[Justin King]

I think the sound is the wedged guard shifting and settling itself onto the tang very slightly as the blade flexes. I have a Regent which makes a similar noise when flexed near the guard. I don't think it is a cause for concern and never contacted Albion about it. I can understand how the noise may bother someone but would be really surprised if it is related to any structural problem.
At any rate I don't think it is the blade "hitting" the inside of the guard. Albion wedges their guards into place on the blade so that they should be in firm contact already, precluding one from hitting the other.

[John Lundemo]

There was a problem with a sword I sent to Canada once. It seems the crate was probably opened by customs and the sword was dropped on a concrete floor tip first. The tip was damaged and the customer was upset. Now I know I didn't send it out that way and could not have happened in the crate which was undamaged. I assured customer I would fix it, but he opted to have a friend fix it. Other times I have heard of this from customers and on threads. But put yourself in thier non swordsman shoes, you open up a crate and see a awesome sword, how can you not want to swing it maybe ding an edge to test it. Silly but it has happened, maybe that's how you got the ding on the edge. As for casting steel and not getting any pits, dunno, but I have checked into it and it is not cheap. Were I to have some of my hilt parts cast from steel it is very expencive.

[Justin King]

[Matthew R.]

The sword I have now is near flawless save for that small "ting" it makes when moving it on the flat side and up and down. And it only occurs when I have a certain side facing up. I am sure if many of you actually tested my sword and could understand what I eman you would call me crazy and think it not a big deal. However, it is one of those things that I would have paid a little extra to make sure it wasn't there. I don't blame Albion at all, and I still plan to buy many more swords from them. I just wish I could sit next to them throughout the entire process And I definitely have to get over my perfectionist tendencies. In the end, I might just E-mail them and see if they can do something that wouldn't cost them anything, but I haven't really decided yet.

[Justin King]

[Nick B.]

Matthew,
Do you realize that this post has been going on for five months now. I have three Albion swords and have no problem with them, not saying that they are perfect but they are a lot better then any other makes I've had. I hate to tell you this but perfection does not exist and if you are expecting it you are always going to be disapointed. Like you said yourself "I definitely have to get over my perfectionist tendencies". I would suggest go to Albion and pick the sword out yourself.

[Terry Crain]

With all due respect Nick, I think Mathew has been asking reasonable questions about the quality control of the swords he purchased. Albion seems to have acted quite reasonably in this regard and shipped him a replacement sword. So I think they also don't think he is being too much of a perfectionist at all. Moreover he has conducted himself respectfully and without any lack of manners or courtesy.

He hasn't been complaining for five months about the latest sword he recieved from them, so I'm not sure what the relevance of the time this thread has been in existence is. Seems to me he is asking a reasonable question which other forum members may be able to she some light on if they also have experienced the same or similar occurances.

Not saying anything is or isn't wrong with his sword, but seems like a good question to pose. I also would like to hear Albion's opinion of what he is experiencing if Mathew discusses it with them, which I also encourage him to do.

I own quite a few Albion swords myself, and I absolutely love them; doesn't mean they are perfect or there isn't a few minor issues that I would have preferred were absent. I think it is helpful to have discussions of the experience of other consumers as long as they are conducted in a reasonable and respectful manner. Mathew certainly has done this.

Terry

[Nathan Robinson]

For what it's worth, I think the expectations expressed in this topic are not in line with the realities of the product or the market. This isn't to say that asking such questions is unreasonable--certainly it is not--I'm only offering up my answer to these questions.

Albion is far and away the most exacting of any production maker with whom I am familiar--and I've seen and handled products from dozens upon dozens of makers, custom and production alike. Albion's items are so precise that they rival even the highest-end of custom makers' work.

I suspect that their exacting and precise nature might actually shoot them in the foot since their items are so near-perfect that the slight issues still present cause people to perhaps notice them even more. Other makers have learned that it is easier to hide flaws amongst other flaws, I suppose. Albion can't rely on this.

From my perspective, I've been critical of Albion for making products that are far too precise and too finished that they often feel sterile to me and lack the hand-made nature seen on the antiques which they are replicating. For me, they lean towards having a too-modern look because of this precision. This is quite a departure from the reaction expressed by the author of this topic and perhaps different than most might have.

I don't envy Albion's position of having to figure out where to draw the line--if they were to make products that closely resemble the antiques on which they are basing their work, flaws and all, I am certain that they'd turn far too many customers away than they would attract.

At the end of the day, this goes down to the concept of Expectation Management. Albion, and any other company for that matter, has the ability to properly set clear expectations with their customers. At that point, their only responsibility is to meet the expectations that they have set forth. If it were me, I'd make a clearly stated notice on their Web site and in their catalogs about the types and degree of imperfections or other flaws that might be present in their shipped products. The key is to answer the questions before they become questions. This saves customer service cycles, avoids potential public relations issues, and solves so many other problems. It is as important to be as precise with managing customer expectations as it is to be precise with making the products.

[Matthew R.]

Nathan,

I couldn't agree with you more. A disclaimer on the website outlining the possible imperfections a sword might have would do Albion some good. Mostly, it would prevent ignorants like me from having to post on myArmoury.com to get the opinions of more experienced sword owners.

Indeed, this was the intention of this thread. This thread was never intended as a critique of Albion's ability to produce swords, as they are still far and away the best swords I have seen or handled. I was merely looking for opinions from the experts on this forum to augment my own ignorance of what a production sword should be. It is worth saying again that this is the first sword I have owned, and though I have handled some others, I didn't spend my own money on them. It just so happened that this first sword was an Albion sword, and had it been from another company and had similar flaws, the thread would have dicussed their production methods instead.

Thanks Terry for understanding the nature of this thread as well.

I also want to thank everyone else for posting their responses in this thread. You have really helped me understand what I should expect from a production piece, and settled my concerns about the swords I purchased.

I think its fitting to end this post, and possibly the thread, on Mike's response to an E-mail I wrote regarding the issue:



What that is, is some epoxy that has broke free and is moving around inside the grip. We get this email quite a bit. Most of the time with use the epoxy will wedge into an area and the creaking or tinking will stop. It isn't anything that is detrimental or will make the sword fail. It does have a lifetime warrantee on it so if it ever would you can send it back for a fix. Take care and hope you enjoy.

Best Wishes
Mike Sigman
Customer Service
Albion Swords Limited LLC






Hi Mike,

I hope things are well with you. I just got the chance to have a look at the new sword you sent me and it is truly a thing of beauty, it is near flawless which makes this next little bit even more painful to have to write.

I discovered that when I position the blade with the flat end down and move it up and down, only on a specific side mind you, there is a distinct "ting" sound and I can feel something shifting in the handle. This ting sound also occurs if I make the blade vibrate on the same side. The ting sound seems to be coming from the guard, but the shifting in the handle also worries me.

Please trust me when I say that it pains me to have to write this because my other sword didn't make this sound, and this one is otherwise perfect.

Is this normal? What can be done about it? Please keep in mind that I do not have the skill to fix this myself.

All the best,
Matt Resmini

[Nathan Robinson]

Posting emails in a public forum is very bad form. Very, very bad form. Email has the assumption of being a private conversation between parties and posting in public really goes against that expectation. Paraphrasing is better.

I'm not removing the post as it's your choice to do such things, but I have edited your post to remove the email addresses (yours, and theirs) to prevent spam harvesting bots from taking them and spamming the hell out of you guys. Just trying to help.

[Jean Thibodeau]

The exception to what Nathan said about posting e-mails is that if you ask permission from the person(s) involved first even if the e-mail seems positive and not damaging to the person quoted ( e-mail copied ).

Oh, and mention in your post that you got permission if you did, as well as edit out any information that is too personal and e-mail addresses.

If you are having an OOOOOOPS moment and feeling uncomfortable about this you might just let Mike know yourself and apologize for posting his e-mail " before " asking and he can also let you know if he prefers that you delete it or paraphrase as Nathan suggested. ( Just a suggestion that I hope is useful to all, otherwise I would have sent this as a P.M. ).

[Matthew R.]

I figured because his E-mail is readily available on the Albion site it wouldn't be an issue, and the E-mail he wrote me doesn't contain anything I would consider inapropriate for the public to view. My E-mail, I don't really care about, but these spamming bots that you speak of sound pretty nasty. Anyway, my apologies.