Hello
My new falchion weighs 3.30 lbs. with a 30" long x 2' wide blade .Is that out of line with original weights?

Thanks in advance

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As a generalisation, about 2lbs is normal. Thin-bladed and light slicers. The longer ones and really wide-bladed ones can be heavier (e.g., the Conyers falchion is 1.3kg (2.86lb); it's 1.2 mm thick at the widest part, but there's still a lot of steel there).

The 16th and 17th century ornate ones are heavier; maybe about 2.5lbs on average, and some are over 3lbs. I think these ones are either dress swords or hunting swords. I don't know about the thickness of the blades; some are ornate with deep fullers, so they're much thicker than the plain light "fighting falchions".

Del Tin makes a very similar sword, the DT5159 That one weighs 2 lbs 4 oz. As Del Tin typically overbuilds, I'd say that yours is heavier than it should be. Yours is 2.25 inches longer, maybe that's where the extra pound is located. :D

That is a really pretty Falchion! I like it a lot!!! I would prefer if it was much much lighter though. I feel that most blades these days tend to be overbuilt with big secondary bevels. I think I can see a big bevel on yours?

Hello
I have felt it to be a little heavy in the recovery,but not uncomfortably so,as it was with the, Albion Ulvbane sword ,I used to have
which was about the same wieght. The handle/grip, is a bit longer than usual on a one handed sword, and the pommel
is substancial.Ernie balanced it pretty good. I wish I`d had him put a finger ring on it,with a finger over the guard, its allmost perfect. The blade has allmost a straight bevel from the spine,with a little hand sharpened apple seed-ish edge. I believe it could cut the head off a bull with it. Not that I would (ASPCA disclaimer) :-)

i have a tricky question : against plate protected target (like hitting the helmet), does a sharp blade make mor bludgeoning damage than a dull (unsharpened) one because of the grip of the "bite" in steel ?
sorry for my poor english
cheers

J.G.Elmslie's the expert on falchions, with research papers or a book in production.
perhaps he could be asked?

From what I've read and heard him say however, your one could probably lose 1/3 of its weight - I remember him showing a langes messer with a 92cm blade that weighed just 1kg!

Hi Karl,

I admire your ongoing quest for a good single-edged single-hander!

James beat me to it - JG has documented many of the surviving falchions. I have to head out now, but do a search here and you should find a post by me that either includes his scaled images - or links to a thread that does. Not sure if the info he's already published online includes weights or not, but he's a very approachable (if busy) chap.

Does the spine of the blade taper distally? If I saw a blade like that I would expect it to have a dramatic convex distal taper at the beginning of the swell, remaining thin up to a couple inches from the tip, and then see a bit of thickening at the spine to create a strong thrusting point.

It's a beautiful piece however you "slice" it.

And as far as I understand, a sharp hard blade would bite into a helmet, and cause more force to be transferred than a duller blade BUT attacking a helmet on purpose with a cut would be avoided if at all possible.

If it were me, I'd be more tempted to hit a helmet with the back of the blade.

That plus the added pommel weight needed to balance it out.