Another new sword just arrived from Neil Burridge, a Naue type II. He asked me to post photos and a review, taking special note of the REALLY nice job of edge-hardening that he did! I'm only too happy to oblige.

Overall length is 24-1/2 inches (c. 61.5 cm), weight 1 pound 10 ounces. Only one side has been roughly sanded, so it still needs to be finished.

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The raised ridge running through the hilt is a channel for the molten metal, so it needs to be ground away, and the side flanges need to be thinned a little, too. Easy work.

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The detail photos of the tip and blade show the hardened edge, which has yet to be actually sharpened. You can even see the tool marks--it was hammered to that shape, not ground.

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Whoops, looks like the tip photo is a little too wide to post--try a link:

http://www.larp.com/hoplite/NBNaue2c.jpg

Thank you, Neil, great sword! In case you don't already know, you can see other lovely pieces that he sells on his site,

http://www.templeresearch.eclipse.co.uk/bronz...r_sale.htm

Enjoy,

Matthew

Looks really good. The tip link is a good illustration of the problem with work hardened edges, i.e. you can't easily work harden the tip, only the edges leading up to it. If you do hammer the tip to harden it, it ends up being rounded. The same evidence seems to be present on museum examples (some at least) thar I've seeen. Neil has done a very nice job on this one though.
Geoff

Very nice Mathew -- Hoping to get one myself sometime in the future.

M.

Thanks for posting your new sword, Matthew. I keep thinking about redirecting my interests towards Bronze Age, and I would like to get some of his pieces.

But isn't the tip already quite serviceable for thrusting? Looks like it already has quite a sound shape, even if the very apex was not as hardened as the rest.

A hardened tip might not be that important as I think the non-worked hardened bronze is probably hard enough and strong enough in it's softer state: The hardening of the edges is not so much because it increases hardness of the edges for structural reasons but that it makes the bronze capable of taking a sharp edge. I think the hardening might even make the edges slightly more brittle but not too much if not overdone.

Oh, if the hardening is more than very shallow and is through the entire thickness of the edge and point, a rounded point might be files back into a sharp point instead of a spatulate one without removing all the hardened bronze. ( A question I'm not saying that this is so. )

Also a spatuale but sharp point is still very effective in a thrust and very effective for tip cuts.