The pommel is coming along nicely Julien. I like how you went about creating it.

Ok I'm almost done here - got the pommel where I want it, well centered on all sides sitting nicely on the tang and very very close to the original. I will narrow the tang hole at the top with weld, will also fill any pits - then I will pin. I will also thin down the guard quillons, but from this point it's fine tweaking. I may also round the angle on the pommel a bit more - haven't decided yet if it enough or not.
I've also cut an inch at the tip of the blade and started re profiling it - it will be more slender when I'm done. There were subtle grinding mistakes that cost this blade it's place in the next gen line - slightly wavy towards the tip so it needed fixing anyway. Cutting one inch off also happen to match precisely with the length of the copenhagen sword, and I'll manage to finish the profile nicely.

I'll move on to the grip next, which will be 4 sided with roping effects like the Falstoff sword below.
Hope you like it!
J

Rounded the pommel further (no pics yet). Total weight 1028g. Pommel weight 207g: is that too light? the Spare pommels I have weight a little more, around 240g. When I lay the hilt parts on the original sword pics, I'm bang on thought, and everything matches all measurements I have fort his sword (pommel especially).
The sword fells very good in hand, the point of balance is at 10 cm down the guard...but I have the feeling it could feel even better in hand with slightly more weight towards the pommel (some swords virtually feel weightless with proper balance, that's what I'm aiming for). Since I will reshape the last third of the blade towards the point to match the original (more slender if I have enough thickness), it may do the trick - so I will sit on this and not make any harsh decisions. If not it may just be fine once everything is secured in place (I'm judging this with an assembly secured by the pommel hammered with a piece of paper inside, which is enough to require hammering the other way around to take it out, but still, the wooden grip moves along a bit so it may skew things a bit. If I need tweaking, I'll have two options, lengthen the grip to move the pommel further up the tang, weld a slice on top of the pommel and grind some (I've got only 1.5 cm thick plate, which will be too much...that would be a lot of hassle for a vague feeling, not to mention that I'm not I.33 fighter...I can judge a sword balance to a good degree, but I'm in the end no expert.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts, as I will move fast on peening this one.
cheers,
J

Some of the sword makers I respect the most say the lighter the pommel you can manage, the better. Since your PoB is good and overall weight is low, I would go with lighter pommel.

It's worth noting that the pommel of the original may be hollow or partially hollow: even if the dimensions are the same, that could be throwing your weights off.

I really like this. At first sight, the sword looks like a thing from the 1970s movie:) But it is definitely an interesting piece, and if it handles well, I would keep the original idea and use this atypical pommel. There are so many disc-pommel swords in the world... :)
The way you´ve made your pommel is interesting. You could actually make hollow pommels like that, but then I suppose it´s more time consuming than simply cutting & shaping it, and then grinding the tang-hole.
Recently I´ve acquired a TIG welder - it´s more expensive and little more difficult to use, but it gives superb results compared to classic arc welder - much cleaner and more precise welds.

I think it looks great, and I'd like to see it finished. I actually like yours better than the original that inspired it. I'd like to see what it looks like with a wheel pommel, but I would tend to continue along the current path unless the wheel just screams that it belongs on that sword.

Rather than try to widen the top of the pommel, I think I'd just narrow the foot. It's impossible for me to tell how it feels in the hand, but if it were on my bench I think I'd want the grip rounded a bit and reduced all over, especially at the top. Sloping the pommel to a narrower top of the grip would give the same visual effect of widening the top of the pommel. Try it with clay or balsa and see if that makes sense.

My best advice at this point would be to put away the photos of the original and finish it as a representative of a sword of that type and in a way that looks and feels right to you. Good photos and stats are wonderful inspiration, but can be tyrannical.

Very nice work Julien. Also, glad to see you stepping out to try new tools and techniques. I've been wanting to learn some welding techniques myself. This has given me some renewed gumption to give it a try.

Nice work! Wish you would have kept the bit that protrudes down the blade. Though it wouldn't be like the original. :)

Beautiful work. Love the look of this sword already!

Hi all,
After a long break from sword tinkering and a long detour into miniature wargaming I am back at the workbench...to finish this project, among others (started in 2012 so a fast paced 10 years in the making :) ).
I could have wrapped it up sooner as the pommel was pretty much done - just needed to be peened, but I was slightly bothered by the balance of the sword (was good, but this is an Albion blade and it deserved to be spot on).
Just bought an small flux welder and welded a plate of 8mm steel on top of the pommel. A lot of efforts for what can seem to be fine tuning but considering how the sword now feels in hand I think it was well worth it ('balanced like a good fishing rod' as Mr Oakeshott would out it). The welding left a few spots here and there which would have bothered me in the past...as I try to fill them a do more damage right next to it so I'll live with it (for now :) ).
Next onto the grip and scabbard (I'm still considering a different grip choice than the usual cord over leather and still considering sthng like the Falstaff sword above, with longitudinal ridges that could complement the pommel straight angles pretty well).
Now onto the A466, with bronze sand cast grip and pommel.

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