[Lucas Bucchile]

Salutations,

I live in Brazil and I have a small group of Historical Fencing. From some time now I intend on acquiring a sword as close to this one as possible:

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=SH2400

http://www.kultofathena.com/images/SH2400_4_l.jpg

Why don't I just buy? Well, it is a little expensive and I can't invest too much right now. I found a local smith but he is not experienced on making this kind of sword and I need to help him with typologies and the like. One problem is that he says he can't create a fuller. How much of a difficult would that be considering that I plan on making the sword blunt and then sharp it later? What kind of geometry do I have to bear in mind?

Maybe any recommendations of a lower price for the same sword would be possible?

[Joel Chesser]

I don't know if you have thought of it, but one potential option might be to bye a bare blade here http://www.kultofathena.com/bareblades.asp, for around $100 USD less, and then have your local smith/cutler make the guard and pommel for it. just a thought. You will have two very different blade geometries between the blunt and the sharp. can it be done, probably, but I think it would be a lot of work.

[Mark Moore]

Those H/T's are really good swords, Lucas. I'd say to save your pennies for one. Buy a blunt for fencing and a sharp bare blade for cutting. The guard , grip, and pommel all interchange. You would have two swords in one. Trying to sharpen a blunt blade is not a good idea. They are made differently, and I think you would have sad results. McM

[Daniel Wallace]

blunts or sparing swords are a little different. their whipper some say, in order to make sure the sword flexes if you thrust someone and don't hurt them. a sharp (I'm speaking about a sword with clear bevels and proper geometry to service an edge) can have a geometry that is a little stiffer, and will feel like getting poked with a steel bar.

to make a fuller, there are a few methods. cutting them in, or forging them in. with forging them, you don't waste material as much as cutting them. to cut one in takes a good hand and a belt sander or bench grinder depending on the with of the fuller. heavy duty sanders can have interchangeable wheels that allow you to cut smaller and smaller fullers.


my real advice though, is to save up budget and just take the plunge. a well made sword is worth the little bit of spending especially if your intending to drill with it.

[Ben Coomer]

I'd save for the real deal. That was my first "real" sword and it's still a joy to handle.

Part of it is that if your smith doesn't know what they are doing, its really easy to screw up and get yourself a wallhanger. And since you are going to practice martially with it, this will cause problems. Take it from first hand experience. Sorry for the not much help, but the H/T is about as good an entry level sword as you can find. Lower cost ones really trade off a lot, and anything better gets pricy quick.

I'd also keep an eye out. I've see some really good sales come up on these guys.

[Lucas Bucchile]

First of all, many thanks for the replies.

Right now I am waiting for a new response from Knight Shop so we can better evaluate if the total price of the sword won't go past ~600 reais as previously mentioned. Yes, it is a very interesting option and I'd like to go for it both with blunt and sharp. The only problem is that importing taxes tend to be ridiculously high here in Brazil so I first need to be sure about the final price.

I am afraid the same would apply for buying a bare blade, unfortunately.

So I think this is probably the wisest next step I can think of in the moment. Maybe the local smith's inability to forge a blade with a fuller is a sign that I should indeed be looking elsewhere?

[Mark Moore]

As I said earlier....I think you should save up your money for the H/T. They are really worth it, for the price. If you break a blade, you don't have to beat yourself up about it. And, under normal sparring, I don't think you'll have to worry much. A good bang for your buck..............McM

[Lucas Bucchile]

I am still waiting for an e-mail response from the Knight Shop so we can better calculate the final price. I also looking into further information about importing taxes since they are over abusive here in Brazil. In the meantime, I could surely look upon classifieds and such. Any sword as good looking and reliable as the Tinker Pierce (in the link I provided) will do.

[Mark Moore]

There's a big difference between good looking and reliable. I'm not trying to sway you, one way or another. You just get what you pay for. I hope you have good results. ............McM