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Steve Grisetti
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 Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 12:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Alina Boyden wrote: | | ...The main difficulty is, of course, the price. For 300 dollars I would much rather save up a bit more cash and then get a custom smith to make one. I'm sure you could get an Odinblades Islamic sword for cheaper than the cost of buying the windlass version and redoing it. One of these days I'll bite the bullet and get a Vince Evans Islamic sword...one of these days. |
If you are patient, I expect that the market price for this Windlass piece will come way down to a level more appropriate for a "project piece". The Windlass/Factory X Sword of Dracula started out at a similar price level. I bought mine, new, about a year ago for $80, retail. Similar phenomenon with the Sword of Tigris of Gaul (from Gladiator) - I think that was in the $250 range, but I bought a new one for $60 last year, also retail. The nice thing about these is that, once I get around to improving these, I won't be devastated if I mess them up.
On the other hand, a piece commissioned from Odinblades or VE will be an entirely different quality class. While I have not yet had the pleasure of handling a sword from either of those folks, I think that either would be well worth the price paid. I'm sure that many others here can comment with much more authority on that point,
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Patrick Kelly
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| Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 1:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | On the other hand, a piece commissioned from Odinblades or VE will be an entirely different quality class. While I have not yet had the pleasure of handling a sword from either of those folks, I think that either would be well worth the price paid. I'm sure that many others here can comment with much more authority on that point, |
I love my Evans.
As nice as it is, it doesn't compare to some of Vince's middle eastern work.
One of my favorites:
If I decided to have a custom maker do a project like this Vince would be the man.
"In valor there is hope.".................. Tacitus
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Patty B
Location: North Carolina, USA Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 5
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Alina Boyden
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| Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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True enough, but I would have an impossible time justifying this sword for anything more than maybe $125 US seeing as how it would take substantial effort to make the weapon worthwhile for me.
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Alina Boyden
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| Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Patrick Kelly wrote: | | Quote: | | On the other hand, a piece commissioned from Odinblades or VE will be an entirely different quality class. While I have not yet had the pleasure of handling a sword from either of those folks, I think that either would be well worth the price paid. I'm sure that many others here can comment with much more authority on that point, |
I love my Evans.
As nice as it is, it doesn't compare to some of Vince's middle eastern work.
One of my favorites:
If I decided to have a custom maker do a project like this Vince would be the man. |
If you don't mind me asking, Patrick, what was the price on your custom type X? I've never seen the prices on a VE sword before so I'm curious.
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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team
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| Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Alina Boyden wrote: | | If you don't mind me asking, Patrick, what was the price on your custom type X? I've never seen the prices on a VE sword before so I'm curious. |
Alina,
I'm not Patrick, of course, but that's a difficult question to have answered, especially in a venue like this. Custom work is a different animal than production stuff. First, Patrick's piece is a few years old; you can expect that any custom smith will have raised their prices somewhat since then. Second, not every piece a custom smith makes is priced according to the same formula. For instance, sometimes a smith will cut a previous customer a better deal than someone else. Or they may charge less for a project that really excites them, just so they can have the chance to make the item. The smith doesn't need to hear "Well, so-and-so only paid this much for his sword, why is mine more expensive?," etc.
Pricing questions are better handled directly with the smith when you're interested in buying something from them. If Patrick chooses to answer your question publicly, that answer can't be taken as an absolute guide, since custom work (and it's pricing) is an individual as the smith, customer, and project are.
ChadA
http://chadarnow.com/
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Alina Boyden
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| Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Chad Arnow wrote: | | Alina Boyden wrote: | | If you don't mind me asking, Patrick, what was the price on your custom type X? I've never seen the prices on a VE sword before so I'm curious. |
Alina,
I'm not Patrick, of course, but that's a difficult question to have answered, especially in a venue like this. Custom work is a different animal than production stuff. First, Patrick's piece is a few years old; you can expect that any custom smith will have raised their prices somewhat since then. Second, not every piece a custom smith makes is priced according to the same formula. For instance, sometimes a smith will cut a previous customer a better deal than someone else. Or they may charge less for a project that really excites them, just so they can have the chance to make the item. The smith doesn't need to hear "Well, so-and-so only paid this much for his sword, why is mine more expensive?," etc.
Pricing questions are better handled directly with the smith when you're interested in buying something from them. If Patrick chooses to answer your question publicly, that answer can't be taken as an absolute guide, since custom work (and it's pricing) is an individual as the smith, customer, and project are. |
Oh I'm aware. But if the answer is 300 or 3000 it at least gives a basis.
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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team
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| Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Alina Boyden wrote: |
Oh I'm aware. But if the answer is 300 or 3000 it at least gives a basis. |
It all depends on what you're ordering, another reason why this question is so hard to answer.
Vince is an award-winning, top-level, well-respected, in-demand artist. Mono-steel-bladed knives/daggers/dirks will be in the few-to-several hundred dollar range (or more). I've seen used dirks sold by customers for $500 or more. Mono-steel simple swords will not be less than $1000, and will likely be much more. Anything pattern-welded will be more expensive. Complex hilts (like basket hilts) will be more as well.
I've owned three knives by Vince, and still have two of them (I regret selling the other). I'm one of the people who thinks he's still under-charging for his work, based on the quality-to-dollar ratio.
ChadA
http://chadarnow.com/
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Alina Boyden
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| Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Chad Arnow wrote: | | Alina Boyden wrote: |
Oh I'm aware. But if the answer is 300 or 3000 it at least gives a basis. |
It all depends on what you're ordering, another reason why this question is so hard to answer.
Vince is an award-winning, top-level, well-respected, in-demand artist. Mono-steel-bladed knives/daggers/dirks will be in the few-to-several hundred dollar range (or more). I've seen used dirks sold by customers for $500 or more. Mono-steel simple swords will not be less than $1000, and will likely be much more. Anything pattern-welded will be more expensive. Complex hilts (like basket hilts) will be more as well.
I've owned three knives by Vince, and still have two of them (I regret selling the other). I'm one of the people who thinks he's still under-charging for his work, based on the quality-to-dollar ratio. |
It's okay, Patrick emailed me and we talked about it. I can understand the reluctance to not give exact figures as they are personal contracts between the smith and the buyer.
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Joel Whitmore
Location: Simmesport, LA Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Sat 09 Apr, 2005 11:16 pm Post subject: Alina that custom peice |
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Alina I don't know your situaton, but as many on here can attest, there is nothing more exciting and enjoyable than working with a smith to get a dream realized. Many of the good ones are a joy to work with. I was fortunate enough to work with Kevin Cashen and I don't regret one $$ I spent on my dream. If you are not in the position to go this route yet Alina, I hope that someday soon you will be able to. People like VInce, Kevin and John L. ( to name a few) are great people and just love to talk swords. Kevin and I spent an hour on the phone one night just talking about sword weights, pommel weights , nodes and Tolkien. LOL I felt like a teenager calling my first girlfriend  Seriously, it is really great fun Alina researching your sword, finding a smith, waiting ( the hard part) and finally opening that box. Even building an entire costume/kit around it is enojyable. I think that the living history is something more "serious" academic historians should delve into. My brother just refuses to wear that maile ;-)
Joel
Last edited by Joel Whitmore on Sat 30 Apr, 2005 4:19 am; edited 1 time in total
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Alina Boyden
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| Posted: Sun 10 Apr, 2005 12:10 am Post subject: Re: Alina that custom peice |
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| Joel Whitmore wrote: | Alina I don't know your situaton, but as many on here can attest, there is nothing more exciting and anjoyable than wrking with a smith to get s dream realized. Many of the good ones are a joy to work with. I was fortunate enough to work with Kevin Cashen and I don't regret one $$ I spent on my dream. If you are not int eh position to go this route yet Alina, I hope that someday soon you will be able to. People like VInce, Kevin and John L. ( to name a few) are great people and just love to talk swords. Kevin and I spent an hour on the phone one night just talking about sword weights, pommel weights , nodes and Tolkien. LOL I felt like a teenager calling my first girlfriend Seriously, it is really great fun Alina researching your sword, finding a smith, waiting ( the hard part) and finally opening that box. Even building an entire costume/kit around it is enojyable. I think that the living history is something more "serious" academic historians should delve into. My brother just refuses to wear that maile ;-)
Joel |
My professor on the one hand says that she is amazed by the fact that I know more as an undergrad about medieval studies than most PhD students. Then of course she turns around and refers to me as the "sub-culture" because I read the fechtbucher and learn about the arms and armor. I think there is a real tendency amongst the older historians of seeing that sort of thing as bad form or a waste of time. Most of the new PhD students in medieval history I run into, and the other undergrads are either into living history and swords or are into Dungeons and Dragons or both. So I think there is a definite shift in what is deemed to be acceptable for the academic community and what is not.
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Gabriel Stevens
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David R. Glier
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Roger Hooper
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| Posted: Fri 15 Apr, 2005 8:50 am Post subject: |
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I just received the latest MRL catalog, which is dominated by Kingdom of Heaven offerings. Certainly the oddest sword is the one called Odo's Sword, which seems to be some sort of cross between a late Roman spatha, and an early Migration sword. Blade length: 34 inches. MRL describes it as a "Viking type" sword. I just don't understand why anyone would want to put this Dark Ages influenced design in a movie about 12th century Outremer. It seems almost as bad as arming them with 18th century smallswords.
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Gabriel Stevens
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| Posted: Fri 15 Apr, 2005 9:27 am Post subject: |
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Okay I just figured out who this sword belongs to in the movie. In the trailer you can see him in the ambush/battle scene with Liam Neeson, he's standing in the background and is the blonde "viking" looking guy with arms the size of tree trunks. I don't recall his name off hand but I believe he was a Worlds Strongest Man participant a few years ago. Any way there's a wall paper on the official site where you can clearly see that sword in his hand.
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Edward Hitchens
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| Posted: Thu 28 Apr, 2005 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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I'm with you guys on Saladin's sword. It looks very nice, but I can't quite fathom that forked tip. Historically accurate? I honestly don't know, since eastern blades are not exactly my cup o' tea. Although, I also just got the latest MRL catalog and there's a beautiful scimitar on the very last page (I'm actually playing with the thought of ordering one). Boy, that 'sword of the King of Jerusalem' wasn't modeled after Edward III's sword was it? Leave it to me to point that out  .
Ted
"The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest." Thomas Jefferson
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Steve Grisetti
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| Posted: Fri 29 Apr, 2005 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| Edward Hitchens wrote: | I'm with you guys on Saladin's sword. It looks very nice, but I can't quite fathom that forked tip. Historically accurate? I honestly don't know, since eastern blades are not exactly my cup o' tea. Although, I also just got the latest MRL catalog and there's a beautiful scimitar on the very last page (I'm actually playing with the thought of ordering one). Boy, that 'sword of the King of Jerusalem' wasn't modeled after Edward III's sword was it? Leave it to me to point that out .
Ted |
Ted, regarding the historical accuracy of the forked tip, please see Alina Boyden's post of April 7, 2005 12:44pm (in this thread). Alina points out that there are 2 historic examples of forked tips. So, maybe "accurate" but not historically representative.
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Stefan Toivonen
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| Posted: Fri 29 Apr, 2005 5:43 am Post subject: |
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| Gabriel Stevens wrote: | | Okay I just figured out who this sword belongs to in the movie. In the trailer you can see him in the ambush/battle scene with Liam Neeson, he's standing in the background and is the blonde "viking" looking guy with arms the size of tree trunks. I don't recall his name off hand but I believe he was a Worlds Strongest Man participant a few years ago. Any way there's a wall paper on the official site where you can clearly see that sword in his hand. |
His name is Jouko Ahola, he won the Word's Strongest Man competition in '97 and '99.
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Roger Hooper
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| Posted: Fri 29 Apr, 2005 8:08 am Post subject: |
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| Stefan Toivonen wrote: |
His name is Jouko Ahola, he won the Word's Strongest Man competition in '97 and '99. |
The sword of Odo weighs 3 lbs, 10oz, has a 34 inch blade, and no pommel to speak of. Do you think it might be just a little blade heavy? Sounds like a sword for the World's Strongest Man.
(Of course, the one Ahola really used in the movie was probably made out of aluminum)
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Edward Hitchens
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| Posted: Fri 29 Apr, 2005 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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I've never found myself being attracted to movie swords, even if the said movie is based on history and not fantasy (ex: Mel's sword in Braveheart, or the "Sword of Maximus" from Gladiator) but I'm starting to fall in love with that Sword of Ibelin, the one Orlando carries.
Question: Can anyone make out what appears to be an inscription on its pommel that encircles the red cross?
-Ted
"The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest." Thomas Jefferson
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