[J Anstey]

I know there are a couple of people on this board who have the Albion Conan Fathers Sword.

THis has been bugging me for a couple of months now and I am interested if anyone has this same issue as I have?

There is a 3mm gap between the scull fitting where where it fits to the blade on one side only. The other side fits perfectly. I raised this question with Albion and there response was that - "it is not meant to be symmetrical - and this is how it appears on the original. "

If this is the case then it is okay by me, I was a bit surprised as I didn't expect to see such an odd feature on a $3250.00 sword.

See pic for illustration of issue.



Does anyone else here have the same feature?

Many thanks

Jason

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Travis C.]

Wow, a very cool sword but that gap would really bother me. My opinion: Regardless of the reason for the gap, it doesn't look right and surely Albion will fix that up for you if you specifically ask them to. They are known for their outstanding customer service.

[J Anstey]

... they said they would attempt to fix it if I wanted but this is how it is meant to be, unfortunately the cost to sent an 8lb sword and box to the USA from Australia and back is gunna be real expensive.

I will be interested to hear if others have the same appearance on their sword?

Cheers

Jason

[Alex Oster]

I own both Conan swords, and both have their quirks. i would have preferred if they had cleaned up the molds and their fitting a tad as well, but i am happy to know that they are exact copies as well. My Atlantean originally had a blade that was bent a good 1/16"-1/8" off of center. it was very noticeable when looked at down the edge, and I sent it back to be fixed. They did send me a new sword, but it was actually a whole new sword, and not just a fix of my blade. It ended up going out a bent sharpened well colored #39, but came back as an unnumbered unsharpened heavily blackened sword. I resent it back again, and finally got it all sorted out. A little inconvenient to fork out shipping (which shouldn't really fall on the customer when returning a defective product) and waiting additional time from the initial wait time of preordering, but I am a happy customer. Though I was a little disappointed at the high cost of the t-shirt I asked for when i forked out the $3k on their sword. (shouldn't that be a complimentary thank you gift?)

Anyway, call em up and express your thoughts. I know they will do what they can.

[J Anstey]

Thanks Alex,

I have no problems with it being authentic, if am ill-fitting part means it is correct, but It does seem a bit out of place on a 3K + sword that took 6 odd months to get?

Does your fathers sword have this same issue as mine? This really is my only concern, if we all have the same fit - then there is no need for me to feel concerned.

I understand your frustration at not getting a free T Shirt which really seems pretty mean when you bought both swords and had to go through the hassle of sending one back to get fixed. I suppose you got told the "there's no profit margin in any of their items " - go figure.

Cheers

Jason

[Lin Robinson]

[Gary A. Chelette]

I'd leave it as is, Jason.

The trouble and time to possibly get it corrected is not worth it in my opinion.
You still have a fine sword and that's all that counts.

[J Anstey]

[Sammy Jackson]

I think your absolutely in the right by wanting to get this fixed. id expect a 300$ sword not to have an issue like that. but 3000$ Albion should cover your shipping cost and fix it for free. if other swords dont have that exact issue. keep tryin'


Sam

[Gary A. Chelette]

[Chris Boler]

Jason, I have Father's #309 and it has the exact same problem. I have had it about 3 months now and it bothers the crap out of me too! When I first got it I emailed Mike Sigman about it and a few other concerns I had. He gave me the same response, "it was that way because that is how it was on the original". I personally don't like that answer. They made a few changes to the blade, so why not correct this flaw also. Since they made some minor changes to the blade these swords are not "exact" copies anyway. I hope that they all are really like that as he says, but the skeptic in me thinks that maybe they are just being lazy. I truly hope that is not the case. I too would like to hear from other owners about this issue.

Chris[/img]

[J Anstey]

[Chris Boler]

Jason, I will look at that when I get home. Also, I am new here as of today. How do I post a pic, I want to show you something else on mine and know if yours is the same.

Chris

[J Anstey]

Hi Chris

the easiest way to post a pic is the use a free host. I use Photobucket.com it is very easy. Register, then go to "My Album" and it will ask for a location of the pic.

Click the location on your computer - then upload.

If the pic is very large, click on edit and choose resize - the select message board forums and it will resize.Save it

Then it will give you a number of options - choose the last one - copy the address it gives on this option and paste it into your message on this thread and it should work.

Preview the post to check and then submit.

Cheers

Jason

[Jean Thibodeau]

I wonder if it's not just a question of a fitting error in the original casting being duplicated in the copies ?

One side fits flush to the surface of the blade and the other side has a 3mm gap: The slot for the blade and tang may be off true by a small amount ? if the fitting was changed so that there was an equal gap of 1.5mm on each side it would look symmetrical and NOT annoying.

Seems to me one can call this a case of not correcting an original fitting flaw in the original casting or a decision to not do a correction ?

Was this a decision to not correct this or did it simply escape notice until it was to late for an easy inexpensive fix ?

Making a change in the original casting model may involve much more than I know In time or cost or if they are using
" THE " original casting, making a correction would involve making a new wax sculpture that even if very close would be too different to be considered a copy of the original ?

Just trying to see how a case can be made for or against. ( Playing both sides against the middle or devil's advocate in both directions at the same time ).

[J Anstey]

Absolutely Jean.

I am interested in both sides as well. It appears from their website that the part in question shows and even gap of say 1-5 mm even on both sides. It is hard to tell from the small pic though - if this is the case then I have been told porky-pies.

I really think the 6 - 9 month waiting plus the price on these deserves a bit more care.

I am still waiting on the Atlantean which I ordered at the same time - I really hope that this one is okay - $6000.00 on production swords in one hit is a lot of $$ in anyones terms.

Funny thing, I was interested in buying another of theri $2750.00 swords and asked if they could give me a discount based on the fact that this would be close to $9000.00 in less that one year. I got a total flat out refusal. "whilst they appreciate the business there is no margins in their products for any discount" To me this smacks of arrogance.

Having said that they make wonderful swords and their response to questions are always very friendly and prompt.

Cheers

Jason

[Chris Boler]

I have actually given this a lot of thought (3 months worth) and I would agree that the gap is a result of the casting just being that way, and they are all probably the same, I just wanted some confirmation that mine was not flawed. Since the hilt is one solid piece, and very sturdy, I doubt that the gap is the result of the burr you mention Jason, but I will look for it and let you know what I think. That being said, the only way I can see to fix it would be to disassemble the sword and heat the hilt enough to bend the gap out, and even that might not work because it may distort or stress other parts of the hilt. This is something that probably would have needed to be corrected while Albion was still working with wax to get the new molds made from the old, and it bothers me that they chose not to do it. I say chose because I don't believe that they overlooked something like this. That's just my opinion though, someone else may like it better for authenticity.

Chris

[J Anstey]

from their website?!?!?!?

[Alex Oster]

Well, mine is an original unreplaced #39. It went from the production line into the box and into my hands.
I took some pictures of it for you all. I do get the feeling that after a while there was some kind of change in the making process. i don't know when it happened, but i got the feeling that they started making them a little differently and that resulted in a slightly less quality product. I'm sure it won't be claimed as such, but it was a feeling i got after see so many over the years.





There you go!