of the originals several times}. I mounted one of them yesterday eve, on a blade that had been pre- prepped. It felt wonderful, it felt like it would be relatively easy to be convinced to give them nasty Sassenach what for with this sword........

So, today, I would mount an Eljay basket on one of my blades in a somewhat custom way. Somewhat, because I won't design a new blade for this, but would mount virtually any blade I produce, to an Eljay basket, on a new Eljay order.......

As of now, I haven't notified Eljay of this, but I was the holdup over the last year. Now I would do it.... though there are details to work out with a couple of different individuals including Eljay.

Here it would probably be a good idea to describe what one would get in this.........

Mac describes the baskets as "munitions grade", but extremely accurate. I would use the term rustic, but extremely historically accurate, kinda like a village cutler would produce.

Tinker saw these last nite, and raved about the historical accuracy of the construction. I personally love these two.... but for the individual that wants a perfect finish, these ain't it..... nor will the combo fit and finish rival Erik Stevenson on the one hand, or Vince Evans on the other.....

What one would get is a very solid functional sword, with an extremely period accurate basket. Handle and pommel could be done by Eljay or Dawg. The sword would not be as pretty, as say, Vince Evans {the best baskethilt maker in the known universe}, Erik Stevenson, or Armour Class, but the basket would be as period accurate as any, and I think the functionality would be superb too........

Price? I don't know, depends on who winds up retailer.....but should be less than Armour Class............{of course depending on basket, as Eljay's baskets vary depending on how much work they are}.

Auld Dawg

:cool:
Cool!

This is exactly what we (lots of us!) have been waiting to hear!

Patiently waiting for more....

Hi Gus

I do believe the hilts that Gus got from Eljay are a similar style to this c.1560-70 early baskethilt !

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This is big stuff , people .......

Being able to purchase historically accurate custom basket-hilts , fitted to top performance blades, in a price ballpark that is affordable , is what we've been dying for ....... This, if everything works out, is gonna be wonderful !

Now Gus mentioned "munition grade" ..... okay, yeah .... munition in the sense of not every inside guard polished to a high level of finish .... maybe more of a rustic , original, look to them ..... the look of a piece right out of a museum !

Here are a few examples of what Eljay can do ......

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Just for the record ......
I fitted a Gus backsword blade to an Eljay 'Stirling' hilt ..... so I got the first one *g* Na nah na nah !

Mac

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Hi Mac

Actually, the baskets in my possession are 1550's Scot type baskets, not 1680's Irish type baskets. I've seen photos of similar baskets on 3 different swords. One of which I've seen you post out of some book, several times.......

On the "rustic" stuff, its an expectation kind of thing. A lot of folks are familiar with the Hanwei kinda finish of the baskets, and probably would be taken aback by spending considerably more money on a sword, and not having the finish be "better".

Others are familiar with what you get from Vince Evans or Erik Stevenson. "Show quality" I've heard it called.....

Well, the Eljay stuff is different. More accurate in a historical sense. Stuff that guys like you, Dave Wilson, Alex McCracken, Tinker, me and a few others familiar with antiques would love. But not the kind of stuff that folks that really like that shiny, flawless kind of finish would like.

What I'm trying to do here, is get the "expectation level" right with what we really have here. Match the potential sword fanatic with the right sword. These swords should make certain folk really happy, but they're not for everyone......

The thing is, the written word on the internet can only take you so far. Same with photos, they still don't give you the organic feel of having the sword in hand, and being able to roll it around, and eyeball it, swing it around, and maybe even cut something with it.............

Hi Gus

Hmm , guess I had the wrong one in my head ..... I swore you said 1650-1700 ?

Okay than, something like these ones?

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I absolutely love that early-style 1570's basket-hilt.

I know this is getting way off topic, but how can I let this opportunity go by without showing the version done by Vince Evans?

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"Lowland" basket-hilt, created by Vince Evans

There is no such thing as off-topic when a fine Vince Evans is to be shown !

What a beauty, Nathan *sigh* , Mac

Hi Gus

I edited my first post so as not to confuse people , and posted the right style you have !

Awesome.... I didn't know that this was the style you got ! Now I really want to test one *g*

Too cool , Mac

I just read all of the post and agree with Patrick ( as well as everyone else), this is a wonderful opportunity to make more baskethilts of quality accessible to more people. When I spoke with Nathan a few weeks ago he stated how important it was to see talented makers continue the tradition of arms making, and how he envisioned this site as a catalyst for such growth. I certainly concur with his vision. Angus, you are just finishing a sword blade for Erik Stevenson ( wide blade) that will be mounted on a sword for me. Glad to finally have some of your work on the way! This is really terrific news!


Ron

Well....

I got to see and play with the new hilt this morning.

I have to say a basket hilt makes you feel MUCH more manly!.... but as Gus said that just makes up for the skirt... :p

Ok sorry had to say it.


On to the hilt. They look great, Rustic is a great term for them. We need to develop a new pommel for them wich will not be a sculped holow one like on the VE peice. But will follow the weight and style well. Were also going to blue them with the deep simi-gloss black we get. Should smooth them out a lot and show off the shap with out me having to pollish them for 10 hrs (thus keeping the cost down and me intrested in them!).

We have not settled on final price yet but they should be priced well for a basket.

These sound wonderful- very excited to see some of these!

Hmmmm You have my interest on this one!!

Well, earlier this week, I designed a couple of pommels for use on a baskethilt, and "prototyped out" a sword using this basket and the blade I had chosen for the first two swords. Oddly enough, the basket not only affects handling dynamics, but in this case "assisted" the harmonics.

One of the reasons I never really caught the "teastrainer fever" was that back when Tinker was making four to six a year, I got the opportunity to test with him some. It didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that the basket, while great for hand protection, also was a bit of a liability for cutting performance.

Since I finally got to use a quality basket {Eljay Erickson's} to mount on a blade of mine, I took the opportunity to do so on a "proven design", such that I could take it apart, and mount it back up cruciform style, and do some testing.

The auld plywood test, does seem to indicate, that yes indeedie, the basket does hinder pure cutting performance to some degree. But in a real world environment where armor isn't much of a factor, I don't see this as all that bad a thing.

The hand protection trade off is probably well worth the drop in cutting performance. After all, the sword's main target would be a thick Kelt skull, or maybe having to cut thru a tartan to get to the squishy parts, or less likely, a Sassanach's red coat to get to same squishy parts.......

Since part of my thoughts in doing some baskethilts, is having a sword that would work for WMA "sidesword", and/ or the new experimental SCA "sidesword", this first blade is one that is adaptable for the role of WMA type blunt, or sharp. Meaning that mounted in a basket, its liable to be a bit heavy.

The baskets that Eljay supplied have a bit of mass to them. Having seen something several antique baskets, its obvious that many of the blades mounted in the antiques, are rather light compared to what I have made the last few years. Many of them are thinner in crossection at the base, and get really "fine" from the cop out. Swords definitly not meant for cutting helmets, or hard edge to edge action {the antiques that is}.

Eventually, if I really get into this teastrainer stuff, I will design blades strictly around the apparent requirements.

For now however, these first two will weigh just a tad over 3lbs. The first one, the one headed towards Mac in a week or so, has a cog of 3.6 inches from the cross, so its rather "handy" even with the weight.

There's only two right now, and the first one has been committed to going to Mac since last spring. There's been a lot of call for the other one, but there is only the other "one" right now. It'll probably be a few weeks before any more baskets find their way here, and probably a couple months before anymore Eljay baskets get here. Josh, as the "vendor" of these, really wants to step in here, and take over the fate of the second one. I think he mentioned another skirt wearin' teastrainer-o-phile here in the NW named Dave Wilson as a likely candidate to looksee the second one.......

aye, i threw my name down on the 3rd one or well, one of the next batch...