[Alexi Goranov]

I played around with the coustile sword for the last few weeks and managed to change its appearance.....for good or bad. On the positive side I learned few things along the way.

First off, making steel rust takes time. Much more time than I initially thought. The method I used was not exactly what Sean Flynt described in his article (I did not use the spray bottle) but I still used vinegar (5% acetic acid) and salt. I applied the solution in a thin layer, let the surface develop the red rust (over night), wipe it off and apply again. This method seems to work very well when repeated many times...patience is a virtue in this case. I learned that if I wanted to keep the brownish color I should not sand the surfaces to remove extra rust but just wipe it away with a soft cloth or towel and then apply the vinegar again.

The other thing I learned was that different steels respond differently to the same treatment. The guard, pommel, and blade were all treated with the same solution. Yet the pommel aged beautifully (means rusted a lot and quickly) and the guard did not. Further more the blade reacted differently as well. It turned black and not red/brown from the rusting. The blackened fuller (see picture) is the result of applying the same vinegar/salt solution many times to get even coloration.

My initial intent was NOT to blacken the fuller as in general I dislike it, but as I was cleaning the flats of blade which was treated all over with the rusting solution, the fuller took shape as it was protected form the sandpaper strokes. I kind of liked it and repeated the rusting/blackening procedure few more times to even and deepen the coloration. So here are the results.

The quality of the pictures is not good enough to see the difference between the pommel and the guard but it is there.

Work is not done yet, but the edges are sharp and I removed much of the diamond section of the blade to make it more lenticular .

Alexi

[Steve Grisetti]

I really like the results that you have achieved. The aging added a lot of character to the piece.

[Bill Tsafa]

I have seen Italian designs similar to this. This is intended primarily as an urban weapon to be carried conveniently and possibly concealed in town.

In my opinion I think that despite the puny thin rod tang, it should do ok on the tire-pell. One handed swords don't put too much stress on the tang. That is a light sword by design so the thin tang is not too out of place. I have not seen any one hand swords break on my tire pell. It is really the hand and halfs and two handers that need a reinforced tang.

I would think of that sword as a supper dagger. I do SCA fighting . I usually use a 37 inch sword in combination with a kite shield. I have a used my 37 inch sword in combination with a 31 inch short sword (24 inch blade). It is a fighting style that needs to be practiced and developed. Such a light weapon can allow one to be very agile in the face of someone with a shield. The main function of the short sword is to parry and occasionally close in and stab. But I find I can do all that with a second fullsize sword and maintain the option of attacking from either side at all times. So the true advantage to such a small sword is its compact size and ability to conceal in an urban environment. In an urban setting you would not expect to find opponents with full shields to bang it against. The tang should not have any difficulty with blade to blade contact.