White Hart forge seax
Aug 6, 2007 22:11:09 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2007 22:11:09 GMT
i thought I'd post a review of this little beauty I picked up from White Hart Forge via ebay.
www.whitehartforge.com/
and
stores.ebay.com/White-Hart-Forge_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm
I picked this piece up due to its overall look, its being a one of a kind piece, and quite frankly the incredibly low price it went for on ebay (under 100)
The piece is a traditionally styled seax, 22" overall in length, blade length 15", blade width at guard: 1 9/16's ", blade width is 3/16's ". The blade is forged from an old file by hammering into a seax shape without stock reduction of any type. The cross pattern of the file is still visible on the blade back and spine, and adds to its visual appeal to me. I'm unable to give you an exact weight, as my scales have done a vanishing act on me, but the closest approximation I can give is around 1 3/4 lbs. (this done by comparison to the other swords in my collection with known weights-- it matches my Atrim riding sword well, which is 1lb 14 oz.) Pob is 1 13/16's" from the guard, cop is approximately 7".
The guard is forged mild steel, done in a pointed oval, 2" in length, 5/8" at it widest point, and 3/8's" thick. There were some tool marks on the guard when the blade arrived, but these did not detract from the appearance of the piece at all-- as it is designed to appear rustic.
The handle is elk horn, 6 5/8's " in length, 1 1/2"s at the guard, swelling to 2 1/2"s proximally. It is semi- smooth sanded and provides a comfortable and secure gripping surface. There is a small area that appears to be a smoothed out gouge in the handle, that works very well to fit the web of my my thumb and forefinger-- a happy accident. I'm not a huge fan of horn handles, but I have to say this thing is rock solid. The blade is not dis-mountable, which leads me to believe it is epoxied in place, though there is not evidence of epoxy present (a well done job).
The seax came with a simple hand tooled sheath of soft (maybe 4-5 oz?) leather, engraved with an image of a Norse Dragon on one side. Its a traditional seax manufacture- meant to be worn across the body usually from the rear. Overall length of the scabbard is 19" and it fits the seax very well. I wouldn't go so far as to say its a pretty piece, but it serves its function very well. However, if I displayed my scabbards I'd most likely replace it with a custom one.
I tested this blade versus a variety of targets in my back yard: 1" green bamboo, a 1 gallon water jug, a suspended (from bungee cords) cardboard mailing tube, and a 1x4 aged pine bed slat I had lying around. The seax handled all the tests easily and came through completely unscathed (actually, unmarked at all). The only test that was a bit of a disappointment was the mailing tube-- It self destructed when it was hit and snapped in half-- I still haven't found the top half, last I saw it was sailing over my barn and heading out into the woods behind---lol). I also did underhand stabbing tests versus the above mentioned slat and few boxes. it went through the boxes like butter, so no real test there. It consistently produced 1/2'- 9/16's deep punctures in the slat however.
If I've figured out how to post pics they should be on the link below:
Now on to the ratings
Historical Accuracy: 3/5 ( I doubt the Vikings had old tool files lying around to be turned into seaxes, though the concept of recycling steel and iron is very accurate for the Vikings-- pattern welding anyone?), though if it was a score for appearance I'd give it a 4/5.
Fit and Finish: 4/5
Handling: 3.5/5 (I'd love to have one of these in a langsax)
Structural Integrity: 10/5 (okay 5/5)
Value for Money: 5/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5
I consider this piece to be one of the very best bargains I've ever gotten. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a similar piece from White Hart to anyone. Be advised though, several of the pieces they have offered via Ebay in the past are forged from Toyota Land cruiser leaf springs and are not quite up to the level of this piece. I have one of those as well, a 12" seax and while it was worth the 65.00 I paid for it (every penny actually), I couldn't rate it as high as this one, simply for fit and finish alone. If there's any interest I'll do a review on that one as well.
www.whitehartforge.com/
and
stores.ebay.com/White-Hart-Forge_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm
I picked this piece up due to its overall look, its being a one of a kind piece, and quite frankly the incredibly low price it went for on ebay (under 100)
The piece is a traditionally styled seax, 22" overall in length, blade length 15", blade width at guard: 1 9/16's ", blade width is 3/16's ". The blade is forged from an old file by hammering into a seax shape without stock reduction of any type. The cross pattern of the file is still visible on the blade back and spine, and adds to its visual appeal to me. I'm unable to give you an exact weight, as my scales have done a vanishing act on me, but the closest approximation I can give is around 1 3/4 lbs. (this done by comparison to the other swords in my collection with known weights-- it matches my Atrim riding sword well, which is 1lb 14 oz.) Pob is 1 13/16's" from the guard, cop is approximately 7".
The guard is forged mild steel, done in a pointed oval, 2" in length, 5/8" at it widest point, and 3/8's" thick. There were some tool marks on the guard when the blade arrived, but these did not detract from the appearance of the piece at all-- as it is designed to appear rustic.
The handle is elk horn, 6 5/8's " in length, 1 1/2"s at the guard, swelling to 2 1/2"s proximally. It is semi- smooth sanded and provides a comfortable and secure gripping surface. There is a small area that appears to be a smoothed out gouge in the handle, that works very well to fit the web of my my thumb and forefinger-- a happy accident. I'm not a huge fan of horn handles, but I have to say this thing is rock solid. The blade is not dis-mountable, which leads me to believe it is epoxied in place, though there is not evidence of epoxy present (a well done job).
The seax came with a simple hand tooled sheath of soft (maybe 4-5 oz?) leather, engraved with an image of a Norse Dragon on one side. Its a traditional seax manufacture- meant to be worn across the body usually from the rear. Overall length of the scabbard is 19" and it fits the seax very well. I wouldn't go so far as to say its a pretty piece, but it serves its function very well. However, if I displayed my scabbards I'd most likely replace it with a custom one.
I tested this blade versus a variety of targets in my back yard: 1" green bamboo, a 1 gallon water jug, a suspended (from bungee cords) cardboard mailing tube, and a 1x4 aged pine bed slat I had lying around. The seax handled all the tests easily and came through completely unscathed (actually, unmarked at all). The only test that was a bit of a disappointment was the mailing tube-- It self destructed when it was hit and snapped in half-- I still haven't found the top half, last I saw it was sailing over my barn and heading out into the woods behind---lol). I also did underhand stabbing tests versus the above mentioned slat and few boxes. it went through the boxes like butter, so no real test there. It consistently produced 1/2'- 9/16's deep punctures in the slat however.
If I've figured out how to post pics they should be on the link below:
Now on to the ratings
Historical Accuracy: 3/5 ( I doubt the Vikings had old tool files lying around to be turned into seaxes, though the concept of recycling steel and iron is very accurate for the Vikings-- pattern welding anyone?), though if it was a score for appearance I'd give it a 4/5.
Fit and Finish: 4/5
Handling: 3.5/5 (I'd love to have one of these in a langsax)
Structural Integrity: 10/5 (okay 5/5)
Value for Money: 5/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5
I consider this piece to be one of the very best bargains I've ever gotten. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a similar piece from White Hart to anyone. Be advised though, several of the pieces they have offered via Ebay in the past are forged from Toyota Land cruiser leaf springs and are not quite up to the level of this piece. I have one of those as well, a 12" seax and while it was worth the 65.00 I paid for it (every penny actually), I couldn't rate it as high as this one, simply for fit and finish alone. If there's any interest I'll do a review on that one as well.