Del Tin Sword blank -- myArmoury.com

Nathan Gilleland · Posted: Fri 25 Apr, 2008 10:46 pm Post subject: Del Tin Sword blank

I was browsing the web, when I found a Del Tin "Orcrist" sword blade.

It seems like a decent price for a sword blank ($140), but I know nothing of the quality of Del Tin swords. Can anyone advise me as to what kind of quality Del Tin is known for?

Has anyone handled the Del Tin "Orcrist"? Could you let me know how it handles?

Thanks so much!

B. Fulton · Posted: Sat 26 Apr, 2008 2:40 am Post subject:

Quality is good to average. I've met the man, and been to his shop (we're nearby). Some of his pieces are very beautiful. Most are intended for re-enactment/display i.e not actual combat from what I can gather, but most are fairly well balanced. My wife has a custom made rapier from him (why we were there), a Milanese ladies' duelling rapier from the 1600s I believe it is, and it feels good in the hand, well balanced and up to it's task (fencing) with a blunt end put on.

Several of his 13th/14th century and Norse type blades I handled felt good in the hand. Don't know how they'd hold up to cutting myself, I'd have to test a few.

Chad Arnow · myArmoury Team

We have reviews of many, many Del Tin products on our Reviews page.

Luka Borscak · Posted: Sat 26 Apr, 2008 1:48 pm Post subject:

I have Del Tin 2142 warsword and I'm very happy with it. Much better than anything I owned by Windlass, Hanwei or Generation2. Very durable blade, tempered excellently, I would say. It survived some hard cutting and no damage to the blade, edge still sharp... For $140, even without the hilt parts, go for it.

Nathan Gilleland · Posted: Sun 27 Apr, 2008 6:10 am Post subject:

Thanks for all the comments guys!

I'll check the reviews page to see if there's a review for the Orcrist sword.

If anyone owns this sword and has any recommendations, they are greatly appreciated!

Lin Robinson · Posted: Sun 27 Apr, 2008 10:05 am Post subject:

I know that Donnie Shearer, who is a member of the Glasgow (Scotland) Hammerman's Guild, uses some Del Tin blades for his basket hilted swords. In my opinion that is a pretty good endorsement.

Stephanie Maks · Posted: Tue 08 Jul, 2008 10:40 am Post subject:

I was doing some searches and just came across this thread... I am also interested in this Del Tin sword blank.

Does anyone have experience with this particular sword? Nathan, did you get one of these?

I occasionally do some cutlering work as a hobby, and would like to work with a real sword (as opposed to the ultra-cheap / fragile touristy stuff).

-Stephanie

Nathan Gilleland · Posted: Tue 22 Jul, 2008 2:05 pm Post subject:

No I didn't get it.

I was sorely tempted, but my finances are suffering at this particular moment. Worried

If you buy it, could you post pictures of what it looks like once you put fittings on it? I love to see what people come up with!

Stephanie Maks · Posted: Wed 23 Jul, 2008 5:25 am Post subject:

I did buy it. At the moment, I'm making some modifications to the blade, and designing the hilt. I plan to finish it in a celtic-inspired style, I've been studying a lot of celtic hilt designs and am going to go for something like that. Organic but not anthropomorphic. Once it is done I will post some pics.

Cheers!

-Stephanie

Stephanie Maks · Posted: Tue 12 Aug, 2008 5:19 pm Post subject:

It's taken me a while to get back to this - progress has slowed quite a bit but it's still ongoing.

The following picture shows the overall blade, then a closeup of the tang, then finally the original blade image (from Albion's Moat Sale page). I have removed the fancy ricasso and the flared shoulders; the blade is now 28" long and the tang about 4" longer than original. I cut the ricasso away using a dremel-style rotary tool with heavy-duty cutting disks. I kept the sword in a wet towel, except for the area I was working on, and it never got too hot to touch during the process.

Drilling the three rivet holes took a lot longer than the cutting. The one nearest the end of the tang was easiest as that part of the sword isn't hardened. The other two were very difficult going; I used cobalt bits and ended up destroying three bits in the process of drilling those two holes.

Also visible in the pictures is a brass guard-plate, or rather, the piece of brass that will become the guard-plate. I've also made a smaller brass plate that will be used as a 'peen-block' or plate, and when the handle is fully assembled I will cold-peen the tang. The rest of the hilt will be wood, and I have it roughed out, ready to start the filing and fine shaping. The hilt will be held in place by the three rivets and the cold-peened tang.

-Stephanie

Nathan Gilleland · Posted: Wed 13 Aug, 2008 6:11 am Post subject:

That's looking really nice!

I can't wait to see the finished product!

Excellent work!

Stephanie Maks · Posted: Sun 14 Sep, 2008 8:05 am Post subject:

It's taken longer than anticipated, but I've nearly finished this project. I should have it completed by next weekend, and I'll post pics then.

The design went through a few changes and adaptations as it progressed. My original intention was a Celtic-inspired sword, but what I've arrived at is more inspired by the Roman spatha. It's not historically accurate, nor was it intended to be, but it's a sort of hand-and-a-half, organic hilt design that draws from the spatha, while still retaining a bit of my original Celtic inspirations.

Due to the spatha-esque design and the hand-and-a-half length grip, I've started thinking of it as a "Spath-and-a-Half". Happy

Pictures next week.

-Stephanie

Stephanie Maks · Posted: Tue 23 Sep, 2008 6:25 pm Post subject:

I have "finished" working with this sword. For now at least. I do almost all my work with wood because I don't have any capability to work with metal. Hence the original Celtic plan then the Spatha plan. As I was finishing this project, I found I was growing more and more dissapointed with it. The feel of the blade really deserves a metal guard and pommel. I was more or less pleased with the wood guard, and taken independantly of the blade I think the guard is ok. It is made of purpleheart wood, and my first disappointment was when I tried to get more purpleheart to make the pommel, I found out my supplier was out of stock and didn't think they could get more. So I went to get walnut (figuring at least it would be dark and contrasty with the oak grip) and they were out of walnut too. I ended up making the pommel from oak, dyed with a walnut stain. Confused

By that point I was frustrated and unhappy so I rushed the pommel, leading to the rough uneven appearance there.

Anyhow, it was an interesting construction project, the grip is rivited obviously, the guard is held in place by friction and the grip and then the pommel is held in place with a small brass peen-block over which the tang is peened.

Due to the lightweight organic hilt, it is very blade-heavy and feels like a good cutter but a bit slow in handling. The COG is about 5.5" from the guard, and the COP is at about 20" or 21". The DelTin blade is still unsharpened.

I think I'll put this project away for now, then revisit it when I am able to do some work with metal - at which point I will drill out the rivets and grind off the peened end. The pommel and guard will go away and I'll try and replace them with more appropriate metal versions. The grip is good though, I will keep that. Perhaps try and do a cord/leather wrap.

Cheers!

Nathan Gilleland · Posted: Wed 24 Sep, 2008 10:48 am Post subject:

I really like what you did with it.

I can see how it might look a little rough, and I agree that having the guard and pommel match would be a huge plus, but I really like the concept of the piece!

Well done!