In art sometimes the most difficult thing is to know when to stop trying to improve things. ;) :D :cool:

Stop when it feels right !

Very very nice sword by the way with a good sense of proportions and contrasting textures. :D

Good point Jean.... I don't know if you recall my Crannog short sword I started on a while ago but I guess I didn't know when to stop. :-) I kept messing with the deer antler fittings that they eventually just got too small! I got so frustrated with it I traded it off to someone else to finish.

A little more work...

Getting the blade ready for antiquing. I will use quick dips in ferric chloride followed by bleach in a spray bottle. When I get the amount of pitting that I want I will back sand to get rid of the oxides and most of the dark patina.

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And another mock-up of the components testing for fit, etc before peening it all home.

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Also... Here are some progress pictures of my digital sword kiln... almost ready!

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I will post some more pictures later but I have the hilt peened together.. this time using the 'hot peening' method as described on Albion's website... i.e. wedging the guard into place, using 2 part epoxy for the grip and then hot peening the tang over the block. I decided to use this method so as to not to stress the ancient bone overly much.

I've been out test cutting in my woods.. some heavy chops to larger dead oaks and then slicing apart the lighter tag alder brush. My first impression is that (as mentioned earlier in this thread) this hilt design certainly favors the hand-shake grip.. but hammer grip works for short hard chops.. .but doing this in a sustained manner would eventually rub the palm in a disagreeable manner.

If my assistant ever shows up I will have him shoot some video.

I also now realize that the hard edges on the guard and pommel will have to be radiused. I had a feeling that they would... but with the look of this sword they somehow seemed to fit. So I will file the edges down, polish and the etch to match the rest of the finish.

Oh... stats: Over all length: 30", blade length 25", grip including copper spacers 3 3/4". The blade, by itself, is 1 3/4 pounds. Total weight 2 pounds 10 ounces. POB 5" from guard. POI 14" from guard.

Tis a mighty short sword.

So here is what I consider one of my 'test shots' that I take to help find little cosmetic things to work on. I always end up tweaking after I do this. Tomorrow I will fiddle with the blade finish and probably fashion a different, more simple/reduced peening block.

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y'know i have come to really love swords like this that have that almost scarred look to them, the antler and copper beautifully contrasts with the greys and 'silvers' of the hilt and blade,
i also kind of like how relatively compact it is... its a touch shorter than your average viking sword i see online and such but i think the lack of a pommel that sticks out also has a big visual impact in making it much more compact looking..

Funny you bring up lack of a pommel William! I was just speaking with somebody last night on Facebook who has seen a couple more of these and apparently the pommel is indeed a 2 part affair more typical of the genre. I'm still waiting for my Peirce book to show up... but apparently the type G's in there are shown like this. I believe somebody mentioned that in this thread too... but I took it to mean a simple, small peening block.

Anyway... I think I will see what I can do about that.. because I would like to get the POB a little closer to the guard and that extra weight would obviously help. But.. I don't have a lot of room in there!

Okay.. well it's about time to call this thing done. I put on the new peening block. I was a bit short of tang from the previous block... but I just lengthened the tang a bit by grinding the shoulders forward. I didn't really want to use all copper.. but it would've been strange to choose a new metal all together so I just put in a copper spacer and used iron. The assembly is pinned through into the pommel piece in addition to being peened over the tang.

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The last thing to do will be to get the video I've been mentioning....


Anyway... thanks to all those who've been watching and commenting. It is a great learning experience for me as I delve into a new genre of work. I know that this stuff verges on fantasy for this kind of forum.. but I hope it is of value.

Extremely attractive sword: I really like the contrast between the warm colour of the handle and the coolness of colour of the guard and steel blade.

The new peen block is really a good choice.

Although this site is about historical weapons, it is also about creative work, and fantasy swords, or other weapons, are perfectly O.K. in my opinion, the only negatives would be if a fantasy design was misrepresented as totally historical when the design might be only historically inspired or even a totally fantasy design.

Good balance also with this sword of rustic look and high quality work. :D :cool:

Oh yeah! That is just right on!

Now don't forget how to do that, someday I'll be begging you to make me one much like it (and a big seax to match I hope)!
I agree with Jean, the new peen block is perfect for the rest of the hilt. And I think most of us here at mA are pretty enthusiastic about pieces that look "right" somehow, which this certainly does, even if there is more imagination than historical precedent in the design and materials.

Gonna do a scabbard?

Cheers!
Eric

Thanks a lot guys... I really appreciate these comments.

Eric... I just put this sword up for sale to the folks on my email list and I gave the option of a basic leather storage scabbard or a fully worked leather/wood core scabbard at a higher price point. So we will see! I have a talented apprentice working in my shop who has really 'upped' the level of my scabbard work.

Really nice work! I would like to see a full-length photo of the entire sword with the new pommel.

Thanks.. yeah I will try to get that shot soon. I started doing test cuts after putting it on so the finish is a tad marred... but as soon as it's cleaned up and ready to ship to it's new home.. I will get another full length shot!

by the way... just came across these images from the Vikverir gallery site:

http://www.vikverir.no/ressurser/hist_mus_osl...amp;page=6


http://www.vikverir.no/ressurser/hist_mus_osl...amp;page=6

No picture of the whole blade though!

First: That is a nice sword :) I really like the personal touch you add to the work you do. Although the blade is fairly short for a viking sword the proportions came out nicely.
I have been fascinated by this type for a long time both because I find it fairly ugly, ruff... in a way that you just have to love it :D I am going to make one for a friend of mine and are looking forward to it :)

Quote:

No picture of the whole blade though!

Sorry, my bad! I usual try to do this for all the swords I add to the site. You can see a less detailed picture of the sword togeter with some other swords here:

http://www.vikverir.no/ressurser/hist_mus_osl...a5_001.JPG

It is on the same page as the other pictures, just almost at the the top.

The blade is, as you can see, broken.

I also have this composite HD picture (12 820 x 2860 pixels) that I am going to add to the site at some point...
I would recommend you to right click and save since it is about 5 mb.

http://www.vikverir.no/ressurser/extreme_hd_swords/Sword_HD_3.jpg

It is composted by multiple pictures taken by a camera and can therefore have some overall distortions in it due to the lens. It is nice for seeing all the details and getting in real close, but can create some larger distortions like a slightly curved blade...

Thanks a lot for posting Nils. Funny I was just going to email somebody in your group about one of the images.. I will send you a PM.

Not the greatest picture.. but here is the whole sword. We've been having a blast cutting with this thing! a 6x6 hitching post is starting to look like the 'challenge stone' in the Dark Crystal. Now THOSE were some swords!

Anway...

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