Got these in earlier in the week and finished them up today.

The sword is a Generation 2 (Legacy Arms) Dordogne. The scabbard was decent, so the customer left it as is. We went with a simple angled frog suspension with a decorative celtic concho (to match the belt) and forward facing lacing. The grip of the Dordogne needed an ovehaul, so I re-wrapped it in pigskin and bound with cord for a nice textured feel in the hand. I added a central riser to the waisted grip and bloused the ends of the wrap to cover the steel bands and at top and bottom - giving the appearance of two more risers. All in all an improvement.

The dagger is a custom A&A with 12.5" blade. The scabbard is poplar covered in full grain leather with decorative risers. The chape with finial is forged from mild steel. The suspension is a simple laced frog.

The belt was done to the customer's request and is decorated in celtic cross conchos with alternating rows of antique brass rivets. The customer wanted something more flashy than a regular belt, so this one does the trick. There is enough slack in the belt for the customer to do a knightly knot which will accent the tip's concho.

Nice job on the Dordogne handle upgrade, I have a Dordogne and I also re-did the handle as these are fairly nice swords in need of a " facelift ". ;) :D :cool:

Good idea to hide the metal bands as it looks more historically correct but I sort of left mine visible and also cold blued the guard and pommel, satin finished the blade on mine as I didn't like the original close to mirror polish.

( Don't know about other Generation 2 Dordognes but the heat treat on mine is very good ).

Gave it a waisted look but mostly this with a thick and wide riser but didn't really reduce the diameter of the grip on the pommel side of the riser: Did you reduce this diameter ? Just curious.

The belt also looks really attractive.

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The sword and dagger shown here are mine. I expect delivery from J. E. next week.

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

Nice job on the Dordogne handle upgrade, I have a Dordogne and I also re-did the handle as these are fairly nice swords in need of a " facelift ". ...

Jean:
It was your favorable views previously expressed here at myArmoury concerning the G2 Dordogne which convinced me to purchase it. I definitely realized before ordering it that it would need the "facelift". The suede wrap was just a bit much. Besides the re-wrap, frog, a different chape, J. E. did a slight finish makeover to bring down the shine. It is a surprisingly nice sword for the bucks. I don't recall precisely, but I know it was under $300 from Kult of Athena a few months ago.

www.crusadermonk.com is the way to go for an amazing scabbard, belt, suspension, you name it without spending a lot of money. J. E. really works with you to give you value with a myriad of options. Many folks with high end Albions, A & As, etc. have their scabbards done there, check out the website.

Thanks for posting the pics, J. E., I'm looking forward to seeing the entire set back home. Both the sword and dagger have been transformed.

Jon

Thanks for the kind words, gents! :)

@ Jean: I can do and have done quite a few swordless orders without difficulty. You'd have to do the blade tracing and make me a photocopy of the hilt (so I can transpose the guard shape) - remit these to me via slug mail, and you'd have a scabbard within 2 weeks. The fit is not as perfect, but it would be pretty darn close. :)

Another thing of note: Soon, you will be able to commission a Crusader Monk scabbard from Kult of Athena for any sword they have in stock - though this will be in the future at a yet to be determined time. The sword would come to my shop, then onward to you once completed - typically in 7-10 business days. :)

J. E. Sarge said:

Quote:

Another thing of note: Soon, you will be able to commission a Crusader Monk scabbard from Kult of Athena for any sword they have in stock - though this will be in the future at a yet to be determined time. The sword would come to my shop, then onward to you once completed - typically in 7-10 business days.

Good going J.E., that arrangement has excellent potential for crusadermonk. It's also quite flattering that KOA would make that deal with you. They do quite a business. And just think of all the various pieces you'll get to handle. Best of luck with that venture.

I also have an Albion 'Prince' on order and will endeavor to get Albion to give me a tracing of the sword to send to you for a scabbard. I don't know if you have done a 'Prince' before and have the dimensions, which I assume are fairly consistent.

Jean, always a pleasure reading your informative posts which are all over myArmoury.

Jon

Various things have been discussed, but the way the process would work is similar to how you stated. You'd add your sword to your cart, then select the scabbard option. At that point, you would be able to select from pre-defined options, colors, suspension type, etc. The sword would then come to me, I would complete the requested work, and send the sword onward to you.

Further options would be available upon request from the customer and billed seperately if they wanted something more complex or an option which was not listed.

But, as I have said, this has been discussed, but it's something which is always subject to change and is not currently on a set timeline. It is being worked on though. I'll update when further information becomes available. :)