[Jesse Belsky]

Here is a swept hilt rapier I just finished. I was hoping to sell it at the SAFD Summer Sling hosted by FightsFour in NYC last weekend, but no luck. Some of these pics show it with a "Musketeer" double-wide epee blade, and some show it with a hanwei practice blade. Its available with either blade for $425 (musketeer) or $450 (practice rapier). I'll post some construction shots at the end...not too many, since my hands were pretty full. Hope you like it.
Jesse

[Jesse Belsky]

More Pics

[Matthew Stagmer]

Hey Jesse. Lookin good. Swept hilts are a favorite of ours to make. I sent a few nice blades up with Lewis Shaw that he mounted for Summer Sling.

Thanks for posting some in progress pics.

[Jesse Belsky]

Hey Matt, thanks. Complex hilts sure are complex! You guys do a lot of great looking decorative stuff on your rapier hilts. There are so many styles to try out, which puts mastering any one type way in my future.

Lewis brought some beautiful stuff to the Summer Sling. I'm sure you guys got a chance to see that great hand-and-a-half with the fancy filework guard and half wire, half rayskin grip mounted with one of your blades. Maybe he'll post a picture here on the forum and show it off.....

[John T.]

Hi, Jesse. Some great stuff on your site. Please forgive my ignorance but, these are meant for full contact sparring? How durable is aluminum--I know aluminum baseball bats are quite tough. Can aluminum be used against steel and come out okay?

Thanks.

[Jesse Belsky]

Hey John, thanks for checking out my website. The aluminum blades I make are designed for stage combat, which is similar to full contact sparring but with more blade control. 7075-T651 is the only type of aluminum that's functional for fighting swords, and that's what I use. Its what they use for lots of airplane parts, where strength and durability are really important. The blades are made to stand up to heavy use against other aluminum blades, but aluminum blades can't be used against steel blades. The harder steel will chew them right up and ruin them.

Aluminum is used extensively in the film industry for lightweight stunt weapons. My blades have a more robust cross section than a steel blade of similar shape (or an aluminum film prop made to look exactly like a steel blade in close-up), and nice rounded edges. That keeps them strong and durable enough to handle theatrical stage combat, rather than just being chewed up and replaced at the end of a few film takes like a movie prop. They are lighter than steel, so they are faster and more maneuverable (and more controllable) than a steel swords. I also construct my blades to ring like steel swords. In live theater, there's no foley, so they have to sound real.

If you were interested in swords for WMA contact sparring, I would probably modify the cross section slightly to provide an even broader edge, and better mimic the weight of a steel blade. Like any blade, steel or aluminum, the more surface area involved when blade meets blade, the less nicking the blade will sustain.

hope that makes sense.....

[John T.]

Thanks for taking the time Jesse.

I think I get what you're saying--if I want to use your swords for "dueling" fun I'd need two!

Seriously, I really like that Hanger 1. Hopefully at some point in the not too distant future...

Keep up the good work.

[Jesse Belsky]

Thanks John, I appreciate it.

And just to clarify for anyone wandering down this thread, John was asking about other weapons on my website. The rapier at the top is steel bladed, so you can feel free to bang it against whatever you might want......