Sometime last year I inquired on this board if anyone had dealt with Thomas Yeudall of Claymoe Armoury based in Scotland. I got basically one negative and one positive. I really liked pics another member sent me so I went ahead and commissioned the 75 inch Lowland two handed greatsword. Thomas was a true gentleman, answering each and every question, and kept in touch the entire time. The commission took a little over 3 1/2 months and during that time I decided to go ahead and commission a Two handed Highland "Claymore" from Thomas as well. He kindly suggested that I ship both together, saving me a ton on shipping.
After another few months the giant "coffin" shaped wooden crate arrived and the swords are amazing to behold. The 75 incher is suprisingly nimble and easy to hold. The Claymore is astonishing and a beast itself at almost 59 inches. I plan on getting a few shots in this thread today...camera issues..lol.....Stay tuned if interested..................Larry


http://www.claymore-armoury.co.uk/index.html

A few pics. I apologize in advance, this is a brand new camera and I'm still an embarassingly bad novice. I need Nathan to photograph my collection..lol...................Larry

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In the bottom picture, is that a stage steel spangenhelm. I bought one of those years ago for use in my live steel troop. I painted it and put the liner out of a hard hat in it. It's a beast especially with my 5.5 lb maile coif, but it has great viability and ventilation. With the paint job I did on it, it's very intimidating. I'm repainting it as we speak. I'll post some snap shots when I'm done. BTW, nice collection.

AHH Larry, a man after my own heart, lots and lots of two-handers. Awesome collection by the way, grats on your new beauties!

Whoa! Thanks for sharing the thoughts of your experience and, best of all, the photos! Any time you want me to photograph your collection, just throw them back in the coffin and send them to me!

Both the swords from Claymore Armoury are very nice. Thomas Yeudall sounds like someone who I would want to do business with.

Also thank you for sharing your collection. I am interested in greatswords and your collection has several I like.

I own the Windlass Sword of Pavia and while it is a very nice looking sword, I found the blade to be more flexible than I typically like. I noticed that you also have some large Windlass swords. If it is not to much trouble I would like your opinion of a couple of them.

Specifically the two swords I'm interested in are the Hero's Warsword and the Braveheart - The Sword of William Wallace. What is your opinion of each of theses swords? How flexible are their blades compared to the Sword of Pavia. Any information you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Wow! :eek:

Thank you for sharing your experience with Claymore Armoury and thank you for sharing your impressive (massive) collection with us!

Go big or go home. :)

I did not have a good experience with Thomas. He kept 400 pounds of my money for 2 swords that we ended up not coming to agreement on. He was anxious to get a deposit while we worked out the details. But once the details were not agreeable, he told me he was keeping both deposits of 200.00 pounds each. I was not aware that Thomas refuses to make sharpened swords. Once I realized this and I told him I could not go through with the purchase, he kept the deposit for both swords.

I would have agreed to him keeping 100 pounds for our discussions or such. However, keeping 400 pounds is unacceptable. This is why I will be very careful not to do buisness oversees: very, very vulnerable. I do not think highly of him obviously. The correct decision would have been to at least return one of the deposits or such. He tried to say he started working on the blade, which is nonsense since I never gave approval for anything yet as we did not reach any final agreement on price or total cost or anything close to final. One of the swords was his standard highlander sword. We didn't even discuss that sword. Once he told me he would not provide them sharp, I simply told him I was not interested. I made the mistake of sending him a deposit too early, which really isn't a mistake when dealing with a good person. In any case, his decision to keep all 400 pounds was simply wrong. He did not offer to return the deposit on either sword. Most people would have given the deposit back or at the very least give 50% of the deposit back. I simply did not know he was unwilling to make sharp swords. 400 pounds is a lot of money to keep. Totally disgusted with my experience.

Sorry to hear aboutn your experience. I wasnt concerned about having them razor sharp, they have an edge similar to Del Tin blades. I wanted heirloom quality Highlander and Lowlander swords and Thomas delivered in a big way. I cannot imagine a better made Claymore available on the market, and I own many........................Larry

I'm wondering, and this is just a shot in the dark here, but do you like claymores or something? ;)


On a more serious note, I'm sorry to see Chris had his bad experience with this Thomas, but I'm also glad to see that Larry got some nice swords from him.

Thanks guys. You should see the looks on faces of friends when they behold the 75 inch Lowlander in person...lol