Hello:

I am wondering if there is anyone who can make a custom hilt? I thought a fun project would be to get the Hanwei Tinker longsword blade and put a custom hilt on it that is like the hilts I've seen in a fechtbuch.

These were vicious dueling hilts I saw in Talhoffer's fechtbuch (I think). The metal pommel had three spikes. One spike points back along the sword's centerline. The other two spikes point left and right parallel to the cross guard. I think the cross guard was pointed at each end too. If not, that would be a cool feature to have.

The point being (no pun intended) these were more vicious dueling versions of the longsword. I think they were made with half-swording techniques in mind where one uses the pommel as a weapon. I am surprised a replica is not available on the market. It looks so cool.

I encourage others to pursue this idea too if you want a mean looking sword in your collection. I was surprised when I first saw these swords, but they made perfect sense given the apparent dueling context in which they were being shown.

I simply don't know how to make my own hilt. Thank you.

You might try Christian Fletcher. I have one Angus Trim sword with a custom hilt that he did, and he's made scabbards for three of my Albions. He does outstanding work.

Christian has done this type of work for me. He is always top notch! I'm sure most smiths wouldn't mind a little extra money for a quick project these days...contact one you like! It never hurts to ask.

This is very interesting to me and something i have been wondering about for quite a while now. There is a definite trend in people wanting to put together their own swords. As such we have seen a could of companies, Albion and Hanwei, providing blade blanks. What I'm curious about is why no one has stepped up to provide a line of quality hilt pieces. It seems like there is a definite market for it and in an economy where many people can't afford to buy swords they might be more willing to buy hilt pieces that hey can use to "dress up" their current swords, or build new swords using blade blanks. It just seems like a gap in the market that could be fairly lucrative for someone. Sorry I hope this isn't too off the topic. I'd love to see some company jump on this.

Yes, you wouldn't have a "mount and go situation" but you could set it up so that after a little work with some hand files the pieces were ready to mount.

Matt at BKS (Baltimore Knife and Sword) has done this for me before, and I know he was talking about even starting to do some semi-production hilt components. I would contact him and see what he has to say...

Dustin,

Tinker is doing 'aftermarket' mods to the CAS Hanwei / TInker line swords, including guards. Not sure if he's set up to do one like you're envisaging, but could be worth contacting him.