[Chad Arnow]

[Russ Ellis]

[Russ Ellis]

Just a minor update this time...

Added a review for the Arms and Armor Claymore here:

http://www.tritonworks.com/newpage5.htm

Also finally made that correction to the "Brescia" review...

[Russ Ellis]

I've been busy, here are a few of the things that I've been busy with...

The Albion Berserkr, a wicked evil nasty piece of steel. You have to handle it to understand, but it's name is very apt in my opinion.



The Albion Talhoffer, this is one of my favorite Albion swords hands down. It reminds me of the Brescia... at nowhere near the price.



The Albion Crecy, this is the second sword of that name by Albion. The first one was nice... this one is better.



A Vladamir Cervenka Schiavona, it's the first schiavona I've ever got to personally handle and I have to say I LIKE it. I'm going to have to get myself one of these swords...



This last one was a most interesting project... I keep forgetting to ask the owner who made the sword. The owner and I wanted something that popped for this sword, and then I looked at that handle.... and then I got ideas. This thing was a cast iron son of a gun to put together properly. If anyone else wants this sort of two tone affect (Note that the two tone affect continues around the back of the scabbard they are going to PAY for it.) Doug you got a HECK of a deal sir.

[Jesse Frank]

Those look great, Russ.

[Russ Ellis]

Thanks Jesse, I'm still learning. I spent a pretty good bit of time Sunday just indexing some of my books by century and even time period within the century so that hopefully I can do a better job of turning out a product that stylistically matches the time period of the sword... and nationality and so forth...

I'm fortunate at the moment that the owners of the projects I'm working on have given me a lot of latitude to do what is appropriate. This is not always the case. Often a customer wants a particular scabbard or suspension whether or not it correctly matches the sword in question.

[Thomas Jason]

Hey Russ:

How about posting pics of the Thegn work you did for me.

[Russ Ellis]

[Russ Ellis]

Alright, here are some pictures of Thom's Thegn scabbard and baldric...

[Thomas Jason]

Now that is a nice scabbard!

[Russ Ellis]

[Steve Grisetti]

Russ - I really like that Thegn scabbard, and also the two tone "...cast iron son of a gun..."

[Russ Ellis]

[Russ Ellis]

I've added a couple of reviews tonight.

There's one of my new Xa.1 from OlliN Sword design



http://www.tritonworks.com/newpage110.htm

and one of Albion's latest iteration of the Crecy XVIa...



http://www.tritonworks.com/albion.htm

[Russ Ellis]

I managed to add a couple of more reviews last night although I didn't manage to get them published to the web until just now. You would think I was following Bill Grandy around. One of the reviews is for the Talhoffer pictured above:

here: http://www.tritonworks.com/albion.htm

and one is for the Vladamir Cervenka schiavona also pictured above...

here: http://www.tritonworks.com/vladimir.htm

[Bill Grandy]

[Russ Ellis]

Got a few assorted things for this update, first there is a review of Albion's Thegn (slightly contreversial probably):


http://www.tritonworks.com/albion.htm

Then some pictures of some new work.

A Brescia scabbard:


Another Brescia scabbard:


A Nautilus scabbard


I'm liking that new knot, will probably use it more in the future...



I've got a ton more reviews that I need to do as well so look for those in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully that is. I've managed to load myself up with projects at the moment so sort of feel guilty doing updates when I need to be building projects.

[Steve Grisetti]

[Russ Ellis]

In this week's update something a little different:



To my chagrin I discovered that something happened to the review page so I'll have to fix that tonight. Here is the review in its entirety however:

AK-47 Combat Katana
Overall Length: 29 inches
Blade Length 18.5 inches
Point of Balance: 2 inches from end of grip
Center of Percussion: N/A
Weight: 2.2 lbs


Performance Review:

Busse is primarily a knife maker in the "tactical" knife arena as such I expected that their "combat katana" would handle like a large knife probably more like a machete then anything else. I was therefore pleasantly surprised with the handling characteristics of this little beast. Although it does not feel the same as one would expect a similar sized Japanese styled sword to feel the Ak-47 manages to deliver a cut with authority without being prohibitively blade balanced. The long handle has a textured grip and is comfortable in the hand. The sword's short length (a mere 29 inches total of which 10.5 inches is handle insures that is is a quick little cutter as well. In short although it handles no more traditionally then it looks it is nonetheless a nice cutter to swing and could undoubtedly make short work of light targets and would probably handle relatively effectively against heavier targets as well.

Appearance:
As noted before Busse is a "tactical" knife maker and the Ak-47 owes much of its styling and appearance to traits inherited from that background. The handles on this particular model were micarta although G-10 and aluminum handles are also available. The handle is of the "slab" tang type in which the grip slabs are attached to the side of the tang via fasteners and the tang is still visible in the middle of this "grip sandwich." The blade has a black anodized textured finish a trait common with tactical knives. The blade shape is interesting in that while certainly not traditional in either grind or finish Busse did not elect to go with the all to common "Americanized tanto" point so favored among American manufacturers and instead the blade displays a point much more in line with a more traditional Japanese kissaki. The fit and finish seem to be top notch with no sloppy fits or obvious design weaknesses.

Conclusion:

If you are looking for a traditional Japanese sword this is not the piece for you. If however you are looking for a non-traditional jack of all trades blade to go camping or hiking with the Ak-47 would seem to fit the bill in all particulars for anything from clearing brush out of your way to providing some last ditch sort of piece of mind if a firearm is not desired or available. You might be scorned by traditionalists but your hiking buddies won't be able to keep their hands of this particular piece.

This particular customer wanted a nontraditional type saya to go along with his non-traditional type sword. This saya admirably fits that bill. Rather then being lacquered as is traditional this saya was plasticoated with a texturing element mixed into the coating. This created a tough finish which feels very similar to the black anodized coating on the blade itself. It is also provided a matte finish which is what this customer wanted.

Also I've got a new shipping option you can read about it down at the bottom of the page here:

http://www.tritonworks.com/services.htm

[Russ Ellis]

For some time I've been wanting to be able to offer plaque belts like the one seen on these effigies of Sir Humphrey Littlebury(1365) and Sir Edmund Thorpe (1417).





So without further ado here are the new offerings I have:



Check out the details here: http://www.tritonworks.com/new_page_1.htm

If you are putting together a late 14th century or early 15th century kit this may be something you are interested in. I am very hopeful that there will be a good response to these because if there is I will be able to offer significantly more options for these in the future.