[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

Hi All,

It's been a while since I have last written anything here, but this latest of my 'biggies' I thought to share with you folks.

This is a custom piece I recently finished, -there was a bit of stressful struggle to get it shipped to customer, but now it is safe and sound in the hands of its rightful owner.
What makes this sword a bit exceptional is that it is made for a left-handed user - and as I am a southpaw myself, this further enhanced the project in my eyes.

The blade is an inch short of one meter so the sword is even longer than the swiss sabre I did a few years back and partly due to the simpler guard construction it is also 150 grams lighter than the previous one.

Here's the basic stats of the sword: oa. length: 120cm, blade length: 97,5cm, blade width: 3,7cm, thickness of the blade: 7mm, point of balance: 13,5cm and weight: 1,506kg. The forward vibration node is on the point where the back edge begins, 30cm from the tip.

As a personal note, I found that when grasping the sword it seemed to ‘leap’ to my hand, as the weight was so much less than its size lead to believe.

Here's a few pictures of the sabre, please enjoy:

Better quality pictures of the sword can be found from my web pages:
www.kp-art.fi/jt/index_eng.html

JT

[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

…And here’s some pictures of the sword from different stages of its making… I wonder, what did they use in the times there were no rubberbands?

JT

[Ryan S.]

[Luke Kramer]

Very nice looking blade! My sister, who has been looking for left-handed sabers, would appreciate this.

[Mark Moore]

Beautiful. I believe, as much as I love the whole sword, I like the grip stitching and the subtle rough/polished tang peen the most. I wish all peened swords made nowdays would come with that carefully hammer-pecked look, and all grip stitches could be so perfect! Artwork, my friend.......Artwork! Bravo............McM

[Aaron Hoard]

Wow - incredible detail on that. Nicely done!

[Joel K]

Love the ends of the quillons It is a beautiful touch.

[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

Thank you very much guys & sorry for the delay in answering.

As I wrote in the earlier on this thread, a little floral decoration on a sword does not make it less manly an object…

Over the years I have learned that ‘less is better’ especially when talking of decoration in knives or in swords. Some fileworked decoration in right places is much better looking than filling every available space with filework or with some other form of decoration. –And looking at the original pieces (longswords, swiss sabres & such), the makers of the old seldom overdid the decorations on swords (either that or they went completely over the top with decorations!)

…But, to break the rule, the next piece I hope to post here has more decorative work in it than anything I have done before…
JT

[Scott Hanson]

Thanks for re-posting!

This was one of the posts I really missed; I love this piece! Excellent work.

[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

Thank you Scott!
Now I am very happy I re-posted this!

JT

[Robin Smith]

Wow! That is stunning work... Although it's not my main period, these complex hilts have been drawing my eye recently.

[Lafayette C Curtis]

[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

Thank you Robin! I am also more of an earlier era stuff man myself, but the swiss sabre is that exception to the rule. It is as far I go down the lane towards complex-hilt designs…

Thanks Lafayette! Haha! Minions! What a lovely term for putting people in their place - I have to remember the word, I’m sure that used in a right occasion it is sure to make someone choke in his drink!

JT

[Ben Sweet]

What a beauty....!

[Jarno-T. Pälikkö]

Thanks Ben!

I’m beginning to think that more swiss sabres in the world would make it a better place…!

JT