Best Henry V sword repro?
I'm starting my Agincourt fever early and looking about for the best repro Henry V Westminster sword out there.

There are lots on offer and, apart from the A&A and Reinhardt one, none I've seen have all the elements together. The correct pommel, the right blade profile, the slender lines of the crossguard etc etc. Is there one out there I've missed?

I suppose handling characteristics are kind of secondary to a faithful copy of the original. Its unlikely (although just about possible) I'll ever get to play with the real one

Suggestions gratefully received.

Griff
Re: Best Henry V sword repro?
Mark Griffin wrote:
Its unlikely (although just about possible) I'll ever get to play with the real one


You are right about that - I've seen the original up close many times in Westminster Abbey (memories is all I have for it, as pictures are not allowed). I chatted with one of the curators - the sword is hermetically enclosed behind glass (under vacuum) with a wooden and fabric shield, I believe also attributed to Henry V. Opening the enclosure would result in exposing the shield and would damage it so they told me the sword would remains inaccessible to anyone for that reason. Oakeshott is likely one of the last to have handled this sword.

if you contact the museum, they are able to provide a full scale high res picture of the sword. It is not cheap though.

Regarding the sword itself and it's current available replicas on the market: You quoted the arms and armor and the Gen 2. I have the gen 2 and handled a hollow ground version of the arms of armor. It is a good sword for the price if you are willing to spend some time improving it. They got the pommel right (made of two welded parts, hollow), the blade is nice enough and has a slight hollow ground. The guard was an awful chunky mess and the sword had a fake peen (they used an ugly shuriken shaped screw for a peen block, then hot peened on top).

The Arms and Armor I handled had issues with the hollow ground blade (lots of grind marks), something I don't expect would be the case on all models. The hollow ground on the A&A blade does't go up inside the guard, leaving a visible flat at the ricasso areas which I really dislike (something many makers do for some reason). Handling wise, I'm sure the A&A handles much better than the Gen 2, no doubt around that

Regarding the guard, I've seen no replica on the current market that got it right, and by a long shot. The original guard is very thin and narrow, almost wire like, nothing like the A&A nor the gen 2...not sure why really.

I've extensively modified my gen 2 here should you want to check, a thread I will update soon as I removed the peen block and did a regular peen on it, which greatly improves the look of the sword in my opinion. I'll post this one on the classified within weeks.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...mp;start=0
Check out Raven Armoury in the links section. They no longer show their Henry V but they made a very nice one and as they are sort of a hybrid custom/production shop I imagine they would make another.

I have or have seen at least four of their bare blades from this sword and all carried the hollow grind through the length of the blade adding a slight diamond section to the tang juncture.
Mark Vickers has something similar for sale on his web page, might have gone already though as it has been there a while.

The best would be this one...


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rainhand.jpg

I'd say Mark at St George Armoury,
He did one of this type a few years back for a commission I was lucky or unlucky to see, fantastic piece overall,
much like a lot of his sharps that never make his website, :(
only handling issue was handing it back,
He has a whole folder of older works he hasn't pictured on his site, from custom Viking swords onto high end armour works,
with Mark, email at the start of the week and phone at the end, great guy and fantastic work, but doesn't get much comp time,;)
his work is very under priced compared to the item delivered,
the mentioned Raven sword looked very nice in the pic, again immaculate grinding on other historical pieces I've seen,
really nice stuff,
Rob at Castlekeep has pictured some very nice hollow ground blades the last few years,
Todd from Toddsstuff would do a fine version,
Loads of good people to choose from,
As for best,
I'd buy a ticket to be able to to visit a venue where as many makers could put sword types on show for comparison, each type tabled together, unmarked bar price, :eek:
love to see the votes, and the pics, :cool:
Hi all,

Yes, I have many of Mark's, he's my go to for this kind of thing and am discussing thisone although I'm talking to others.

Thanks for the pic Johnathan, I couldn't recall where I'd got that from :-) Its close, and a lovely sword indeed but its not uite there. The pommel is a fine job but the blade profile isn't entirely right and the cross needs more work. I do enjoy waving it about and showing it to people though!
Henry V Swd
Hi Guys

Thanks for mentioning our version of Henry the V's sword as one that is a good choice.

Julien I wanted to correct two of your descriptions on our version.

The pommel is not two halves welded together. This was a misinterpretation of Ewart's description and was changed as soon as we learned of our mistake. It is described in detail in this thread. Just be kind to folks as it is from 05 some opinions of others may have changed.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...mp;start=0

We also removed the shoulders on the blade as our notes are unclear on this detail and many did not like it so we do not have the stepped shoulders. I have been planning to check the original the next time we are there, many blades of this form do have the stepped shoulders, but we have not had the fortune of being able to go visit the sword on our last couple of trips.

Stay warm everyone.

Craig

ps also should mention, as with almost all of our swords, one can be ordered hot peened with or without nut, to your liking.
Re: Henry V Swd
Craig Johnson wrote:
The pommel is not two halves welded together.

That's extremely interesting insight Craig, thanks for that.

I'd love to see an improved version of your Henry V, great that you removed the flat section at the ricasso. If you were aiming at a guard closer to the original I'd be tempted by it no doubt.

If you do go to Westminster Abbey, inspecting the sword might be challenging. The enclosure is set in a very dark room (very dim lightning) and hermetically sealed...again the curatorial team has high res pictures available on demand, and I'm afraid that beside taking a drawing board along that's all the documentation (along with overall measurements) available.

Looking forward to hear progress on this.

J
I think your best bet as far as functional goes is getting Albion's Kingmaker sword. It's not quite identical to the Henry V, but it's pretty close. Spendy, though...
Ha Ha! You know, I couldn't remember who I'd sold it to! The blade is all wrong compared to the stubby little Henry V sword and the hilt/cross is more like the similar sword in Leeds. I was only pulling your leg, but now have been hoisted by my own petard.
Yes, the Albion blades are too long and not the right profile really. The guard is a bit too thick too. Not saying its not a nice sword...but I think I'll pursue a more individual making path. Never happier then when i have a project to be getting on with!
Quote:
Yes, the Albion blades are too long and not the right profile really. The guard is a bit too thick too. Not saying its not a nice sword...but I think I'll pursue a more individual making path. Never happier then when i have a project to be getting on with!


So by 'individual making path' what exactly do you mean?

One option would be seeing if A&A is willing to tweak one of their HV's to your taste.

Another option is purchasing a G2 and modifying it to your own spec or having someone else do so for you; I imagine Ernie Roessler at Yeshua's Swords might fancy giving it a go if you ran it by him. He could probably also grind the blade if you want it changed, though that would drive the price up.

Of course you could just do the Julien thing :)

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