[Michael Pikula]

Here is a sword that I just finished up and wanted to share with everyone. For this piece I wanted to play with the general blade design of the XIV.6 and XXI.1 from Medieval Records. The both blades jumped out at me when I first flipped through the book and I have been playing around with how I wanted to interpret this design, and what kind of handling characteristics I wanted each to have. I have to say that the end result is some what of a bastard child that the two would have produced. I forged out a blank from L6 and ground it more to the shape of the Type XXI except I didn’t get the width that I was aiming for. I decided to carry on and finish the blade anyway since I didn’t want to waist the steel and I wanted to follow through the entire process see what factors of making this blade would require attention or might prove problematic. I decided to use three different radiuses for the fullers to get the required fuller depth, 4 inch from the base up to about 10 inches up, then a smooth transition to a 2 inch fuller that goes up to about 22 inches, then finished off with a 9/16 wheel. After that there was a lot of hand rubbing to get all those transition lines to blend away. I then had the joy of realizing that grinding the edge without hitting the ridge line was a sort of joy, or pain, or huge pain.
I took a blend of the two swords guards, and once again used a proportion equation to try to get an initial sense of what size my guard should be to fit the aesthetic proportions of the XIV.6. When Oakeshott said “It’s a big sword” he was not kidding. I forged out a blank and started to clean it up on the grinder and I really had to drop the proportioned dimensions so that everything would balance out. I decided to modify the lines of the original and add more curve, which is a characteristic of the XXI.1, however I still think there is a clear relation between the two guards. For the pommel I decided to also make 10 surface facets, however I made the center indent larger from the original.
I decided to experiment with doing some nice risers on the handle, I think it turned out really well, all though not being 100% historical. If someone is interested in this blade but wants the grip to be stripped and regripped plain, it can be arranged.
I had a lot of fun making this blade, despite all the challenges that it decided to throw my way. I will be attempting a full sized version of both these blade when time allows, but that is for another day. I am asking $1500 plus shipping for this piece. Here are some stats.

Overall: 36 3/4”
Blade: 30 3/4”
Fuller length: 27 3/4”
Width at guard: 2”
Width 2” from tip: < 3/4”
Weight: 2.1 lb
CoP: 20” from guard
Balancing Point: 4 1/2” from guard

Here are some pictures, enjoy!

[Tim Seaton]

amazing work i love the lines in the blade well done

[Scott Kowalski]

As with the last one. The quality of the work coming from your shop is impressive. I really like the proportions of this one.

Scott

[Bruno Giordan]

Great work with that fullers, really.

Quite a difficult geometry to produce.

[Sam Salvati]

Mike, it is always a treat when you post up a new work, it's always something new, something extremely well done, and very attractive.

[G Ezell]

I love the double fullers, excellent blade!
You are on a roll...

[Jean Thibodeau]

Impressive work again and very tempting ....... Maybe later next year the financial situation will be better as I still have some projects to pay for, but if you continue making very complex and unique pieces like this there should eventually be one I won't be able to resist.

[Michael Pikula]

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys. Sorry I wasn't around sooner, I have been finding a good shop rhythm the past couple of days and two 12 hour forging days have sucked me in. I'm glade to hear that my work is getting some recognition, although I think I may be redoing the grip on this one since it appears a little too bulky. I think it feels pretty good in the hand, but visually it competes with the pommel, and it was pointed out to me that a grip being too large will hinder performance. Never too late to make things better!

[Carl W.]

Might wait for more grip feedback, could save you work. fwiw my vote is it does not take away from pommel. I also liked the similar risers you put on "one of 8 seaxes". As long as could have been done, & (if) works functionally, nice subtle-enough unique addition. But maybe I'm wierd, get more votes? Until a buyer provides trump vote.

Like the sword too.

[Michael Pikula]

Very true Carl, I am going to wait for a bit with doing anything to the grip since I have a couple of things that have priority right now. But in a few weeks when I get caught up and have an open schedual I might consider tweeking out some pieces that are hanging out on the rack that haven't moved.