| Author |
Message |
J.D. Crawford
|
 Posted: Tue 01 Feb, 2011 6:35 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
This next sequence is pretty self-explanatory, because Craig has put captions right on the photos:
 Attachment: 33.46 KB
Attachment: 31.49 KB
Attachment: 29.31 KB
Attachment: 24.67 KB
Attachment: 31.81 KB
Attachment: 65.38 KB
|
|
   |
 |
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Wed 16 Feb, 2011 2:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Here, the cross is in final shape and fit to the tang, and then the plan for the pommel is set. Can't wait to see that pommel!
Attachment: 25.86 KB
Attachment: 46.92 KB
Attachment: 31.7 KB
Attachment: 24.65 KB
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tim Lison
|
| Posted: Wed 16 Feb, 2011 5:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
|
It looks great. Is the pommel going to be convex or concave on the part towards the grip? It looks concave in the drawing but I never would have guessed that this type of pommel was concave on the bottom...
|
|
|
|
|
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Wed 16 Feb, 2011 6:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Tim Lison wrote: | | It looks great. Is the pommel going to be convex or concave on the part towards the grip? It looks concave in the drawing but I never would have guessed that this type of pommel was concave on the bottom... |
Hello Tim,
I wondered about that too; it would seem to make the pommel much lighter than one might have expected. I don't know yet what Craig has decided to do with this - I'm leaving it up to him to interpret the details and decide what works best.
Regards, JD
|
|
|
|
|
Craig Johnson
Industry Professional
|
| Posted: Wed 16 Feb, 2011 7:06 pm Post subject: mental gymnastics |
|
|
The pommel is turning into one of those exciting experiments in three dimensional thinking. I am striving to match the profiles we have provided by the report on this one and get the in between bits to flow from one to the other. It gets to be much like the proverbial "start with a chunk of material and remove what ever is not the pommel"  The key is to remember it's always much easier to take a bit away then have to try and add some back.
I will try to download some more pics and send them on soon.
Best
Craig
|
|
 |
|
Jean Thibodeau
|
| Posted: Thu 17 Feb, 2011 8:54 am Post subject: |
|
|
| J.D. Crawford wrote: | | Tim Lison wrote: | | It looks great. Is the pommel going to be convex or concave on the part towards the grip? It looks concave in the drawing but I never would have guessed that this type of pommel was concave on the bottom... |
Hello Tim,
I wondered about that too; it would seem to make the pommel much lighter than one might have expected. I don't know yet what Craig has decided to do with this - I'm leaving it up to him to interpret the details and decide what works best.
Regards, JD |
This type of sword may also have a great deal of blade presence, maybe more than we now think desirable because of the backlash from sharpened crowbar reproductions of decades past we now assume that a well balanced sword is going to be light feeling in the hand. Some period sword where intended to have a lot of presence but they would still have good handling for their type I think.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
|
|
|
|
|
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Thu 17 Feb, 2011 11:35 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Jean Thibodeau wrote: | | This type of sword may also have a great deal of blade presence, maybe more than we now think desirable because of the backlash from sharpened crowbar reproductions of decades past we now assume that a well balanced sword is going to be light feeling in the hand. Some period sword where intended to have a lot of presence but they would still have good handling for their type I think. |
I totally agree Jean. I'm looking forward this time to a sword with a LOT of blade presence. I'd be surprised if Craig gets the CoG below 6", although that's cool because I'm used to working with big brutes like that.
You also raise an interesting technical point that I think sword-makers often understand better than us sword-users. Adding more pommel weight might draw the CoG toward the hand, but at the expense of increased total weight and possibly compromised dynamic balance. There needs to be some optimal balance between these factors for the intended use of a particular sword. (Not to mention getting the blade harmonics right...).
I tend to think the guy who put that slightly concave pommel on the original sword knew exactly what he was doing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
E Sideris
Location: Massachusetts, USA Joined: 08 Apr 2010
Posts: 26
|
| Posted: Thu 17 Feb, 2011 12:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
J.D.: You say you're used to working with blade-heavy swords. Given the commissions I've seen of yours, we seem to have a similar taste in swords! However, I've had little actual experience in handling them. By "working with" do you mean cutting or actual form practice/sparring?
Also, if it's not too much to ask, I'd love to see your whole collection!
Same goes for Tim; I also think your taste in swords is excellent.
All the best,
Elias
|
|
|
|
|
Bill Grandy
myArmoury Team
|
| Posted: Thu 17 Feb, 2011 1:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm really enjoying seeing these in-progress pics!
HistoricalHandcrafts.com
-Inspired by History, Crafted by Hand
"For practice is better than artfulness. Your exercise can do well without artfulness, but artfulness is not much good without the exercise.” -anonymous 15th century fencing master, MS 3227a
|
|
|
|
|
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Thu 17 Feb, 2011 2:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| E Sideris wrote: | J.D.: You say you're used to working with blade-heavy swords. Given the commissions I've seen of yours, we seem to have a similar taste in swords! However, I've had little actual experience in handling them. By "working with" do you mean cutting or actual form practice/sparring?
Also, if it's not too much to ask, I'd love to see your whole collection!
Same goes for Tim; I also think your taste in swords is excellent.
All the best,
Elias |
Thankyou Elias. I don't have a picture of my whole collection right now, but here are the sort I am talking about:
http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/download.php?id=31914
The Del Tin 2nd from the right is typical of what I mean. PoB of 7" (after removing some blade weight) and 35" blade. It's good for a workout. I never got beyond being a novice at historical fencing and have not done it for years, but I have continued doing drills and have adapted 15th century technique to these earlier swords - the biomechanics and grip need to be modified. Other than that I only do a few fun things like cutting pumpkins - which these swords devestate.
-JD
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jeremy V. Krause
|
| Posted: Thu 17 Feb, 2011 4:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I had assumed that the pommel on this historical sword was convex on the underside but now that I look at the pic I can see that Craig (of course) has correctly interpreted the shape.
Now I look forward to seeing this reproduction come to fruition even more! I am really enjoying seeing the progress on this project.
Is there any inlay to speak of on the original- if so will this be employed in the reproduction?
|
|
|
|
|
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Thu 17 Feb, 2011 6:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Jeremy V. Krause wrote: | | Is there any inlay to speak of on the original- if so will this be employed in the reproduction? |
I don't think so Jeremy, at least they don't show in the drawings used for this sword. I would have to re-read the article quoted above to be sure. At any rate there won't be any inlay on this sword - the budget is not unlimited.
I'm really glad Craig's pictures are getting noticed, because he's obviously taken a great deal of time out of his actual work to take them and pass them on. Its not easy to work and photograph at the same time. Plus he is being very open with their process. It's a real treat for us and much more than I was expecting.
-JD
|
|
|
|
|
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Fri 18 Feb, 2011 8:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
And the pommel takes shape....(labels added by Craig).
Attachment: 27.58 KB
Attachment: 17.38 KB
Attachment: 22.73 KB
Attachment: 16.78 KB
Attachment: 26.73 KB
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tim Lison
|
| Posted: Sun 20 Feb, 2011 3:15 pm Post subject: |
|
|
|
WOW! Looking really good. It's getting close. I am excited to see what this looks like done!
|
|
|
|
|
|
E Sideris
Location: Massachusetts, USA Joined: 08 Apr 2010
Posts: 26
|
| Posted: Sun 20 Feb, 2011 8:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
|
J.D.: That XII.3 second to the left has got to be one of my favorite swords! It's absolutely beautiful! Who made it?
|
|
|
|
|
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Mon 21 Feb, 2011 5:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
| E Sideris wrote: | | J.D.: That XII.3 second to the left has got to be one of my favorite swords! It's absolutely beautiful! Who made it? |
Do you mean XII.3 from the myArmoury feature? Actually mine is loosely based on XII.7 from that page. This is also one of my favorites. Those who have been around for a while will recognize the Windlass Transitional Viking Sword. Its not as refined as the similar Albion Caithness to the right of the picture, but I like them both for different reasons. This just goes to show that you don't have pay a lot of money for a nice sword if you know what to look for and are willing to search through the dross. Cas/Hanwei is coming out with its version of this sword soon, but I cannot vouch for that one. Here is a thread that includes more info on the original sword and some more pictures of mine: http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=17084
Last edited by J.D. Crawford on Mon 21 Feb, 2011 5:55 am; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
E Sideris
Location: Massachusetts, USA Joined: 08 Apr 2010
Posts: 26
|
| Posted: Mon 21 Feb, 2011 5:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
| J.D. Crawford wrote: | | E Sideris wrote: | | J.D.: That XII.3 second to the left has got to be one of my favorite swords! It's absolutely beautiful! Who made it? |
Do you mean the one with the 5-lobed pommel and the curved cross? |
Yes exactly! Is it an A&A custom? I don't remember seeing it on their page. It's beautiful! I also love this new design my Mad Dwarf Workshop: http://maddwarfworkshop.com/swords/thecawood.html
|
|
|
|
|
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Mon 21 Feb, 2011 5:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
Oops - just realized what you meant so I edited my post before I saw the response. I think I answered everything above. JD 
|
|
|
|
|
J.D. Crawford
|
| Posted: Mon 21 Feb, 2011 2:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Just got this last set from Craig, complete with labels.
Super job on the pommel my friend - I love the smooth beveling and the complex curvilinear geometry. I can't detect any assymetries in these pictures. You hit the bullseye!
I must say I am really getting excited - the end is in sight!
Attachment: 38.43 KB
Attachment: 37.15 KB
Attachment: 19.52 KB
Attachment: 22.51 KB
Attachment: 31.9 KB
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tim Lison
|
| Posted: Mon 21 Feb, 2011 2:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Damn! I'm very envious of this sword right now. JD! You are my Moriarty! Why must you always make me want to spend more money on swords? Especially the day I did my taxes and know what my refund will be.  Your taste is great. I can't say enough good words about this sword and about Craig's willingness to document its creation (not to mention his talent!). Kudos, sir, kudos.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is a standard topic