[Radovan Geist]

Last weekend we were in Prague on re-enact. event and I´ve picked a blade from Stanislav "Had" Elias (http://www.mece-had.cz/). I already have some of his weapons and I really like them - they are durable, with good proportions, and nice attention to details.

However, this time I wanted a good blade for DIY project - a sword that would fit to end of 14th/beginning of 15th Century. A blade I bought would be perfect for Type XVII sword. I´ve made a small research and decided for something similar to City of Bristol sword - it fits the proportions of my blade, fits my period of interest, and has my favourite pommel design.

Now the question: I went through some picture of surviving type XVII swords from that period and it seems that their pommels and crosses had smooth surface. However, I would love to decorate it with some file-work (checkboard, or a spiral on the cross). Would it be out of place? Does anybody know any historical example? Thanks in advance.

[Shahril Dzulkifli]

Radovan, is your sword finished? If it's finished, do show some of its photos.

[Radovan Geist]

Well, it´s not finished yet - I´m still in the research phase When I start the project, I will try to make it into a separate DIY thread.

I´m still researching whether it would be completely out of place to make file-work decoration on crossguard and pommel.

[Craig Peters]

I don't think there's any filing on the XVII swords from Records. Beyond that, I cannot say.

[James Moore]

fileworking of a spiral sounds very off to me, but faceted file-work is perfectly appropriate, like this example's cross:

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-t...&img=3

[Radovan Geist]

thank you for your comments and a nice picture. yes, spirals are off for that period, no trace of "check-board" decorations on originals either, so I will opt for a simple design, with some faceting. Now I´m quite busy with some work on our house and in the garden, but once I´m done with it - back to the workshop!