I'd like to share with all of you a project I recently completed for my brother-in-law. He had always admired my collection, but doesn't have the budget required to purchase an Albion etc. This was my attempt to get him a high quality sword at a price he could afford.The project started with a VA AT303s blade. I then modified a cross I had, and built a grip and pommel.. I was originally going to hot peen it, but my brother-in-law expressed an interest in having it with the take-down feature, so that's the way I completed it. For all you type D lovers out there, here's a shot of it next to its slightly larger cousin, my Albion Ritter.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Dan



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Hey! You did a good job. By the looks of it, you sure achieved your goal. Nice.

You have any more sisters? ;)

Excellent workmanship! Did you shape the pommel yourself? If so, did you take progress pictures? I know the DIY junkies here would drool over them, myself included.

Impressive! The pommel is top notch. You really captured the feel of the type D. Did you use any inspiration for the pommel?

Niiice :cool:

I'm still trying to get my hands on that type.

Wow that looks great Dan. It does look just like a scaled down Ritter. Did you do the pommel all by yourself from a block of metal or modify an existing one to end up like this? Either way that is a great job and your brother-in-law is one lucky guy. I know I am still very happy with the scabbard and belt you made for my Squire.

Nice and clean. These pommels are groing on me. I like the handle.

Very nice. How does it handle, has he cut with it?

Hey Dan, can I marry into your family too? Can I be your brother in law? ;)

Nice work, it reminds me of the high-quality job you did for me. I would have gone for the hot peening, but family is family.

Should that cross look familiar? Looks like a shortened version of something I sent you once.

-JD

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.
To answer a few questions: The pommel was about the only salvageable part from my brother-in-law's first sword...an Indian made SLO that was advertised as full tang etc. When he expressed an interest in cutting, I inspected the sword for him. It turns out that it had a stalk tang with a screw on pommel. Worse yet, the recessed threads in the pommel turned out to be nothing more than a nut glued into a recess in the bottom of the pommel and covered over with a washer. Needless to say I did not approve it for cutting and that was when this project began. The pommel was a nickle plated lump of steel vaguely resembling a cocked hat. I used my drill press to drill through it and to add the recess for the hex-nut. I used my dremel with carbide bit to key it to the tang. I then removed the nickle plating and began shaping it by a little forging, some angle and belt grinding, filing and finally several grits of hand sanding. Unfortunately I didn't take any progress photos (I'm afraid I rarely do). As far as inspiration, I used several examples from this thread. http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...l+examples
I would have liked to have the central peak be a little more pointed like many of the originals. However, I needed to leave enough room for the nut, hence its present shape.
As far as the cross, good eye J.D. ...yes that is a reworked Windlass Tiberias guard. I shortened the arms, filed the tang slot to fit and changed the shoulder slot a bit.
As far as how it handles: It's very light and maneuverable and performs quite well at bottle cutting.
Scott, I'm glad you still like the scabbard. I quite liked that one myself.
Feel free to ask any further questions,
Dan

Wow,very impressive work indeed.In fact,I like yours better than the Albion :D :p