[M. Adair Orr]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a very cheap sword, a knock-off of the Windlass 15th Century Longsword. In the spirit of others on this forum, the blade has a lot of potential. It is durable, flexible and had a shape very similar to something I had been looking for. Before I spend big money on a custom blade, I wanted to try out some hilt design on something less precious.

The attached photo shows how I trimmed down what was a clumsy and large ricasso to shorten the blade and create a decent tang. The old tang will be mostly removed. I will be making a new grip and pomel in the style of the cardboard template in the photo, a tight hand and a half grip.

The image shows the quite ugly original guard. I will be forging a new, more developed guard. I am trying to create something that would suit the period 1520 to 1530. One feature I like a great deal is the early side ring that reaches forward over the ricasso (see second photo-not a historical sword, but it demonstrates the feature).

I am looking for both photos of hilts of this style, as well as peoples comments on the historical plausibility of this design. The finished sword will be 41 inches long.

-Adair