What is the best cutting longsword in the $500 range or below and why? Anything more expensive than that and most people are afraid to scratch it.

The new valiant practical line seems to be a very nice cutting sword.

Atrim are also very good swords...although it is pushing that 500 limit somewhat.

I think those are leading the pack ATM...

The review on the Albion Armorers Squire Line Late 13th Century Great Sword seems to suggest that it is a decent cutter.

I've really been impressed with the performnce of the Windlass 15thc. longsword I recently
got.

Too, the new Hanwei / Tinker collaboration longsword and bastard sword will be well worth
looking at...........

My Generation2 Dordogne is a very good quality cutter and the soon to be available HenriV looks even better as there is a great improvement in the handle aesthetics and proportions: Assuming the qualities of durability and good steel is maintained, and I have no reason to think they won't be as good, the Generation2 swords have the potential to be among the best on a quality/price basis and now seem to be getting much better looking like period swords.

If it is to your taste the Angus Trim tac longsword is meant to be a bit of a beast. Not at all historical looking but this sword with a blackened finish is very visually striking and is on my "to get" hit list.

One thing about Gen 2, both old and new, that I recently discovered is that they are very soft...probably in the 30s, maybe low 40s (rockwell).

Now in the past, I would have cried about how terrible this is, but I no longer think this is necessarily a bad thing. Being that soft, they are more prone to bending, however, they are also easier to straighten. Swords bend. That's a fact. If you haven't bent a sword, you haven't used it enough...keep using it, and somethign will happen, a heavy mat will fall off a stand, you'll botch a cut, you'll hit the cuting stand, etc. Eventually, it's going to happen, and it's not a big deal...straighten it out if you can, if you can't, send it to someone who knows how to do it. Historical swords ranged in hardness from very hard to iron, and so Gen 2 clearly falls within those parameters.

I had to straighten several swords at our last cutting event, and two of them were Gen 2 swords...the same sword, but different generations. One was their new and well balanced one, the other one of their older designs. Both cut well, and both straightened easily. I consider that acceptable.

Just don't get me started on their historical accuracy (or rather lack thereof)... :)

Could kick myself for forgetting to mention these folks....


Armour Class.....if their hand & a half handles & cuts anything like my Mortuary it's
definitely another good choice to consider.

Michael;

Oh, by light sharpening I mean NOT using a belt grinder and not having to remove much material: I used a diamond hone and the steel didn't seem soft to me. Been sharpening 60 R.C. knives for decades and really soft steel feels different, but that doesn't mean that my impressions of hardness are accurate and that I can tell by feel the difference between 50 R.C. and 60 R.C. but maybe 30 R.C. ? Oh, I just checked using a very new and fresh file and it does cut the steel fairly easily.

( Oh, not saying that this sword is anywhere near to 60 R.C. : Not that it should be :lol: How close to 30 R.C. or closer to 50 R.C. ???).

Did a quick and not too extreme flex test and with a 30 degree bend it returns to true. ( Didn't want to actually bend it ).

I also, hit the 4" X 4" post on which the target pumpkins were stuck on deliberately two or three times and the sword cut into the post 3" to 4" and my sword didn't take a bend: Not that I'm saying that this contradicts your impressions and I'm only giving you what I observed.

Difficulty in hand sharpening seems about the same with the Dordogne as with the Windlass Coustille I hand sharpened from their standard unsharpened edge. A Windlass medieval chopper that I sharpened has much softer steel than the Coustille and the point on it bent when I hit a phone book but was easy to straiten.

Without some laboratory testing it's hard to quantify these vague impressions with any certainty except for very ballpark values.

Cheers.
Jean

I think that Gen2 swords are very different with every new batch. Some are very durable and well tempered and some are pretty bad. One friend of mine had their blunt stage sword, it broke soon after bought and he could saw different colors through the profile and the guy in the shop told him that it is the sign of bad tempering... And it broke just too easily... I bent mine Gen2 12th century sword from the same batch. I was cutting branches and I know it's not recommended, but it bent too much too easy and my 15th century Windlass longsword endured even thicker branches and more abuse... All in all, I think you are taking a risk when buying a Gen2 sword.

I wished nothing like that would happen but it does. We do have tighter controls (what can be done when we do not have a controlled environment and all is done as centuries ago) and they are getting tighter.

Last year is when we went to even thinner blades and realized too late that during polish the blades were getting to warm too fast and that was an awful issue to deal with. Since then we quickly fixed that issue and have more check and balances in place.

Now I am not going to lie and say it will never happen again, because I am human and our foundry is human and we are not perfect. And I refuse to be a machine. :lol: .

But we are ways better than 4 or 5 years ago. :D

I for one am confused about all the negative reaction to the idea of softer blades. Added resistance to bending comes at the cost of added difficulty in straightening, and longer edge holding comes at the cost of more difficult sharpening and edge repair.

My sword wasn't soft, just had bad heat treatment. It's edge was very hard, held edge excellent, didn't roll or chip... The same thing with broken blunt.

Shurg, I think it's that 30 number. It does seem really low. 40s yeah, but 30s?!? I had an old cleaver that was RC 30ish (28-31 range from about 5 tries). I loved that cleaver because you can sharpen it a razor edge with just steel in 3-6 strokes. Sure it dulled fast, but it got back to brand new fast too. I don't think I have ever seen ANY sword that soft. Hell I haven't been able to find any knives that soft to replace that with either.

Here is a link to Craig Johnson's article on blade hardness in period swords:

http://www.myArmoury.com/feature_bladehardness.html