hi there, recently my sword has kinda vanished, either lost or stolen i dont know which.

instead of buying an of the shelf blade to replace it, i hope to buy a bare blade (reenactment grade) and have a custom hilt fitted by a friend. do you know people who would be willing to sell a bare blade for a fairly reasonable price, the type of blade is similar to most viking swords, mostly parralel, central fuller, etc.

a type X, XI in terms of the oakshott typology since i ntend to replicate the sword in the fresco of joshua http://s1337.photobucket.com/user/AlaeSwords/...4.jpg.html https://periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/byzantine-sword-type-joshua/

ive been warned away from hanwei blade blanks since the steel quality seems to have been sopmewhat sub par of late so that's not an option, what other places?

would albion sell a bare blade that they would make for their skirmish line swords?

As far as I know, these are the current Albion offerings. They are to my understanding not completely finished but are mostly finished in terms of the grinding to complete the final edges...that step is left undone and will need to be completed, assuming that is what you want.

http://www.albion-swords.com/bareblades.htm

Note - these blades are NOT the same as the NG models. So for instance the type X listed in the bare blades section is not the same blade used on a particular NG model. I have heard these bare blades may be the blades used for the 1st Gen line but can't say for certain. This is all what I have heard and read. The general public really can't get specific NG bare blades unless they get one off of an NG sword or once and awhile Albion offers items that may not be perfect in the moat sale. They did this a few months ago with a number of blades and the sold out in minutes.

If you're shooting for something Byzantine: I think the 'Riding Sword' is probably pretty close to what you need. Could make a pretty decent spatha type sword with that. Alternatively the type X is likely a good option as well, or the Celtic longsword blade.

I dont think the blade blanks will work since this blade would be for reenactment combat rather than display or cutting. So unless they can be converted im not sure they can be useful.