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Post by ShooterMike on Jan 11, 2007 3:24:40 GMT
We've discussed a couple of these swords on various threads around the forum, but I never can remember where. So I thought I would start this thread to clump the info about these where people can find it. What follows is a synopsis of previously stated information. I plan on expanding the original post as I get time and do more to this sword. Enjoy. ---------------------------------------------------- Last Update: 11 Jan 2007 @ 3:15 CSTI started with a $195 sword sold on Lee Reeves "Treasures" page on The Armoury website at www.leesarmoury.com. This is an early Angus Trim sword, made about 4 years ago. Lee reduced the prices on his remaining stock of these and is "movin' em cheap." I bought one and have been doing a bit of customizing to it ever since. Here's the sword as it arrived: This sword was sold as an unsharpened version of a sword made to be sharpened (as opposed to a training sword designed to be used blunt). The tip was round and had yet to have a real tip ground into the blade, though it was distal tapered for easy tip finishing. I put a decent point on it originally. This was pretty easy, as the distal taper was already in place. But after a bit of dry handling, I decided the sword was too long and felt just a bit awkward. The original blade length was 35", so I shortened it to about 31". I tried using a hacksaw that I'd used to shorten the blade of my Generation 2 12th Century Norman sword. Maybe the hacksaw blade had gotten dull, but it just wouldn't cut this sword blade. The result of bearing down hard and working the hacksaw blade across the blade of this sword was a bow in the hacksaw blade and some surface scratches in the ATrim blade. I resorted to using a triangle file to file through the blade. It was slow going, taking about 30 minutes just to remove the tip. Its a ghastly process. Don't look if you have a weak stomach. The tip was shaped and sharpened to this. There is still a bit more tapering I plan on doing to the tip, but this is my first effort. I wasn't totally happy with the shape of the grip so I quickly disassembled the hilt (huge plus for Angus Trim's swords) and sanded the grip to fit my hand. The sword was reassembled, given a once over cleaning and sharpening and ended up as this. After handling and admiring the sword for another week or so, I decided it needed the hilt changed a little. I wrapped the grip with tan leather lace. Here's how it turned out. (Note the many small grind marks that are clearly visible on the guard) Not sure I love the look but it feels great. More to come...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2007 23:15:54 GMT
Nice. I rather like this sword. I might consider getting it if it came sharp. I don't feel like doing the work of sharpening it. I got so many other projects going on right now.
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Post by leezoo on Jan 25, 2007 19:44:53 GMT
Actually I believe it was me who found the Lee Reeves armory page when I bought and posted my Atrim 1201 in Dec on the good buys on Ebay thread. I did the same thing I realy liked the 1201 especially for$285.00. I did a bit of customizing also,to me it looked to plain with the black hardware and a brown handle so I rewraped the grip and decorated the pommel with Pell dragons on each side. just click on the pictures to open.
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Post by ShooterMike on Jan 28, 2007 15:15:25 GMT
leezoo,
You are definitely the man who motivated me to get off my butt and order this sword. Many thanks.
Very nice work on your ATrim. I particularly like the dark guard and pommel. How did you darken them? In the closeup photo before the dragons are were on, it looks like some kind of moly or polymer coating?
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Post by ShooterMike on Jan 28, 2007 15:38:28 GMT
I have since ordered three more ATrims from Lee Reeves. One is the DD1404 Moonbrand which is above the price point here. But the other two were $175 each. I bought them both as project swords and so far I am quite happy with them. Click on pictures to see full size images. This is the original picture Lee sent me to see if I was interested in buying them both. So far, I've only finished the bottom sword in the picture. I reworked the tip, with the idea of trying to make something close to the Arms&Armor 13th Century French Medieval sword or the A&A Henry V. I got the tip a bit more rounded, but it's much stronger and still thrusts well. I would best describe it as an Oakeshott Type XIV, a sword type that a number of us are very fond of. The finished blade length is 28 inches. First a couple of pictures after the tip rework, before grip wrapping. . Close ups with the grip wrapped. . Here is a series 4 pictures while making three cuts of a milk jug. . . . I am very happy with the way this sword handles now. There is little difference between it and my A&A Henry V. I would say this sword has a slight bit more blade presence and exhibits much less vibration when making strong cuts on the pell. In fact, the blade seems harmonically balanced such that I have been unable to get it to noticeably vibrate at all. And that's something I have never experienced with any other sword. All that, and it's finished weight comes in at only 2.1 lbs! This sword seems very close to the ideal for "schwert und buckler" as it is fast, rigid, sharp, cuts and thrusts well, and is very controllable. My prediction is, if Tsafa ever gets to Texas for a visit, this is the sword he will try to sneak out in his luggage. Hmmm...maybe I should keep this baby under lock-n-key? ;D
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Marc Ridgeway
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"The best cost less when you buy it the first time." - Papabear
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Jan 28, 2007 18:37:47 GMT
I just can't get over the great work you've done on these swords.
Teriffic job!!!
And a great deal on the swords..
A fortune awaits you on eBay...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2007 22:20:51 GMT
Geez, Mike, if I'd known you were on an Atrim spree, I could have made you a deal on my DS1502b. Dag nabbit!
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Post by ShooterMike on Jan 29, 2007 4:06:59 GMT
Marc, Muchos gracias for compliments. I'm really enjoying this work. I have one more in the works. I think it's going to be special too. I'll post it when I'm done. Kriegschwert, I actually considered buying your 1502, but that was the same time when Lee sent me the picture above, and I just had to buy them to get the hand-and-a-half pictured above. The fact that the single hander turned out so well is just gravy. I'm actually thinking about one more. But that one's gonna turn out WAY different... ;D
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Post by ShooterMike on Mar 9, 2007 15:23:30 GMT
Just to tattle on myself. I DID buy Kriegschwert's ATrim 1502. I plan on fitting it with the guard, and maybe the pommel, from my now-defunct Paul Chen Side Sword. It may take a while, but I am hoping it turns out to be very cool. :-)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2007 0:01:46 GMT
Yep, 'tis true. If Mike implements some of the other ideas we discussed privately, this could turn out to be his coolest project yet.
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Post by ShooterMike on Nov 7, 2007 3:08:13 GMT
UPDATE: Well it took a while, but this sword I bought from Kriegschwert finally started getting the attention it deserves. Here is a photo after I received it and wrapped the grip. And here it is after tonight's little project to fit a 16th century rapier guard from Darkwood Armory. I realize the pommel needs to be changed, and I will get to that. But I thought Krieg and others might be interested to see how it's coming along.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2007 17:05:37 GMT
Oh YES!! THAT is what I'm talking about! Mike, that looks great. Is that a Darkwood guard I see before me? Did you reshape the blade yourself? Great work. This is one of the better projects I have seen. Congratulations! Maybe I will post back with something of more substance than "wow", but hey, I'm at work and wow is all I have right now.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2007 17:17:30 GMT
How are you doing that without welding???
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2007 17:42:50 GMT
How are you doing that without welding??? ATrims have threaded tangs, meaning that the pommel screws on. A pommel would not be welded on, although heat might be necessary to change out a pommel on a peened assembly--but I do not know.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2007 17:50:52 GMT
Wow! The old girl is looking mighty pretty, Mike. Mike and I discussed that sword a bit when he decided to buy it, and I told him I'd intended to do some work on it myself, but had never gotten around to it. I had started reprofiling the edge to a steeper angle, but that was it. She'd been sitting in my closet for quite some time at that point. I said I'd rather see it in the hands of someone who'd invest some time and do something cool with it, and Shooter was on an Atrim customizing spree at the time, so...off to Mike it went. Again, I say, "Wow!" She's looking fantastic. Impressive work thus far, Shooter! Only now you're making me sort of miss her... ;D
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Post by ShooterMike on Nov 7, 2007 20:05:39 GMT
How are you doing that without welding??? I bought the guard from Scott at Darkwood Armory. All I had to do to the guard was open the hole for the tang and re-contour it a bit, to match the size of the ATrim tang. Then I had to cut away about .300" from each side of the blade to end up with a rebated ricasso and make the blade step down in width to allow the forward rings to fit, and to give a flat edged ricasso for the fingers to wrap around. I did the cutting of the blade with a Dremel tool with cutoff wheels and tungsten-carbide cutter. Then finished it up with various hand files.
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Post by ShooterMike on Nov 17, 2007 16:11:20 GMT
I got really lucky with this project. My DD1004 "Moonbrand" has a very small grip for such a heavy Type XIV sword. I've always had trouble controlling it with such a relatively small grip. As it turns out, the 1404 and 1502b had identical grips, so it was just a matter of swapping them. Better to be lucky than good, I suppose... Here she is with her new grip in place. Overall from the hilt. Overall from the tip. After handling this sweetie with the new grip, I think it's going to be worthwhile to bring both sides of the blade to paper-cutting sharp after reworking the edge geometry a bit.
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Post by randomnobody on Nov 17, 2007 16:33:39 GMT
Very nice. We'll be wanting videos and such, of course.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2007 0:30:43 GMT
I swear I responded to this days ago...
It still looks great, Mike! You can send it to me at your earliest convenience. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2007 2:55:53 GMT
Mike: are the older Atrims worth buying?
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