Actually, even without the Jack-o-lantern on the shell, that could be a really interesting sword. With the Jack-o-lantern, it would definitely fall into the "conversation starter" category.

-Grey

It would be sort-of a cross between some German/Swiss hilts ca. 1520 and those funky clamshell claymores. It's just a joke, of course, but I kind of like the proportions. It's the kind of thing I'd do if I happened to find a bare longsword blade for sale at a bargain price. Actually, I need to find a narrow hand-and-a-half Windlass blade for another project....Got one lying around, Grey?

Hopefully they put what you want on the discount rack before you get ready to start the project. If not, let me know. My Albion Agincourt makes this piece a bit redundant, so I might be able to let it go. I'm not making any promises just yet, but it never hurts to ask.

-Grey

This sword has long-since gone on to the great armoury in the sky--cannibalized by its fickle maker. :D Only the guard remains, possibly to be mated to a pommel cap and short, broad blade if the opportunity arises.

But a fellow myArmoury.com member has asked about the guard patterning process so I'll revive the thread long enough to post some of the relevant images and answer any questions he or anyone else might have.

Here are all of my patterns, showing the degree to which I was able to refine them as I worked. Note the very long sidebar on the early patterns (paper). That's tough to determine until you have something that can be mounted on the blade and bent to roughly the right shape (matt board or thin foam sheet). Notice, too, that I saved the final shaping of the guard terminals for the absolute last task to make sure they fit perfectly on the pommel (see earlier photo).

I'm also showing you the process I used to draw the of the scalloped guard. One of the things I'd do differently is to draw the lines of the scallop shells freehand and curved. I measured the lines carefully and drew them straight, which isn't very elegant and makes the shell on the knucklebow especially crude. But these photos at least provide some idea how I made the basic measures that I'd need no matter how I drew the lines.

The last photo shows the shaping of the guard in-progress (a view of the anvil side of the piece,) as described in early text and photos in this thread.

I could do a much better job now, but maybe at least one of you will try this and show me up :D

---

 Attachment: 126.87 KB



 Attachment: 142.86 KB



 Attachment: 140.48 KB

great, the entire process is much clear now,

gabriele

One other trick I should point out. On the first pattern here (tracing paper,) notice the pencil lines that intersect at the center of the tang-hole. Those keep everything properly aligned and symmetrical. Since this is tracing paper, its easy to draw those lines, draw a half-hilt on those lines, fold the paper on the lines and trace the first drawing to create a perfectly symmetrical hilt where desired (guard, bars, etc.). I used that trick throughout the process. You can see the pencil marks and creases in this cropped version:

---

 Attachment: 143.83 KB

Hi Sean,

Thanks for reviving this with that extra information! I've been looking at making-up an almost identical guard to pair with a cutlass blade (still deciding which blade to use). Good to see that the project is indeed possible (cold working and shaping with minimal tools) and looks so very good!

Congratulations and thanks!

Cheers

Marc