Got together with Jason Elrod today and did some cutting. We took a few quick videos while we were out... nothing much, as we were clearly more focused on cutting than video taking :) , but thought I'd share.

(there's actually a couple vids I will share later of two of Gus's swords... but Jason's supposed to share his views first, so I'll let him do that before I post those, or post my comments on them. That's my way of prodding him to actually do it. :) )

By the way, as tempted as I am to let people believe that's a concrete block we were cutting down onto, it's just a big block of styrofoam.

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This was with Jason's new Armart Swiss Saber that he bought off of forumite Karl Knisely. I can't believe I didn't snatch this piece up when I had the chance, it's fantastic! I'm very jealous that Jason got it, but at least I can visit it. I'm not used to swords with such dramatic curvature, which meant my sense of distance was off during my cuts: I kept "gutting" the targets rather than cutting them completely in half. But man, oh, man, does that thing slice beautifully.

Here's another video of it in action, where I was more determined to cut the whole target rather than just let it die painfully:
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Next up is a brief interrupted clip of me with my Henry V from A&A. That's a real "handy" little guy. I'm a big fan of it.
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Here're two with the Albion Talhoffer, one of my favorite handling longswords of all time. For an Oakeshott Type XVa, it cuts surprisingly well, though as one may expect from the type, it doesn't cut nearly as well as more dedicated cutters. Still, it holds it's own quite nicely.

The target is at a low angle, so you may notice that my cuts are definately adjusted for this. Nice practice for fighting 10 year olds, I guess. :)
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And a second:
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Enjoy!

It looks like you had much fun! I love the sound of that saber's slice! :cool:

Bill, if it's just a block of styrofoam, then why in the first Talhoffer video did it appear that you were concerned about your sword connecting with the foam? Granted, you don't want to destroy your support for the milk cartons, but it looks like your ability to cut effectively was hamstrung by the fact that you were trying to avoid any impact at all.

Nifty. It looks like you were going to complete a second cut with your Henry V, but the video ended before you could.

And where'd you get such a large block of styrofoam? :eek:

I am interested in your assessment of the Talhoffer's edge retention and cutting ability. I understand that it is not a dedicated cutter, but would I like to do test cutting with a Ringeck and expect it to be similar in blade section.

Have you cut any sapplings with the Talhoffer? If so, how does its edge hold up?

At the bottom of this ARMA page there are some videos of test cutting with the Talhoffer. These are more substantial targets. There seems to be a problem with the file of the pell striking (I have been unable to open the file.) They do not comment on how the edge held up. If it had fared poorly, I would have thought that there would be some mention of it.

http://www.thearma.org/Videos/NTCvids/testing...erials.htm

Quote: "Cutting's just one aspect of study, which needs to be combined with various other methods of training, but by itself proves very little."

Very wise words. As much as I enjoy cutting, it's quite obvious that your form is much better than I could ever dream of because you have studied all the aspects, and it shows. These are the things I look forward to doing as we study more in-depth in our little part of the world.
Looks like you had a lot of fun, and thank you for sharing the vids with the rest of us.