The blade is polished and all components are in place. Ready for peening!

This one is coming together nicely! Are you planning on making a waisted grip for it?

I second that! Please, oh please...make a waisted grip! Maybe a half-wire? :D That would look awesome! :D ....McM

It will get a waisted grip, yes. Only appropriate grip shape for such a sword in my eyes ;)

No plans for a wire wrap though.

Exquisite weapon. What are the weight / dimensions?

Blade length is 95cm, overall slightly over 120cm if I recall correctly.

Weight will be around 1650g, the complex guards adds a good bit but being close to the hand, it's not a big problem.

And now, back to that grip! I'm living vicariously through you right now. Tell me it will be a rich, deep Oxblood red. Excuse me--had to wipe the saliva from my bottom lip just thinking about it. :D ....Come on...really....What color have you decided on? Inquiring minds want to know! :D .............McM

The customer indeed picked a dark oxblood red ;)

Pommel is peened. It was a bit tricky with the peen being lower in niveau than the "points" of the pommel. I also wholly underestimated how much of a pain it is to clean off the oxides. The many groves and recesses make it impossible to reach all spots. I will do some more sanding once the grip is in place but I won't be able to get all traces off. A sand-blasting device would be handy but alas, I don't have one. Oh well, they had the same problems back then with this pommel shape.

Also, the wooden grip core is finished. You already get a good impression of what the sword will look like when done. Keep in mind the grip core is a tad undersized to allow for the cord and leather wrap.

I'm happy with the handling, the substantial and complex guard called for a wide, imposing blade and I wanted to make a powerful, smooth cutter with good point control. I think I succeded.

Lukas the sword is really coming to life! Do you think if you did another pommel like that anything could be done differently to make peening easier?

Thanks!

I don't think there's any way of making it easier... that's just the problem with any type of pommel where the peen is difficult to access. Peening actually wasn't the issue, the clean-up is. I might give the dremel a shot at this... though it's really not bad, the slight dark patina is rather attractive, too.

If you were making that for me (Oh, I wish!) I would have you leave it be, with only the slightest amount of clean-up. I, personally, find hammer marks on a pommel peen to be a selling point and very attractive. It lets you know--"Hey, this was made by a REAL person!" Some famous makers--I shall name no names--polish their peens to the point of near invisibility. I want to see it. I feel that it is a pure character mark--a sword 'birthmark', if you will, and gives the sword a feeling of empowerment. But....that's just me. :) Beautiful sword...can't wait to see the final results! :D .....McM

Swiss longsword

The Swiss longsword is finished. This piece is a collaboration between Mike Jia from the Printed Armoury and myself. He supplied the fittings, I did the rest. The fittings are inspired by those often (not exclusively) seen on swords from 15th/16th century Switzerland.



Stats:
Overall length: 120cm
Blade length: 95cm
Handle length: 19cm
Blade width (at base): 5.5cm
Blade width 1“ from tip: 1.2cm
COG: 12cm
COP: 67cm
Weight: 1640g



This is an imposing sword, with a wide blade and eye-catching fittings. The type XVIIIa blade combines excellent cutting ability with a deadly point. It is a sword that performs best against unarmored opponents, with a blade that retains sufficient width to allow for efficient cutting all the way to the point. While not quite rigid and narrow enough to readily deal with armor, the blade is plenty stiff and the point has no trouble penetrating deeply into soft targets.





The edges are of convex shape, most sturdy in the lower half and more acutely honed in the foible. This gives a more resilient base for parries and bind work without sacrificing the offensive capabilities.

Overall, the goal of this design was to produce a quick, powerful cutter with good point control. The result is a sword with noticeable blade presence yet agile and attractive handling characteristics.
I have only cut light targets with the sword so I can‘t say for sure but I believe it may be one of, if not the best cutting longsword I‘ve made to date. The little bit extra width and blade presence compared to my last XVIIIa is noticeable in its performance.

Mike Jia‘s fittings really are quite nice. They aren‘t completely flawless, with a few pits here and there and other slight casting marks. I do appreciate that, too perfect a finish would have looked out of place on an otherwise entirely hand-made piece. So I can certainly recommend „The Printed Armoury“ and am looking forward to future collaborations.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
Lukas

Really nice work guys, very beautiful sword. Is the plan to keep this one or sell it? It will be interesting to see what other blades people will pair with these fittings.

Thanks, Ian. This was a commission so it's already sold...

Fantastic....just as I had pictured in my mind, with the waisted grip in Oxblood. Absolutely fantastic! :D ......McM

Nice work Lukas! It really turned out to be a very elegant weapon. I have an XVIIIb blade and this makes me excited to see how they pair.

And, despite how eye catching the hilt is, through this whole process the first thing I notice is always that clean fuller transition...

Splendid blade and grip work Lukas - blade finish is especially good.
I like the fittings too and think they are a great deal for the price, I just wish PA would stick more closely to historical examples and simpler forms. I'm hopeful I will get some one of these days, depending on what the next batch will look like.
Cheers,
J

Thanks guys.

@Julien: yes, some simpler fittings would be a very nice thing... some standard model wheels, etc.

Here's the cutting video:

https://youtu.be/uMqLLWRDlbk

Lukas,

Your sense of balanced lines and proportions never ceases to amaze! Each new sword you make seems just a touch more impressive than the last. I look forward to seeing what you can craft in the near future!