[Jeanry Chandler]

Does anyone have any feedback on the MRL Viking Swords, especially the river schtedlt (sp?) one, I'm considering buying one but I want to use it with the pell and maybe some live steel and I'm a bit concerned about whether it will hold up to heavy use.

Altenrately, maybe the MRL grosse messer, which I got to see at an event recently and looked very sturdy,.

jR

[Allen W]

I once used an MRL river scheldt viking sword in some choreographed viking sword and shield play while my partner used a Del Tin Maldon sword(MRL' designation). My tang bent and his broke (at the weld in both cases). The only objects these swords hit were our shields, though this happened quite often over multiple rehearsals and were delivered with realistic force to cut and focus at the body beyond. Two others in the group did much more sword on shield bashing with DEl Tins whose hilts had been stabilized with accraglass and suffered no apparent ware or loosening.
The river scheldt is a nice light sword which makes it easy to pull shots if necessary. I would accraglass the hilt though. This can be ordered through Brownell's ( I think the address is brownells.com).

[Jeanry Chandler]

[Allen W]

I think the MRL's are fine for your stated intent and are generally far better than they are given credit for. Accraglass just bonds the entire hilt to the full length of the tang so the impact stresses don't focus in the weld. As illustrated in my first post the Del Tin faired worse. I think their blades are of comparable quality though winldasses usually use poorer grip materials and as their blades are forged don't have quite the quality control as the Del Tin's formed by stock removal. MRL's quality control tanked several years ago but was never the universal trash they are often portrayed as. Even at their worst they produced good swords amid the bad. MRL's quality control has improved in the last couple of years and in the last tear myself and a few friends have acquired four Windlasses, all of which I consider on a par with the old Del tins( I haven't encountered a new one in a number of years and not since rumors began that they were thickening their edges for show fights). I think these cheaper yet fully functional swords are ideal for steel on steel or steel on shield practice if their hilts are stabilized as this will invariably, if only gradually, damage the swords. I would reserve the pricier swords for cutting, form, and shadow boxing. All this can also be done effectively with the Del tins and Windlasses.

I respond again later about the accraglass.

[Josh S.]

I recently bought two Windlass items(flamberge two-hander and Irish H&H) and what Allen has just said is true; the blades are great, but the hilt components seem to jar slightly loose after some use. I'll look into accraglass now that he's suggested it...

[Allen W]

I overlooked your intent to use it on a pell. Any nonyielding target will damage a sword irrespective of the quality if repeatedly struck forcefully. I wouldn't expect a Windlass or even a Raven to withstand much of this. In addition to the stress on tang and grip, a thick wooden beam will clamp down on the blade if it is cut into without being severed and often permanently twist the blade.

[Allen W]

accraglass is bedding epoxy used to accurise rifles and specifically designed for bonding wood to metal though it works well for wood to wood and metal to metal. I forget how much it costs but you can click over to www.brownells.com for that information and more. The basic process is as follows 1) clean all relevant surfaces then apply the release agent to anything you don't want it to stick to (particularly the pommel) and allow two minutes or so for the release agent to completely dry. 2) mix one ounce accraglass resin with 1/4 ounce accraglass hardener and stir for four minutes before applying. 3) Alow three days to achieve full hardness. I use sirenges to inject the accraglass down the openings of the guard and into the grip-allowing it to pool up slightly in the guard before slowly flowing down the grip and repeating as necessary until flush with the top of the guard.
I've used the accraglass gel on swords I was assembling or reassembling and it was here that I ran into my only problem. This occured when replacing the grip on a modified Del Tin claymore. With exceptionally long grips it becomes difficult to drill a straight hole as the long bits necessary tend to flex slightly under pressure. In consequence most manufacturers grossly overbore the hole for the tang on two-handed swords. My replacement grip had been drilled with narrower bits with excess matter gouged out with a shiv ground from a six inch flat head screwdriver. This left significant gaps but was still much tighter than the original Del Tin grip. Anyway I had to use a significant amount of the accraglass gel which turned out to be significantly heavier than the wood it was replacing and moved the balance point slightly back from its original 3-1/2" ideal. This is a problem as I had already shortened the blade making for a heavy but very responsive great sword sized claymore. The difference was just enough to impede this responsiveness. In other swords the volume used was insufficient to effect the balance. I bring this up because Josh S mentioned the recent purchase of a flamberge. I think wood shims and wood putty or wood shims and accraglass with the wood contributing most of the volume would be the way to go.

[Jeanry Chandler]

[Allen W]

They come blunt but not rebated and can be sharpened. I haven't actually measured the POBs on any of MRL's vikings but would guess they lay around 5" from the guard. They're quite light though ergonomics will dictate use.

[William Goodwin]

Yes, by all means, if you are practicing on a pell, use the waster. My pell is padded with carpet and wrapped in duct tape.
I've managed to destroy 2 wasters on it already.

[Jeanry Chandler]

[Jeanry Chandler]

[Allen W]

Though I've never handled an original viking era sword, that 5" POB seems universal on the repros I' have encountered. This includes Raven's, Vince Evans', Del Tins, and Windlasses, though I have only actually measured the POBs on Del Tins. The River Scheldt Viking is a very light sword so I wouldn't worry too much about the POB. All swords of this type are best used with a shield and when used in this manner the River Scheldt is beautifully responsive especially for whipping tip cuts when slipping the pommel. If you mean to fence with this I think that would be a misapplication of the sword owing more to the shape of it's grip, pommel, and guard than to weight or balance.

[Chad Arnow]

[Jeanry Chandler]

[Joel Chesser]

I can tell you from use of fencing swords that you want the point of balance to be closer to guard, this is, in my opinion, because of he way you have to hold the sword and maneuver it. On a fencing sword you want to use the thumb and forefinger to direct the sword blade, thus you are going to want more balance toward the hilt no the blade.
This is just my opinion, i could be, and probably am very wrong.

[Allen W]

Jeanry don't worry too much about general rules regarding balance to thrusting vs. cutting swords as the exceptions are so numerous. Two-hand Claymores tend to balance close to the hilt (3 1/2" for the classic Del Tin) and cut beautifully. I also wonder if anyone doubts that Peter Johnson's Svante sword will cut well in spite of its stated 2 1/8" POB. Effective cutting requires a minimum blade mass, and a minimum edge width. Though balance is certainly important, ignore the dictums. Like you I find a close POB for cutting and a more distant one for thrusting to be advantageous in sparring and this seems to be reflected in balance points of many old rapiers. I think smallswords are a different case however.

[Jeanry Chandler]

[Alexi Goranov]

[Bill Grandy]