Hello,
it is slowly getting colder here in Germany again so it is time getting back into the workshop and start a new sword winter project. I have done a few sword "pimping" projects, most of them were Windlass ones. This time I got my self a Deepeeka Hersir for just 99€.

Well, within this price range my expectations were quite low. But after unpacking the sword I must say for 99bucks you get a quite solid piece of a "sword". I just call it " sword" because in the current state and form it is to heavy and feels just dead in my hand (no distal taper at all, fuller is too narrow) It also has a few symmetrical issues like a lopsided pommel, the holes in the upper guard are quite off and the blade has two noticable bends. But the overall construction is not bad at all. I really like that they went for a two-part pommel. Also the tang is beefy enough for my taste. It could be broader but it should do well. Better than some of other makers in this pricerange, for sure.
All in all, not bad Deepeeka, not bad. For 99€ I got a good platform for a sword project.

So, what is planned:
- grinding a propper distal taper
- widen the fuller
- slim down the crossguard
- shorten the grip
- reepeen the tang over the upper guard
- new wooden grip with leather wrapping
- scabbard

I will try to upload some fotos of the progress but it probably will take me a while to get this project finished...But hey. the dark season has just begun. Here are some fotos of the dissasembly.

Stats now:
overall weight: 1432g
blade weight: 834g
pommel weight: 305g
crossguard weight: 279g
lenght: 97cm
grip lenght: 10cm

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Actually, the fuller width and even the lack of distal tapering was something of a feature of Migration Period/early Viking Age swords. Having said that, I think distal tapering is a good idea, and certainly there would be nothing wrong with widening the fuller - both styles are in evidence for the period, IIRC. I only mention this since it is not really necessary to widen the fuller, even if it would definitely help with the balance, if only to save work.

The shape of the lower/upper guards and pommel are fairly typical for Petersen Type H swords - I would not modify the basic shape further.

If you really want to "pimp" this, I would suggest using a hacksaw to cut shallow (.5-1mm deep) parallel lines on the lower and upper guards, and pommel, and inlay with brass, copper, or silver wire.

Look forward to seeing progress on this!

Fwiw, it looks not all that bad to me so I suggest less (work) may be better? From pics...

Unclear grip area needs to be shorter?
A bit smoother (less abrupt) fuller edges may gain most benefit?
The pommel pieces also look maybe somewhat "too angular", maybe just a bit smoother would be good?

Just off cuff ideas fwiw, & can't judge feel from pics. Thanks for sharing & please let us see how it turns out.

Your absolutely right with the fuller. But I want it to feel lighter and better balanced and with a grinder it's actually not that much work to widen the fuller a bit. And yes the fuller egdes need to be smoother.

I thought about inlaying silver wire. Could be an interesting task. I might give it a try.

Concerning the shape of the pommel and crossguard. Yes the form is correct. No need to change anything except smoothing out the lines a bit. BUT... The cross guard is way to massive for my taste. Thickness needs to ne reduced a bit.

I'll try to get close to the dimensions of the Albion Hersir. In my eyes that's the sword Deepeeka tried to copy, anyway.

What are you going to do to grind a proper distal taper?

Leonard,

Firstly, love what you are doing here, and it looks like you chose a perfect blade to start with. It looks like it has all the right makings of an accurate reproduction if you can just refine the geometry a bit. May I suggest that you attempt to hollow out the pommel some? In period these pommels were nearly always hollow, and I assume this will improve the historical accuracy of the balance. Also, a hollow pommel will put you above nearly every modern reproduction since it is almost always ignored.

Second, please forgive me as I'm about to hijack this thread a little. Several months ago I decided to make a thread where people can post their sword upgrades and mods big or small and I decided to call it "Pimp my Side... Arm". Since then I've been picking away in paint at the image below (adapted from Pimp My Ride) 5min at a time and just finished it only to find out that you beat me to the name idea (or at least very similar). I'd still like to create the post, but I wanted to acknowledge that you were the first, and make sure you are ok with me going ahead with my post. I hope you don't mind, and I hope that you will post your sword on there with details when ready.

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