[Justin King]

I thought I'd share some pics of a couple of "extreme makeover" projects. These have been ongoing for some time and neither is really 100% finished but they may not get there for another year or more...
Both are based on Del Tin blades and hilts from Darkwood Armory.
The sidesword is a 2161 blade fitted with a German two-port guard from Darkwood and a pommel by myself. The grip will eventually get some sort of wire decoration on it and I will probably re-grind the edges also to make it sharpenable and reduce weight towards the tip a bit.
The basket hilt sword is fitted with a 16th cent. English style basket and pommel by Darkwood which I ordered rough and finished up myself, and a heavily modified blade which began life as a DT 2146. I had a hard time finding a blade for this sword that really felt at home, and decided to do it the hard way...
It was shortened and the welded tang cut off, then fullered and re-ground to an almost-sharp edge with more distal taper. I have been working on this one for well over a year, adding details to the hilt and whittling the blade down bit by bit. The weight is 2 lbs. 12.6 oz, Blade is 34 1/2", OAL is 40 3/4".I eched the blade in vinegar and polished it back a little, and will probably let both the blade and hilt aquire some natural patina before doing some more antiquing of some sort. This one will get a new grip sooner or later, probably leather-wrapped.
Thanks to Scott at Darkwood for supplying the hilts, he has been a valuable resource and a pleasure to do business with.

[Jonathan Hopkins]

Really excellent work, Justin! I love how your basket hilt turned out and I want that side sword (I'd take the basket hilt , too, but since I have one from Scott I won't get too greedy!). When will you start taking commissions for hilt upgrades?

Jonathan

[Justin King]

Thank you very much, Johnathan. The sidesword has a lot of potential but the balance needs some adjustment. The basket hilt has a very live feel, it isn't heavy but the blade presence is considerable, feels like a powerful cutter. I'm really dying to sharpen it and find out.
I can do custom hilt work to some extent, but don't have any welding capability so compound guards are out of reach for the moment. Cross-hilted medieval styles I can do, but my completion time is getting longer on "comissioned" work. I am at about a year-18 months out for delivery on any new projects unless they are very small. If you have a particular project in mind and can stand the wait feel free to shoot me a PM.