I recently purchased a used Windlass Mainz Pattern Gladius and decided to make a few modifications to it in order to improve its' appearance and handling.

First I disassembled the sword.

I then radiused the tang / blade shoulder junction. While I had the sword apart I re-polished the blade from an almost mirror polish to a satin polish using a gray Scotch Bright pad.

Next I stripped the the old finish ( a reddish stain that hid the grain of the wood) off the guard and pommel. I re-finished both of these pieces using Watco Danish oil.

The plastic grip was replaced with a hardwood (I can't remember which hardwood) grip I made.The replacement grip starts out round in cross section near the pommel and gradually changes to a more oval shape as it gets closer to the guard. It also was given a Danish oil finish.

At this point I replaced the 1/4" steel guard plate with a 1/16" brass plate and inset it into the base of the guard.

I also filed grooves into the pommel nut to improve the way it looked.

Lastly I reassembled the hilt using epoxy to help strengthen the hilt.

Here are some photographs of the sword:

The sword in its' original configuration.
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The modified sword.
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The blade tip showing the satin finish.
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The Hilt
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The guard plate
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The pommel nut
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It was a fun project to do. So much fun in fact, I just bought an used Windlass Pompeii Gladius and plan on modifying it.

I think that's a vast improvement, and the fact that you did it yourself simply makes it better. Kudos, props, praise!

Thank you Lewis. My Windlass Pompeii Gladius should be even better if everything goes as planned.