[Gabriele Becattini]

i'm going to commission a sword to use for sword and buckler fencing, what i have in mind is roughly inspired

by a type XIV or XVI sword, here some measurements, just to give you an idea:

Blade Length: around 80- 81 cm

Blade widthBase: 5 cm

Blade Width point: 1,9 cm

Blade Thickness 1 mm

cross guard Length: 18 cm

Length of Handle: 10cm

pommel diameter: about 5-cm

point of balance: between 10 -11 cm from the guard

Weight: between 1,1 - 1,150 kg

i have already contacted Heron Armoury, St George armoury Pavel Moc and Viktor Berbekucz
(and may be also Armour Class)

what do you think about the above sword?

if you are familiar with the works of the above mentioned makers, what would be your first choice?

[Lee O'Hagan]

Hi G,
From who you've mentioned my first choice would be St George from what i've seen and handled at fairs etc,
i have a couple of sharps from Mark,
have seen a good number of his reenactment blades over the years,
the pics on his site are'nt the best, to be fair,but his swords are until you move up another 50% in price,and then his are again as good when his price reflects the added work involved,
the few Heron swords i've seen,the custom's were pretty nice,the ren blades looked good value,
Armour Class, i liked the high end baskets i've seen alot,their ren blades feel alot better than expected,again good value overall, probly about even on the ren stuff the times i've seen them with Heron,but normally more choice to be seen,
with Victor and Pavel,only really read online of their work,havent seen one to make a comment on,
on the numbers,
they look ok,do you have the pic's of inspiration ?
could be a sword already measured up from one of the museum's. or are the numbers your preference ?
or just a loose starting point to work an order out with,
guard style,pommell style?

overall,there isnt a bad choice mentioned from those who i've seen first hand,

[Julien M]

I'd go with Mark Vickers @st george armoury.

I have a custom sword made by him and not only was it very competitive price wise but the sword is of great quality.

Have a look here:

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=18296

You are after a fuellered blade though, and I've never seen a fuellered blade by vickers up close though, but I can speak for the hollow ground that are top notch.

[Gabriele Becattini]

thank you for your comments guys,

at the moment i have got an answer only from Mr.Noyes, the price and the waiting time are pretty good,

of the makers that i have mentioned i have already in my possession swords from Viktor Berbekucz and Armour Class,

and i have to say that both are excellent makers,

Lee- i have mixed up the measurements from various swords (mainly from Albion website and other reviews from myArmoury) the result should be much more my "ideal sword" than a strictly historical design, the sword will have for sure a wheel pommel and curved quillons, something like the Henry V sword or the Kingmaker from Albion",that is my favourite design, at the moment i'm still unsure about a type XVI or XVIII blade even if i' like much more the fullered blade respect to the diamond section, also the lenght is still unclear in my mind, for sure nothing over 32 inches, at the moment i have made a cardboard model with the measurements that i have oiriginally posted and the result is a very attractive sword with nice proportions.

Julien- your custom sword from Mr.Vickers is gorgeous, as said above i could go for a type XVIII blade in the end so Mr.Vickers looks like a great choice!

[Gabriele Becattini]

I have currently changed my project toward a more XVth century inspired sword, modelled after the Henry V sword:

Blade Length: 70 cm

Blade widthBase: 5,2 cm

Blade Width point: 2 cm

Blade Thickness 1 mm

cross guard Length: 18 cm

Length of Handle: 10cm

pommel diameter: about 5 cm

i have got an answer from almost every maker that i have contacted , Mr.Vickers is still missing, and now the situation is even more difficult, a lot of excellent prices and very short waiting time!

considering that now i wish to have an hollow ground blade, probably i'll choose who is able to offer me this kind of blade at the fairest price,