Info Favorites Register Log in
myArmoury.com Discussion Forums

Forum index Memberlist Usergroups Spotlight Topics Search
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > Suggestions for Pommel Cross guard parts Reply to topic
This is a standard topic  
Author Message
Aaron Justice




Location: Southern California
Joined: 21 Aug 2003

Posts: 183

PostPosted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 3:44 pm    Post subject: Suggestions for Pommel Cross guard parts         Reply with quote

I have been looking at a moat sale blade at Albion. I want to assemble a blade myself, but I have been looking for hilt components. They have a few pommels there, but no crossguards for a early medieval sword, preferably cruciform style.

American Fencers does not have pictures of their fittings, and if they are anything like on their regular blades, I don't particularly care for them. Other places sell brass pommels and crossguards. VA Armouries no longer has their parts and pieces page, and I think my only recourse is to cannibalize another sword unless I can find a better option.

How can there be a perfect sword when PEOPLE come in all shapes and sizes too?
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website AIM Address
JG Elmslie
Industry Professional



Location: Scotland
Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Reading list: 28 books

Posts: 272

PostPosted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 5:50 pm    Post subject: Re: Suggestions for Pommel Cross guard parts         Reply with quote

Aaron Justice wrote:
I have been looking at a moat sale blade at Albion. I want to assemble a blade myself, but I have been looking for hilt components. They have a few pommels there, but no crossguards for a early medieval sword, preferably cruciform style.

American Fencers does not have pictures of their fittings, and if they are anything like on their regular blades, I don't particularly care for them. Other places sell brass pommels and crossguards. VA Armouries no longer has their parts and pieces page, and I think my only recourse is to cannibalize another sword unless I can find a better option.



Bar stock steel, say, 8-10mm thick by 12-15mm by 30mm length, cut to size, 4mm drill bit and 3-4 holes, drilled then and filed for the tang slot to fit, then attack a bench grinder to shape it from a rectangle to a tapering cruciform gaddhjalt type cross, then smooth the surfaces ground with a decent file in a vice, then use emery paper and smooth it steadily through to the finish you want?

if you've got the basic metal work tools, its an absurdly simple type of cross to make from bar stock bought from virtually any steel stockist around.
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Ozsváth Árpád-István




Location: Romania
Joined: 27 Apr 2008

Posts: 131

PostPosted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 9:20 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I made my crossguard from the same 7 mm leaf spring that I used for the blade. It's a bit thin, but stronger than a thicker piece of mild steel. It wasn't a easy to drill through and make the recess. Only dentist's tools were able to cut through regular drills and files were useless. I used an angle grinder with a small disc to make the rough shape of the recess and I finished with the Dremel.
For the disc pommel I payed about 1,5 $, it was a 5 minutes job on the lathe. The really painful part was fileing the 7 mm hole to the trapezoidal shape of my tang, 7x14 mm on one end and 7x9 mm on the other. My pommel was 50 mm in diameter, so I invoked all the saints from the heavens while I wasted 7-8 hours doing this.

It's hard to find a matching crossguard for your blade, so I suggest to make your own. Use the method suggested by JG Elmslie. It's not so hard to make one using only basic metalworking tools. Remember to go slow and and take long rests to regain focus. If you get tired or frustrated it will be very likely to mess up the tang slot and later it will be very difficult and annoying to make a tight fit.

If you don't have any metal working experience buy a few beers to someone who has. An experienced worker with decent tools can make it in half an hour. Ask him to make the slot a bit smaller and leave the final adjustments to yourself for it's time consuming.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Boyd C-F




Location: Nelson, New Zealand
Joined: 08 Oct 2008

Posts: 57

PostPosted: Sun 13 Jun, 2010 12:45 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hiya

Just out of interest, how did the cutlers manufacture the hilt furniture in period?

Did they drift a hole when forging the crosspiece, and clean it up from there? Or did they drill from a solid blank as recommended above?

Cheers

Boyd
View user's profile Send private message
JG Elmslie
Industry Professional



Location: Scotland
Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Reading list: 28 books

Posts: 272

PostPosted: Sun 13 Jun, 2010 5:51 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Boyd C-F wrote:
Hiya

Just out of interest, how did the cutlers manufacture the hilt furniture in period?

Did they drift a hole when forging the crosspiece, and clean it up from there? Or did they drill from a solid blank as recommended above?

Cheers

Boyd


in period, I think it would almost certainly have been done hot, and a drift through, possibly with a little fettling after. to be honest, I'm not really sure what date drilling in metal as a mechanical process became viable. Anyone know about the history of drills? Happy

the blank is far less efficient in terms of material wastage than hot-worked, but then nowadays, the material cost is so low (I can get a bar of mild steel in those dimensions for £2 ) that almost all processes are far more wasteful as its more cost-effective to waste material, than the time taken to make it more efficiently.

says something about the world we live in, does'nt it...
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Jonathan Blair




Location: Hanover, PA
Joined: 15 Aug 2005
Likes: 9 pages
Reading list: 2 books

Posts: 496

PostPosted: Sun 13 Jun, 2010 6:34 am    Post subject: Re: Suggestions for Pommel Cross guard parts         Reply with quote

Aaron Justice wrote:
I have been looking at a moat sale blade at Albion. I want to assemble a blade myself, but I have been looking for hilt components. They have a few pommels there, but no crossguards for a early medieval sword, preferably cruciform style.

American Fencers does not have pictures of their fittings, and if they are anything like on their regular blades, I don't particularly care for them. Other places sell brass pommels and crossguards. VA Armouries no longer has their parts and pieces page, and I think my only recourse is to cannibalize another sword unless I can find a better option.


http://www.chevalierdauvergne.com/ click on their Theatrical weapons, click choose a weapon, then search down for guards and pommels (available in steel). Unfortunately, the shipping is more than the pieces.

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." - The Lord Jesus Christ, from The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, chapter x, verse 34, Authorized Version of 1611
View user's profile Send private message
Jim Mearkle




Location: Colonie, NY
Joined: 20 Mar 2004
Reading list: 3 books

Posts: 113

PostPosted: Sun 13 Jun, 2010 8:09 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

The Sword Buyer's Guide forum has a sticky thread on places to buy parts for customizing western swords. Perhaps you can find something there:


http://sbgswordforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?...read=14090

Jim
View user's profile Send private message


Display posts from previous:   
Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > Suggestions for Pommel Cross guard parts
Page 1 of 1 Reply to topic
All times are GMT - 8 Hours

View previous topic :: View next topic
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum






All contents © Copyright 2003-2024 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Basic Low-bandwidth Version of the forum