Fable Blades Sword of Whispering Woods
Sept 15, 2009 0:27:32 GMT
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2009 0:27:32 GMT
Fable Blades Sword of Whispering Woods Review:
What drew me to this sword originally was the description by Brendan of Fable Blades:
A bit more about me before I get into specifics: I don't own any other Western Style swords to compare this one to and my form using said style of sword is severely lacking.
That being said I'm a huge fan of this sword. The following covers my experience with Fable Blades and this gorgeous sword. A few weeks ago Brendan lowered the price on what he called his "apprenticeship" pieces. /index.cgi?board=europeansword&action=display&thread=11353
One of those was The Sword of Whispering Woods at $500 US. Since I had been saving money to buy it at the original price tag of $800 I had to jump on this offer. I wasted only a few minutes to make sure my wife wouldn't take the price out of my hide before I emailed Brendan to secure it. Even though he is just about half way around the world from me he always got back to me within a few hours with exactly what I wanted to hear.
I asked if he could engrave a few things on the blade for me since I like the runes he has on a lot of other pieces. He suggested initials under the branches of the tree and I added I'd like the year made on the tang which he gave me.
Brendan's
Mine
The sword was in the mail and I was eagerly waiting. Finally, about a week after it shipped from Australia it arrived at my door.
My cat helped me to unwrap it:
It was packed up tightly inside some PVC and padded with paper:
The loose pieces (guard, grip and pommel) were stuffed inside the pipe with the blade.
The sword came disassembled to keep it from getting banged around on the edges too much in transit:
I put it together as soon as I could
The leather part of the grip is just right for one hand to hold it.
Fit and Finish:
I've never owned a sword where the components fit together as well as this. Even though it was assembled on arrival by a novice it was rock solid. The grip is made of steel which has been oxidized slightly to color it. I love the color it has but it has a few marks on it where the color has been scratched off. Brendan said this can be corrected it by cooking it in the oven to recolor the metal but the fragility of the finish is a negative (though a minor one). Though the fit of the screw on pommel is dead on I assume that over time the fit might loosen (Brendan said as much and that it would be easy to fix with leather washers placed at the blade end of the grip, seems easy enough). Brendan has said he prefers the recessed nut method for pommels and I think most of his later works use that method.
The blade has a rough satin finish which is fine with me since I tend to gum up and scratch mirror polishes pretty fast. The marks from whatever was used are visible; I kind of like the look but some might not. I'm not sure what the later model Fable blades look like. There were also a few pits in the metal that I noticed.
Not a big deal to me and I'm guessing Brendan has improved is technique in the years since this sword was made. (early 2008 if you were wondering).
Handling:
Since I've never swung a sword like this around before it took some time to get used to it but once I did it was pretty good. The blade weighs in around 3 lbs which would be pretty heavy for a one handed sword (to be honest I wasn't sure if it was designed for one or two). The grip has just enough room for both of my hands with little to no room in between them. Once I started using both hands I was able to make it through all the empty plastic bottles I had around the house. They weren't all clean cuts but they weren't bad. I think my biggest problem was hitting on the CoP. If I landed a hit anywhere else it didn't seem to cut nearly as well (or at all). Again, this is a novice's experience, it could just be my terrible form.
Conclusions:
Pros:
- Beautiful and unique sword.
- Solidly built; if I weren't so much better with a katana, I'd pick this one first to go into battle.
Cons:
- Steel of the guard and pommel shows marks and needs to be kept oiled. (minor nuisance)
- A little heavy for a one-hander and a little short for a two hander. Guess I'll just lift some more this winter while I can't run.
- Considering this venue; the price. At $500 it's a bit above the upper limit for this website but considering the time and energy that went into this sword I'd call it a steal.
- I now need a few grand to commission more Fable Blades...
Please keep in mind that by Brendan's own words this was a piece he made while still learning and I'd be more than interested in his opinion on the (minor) flaws that I've pointed out. I'm confident that his newer work is even more magnificent than this one. In the end I'm very happy with this purchase and will likely be a repeat customer if I can ever afford it.
What drew me to this sword originally was the description by Brendan of Fable Blades:
This sword conjures an image of the branches of an old Oak tree. Branches which symbolize unfathomable strength, while being peaceful and serene, bending only to the whisper of the wind.
A bit more about me before I get into specifics: I don't own any other Western Style swords to compare this one to and my form using said style of sword is severely lacking.
That being said I'm a huge fan of this sword. The following covers my experience with Fable Blades and this gorgeous sword. A few weeks ago Brendan lowered the price on what he called his "apprenticeship" pieces. /index.cgi?board=europeansword&action=display&thread=11353
One of those was The Sword of Whispering Woods at $500 US. Since I had been saving money to buy it at the original price tag of $800 I had to jump on this offer. I wasted only a few minutes to make sure my wife wouldn't take the price out of my hide before I emailed Brendan to secure it. Even though he is just about half way around the world from me he always got back to me within a few hours with exactly what I wanted to hear.
I asked if he could engrave a few things on the blade for me since I like the runes he has on a lot of other pieces. He suggested initials under the branches of the tree and I added I'd like the year made on the tang which he gave me.
Brendan's
Mine
The sword was in the mail and I was eagerly waiting. Finally, about a week after it shipped from Australia it arrived at my door.
My cat helped me to unwrap it:
It was packed up tightly inside some PVC and padded with paper:
The loose pieces (guard, grip and pommel) were stuffed inside the pipe with the blade.
The sword came disassembled to keep it from getting banged around on the edges too much in transit:
I put it together as soon as I could
The leather part of the grip is just right for one hand to hold it.
Fit and Finish:
I've never owned a sword where the components fit together as well as this. Even though it was assembled on arrival by a novice it was rock solid. The grip is made of steel which has been oxidized slightly to color it. I love the color it has but it has a few marks on it where the color has been scratched off. Brendan said this can be corrected it by cooking it in the oven to recolor the metal but the fragility of the finish is a negative (though a minor one). Though the fit of the screw on pommel is dead on I assume that over time the fit might loosen (Brendan said as much and that it would be easy to fix with leather washers placed at the blade end of the grip, seems easy enough). Brendan has said he prefers the recessed nut method for pommels and I think most of his later works use that method.
The blade has a rough satin finish which is fine with me since I tend to gum up and scratch mirror polishes pretty fast. The marks from whatever was used are visible; I kind of like the look but some might not. I'm not sure what the later model Fable blades look like. There were also a few pits in the metal that I noticed.
Not a big deal to me and I'm guessing Brendan has improved is technique in the years since this sword was made. (early 2008 if you were wondering).
Handling:
Since I've never swung a sword like this around before it took some time to get used to it but once I did it was pretty good. The blade weighs in around 3 lbs which would be pretty heavy for a one handed sword (to be honest I wasn't sure if it was designed for one or two). The grip has just enough room for both of my hands with little to no room in between them. Once I started using both hands I was able to make it through all the empty plastic bottles I had around the house. They weren't all clean cuts but they weren't bad. I think my biggest problem was hitting on the CoP. If I landed a hit anywhere else it didn't seem to cut nearly as well (or at all). Again, this is a novice's experience, it could just be my terrible form.
Conclusions:
Pros:
- Beautiful and unique sword.
- Solidly built; if I weren't so much better with a katana, I'd pick this one first to go into battle.
Cons:
- Steel of the guard and pommel shows marks and needs to be kept oiled. (minor nuisance)
- A little heavy for a one-hander and a little short for a two hander. Guess I'll just lift some more this winter while I can't run.
- Considering this venue; the price. At $500 it's a bit above the upper limit for this website but considering the time and energy that went into this sword I'd call it a steal.
- I now need a few grand to commission more Fable Blades...
Please keep in mind that by Brendan's own words this was a piece he made while still learning and I'd be more than interested in his opinion on the (minor) flaws that I've pointed out. I'm confident that his newer work is even more magnificent than this one. In the end I'm very happy with this purchase and will likely be a repeat customer if I can ever afford it.