As a newcomer to this forum I have read topics on certain desirable features for sword selection. What interest me is, what is the preference of hilts that are peened or threaded and why.
As a design engineer I am very familiar with the strength of threaded joints, is the choice to have hilts peened purely one of historic accuracy?

Depending on the method of attachment, a peened pommel may keep the pommel aligned better. I have seen disk pommels that were directly threaded to a tang without a pommel nut, meaning that if it needed tightening, the pommel had to be shifted out of alignment unless it could be tightened exact half-turn increments.

Of course, a tang that goes through the pommel and is attached with a threaded nut also avoids this.

I do think that a peened pommel gives an impression of greater strength. I honestly couldn't tell you if it is stronger or not.

I suspect historical accuracy is a factor in most people's preference for peened pommels, although we know that some manuscripts show threaded pommels (Gladiatoria and one of Talhoffer's, offhand).

I do like the idea that a peened pommel is not going to start loosening off during use, although I know fittings can work loose regardless. Generally though, I personally like threaded tangs for ease of repair and maintenance.

I expect I am an anomaly as far as these opinions go.

I prefer peened pommels both for reasons of historical accuracy and for aesthetic reasons. My period of interest is the 9th-12th centuries. Peened pommels were the rule of the day during this period. I also happen to think they look a lot better than threaded pommels. The durability of a peened pommel is not that important to me as my swords mostly hang on my wall.

I don't like threaded tangs. In fact, I hate them. With a passion.

I have one sword with a threaded tang and pommel nut. It is impossible to get tight. I always get a rattle/ticking sound when at play with this sword. None of my peened swords do this. One of these days I will peen the threaded tang, but not today.

Frankly, I don't understand the whole reason for threaded tangs on medieval swords.

I'm ok with threaded pommels, as long as they are historically accurate.

So for a late medieval / renaissance sword, or for a contemporary sword I think it's fine.

I can completely understand people liking peened over threaded for the appearance of historical accuracy or for Aesthetic reasons (seems like these are both the same reason to me).

I can understand people hating the screw-on pommels that get mis-aligned if they need to be tightened.

however, when it comes to pommels the wood of the grip really shouldn't have a large effect on the tightness of the pommel in my opinion. a well fit pommel should snug up to the flaring tang and either get peened in place there or fastened in place by a nut. the peen or the nut should press the pommel against the tang NOT the wood grip. if the wood grip is what is keeping your pommel snug or not then your problem isn't a threaded pommel it is poor hilt construction. if the pommel is snugged against the tang properly then it is less likely to loosen and if it does anyway then I suspect that is more likely to be a sign of poor harmonics than the fact that a nut is somehow inferior to a peen.

in my opinion as an engineer of nearly 20 years a nut is every bit as good as a peen and probably even better. when you tighten a nut you are actually stretching the threaded rod inside the nut a little bit. this stretching is what is being measured by torque measurements. if you add a lock washer under the nut or if you apply some manner of thread locker you have an assembly that will take a LONG time to loosen even under hard use, and if you use epoxy or something similar you can create a bond that will last, if not forever, than at least a heck of a lot longer than a peen will.

this all said, low end swords rarely get this part of assembly right, and even some of the higher end swords still don't, but there are those that do.

there are also ways to disguise threaded and nutted assemblies to look like peens. so really I don't see the issue as being one of "to peen or to thread" but rather one of "what do I use as my compression points?" we just mistake the issue because so many threaded assembly swords are low end and done wrong to begin with thus ensuring their failure. we simple blame the wrong thing. the nut is innocent, it is the maker who is guilty of this crime.

Thanks Chad, I've been feeling rather feisty today it would seem. yes, you are correct, I knew that and perhaps I made my example seem more exaggerated than I intended. I was basically talking about the sandwich method but with the guard and especially the pommel fit so that it would snug up on the steel at the same time as snugging up to the wood core of the grip. obviously one wouldn't want the grip to be loose and I would think that having the tang made so the pommel could advance far enough along the tang to crack the wood of the grip before snugging up would be bad too. the pommel should stop on the tang before the wood is compressed to breaking point. the slight compression of the wood should do good things for dampening vibration in the hilt too. with the sandwich method it is very easy to peen the pommel in place then apply the wood core so that it compresses itself as it is applied. I think this is a very good method. I'm sure that historical swords made differently were done that way for a reason and I expect that they must have worked well for their intended purpose. obviously the craftsmen of old knew this game far better than I do. my point though, was much more geared towards modern swords and how they are made. I still believe that a nutted together hilt can be at least as good as a peen if not better, and that the determining factor of which one is better lies in the craftsman more than the method. I believe also, that the various screwing on and nutting down methods have become looked on as inferior because companies that seek to cut costs and take short cuts often find some nutting or screwing method cheaper (especially if they don't do it right) and they are more concerned with the cost than the quality. this obviously leads people who seek quality to dislike the methods used by these craftsmen/companies but it is the craftsman/company that should be disliked or at least the exact method used by that craftsman/company and not a method in general that can be done properly and well when done by a conscientious craftsman. I'm saying that if a craftsman takes the time to do it right there will be no reason to complain.

there will always be the people who like the peening method for no other reason than it is more historic and that is a valid argument. it is not a valid argument to say that peening is in and of itself a superior method from a mechanical or engineering perspective assuming work of the same quality in both cases.

Where I do prefer hot peened ,I also do own a Hanwei/Tinker and a Valiant/Atrim both of which are threaded. The tangs are beefy on both, I do like both swords,When I first got the swords I did epoxy the grips on to the tang making sure the guard was solid sandwiched then I used red loctite on the hex nut .After years of use these swords hilts have not moved there are as solid as you can get ,as solid as a hot peened ,yes i think so.I also cheated a bit by soldering over the hex nut filling it in and sanding it down which gives it a hot peened look.

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Chad you are right , that is what I meant ,a peened look LOL. You just cant see the hex nut with what I have done.

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that's a very sexy look James, I may just have to do that. what kind of solder did you use? there are so many different mixtures to choose from. I'm sure I could find one that would work but then I wouldn't be benefiting from your experience.

I have a few nutted pommel swords that have had the parts fit extra snug with compression on the tang and no glue or loctite or anything and at least one of them has been in my possession for several years of heavy use and never once loosened at all.

Tom I just used plumbing solder which I got off a friend. Wish i could tell you more .