[Jeremy G]

Hey Bob (and anyone else interested!) here's a link to a thread I started in April last year in which Peter gives a lot of great info about this piece http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...ght=vassal Don't know if you've seen it or not, but hope it helps (to keep you salivating! )

[Bob Burns]

Yeah thanks Jean, but I won't have to pay shipping charges on it, since I can just drive over to the store and Ryan was one of the first people to request the sword. Turned out after talking to him that he had ordered this sword as soon as it was drawn up, which means I should be one of the first to get it. I ordered it with an ox blood grip, which I think will look awesome on that sword. This is one of those swords that though it is near about a thousand dollars, it is worth every dime! I have a few more Albions I want to get my hands on but that will be in time, because I am also thinking about either an Arms & Armor polearm, like the Itailian Bill Hook or the 15th Century Two Hander with 4 extra inches on the blade.
I have always had an eye for the Albion Caithness and the Thegn, also the Duke. But I have to bide my time because money is not something I have in abundance that is for sure. I have to sacrifice a lot of things to buy these high quality production swords but they are well worth it to me. We all have our priorities with our toys and or entertainment, with me it's definitely swords! Other than finanial responsibilities, everything else takes a back seat to the swords and I buy the very best that I can afford.

Now it will be at a slower pace, the last 7 months have been dedicated to building myself a base to work from, as I just discovered my deep love for this obsession recently and I do not regret spending one dime!

Ah it feels good to have an Albion on order, they are such a 1st class company as is Arms & Armor, I cannot say enough good things about either company!

Bob

[Jean Thibodeau]

Bob;

Well, I guess you won't have to wait for shipping to your house but I guess you will know that the sword is due to arrive at the store i.e. been shipped to the store by Albion: So I guess you will do your pacing then !

The 15th century A & A Twohander + 4" of blade. Well, as a custom piece it' s perfectly O.K. if that is what you want no problem: BUT, the sword is already huge as is and is more agile than the later 16th century Twohanders that might have a blade as long as you want. You might consider then going for a 16th century Twohander with the parrying hooks and more complex hilt with rings.

The 15th century Twohander might be visually and effectively put out of balance with a longer blade. This might be compensated by also lengthening the handle or increasing the tapering of the blade.

Just playing devils advocate here and I am approaching it from a design / good working sword angle and not a historical accuracy purist here. ( Not that there is anything wrong with putting historical accuracy first: But it is a choice one can make to prioritize or not. )

Fun to consider and discuss design choices in any case.

[Bob Burns]

Hi Jean, yeah I am still mulling over how long to have the blade on the 15th, I think I will wind up going with 2 additional inches. I don't want it to be too cumbersome, I was figuring the average height for a man of European descent is 5' 9" and I am a tad over 6' 1" so I figured an extra couple of inches on this particular beast. I know I want at least 2 inches added to the blade and not more than 4, I will continue to ponder this one for a few months, right now the only focus is the Vassal.

The Vassal is absolutely priority number 1, and I will allow nothing to interfere or complicate this acquisition, I am absolutely gonzo over that sword! This is going to be a long psychological wait!
That is one wicked down to business sword if I ever saw one!

Bob

[Jean Thibodeau]

Bob;

Two extra inches and tweaking some of the other dimensions a bit might work without drastically changing the nature of the sword and customizing it to your height should keep it in proportion.

I might just scale everything up with a bit of subtle sculpting of the masses of blade, guard, pommel to keep the increase in weight reasonable with the goal of maintaining agility.

This is one of those cases were you E-Mail Craig at A & A and work things out getting the sword you want but listening to any advice or ideas he might have with an open mind.

There comes a point when you change a design so much that you are better off accepting that you are making a new design rather than modifying an old one: Remember why you like this sword in the first place and then decide how much you can change it and still be true to it.

Again, just trying to be helpful discussing the idea and not pooh-poohing the idea.

[Bob Burns]

Yeah, thanks Jean I do appreciate it, Craig mentioned to me it was no big deal was just a matter of adjusting some of the grinding for mass distribution, I would of course follow any advice Craig gave me.

Thanks again, I do appreciate your help.

Bob