[G. Ghazarian]

Hello Michael. thanks for you compliments.

Trying to answer your question, I attached below two pictures showing the deflection of Albion Munich blade and mine, both type XVIIIb and having a required rigid blade.

Considering the size of both swords and taking into account their specifics, for example:

Thickness to width factor at the forte (width x thickness):

1.5 x 0.335 = 0.5025 (Munich)
1.975 x 0.26 = 0.5135 (mine, 1.975" being accurate width of my blade)

This factor practically being equal, it implies that to compensate for the thickness difference and keeping rigidity, mine needs a slower distal taper, as shown here ( thickness at the forte, mid blade and 4 inches from tip)

0,335 / 0,260 / 0.170 (Munich)
0.260 / 0.215 / 0.170 (mine)

A faster distal taper, or more distal taper for that matter, would have given me a thinner blade, therefore a less rigid blade and consequently, a lighter sword. Besides, that type of blade would have tended to be gradually more like a type XIIa or XIIIa.

The purpose of bringing up these numbers is just to show similarities in their parameters and their resulting qualities without getting too much in mathematics.

And then, just for the sake of argument, suppose I ground the blade some more and without drastically changing the overall quality of the sword, I removed an additional ounce (not very likely), will that make a big difference ?

The sword will still be a large sword.

[Michael Pearce]

Thanks- that answered the question nicely! I didn't mean to imply that you had done it 'wrong;' just curious. There's a lot of variation in period swords; some XVIIIs have more distal taper, some less, some straight and some convex. A sword of those dimesnsions could be notably lighter- or even heavier- and still fall within what is 'historically correct.' It just depends on the effect that you are after. Anyway, it looks wonderful!

[G. Ghazarian]

I know you didn't imply anything, I was trying to explain the reasoning behind what I have done and why.
Basically, I'm sure you know this already, it is a matter of an intuitive feeling when grinding that makes you stop grinding and it always proves you have done the right thing at the right time.

I must thank you for your question, it was very proper and it gave me a chance to explain.

[Maurizio D'Angelo]

dear Mr. G. Ghazarian,
this is beatifull sword, very nice work !
Same questions:
Of what material the grip is made? (I report me to the first photo above)
To close the ferrule on the handle they are welded? Otherwise, as are they inserted?

[Nathan Robinson]

The first post says, "ebony and ivory handle".

[G. Ghazarian]

[Maurizio D'Angelo]

I had not translated well. Thank you.
This is art.
Congratulations for your work, Mr. Ghazarian.
Maurizio

[Maurizio D'Angelo]

[Nathan Robinson]

Ancient screws and bolts and whatnot are always neat for me to see. I love seeing the wing-nuts on armours, for example. It just seems so out of place and modern, and yet is not. Additionally, most pre-17th century swords were not simply compression-fitted. I suspect most people's objections to non-peened swords aren't necessarily the fact that there is a screw-on type of assembly (as this can be hidden quite well as you have masterfully done), but rather the presence of the compression fit rather than affixed individual parts. I'd guess that swords that had the peen as the only means of holding the sword together were in the minority.

Gabriel-

The barrel nut/bolt that you built that resembles a peen block is pretty cool, I must say. Looking at the assembled sword photos, I would not have guessed that is how it was assembled. Clever and attractive.

[G. Ghazarian]

Just a few more words about screws, without the risk of deviating from this thread subject.

I did a quick search on invention of screw threads and found this:
(just disregard the right column)

http://www.hayesbolt.com/Story_&_RoHS.htm


Thanks Nathan for your positive stand on my barrel nut/bolt use. I make these individually and after assembly of the hilt components, as you pointed out, it looks exactly like a peened sword. This gives the practicality of a dismountable hilt and the look of a peened pommel.