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William P




Location: Sydney, Australia
Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 1,523

PostPosted: Wed 18 Jan, 2012 12:44 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

so it seems the 3.5kg weight is fairly typical for these blades, interesting.
ill be keeping lutel in my sights in future.
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William P




Location: Sydney, Australia
Joined: 11 Jul 2010

Posts: 1,523

PostPosted: Wed 18 Apr, 2012 11:39 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Emil Andersson wrote:
Alright, so I finally received the sword earlier today. I haven't had much time to look over it yet, but it appears to be quite well made, and it is an incredibly striking piece!

Here are some quick numbers for you to process. I've attached the catalogue image of the sword as reference. You'll have to excuse my metric measurements, although I'm sure it won't be a problem for you to convert them if you need to. Also, I'll describe the measurements from the viewpoint that the pommel is the bottom of the sword and the tip is the top of the sword.

Dimensions
Blade length from end of ricasso/just above flukes to tip: ~108cm
Hilt + pommel length: 45cm
Ricasso length (counting the entire leather-bound section): 25cm
Overall length: ~178cm

Cross width: 45cm
Side rings diameter perpendicular to the handle: 6cm
Side rings diameter at widest place (they're oval, you see): 11cm
Widthspan of flukes: 24cm
Blade width: 4.5cm just after ricasso and flukes, gently tapering to 2.5cm just before the point

Data
Weight: 3.5kg
Center of balance/gravity: ~16cm from the cross, just below the flukes on the ricasso
Center of percussion: ~58cm from the ricasso, which makes it about 73cm from the cross and 50cm from the tip

The blade exhibits an appropriate degree of flexibility (coming from one who's never held a sword close to this size before..) and it doesn't feel flimsy or wobbly at all. I ordered it unsharpened since I plan to use it in light drills with training partners, and it arrived with blunt edges and rounded-enough points.

I am quite happy with my purchase so far, although I will be pressed for time to find out anything in-depth about it at this point. Tomorrow I might get the chance to bring this beauty outside the cramped confines of my apartment. I'm looking forward to that. Cool

just bumping up the thread and asking how the sword handles out of curiosity, while my funds prohibit such a purchase.. im still very interested in their swords.
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Emil Andersson




Location: Sweden
Joined: 17 Oct 2010

Posts: 136

PostPosted: Thu 19 Apr, 2012 1:25 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hello William,

I don't have any prior experience to compare it with, or any other weapon like it in my collection, but in my opinion the sword has good handling for its size. When you set in motion the dead weight becomes a lot less and you can flow through guards and strikes just like if it was a longsword. I think it's a great training tool. However, the steel is softer than I had anticipated. Lutel claims a hardness of 48 HRC, but it has received some damage from less-than-intense slow-fencing with a significantly smaller sword. My A&A training swords (claimed to range from 49-51 HRC) has been involved in much more blade contact with the same sword and others like it without sustaining anything more than small marks. I didn't have any plans for using the zweihander in bouting anyway, but the lesser hardness in the steel will make me shy away from partnered drills, too.
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Aleksei Sosnovski





Joined: 04 Mar 2008

Posts: 313

PostPosted: Thu 19 Apr, 2012 11:10 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Keep in mind that a sword with a softer blade but thicker edge will receive less damage than a sword with a harder blade but thinner edge. I had a training "crowbar" with blade hardness of 45 HRC and it never got a deep nick despite a lot of edge-to-edge contact with considerably harder blades. It was because its edge was 6mm thick and edges of other swords were about3mm thick.
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Emil Andersson




Location: Sweden
Joined: 17 Oct 2010

Posts: 136

PostPosted: Mon 23 Apr, 2012 8:39 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Yes, that's true, the edge on the Lutel sword is only a couple of millimeters thick while the swords from A&A have much thicker edges. That still doesn't help to improve the current situation, though. I don't think the sword is very suitable for intense blade contact.

William, I have a short clip of myself performing a sequence with the sword on YouTube. You'll find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqwloeFI9Ug

It's the second half of the video. It's not much, but I think it'll show you how the sword can move in spite of its great size.
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Adam Bodorics
Industry Professional




Joined: 15 Apr 2005

Posts: 132

PostPosted: Mon 23 Apr, 2012 9:05 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Emil Andersson wrote:
I don't think the sword is very suitable for intense blade contact.

46-48 HrC is well within historic range, some being considerably softer. For such a long blade, a "softer" (to modern eyes at least) steel might mean the difference between snapping and taking a set if overstressed. I'm a bit reluctant to have my beater blades treated to be over 48 HrC for this very reason.
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Emil Andersson




Location: Sweden
Joined: 17 Oct 2010

Posts: 136

PostPosted: Mon 23 Apr, 2012 9:25 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

You know, I have considered the pure length of the blade as a reason to keep it a bit more soft. Perhaps that softness will also let it absorb edge damage better than a harder blade would.
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Daniel Wallace




Location: Pennsylvania USA
Joined: 07 Aug 2011

Posts: 580

PostPosted: Tue 24 Apr, 2012 10:13 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

theres another topic floating around there too that was describing the 'whippy' nature of these bigger swords. to absorb shock could be one factor another could also be the trade off of harder steel against softer. it's possible that softer steel is more forgiving to flex?
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Bill Grandy
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PostPosted: Tue 24 Apr, 2012 10:53 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Daniel Wallace wrote:
theres another topic floating around there too that was describing the 'whippy' nature of these bigger swords. to absorb shock could be one factor another could also be the trade off of harder steel against softer. it's possible that softer steel is more forgiving to flex?


Both soft and hard steel are going to flex exactly the same (at least to the visible eye). The "whippiness" of these swords is purely based on the fact that they are thin from being so large. To stiffen them, one needs more material in the cross section, which either means it has to be narrow in profile (like with an estoc, which is designed for thrusting and not cutting) or it needs to be much heavier.

I'm not sure where this idea of shock absorbtion that people keep talking about comes from, because you don't want to have extra shock absorbed and vibrating down into your arms.

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Luke Kramer




Location: Wisconsin
Joined: 10 Dec 2011
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PostPosted: Tue 24 Apr, 2012 9:49 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

This might be the thread you were referencing: http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=25739.

I handled the same blade as Scott did, and while it had a decent amount of flex, it certainly felt powerful and not necessarily "whippy".
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Daniel Wallace




Location: Pennsylvania USA
Joined: 07 Aug 2011

Posts: 580

PostPosted: Wed 25 Apr, 2012 8:32 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

yeah same thread Luke.

i was under the impression that there might have been a trade off between having a harder steel and it's ability to be forgiving under the stresses of flexing. as Bill is pointing out the difference are minute. it comes down to the design of the blade and how it acts under stress and its intended use.
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