Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2010 22:49:59 GMT
So i was swinging around my windlass spartan sword last night, cutting down light vegetation and some sticking out decayed tree bark off of a tree we felled a while back. i noticed after some semi-solid hits(definitely far from full force, even for my weak arms) i looked down after a few cuts and noticed the guard, grip, and pommel were bent about 10 degrees off true. i decided to give it a few full force hits each direction for fun since it's not battle worthy anymore..it was bending 10 degrees or so out of true on the harder hits. when i was tired out(edge was still great interestingly enough) and everything was noticeably loose i unscrewed the pommel and discovered the whole assembly except for the blade is solid bronze(sweet!) but the grip was glued on. so it's going to have a second life as a spearhead since the steel is great for the price.
but i guess the point i'm trying to get across is be careful of the windlass swords with thinner threaded tangs, because when i unscrewed the pommel, i took a hacksaw to the exposed threaded tang (about 3/16 dia. threaded part) and cut it off in about 5 strokes..this is significantly softer than most bolts..its as soft as annealed mild steel. interestingly enough, the rest of the tang and blade is too hard and tough to even cut with a hacksaw effectively! i'll try and update with pics of the spear when it's done.
this isn't much of a rant against windlass though as the blade is great, just the threaded distal part of the tang was way too soft. i'll probably buy from windlass again, but if i do i'll get something that's built a little meatier.
|
|
|
Post by YlliwCir on Aug 12, 2010 9:47:30 GMT
Bummer, Miller. Any chance we can get a pic of the tang?
|
|
|
Post by Brendan Olszowy on Aug 12, 2010 15:04:37 GMT
Hey Miller, sorry about your sword failure. At the end of the service life of my windlass Narnia sword - the only windlass sword I own - the tang was setting off one way and the other all over the show. But the threaded part for the pommel was 3/8 - far more suitable. But yeah - with all the setting of the tang I was reluctant to keep using it. Regarding the softness of the tang: Soft is good - you want it soft. You definitely want the threaded end part of the tang soft. The softer the better. It isn't required to hold an edge so it need not be hard. If it were hard it would have snapped right off mid stroke *twang* and not bent - refer to the 'flying helicopter of death' section in your manual - so yes, soft is GOOD. The problem is the piddley stock Windlass use. Threading a pommel onto 3/16 (4.7mm) OD thread is not on. That means the inner diameter would be around 3.5mm solid steel. Yikes - that's holding the whole 10oz worth of pommel though all that shock and impact and vibration and resonance. Anyway you want your tang soft. The whole tang. You will see Tinker explains how he heats it with a torch to draw it back to a much softer temper. You can see in *these* photos of Lundemo's unfinished blades that the same has been done to the blades in the photos here. The whole shoulder and tang have been drawn down to make them tough, and less prone to cracking. If you watch the you tube vids of Albion's how it's made and Rob Miller making his swords, they clearly do not quench the bulk of the tang at all, so it isn't hardened to begin with, whereas tinker does it after his outsourced HT. Personally I quench the first 2 to 3 inches of the tang after the shoulder, but keep well clear of hardening the area that mounts the pommel.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2010 2:22:03 GMT
thanks for all the info brendan! i figured it was the diameter of the tang compared to the weight of the sword(a good 2 lbs!) that aggravated the setting problem..is it really supposed to be so soft you can bend it with a pair of pliers though? i suppose diameter trumps hardness there, but i would figure an HRC of like low 40's would be soft enough not to crack, but just tough enough not to take a set and be a little springy. the blade is almost perfectly hard though, id say easy low to mid 50's hrc. i cant hardly take a file to it but i've finished making it into a wicked spearhead, ill have to decide what to mount it on tomorrow.
|
|
|
Post by William Swiger on Aug 13, 2010 16:35:56 GMT
Good info Brenno.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2010 0:58:41 GMT
also a notable issue with the hilt assembly is that it's all solid metal and stuck on..so there's some vibration within the hilt even when new..if i struck and it vibrated the blade a little, i could hear a faint buzz from the tang rattling inside the handle/guard assembly. i don't think this affected its durability much, but it was a little disconcerting. i've heard some lower end other styles of swords with a hilt that can vibrate against metal makes the same disconcerting rattle..i'm really hoping my next sword(HEAVY duty peened pommel through a wood grip) will be able to withstand regular cutting. i know swords were always kind of a light weapon for lightly or unarmored foes..as from what i understand, on the battlefield Everyone liked spears extensively from the bronze age to the dawn of firearms, and clubs/maces/hammers were very common once armor started to beef up after the dark ages.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2010 4:22:05 GMT
reminds me of a SLO wall hanger I once bought. hope they make good on it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2010 0:48:29 GMT
well at least it survived to function another day, another way. along with yourself. things break unexpectedly sometimes, and not always to our benefit.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2010 6:10:08 GMT
pic of the whole short spear Attachments:
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2010 6:11:08 GMT
another closer pic by 8.5x11 paper for reference Attachments:
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2010 6:22:18 GMT
That's pretty cool, actually. Way to turn a bad thing around to work for you. +1!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2010 16:33:53 GMT
i will admit though, the leather wraps hold a dirty secret for historically accurate purists..even though they would do the job alone i wanted the construction even more solid..so underneath those are 2 modern screw type pipe clamps lol.
|
|