Tinkers-Hanwei Great Sword of War -- myArmoury.com

James Cunniffe · Posted: Sat 05 Dec, 2009 9:00 am Post subject: Tinkers-Hanwei Great Sword of War

I am thinking of buying this war sword and need a little advice this swords specs are are a near perfect match to the Albion Duke XIIIa as I know the quality of the Duke is much higher and as is the price.I was going to buy the war sword shorten the handle and hot penning it ,so my question is am I wasting my money and ruining a good cheap sword by trying to make this sword more historically accurate and is the fuller to long on it to ever fall into the XIIIa class?
Any thoughts would be helpful thanks.

Joel Chesser · Posted: Sat 05 Dec, 2009 9:20 am Post subject:

I don't know about ruining it by shortening the handle, it would probably mess with the pieces handling dynamics some, if you are okay with that I see no reason why you shouldn't do it. maybe someone who has more experience with these mods will chime in and correct me. As for the length of the fuller, if you look at the Type XIII spotlight article on this site you will a couple of swords with similarly long fullers.
good luck, I hope you end up with a product you enjoy.

Steven McIntyre · Posted: Sat 05 Dec, 2009 2:06 pm Post subject:

An idea I had that you might want to try is to cut down a hex key, glue it to the nut then peen it down. that way it looks peened without permanently changing the sword.

Luka Borscak · Posted: Sat 05 Dec, 2009 4:54 pm Post subject:

I don't think cutting an inch of the tang will ruin the sword... I plan to do the same if I buy that sword...

JE Sarge · Industry Professional

It never hurts to try to improve the quality or experiment on an inexpensive sword - look at the amazing work Sean Flynt does on cheap swords. All you can do is make it better, and if you fubar it, well...you have not lost that much money. I'd say to go forth with your plans and keep us posted! Happy

Roger Hooper · Posted: Sat 05 Dec, 2009 5:03 pm Post subject:

If you shorten the hilt, you will be changing the harmonic balance that Tinker designed into this sword. Maybe the change in balance will be small or even to your liking. Maybe not. I sure wouldn't want to try it on an Albion, but it might be fun to experiment on a relatively inexpensive model.

Dan Dickinson · Industry Professional

As Roger said, moving the position on the existing pommel will move the nodes and change the balance somewhat. If you are going to do so and want the same balance and node position, you'd really need to change the pommel out to correct the balance and the nodes. However, not having done so on this sword, I'm not sure how much of a difference there will be (my guess is that the change in balance will not be severe and the node location will be within acceptable parameters).
I hope this helps,
Dan

James Cunniffe · Posted: Sat 05 Dec, 2009 9:17 pm Post subject:

All comments are very helpful and thank you all.My thinking is that both swords have similer specs the tinker/hanwei sword being just over 5oz heavier and with a 2'' longer handle differance from the duke the blade tinker/hanwei being 1/8'' shorter,so if i did shorten the handle and hot peen it ,it may not change its performance to much please correct me if I am wrong and again thanks for everyones help.

Eric W. Norenberg · Posted: Sun 06 Dec, 2009 3:49 pm Post subject:

Maybe if we're lucky, Tinker himself will catch wind of this and chime in himself. I do recall that Tinker mentions a shortened grip on his Hanwei Longswords as a theoretical customization option. Perhaps he's already considered this scenario as well.

My understanding of "nodes" and harmonics is limited, but I know Tinker puts quite a bit of care into placing the hilt node right under that lead hand. A shorter tang pushes that node further up the blade, away from the pommel, but an inch and change (in the tang) might not be noticeable. Perhaps adding a few grams to the hilt would draw the node back, if needed? Heavier pommel, a denser material for the grip, maybe even a wire wrap under the leather? Just throwing out some ideas, based on no practical experience whatsoever.

James Cunniffe · Posted: Tue 08 Dec, 2009 7:50 am Post subject:

Eric your right it would be great If Tinker could give some advice on this subject

Thom R. · Posted: Tue 08 Dec, 2009 9:18 am Post subject:

I would say you should modify the pommel rather than the tang. The hacker option off the top of my head would be to clamp the hex nut and take it to the drill press and carefully drill it out such that the tang end now slides through the hex nut. Add a washer or nut to act as a peen block over the top of thepommel/hex nut assembly. You'll have to shorten the grip to get the tang through the pommel. Might have to do some kind of further mod to the pommel to get it to slide through enough.

I would think the preferred option is to have Tinker make you another pommel that would slip right over such that you can peen over the top. I suspect that would still be cheaper in total cost than the Albion.

I do want to add one cautionary note - the Hanwei grip seems to be some sort of composite material (at least the grip on my bastard sword is anyway) and might have a little "give" in it over time which might require re-peening. tr

Luka Borscak · Posted: Sun 03 Jan, 2010 6:29 am Post subject:

I bought this swords few days ago and I decided it's best to leave it like it is. Threaded part of the tang is narrower than the flat part and the interior of the pommel is shaped in the same way. If you wanted to peen the sword you would have to reshape the interior of the pommel or make yourself a new pommel to fit on the tang so that the end of the tang goes out through the end of the pommel so that it could be peened over the pommel. It is doable but I think it might be best for you to leave it and love it like it is. And I do love it from the first moment I lifted it. Long grip gives you excellent leverage and handling is really great for such a big sword. I would like it to be peened out of the box for improved historical accuracy but I have no problems loving it the way it is. And the assembly with hex nut is practical.
So, James, I hope I helped you to decide what ever you will decide. Wink

James Cunniffe · Posted: Sat 30 Jan, 2010 9:13 pm Post subject:

I do agree with you Luke I bought one today. I like it ...cant say I love it . The grip leather... if it is leather I don't know, is very cheap looking and the feel, the rest of the sword is great , pommel and guard a bit shiny for me but I can get over that because they look so good, blade a wee bit whippy I think but I would like to know what you think Luke as you have one.Once I redo (cord wrap leather)and epoxy the grip to the tang and lock tight the hex nut,also when I do that I like to Solder over the hex nut to give it a penned look, I may love it.

Luka Borscak · Posted: Sun 31 Jan, 2010 2:31 am Post subject:

I do agree it's a bit whippy but I think it's not fair to take that as a minus point for this sword since with its design, broad relatively thin blade, you can't expect it to be stiff. Leather is not high quality on Hanwei Tinker line, but their value is in great blades. handling and very good harmonics. Grip and maybe even fittings should be modified if one doesn't like simple plain swords.

James Cunniffe · Posted: Wed 03 Feb, 2010 7:16 am Post subject:

Well now that I have a new grip on my GSOW I have to say that i love this sword . Luka you are right it is not whippy more of a flex which is expected in a blade this size. All said and done Tinker designed a great sword it was crazy of me to think to change any thing on this sword apart from the grip which of course was not done by Tinkers swords as it is a Hanwie/Paul Chen production.

M. Livermore · Posted: Wed 03 Feb, 2010 8:30 am Post subject:

When you dismantled the grip did you find that the leather was wedged in between the grip and the guard and pommel similarly to what folks have been finding with the norman and viking Tinker/Hanwei models?

Please share some pictures of your finished work with us.

James Cunniffe · Posted: Wed 03 Feb, 2010 8:51 am Post subject:

Yes the leather wedged between the guard also at the top of the grip by the pommel.When i took the old leather off there was light cord between the wood grip and leather ,the old leather I pulled it off with my fingers in a few seconds. The one photo is the new grip which I did myself it was my first time.The other one is the grip after I took off the old leather.Also after i did epoxy the grip to the tang I gave the pommel a hot penned look.