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Alex Indman
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 Posted: Thu 20 Mar, 2025 3:05 pm Post subject: XVIIIc hanger blade restored and remounted |
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A little over a year ago I happened to aquire what looked to me like a light, shortish saber blade in a pretty bad condition (rusted and nicked).
After a discussion on this thread (which also has some “before” pictures), thanks to Norman, it was identified as a “blade is from a European cuttoe/hanger sword, second half of the 18thC”: http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=40258
So, I decided to mount it in a period style (found several examples of this guard/handle type that I liked, online and in museums).
The blade was ground and sanded/polished just enough to get rid of chips and reestablish a nice sharp edge (lots of dark pitting left in the fullers and some on flats, unfortunately, as I didn’t want to lose more steel to get rid of it).
A couple inches at the base left unsharpened, middle very sharp, foible (both edges) literally razor sharp!
All metal hilt parts are made of brass.
Handle is made of ebony wood. It is spirally wrapped with 3 strands of wire in a groove (single thick copper in the middle, two double twisted thin brass around it). See attached pictures for detail.
I am not a trained fencer, but the hanger feels and moves really nice in my hand.
It now gives an impression of an effective cutting/slicing weapon, even with its relatively light weight.
It could probably thrust well enough in soft targets. The handle is angled a little, so the point is not too far offline. But I am not sure what would happen if that thin flat point happened to hit something hard.
The forte is actually plenty strong and rigid, I believe it would hold up to some serious blocking actions, not just parrying. Just amazing how all these features could be achieved in such a light blade, by a combination of strong distal taper and deep fullers.
Overall, it was a very satisfying project for me. This sword is definitely a keeper, being a true antique with an interesting story behind it!
Comments/questions are welcome.
Alex.
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Dan D'Silva
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| Posted: Fri 21 Mar, 2025 7:13 am Post subject: |
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Looks great! Is the crossguard machined or cast?
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Alex Indman
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| Posted: Fri 21 Mar, 2025 9:23 am Post subject: |
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| Dan D'Silva wrote: | | Is the crossguard machined or cast? |
Stock removal from a bar, I don't have a setup or skills for casting. But not machined, used hacksaw and files. Brass is easy to file, it took some work but not as long as you would expect.
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Victor R.
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| Posted: Fri 21 Mar, 2025 9:58 am Post subject: |
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I saw "XVIIIc" and thought "what does that have to do with a hangar?" I've become so used to associating such abbreviations with Oakeshott typology in the context of this place that I didn't initially consider it as a date range. 
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Alex Indman
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| Posted: Fri 21 Mar, 2025 11:22 am Post subject: |
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Victor, sorry for the confusion. I am of course familiar with the Oakeshott typology, but double edged medieval swords in general aren't my primary interest, so it wasn't my first association...
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Sean Manning
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| Posted: Sat 22 Mar, 2025 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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i think you are seeing the disadvantages of ultralight cutting swords as were popular in Han China or 18th/19th century Europe ie. they are quick but there is not much room to polish or file away rust or nicks before you no longer have a sword.
A lot of hangers were more for clearing brush and finishing off game than fighting but I wonder what it would be like to use this against a miliary sword.
How much does it weigh after it was reground and rehilted?
weekly writing ~ material culture
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Victor R.
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| Posted: Sat 22 Mar, 2025 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Alex Indman wrote: | | Victor, sorry for the confusion. I am of course familiar with the Oakeshott typology, but double edged medieval swords in general aren't my primary interest, so it wasn't my first association... |
It's also a matter of usually seeing timeframes using Arabic instead of Roman numeral systems: 18th C would have been clear to me, while "XVIIIc" is a specific class in Oakeshott and rarely used for a date designation for any of the other weapons groups where I hang out. Matter of fact, this is the only time I recall seeing it used in this way in a couple of decades of being on various forums and sites.
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Alex Indman
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| Posted: Sat 22 Mar, 2025 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Sean Manning wrote: | | ... How much does it weigh after it was reground and rehilted? |
Sean, I don't have a precise scale at hand, but floor scale shows 1lb. Which sounds just about right, actually - blade was 13.5 oz as I got it, I am pretty sure grinding loss was no more than 0.5 oz or less, and handle + guard should be about 3 oz, maybe 4. If you are thinking metric system, it is somewhere between 450-500g.
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Alex Indman
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| Posted: Sat 22 Mar, 2025 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Victor R. wrote: | | ... It's also a matter of usually seeing timeframes using Arabic instead of Roman numeral systems |
Interesting how I never paid attention to this before, but now I realize that my habit of using Roman numerals for the centuries comes from some older history books (Russian and Western European translations) I read as a kid. It was/is much more common in non-English European literature to number centuries with Roman rather than Arabic numerals. Might be a good idea to switch to Arabic century numbers when writing in English...
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Sean Manning
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| Posted: Yesterday at 12:22 am Post subject: |
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| Alex Indman wrote: | | Sean Manning wrote: | | ... How much does it weigh after it was reground and rehilted? |
Sean, I don't have a precise scale at hand, but floor scale shows 1lb. Which sounds just about right, actually - blade was 13.5 oz as I got it, I am pretty sure grinding loss was no more than 0.5 oz or less, and handle + guard should be about 3 oz, maybe 4. If you are thinking metric system, it is somewhere between 450-500g. |
Many smallswords weigh about that and I wonder what using this against a smallsword would be like. It has worse reach and hand protection but its just as quick.
weekly writing ~ material culture
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This is a standard topic