[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

Hi all,

Here’s two of my latest works, hope you like them.

The first one is a bastard sword that I just got ready. I have wanted to make a sword with hammer marks showing on the guard and pommel for some time now and this is how it turned out. The guard and the pommel have been forged to shape and the surfaces have been finished using only a needle file and sanding paper – and I might add that the forging was done by hand, no powerhammer was used…

The blade is rather broad and sturdy to match the no-nonsense look of the guard & pommel. The grip has quite strongly articulated form with wooden core, cord-wrap and deerskin surface. I had in my mind that I would patinate the blade, but then decided against it –the sword would have looked too grim. As it is, an apt name for the sword would be ‘the Brute’, or something like it...

The sword is an inch short of one meter (hehe) and the blade is 77,3 cm long, the point of balance is 9,5 cm from the guard and the weight is 1,455 kg. In hand the sword is surprisingly agile and fast, if I manage to get some mats, I’ll definitely do some test cutting with the sword.

The second one is a custom order falchion, done with ‘a budget’. The idea was to make a non-historical single-edged sword that would still be practical and functional. The clearest ‘fantasy element’ in the design is the root of the blade that turns into a sort of guard. Apart from that little flair of fantasy the sword actually resembles quite a lot some of the later falchions or hangers. –And this is the first sword I have so far made that has a scabbard that is mostly open at the back and has a strap and snap-on button lock to keep the sword in place…!

The falchion is quite big, oa. length is 72,7 cm, the blade is 67 cm long and 5,7 cm broad, the weight is 1,196 kg and the pob. is 12 cm from the guard. To match the blade, the hilt is of ‘heroic proportions’, basically the sword can be wielded with two hands.
It was unfortunate that I did not have a chance for any test cutting with this one… and now it has already been delivered.

Almost forgot; the bastard sword will be for sale…

[Sean Flynt]

I like the look of both of those! I wish more makers of fantasy arms and armour would look to historical forms for inspiration. Your work here is a great example of what can result!

[Jean Thibodeau]

Both excellent designs and I like very much the Falchion's knuckle guard that become wider and all the curves harmonize nicely with each other : They flow together, pommel curves and guard curves plus the detail etching or engraving on the blade.

The blade sort of reminds me on the ricasso of some Kyber knives maybe. ?

The Bastard sword's rough finish looks deliberate and not crude as in " lacking the skills to make them smooth ".

The blade fuller and blade bevels are also very compelling and aesthetically pleasing as well as looking brutally efficient: Has the feel of a real weapon and inspires respect.

[Darryl Aoki]

I think the bastard sword's finish looks quite elegant actually - the unfinishedness gives it a personality which I find quite appealing.

[William P]

i am loving the falchion..

also arnt there examples of falchion's with some form of knuckle guard in the 13th 14th century like macjowski bible although i realise it didnt look like that

also if you put that in a reenactment setup if i hadnt known better id have believed you that it was historical..

its very nice looking,

[Mark Moore]

I'm really salivating over the bastard sword....truly a masterpiece of 'intentional underfinishing'. I'm a big fan of rustic looking forge marked blades and hilts , and you pulled it off to the max. No patina on the blade? Look too 'grim' ? Well, to each his own, but I would have it look like it was found walled up in the cornerstone of a European castle somewhere! But, thats just me. The falchion is grand! The scabbard does look a little 'BudK-ish' , but then again, they were a simple mans weapon for the most part. Great work!.....mcm

[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

…Öh, I managed to get the pics in wrong order – again…

No matter, -thank you very much for your comments!

Sean: I think that ‘even’ fantasy swords & such should retain their functionality and it actually makes the fantasy aspect more realistic when the sword is a Real Weapon, not a bizarrely formed object that vaguely resembles a sword. Besides, most of this stuff has been done before – two hundred – two thousand years ago – so it is only a matter of finding the right inspiration from the archeological / historical material from which to start.

Jean: I was aiming for sort of ‘jugend-style’ lines for the hilt – I think it turned out OK. Especially that ‘flower bud’-kind of pommel with the brass rivet block just emerging from the pommel… Also the widening knuckle guard turned out nicely.
The effect on the ricasso probably comes from the shape of the etching – definitely an oriental flavor there. The etching itself is pure fantasy – on the other side of the blade there is some personal information for the owner also etched on.

The rough surface on the bastard sword hilt is actually more difficult to do – light forging mistakes easily disappear when the surfaces are ground to shape. Forging the intended form ‘dead on’ takes considerably more time and effort.
The shape of the blade is rather intimidating and the broad fuller somehow makes it appear even wider. –The blade Is quite sturdy, at the tip of the fuller the blade is 4 mm thick…

Darryl & Mark: I think the rugged surface turned out just right – now the hilt somehow makes you want to fondle it… When making the sword I was aiming for a sort of controlled understatement look – something that would look and feel very convincing on the side of a professional soldier.
I actually did a light patina on the blade - and took it off. The hilt being so sinister-like, the patinated blade made the sword look like it had been ‘distressed’ and I did not want that, hence the plain metal surface on the blade.
-Besides, what kind of professional soldier would go about with a rusty blade?

William: Right now I can’t remember about the knuckle guards on earlier falchions, but on later ones the guards that combine the guard, knuckle guard and ‘a tail’ are quite common.
In any re-enactment scene those snap-on buttons on the scabbard would be a dead giveaway that ‘something is not quite right’ with the falchion…!

And here’s a couple more pics of the swords…
Cheers,
JT

[Daniel Wallace]

man those are both hot items. i'm espically liking the brushed look on the falchion.

[Luke Kramer]

The bastard sword turned out very nice, but the falchion...

...is amazing! Nice work!

[Jan Krasl]

I am not big fun of fantasy swords, because very often they look funny or too crazy for me, but that falchion is very nice!!

[Kai Lawson]

I don't normally like fantasy swords much, or falchions, but I like that piece a lot. Great job--the bastard sword looks sturdy and quick, and the S-guard (which I also don't normally go for) with the canted and peaked ring looks good enough to eat. Do you take commissions?

[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

Thank you all very much for your comments gentlemen!

I am especially happy the way the falchion turned out and judging by your comments I actually managed to do something right!

The guard on bastard sword was fun thing to do but the canted ring was something that I was hesitating whether to do it or not as I feared that it would make the sword too mean looking or turn the sword into something that a ringwraiht might carry, but it didn’t turn out like that…

Kai: Yes, I take commissions this bastard sword is something that I just managed to squeeze between orders…

I just realized that I do have some ‘construction’ pics of the swords, -the blades freshly out of forge & the hilt parts unfinished, here’s some samples:
Cheers again,
JT

[Christian G. Cameron]

I love all of JTs work, but I especially love the falchion, which looks field practical to me!

[Matthew P. Adams]

The contrast between the blade and the furniture of the bastard sword is just awesome. I like the polished blade with the hammered cross and pommel. Each make the other really pop, and also work with the stout dimensions.

[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

Thank you gents!

As I mentioned earlier, it was really a pity that I did not have the opportunity to do any test cutting with the falchion – I’d expect that with that broad flat blade and thin cross-section it would be a fearsome cutter… Hopefully next time I have such a blade ready I’ll have some tatami-mats available…

I guess I’ll be making a scabbard for that bastard sword, I think that a proper longsword-style suspension would be most appropriate for it. It would have to have that same sombre look that the hilt has, so the buckles & such should be hammer marked and darkened the same way…
-Unfortunately next thing in the to-do-book is a prototype of a biiig knife, so the scabbard will have to wait for a little while…

Here’s a one more pic of the falchion hilt parts…

JT