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Scott Kowalski
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 Posted: Wed 12 Sep, 2007 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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Mark,
That looks great! I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
Jean,
You are one lucky man.
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Curt Cummins
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| Posted: Thu 13 Sep, 2007 8:43 am Post subject: |
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Jean,
How about mirror imaging the the initials at the center ot the guard so that the j curlique points both ways from the center to the ends?
Curt
Ye braggarts and awe be a'skeered and awa, frae Brandoch Daha
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Mark G.
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 13 Sep, 2007 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Jean Thibodeau wrote: | Mark, don't rush it: If you have to skip a day or two and it has to wait for the next time you send swords for heat treat it's fine with me.  Obviously that's for you to judge if you are overstraining or not.   |
I appreciate the concern Jean, but there's no way I could allow this project to be delayed any more than it already has. If that means a few strenuous days, that's fine by me. I enjoy the challenge.
Well here the blade is, all rough ground and ready for heat treat. I think it's turning out pretty well. The fullers and bevels will actually extend a bit further to the tip, but I would rather do that after the hardening. That's about all I can type right now. My hands are cooked, quite literally.
Mark
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www.ollinsworddesign.com
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Thu 13 Sep, 2007 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Curt Cummins wrote: | Jean,
How about mirror imaging the the initials at the center ot the guard so that the j curlique points both ways from the center to the ends?
Curt |
I actually had to go back to my original artwork since I hadn't looked at it for a while to evaluate your idea.
I think I see what you mean and it would be a viable option that I didn't think of as I was more focused on the JT being still initials. The mirror image might get the " iconography " too far away from my initials ?
The idea was/is for the initials to almost get lost in the repeating pattern but still be perceived as my initial on a second look.
I also like the almost but not quite symmetrical look of the initial repeating.
I will think about the suggestion though.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Thu 13 Sep, 2007 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Mark G. wrote: | | Jean Thibodeau wrote: | | Mark, don't rush it: If you have to skip a day or two and it has to wait for the next time you send swords for heat treat it's fine with me. Obviously that's for you to judge if you are overstraining or not. |
I appreciate the concern Jean, but there's no way I could allow this project to be delayed any more than it already has. If that means a few strenuous days, that's fine by me. I enjoy the challenge.
Well here the blade is, all rough ground and ready for heat treat. I think it's turning out pretty well. The fullers and bevels will actually extend a bit further to the tip, but I would rather do that after the hardening. That's about all I can type right now. My hands are cooked, quite literally.
Mark |
That going to be and interesting point and I look forward to seeing how the hollow grind is going to transition to the elliptical section point The bevels can get as close to the tip as necessary depending on what looks best as the point needs functionally to be reinforced only very close to the tip.
Well I hope your forearms don't cramp up too much ! Maybe a good soak in hot water or a massage would help,
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
Last edited by Jean Thibodeau on Fri 14 Sep, 2007 6:09 am; edited 1 time in total
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Tim Lison
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| Posted: Thu 13 Sep, 2007 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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The blade is looking great! As usual really nice work over at OlliN. The hollow ground section looks awesome. Jean, your sword is going to be great, and even if it's not quite as big as it would have been, it's still HUGE! Can't wait to see this one finished!
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Antal László
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| Posted: Tue 18 Dec, 2007 5:13 am Post subject: |
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Hello!
So, what happened? It was really gripping to read this thread. It's like a novel, and now I feel like if the last pages were missing.
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Russ Ellis
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 18 Dec, 2007 6:01 am Post subject: |
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| Antal László wrote: | Hello!
So, what happened? It was really gripping to read this thread. It's like a novel, and now I feel like if the last pages were missing. |
I wouldn't presume to speak for Jean, but I think I can safely say without giving away the plot that the last pages haven't been written yet...
TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Tue 18 Dec, 2007 7:39 am Post subject: |
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| Russ Ellis wrote: | | Antal László wrote: | Hello!
So, what happened? It was really gripping to read this thread. It's like a novel, and now I feel like if the last pages were missing. |
I wouldn't presume to speak for Jean, but I think I can safely say without giving away the plot that the last pages haven't been written yet... |
Well the novel has many chapters.  At this point they are working on the fourth blade as they have had heat treating problems ( curse ) with this sword. By the way I wouldn't generalize this to anything but my sword as they seem to have had better luck with most of their other projects.
One could be impatient, but I'm not ! I'm also not making excuses for them: Setbacks happen and as long as they are upfront with them I see no need to become frustrated with them ! That doesn't mean that one can't be frustrated with the problems themselves.
Important to note: They are persevering in re-doing what has to be re-done at their cost and I'm sure this project is not making them any money at this point.
Specifically the last sword had an issue with tempering which caused it to break when a small amount of warpage was being corrected, so they are now working on blade # 4 which is a new record for them.
They also make sure any sword going out of their shop has been tested for durability as the last thing they want is a problem when the sword is in the hands of the client.
There has been one change of plan as I have asked OlliN to make the scabbard instead of Russ to avoid any extra time lost having two shops working on the project.
To be fair to Russ I'm having Russ make a scabbard for me for the Doge I just purchased as a substitute project using my reserved block of worktime set aside for the OlliN sword.
So that is the state of things at this time. And I'm still smiling.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Jeremy V. Krause
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| Posted: Tue 18 Dec, 2007 9:42 am Post subject: |
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Jean, I admire your patience!
I look forward to seeing the finished product but I would have gone with some inlay.. . .
Jeremy
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Stuart Mackey
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| Posted: Tue 18 Dec, 2007 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Jean Thibodeau wrote: |
Well the novel has many chapters. At this point they are working on the fourth blade as they have had heat treating problems ( curse ) with this sword. By the way I wouldn't generalize this to anything but my sword as they seem to have had better luck with most of their other projects.
One could be impatient, but I'm not ! I'm also not making excuses for them: Setbacks happen and as long as they are upfront with them I see no need to become frustrated with them ! That doesn't mean that one can't be frustrated with the problems themselves.
Important to note: They are persevering in re-doing what has to be re-done at their cost and I'm sure this project is not making them any money at this point.
snippage |
Well they might not be making money off this project, but from what I have seen of their efforts to make this sword for you, I would certainly send work their way if I had the money for it.
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Antal László
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| Posted: Fri 21 Dec, 2007 6:45 am Post subject: |
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Hopefully this will be the last chapter of the story. I look forward to seeing the result of the project, it's going to be a great sword. I wish good luck and patience to Jean and of course to the makers!
Please keep the infos updated, thanks!
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Fri 21 Dec, 2007 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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The new blade steel has been obtained by OlliN and should be ground to shape in mid-January with heat treating expected to be done before the end of the month: So if the heat treating jinx is over, things should move forward to new stuff rather than re-doing stuff early in February: So this is the situation at this time.
Again the guys at OlliN are keeping me informed regularly even if they and I don't post progress reports here for a while, as just repeating ( re-doing ) stuff is just boring and frustrating for everyone, I hope that soon there will be more progress pics to show.
Some of the problems have been useful in making some design decisions if one reads some of the earlier posts: So the problems haven't been only a negative thing as the final sword should be better for it.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Bob Burns
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| Posted: Fri 04 Jan, 2008 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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I have met Mark in person a couple of times and I've wielded and cut with some of the swords that he has made and in my opinion, Mark is doing what he was Born to do, to smith swords  Some members may have seen the water color painting of me by my cousin and myArmoury Member "James Conahan". Jim was born to be an artist, at age 7 he could draw better than any of the art teachers at the nearby high school.
Mark has that same kind of talent for creating swords!
Bob
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Etienne Hamel
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| Posted: Thu 20 Mar, 2008 7:33 am Post subject: |
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how is the sword doing it would be good to see how it is now.
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Torsten F.H. Wilke
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| Posted: Thu 20 Mar, 2008 9:15 am Post subject: |
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Jean, your sword project will now have a considerable history all it's own before you even get hold of it. Does the blade have a name? It may be worthy of one...
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Thu 20 Mar, 2008 11:24 am Post subject: |
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I guess I'm due to send them an e-mail for a situation update: Sort of hope that things are working out with blade #4 and hope there won't be a need for a blade #5.
Obviously this hasn't been the " ideal " situation and I believe that this specific project has had problems and delays not typical of what one should expect from OlliN: I don't think I'm being overly " kind " and patient about it because I have read numerous testimonials by other people here who have had positive experiences with OlliN as far as customer service and the quality of the finished product.
So, I'm not worried in that the project will eventually be finished and I will have a great sword in both senses of the word or I will make some other arrangements with OlliN for either a refund or I will just accept one of their other standard/custom models as a substitute should the " CURSE " on this project make " THEM " want to give up ! At this point giving up is my very last option in order of preference.
I really like these guys and if this project goes south I still want one of their swords.
As to name of sword: After long discussion of different names I came up with the name " RAVENWOLF " for this sword for various mythological reasons and it sounds " COOL ".
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Mark G.
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 20 Mar, 2008 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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I apologize that this project has fallen off the map. It's been plagued with so many problems that I had been holding out on posting until something positive started to happen, allowing progress to once again be made. This is by far the most delay-ridden project that I've had. I suppose that's another reason why I had been hesitant to post. There are plenty of stories out there of customers having to wait much longer for than swords than they had originally been quoted. I never wanted to fall into that category, but have been unable to avoid it in this case. Most of the delay has come from steel vendor/heat treater issues in them not being able to provide the services required. Each new vendor required samples to be made and tested. I've lost track of how many heat treating vendors we've sent sample blades to. I thought we had all of the issues dealt with on the last blade, but that one ended up being usable as well. Needless to say, that was a disappointment to us all.
I honestly can't thank Jean enough for being so patient through all of this. This definitely isn't an ideal situation for him to be in, which does make me feel bad. I'm doing everything in my power to get things back on track. I just hope his patience lasts as long as my stubbornness about getting this sword made. (I can be pretty stubborn)
On a more progress related note, the latest blade is at the heat treaters. Last I heard, it should be shipping back by then end of the week.
www.ollinsworddesign.com
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Torsten F.H. Wilke
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| Posted: Thu 20 Mar, 2008 2:29 pm Post subject: |
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Doesn't life usually throw "less than ideal" situations at us from time to time?
I believe that righteous men have nothing to fear or be embarrased about if given a truly taxing set of circumstances, especially when putting considerable efforts towards resolving them. Good workmanship and experience will most always prevail...
Please remember this: The fact that Ollin, or Jean, are not giving up says volumes towards a positive outcome. That, and it's probably going to be one kick-@ss sword when it's done . Maybe it will even have some sort of density, oops I mean destiny... (feeble attempt at humor)
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Thu 20 Mar, 2008 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Mark G. wrote: | I
I honestly can't thank Jean enough for being so patient through all of this. This definitely isn't an ideal situation for him to be in, which does make me feel bad. I'm doing everything in my power to get things back on track. I just hope his patience lasts as long as my stubbornness about getting this sword made. (I can be pretty stubborn)
On a more progress related note, the latest blade is at the heat treaters. Last I heard, it should be shipping back by then end of the week. |
Well Mark as long as you are stubborn about it I think I can be as patient about it and if I haven't been bugging you it's simply because my level of trust that you are doing everything possible to get things moving again.
So don't feel bad about it the waiting is made easier by simply being very Zen about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen Not that I have studied Zen philosophie but I do feel a certain quiet calm about this project: Yes I'm looking forward to having the sword but I'm not letting the delays upset me.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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