Dynasty Forge - XVIIIa Review
Jan 14, 2011 23:15:41 GMT
Post by garbarian on Jan 14, 2011 23:15:41 GMT
Dynasty Forge Type XVIIIa, Modified, Review
I ordered this sword from Marc and received it sometime in early December. My intention was to make some modifications to it over the holidays.
Overall length: 42" (106.7 cm)
Blade length: 33" (83.8 cm)
Weight:2 lb. 12 oz. (1.26 kg)
Width at guard: 1 3/4" (4.4 cm)
Width at tip: 1" (2.5 cm)
Grip length: 6 1/2" (16.5 cm)
Pommel style: Oakeshott Type J1 (elaborate form of classic wheel pommel)
Guard style: Oakeshott Style 6
Scabbard / Sheath;
This one has a wood core covered in basic black leather with cast metal fittings, pleasant enough if somewhat plain. Straight, strong stitching down the back; quite functional.
Blade;
DF always seems to do a great job producing their blades and this one is no exception. Smooth, flawless finish and designed to perform well cutting. As usual, I did touch up the edge. This one took a little more work than the XI but still required minimal effort.
Hilt Components;
The guard, in my opinion was refined a little better than the XI. It fit well and I found it very pleasing to the eye.
The handle had a good, solid wood core and was wrapped in black leather of decent quality, still with that rather noticeable seam down one edge.
The pommel was also well made, maybe not quite as refined as the guard but still nice and solid.
The guard and pommel seem to be made from some sort of cast metal alloy or possibly some sort of stainless :?
Hilt Assembly / Tang;
The sword is assembled using a pommel nut. I was impressed with the tang, wide and lots of meat on it. I was a little disappointed to see that the threaded piece was welded on. I understand that this method, as opposed to one piece construction has been used often and if done properly is perfectly adequate but I would have preferred the one piece method. The pommel nut, as can be seen in the video is not very user friendly. I would really like to see a hex nut used in the future.
Modifications;
Now I’m not sure if what I did will turn out to be a good or a bad idea but basically I was attempting to reinforce the hilt assembly. I put 2 brass pins through the handle and tang, I figured the wood core had enough meat to handle this. I also removed a wood shim from the pommel and sleeved it with epoxy putty which I let dry then sanded to give the pommel a nice tight fit. I used thread lock, the blue type to secure the pommel nut.
Performance / Cutting;
Well the sword seemed very solid at this point so I decided to try it out on some half mats. The sword cut very well and remained solid, so a couple of days later I tried it out on some heavier mats. Once again the sword performed very well. The structural integrity of this sword, after alteration appears to be quite strong. Cutting mats with it was a very smooth ride and a lot of fun. Edge alignment with this sword was easy. Time will tell if my ‘ modifications ‘ were a good idea or not but all seems well and, so far I am very happy with how the sword is performing. Thanks all.
Conclusions; As a functional sword with intent to cut I am going to have to recommend against buying this sword except as a project piece. The blade is marvelous, the wood core and tang, up to where it is welded, quite adequate. The assembly and components are suspect.
I ordered this sword from Marc and received it sometime in early December. My intention was to make some modifications to it over the holidays.
Overall length: 42" (106.7 cm)
Blade length: 33" (83.8 cm)
Weight:2 lb. 12 oz. (1.26 kg)
Width at guard: 1 3/4" (4.4 cm)
Width at tip: 1" (2.5 cm)
Grip length: 6 1/2" (16.5 cm)
Pommel style: Oakeshott Type J1 (elaborate form of classic wheel pommel)
Guard style: Oakeshott Style 6
Scabbard / Sheath;
This one has a wood core covered in basic black leather with cast metal fittings, pleasant enough if somewhat plain. Straight, strong stitching down the back; quite functional.
Blade;
DF always seems to do a great job producing their blades and this one is no exception. Smooth, flawless finish and designed to perform well cutting. As usual, I did touch up the edge. This one took a little more work than the XI but still required minimal effort.
Hilt Components;
The guard, in my opinion was refined a little better than the XI. It fit well and I found it very pleasing to the eye.
The handle had a good, solid wood core and was wrapped in black leather of decent quality, still with that rather noticeable seam down one edge.
The pommel was also well made, maybe not quite as refined as the guard but still nice and solid.
The guard and pommel seem to be made from some sort of cast metal alloy or possibly some sort of stainless :?
Hilt Assembly / Tang;
The sword is assembled using a pommel nut. I was impressed with the tang, wide and lots of meat on it. I was a little disappointed to see that the threaded piece was welded on. I understand that this method, as opposed to one piece construction has been used often and if done properly is perfectly adequate but I would have preferred the one piece method. The pommel nut, as can be seen in the video is not very user friendly. I would really like to see a hex nut used in the future.
Modifications;
Now I’m not sure if what I did will turn out to be a good or a bad idea but basically I was attempting to reinforce the hilt assembly. I put 2 brass pins through the handle and tang, I figured the wood core had enough meat to handle this. I also removed a wood shim from the pommel and sleeved it with epoxy putty which I let dry then sanded to give the pommel a nice tight fit. I used thread lock, the blue type to secure the pommel nut.
Performance / Cutting;
Well the sword seemed very solid at this point so I decided to try it out on some half mats. The sword cut very well and remained solid, so a couple of days later I tried it out on some heavier mats. Once again the sword performed very well. The structural integrity of this sword, after alteration appears to be quite strong. Cutting mats with it was a very smooth ride and a lot of fun. Edge alignment with this sword was easy. Time will tell if my ‘ modifications ‘ were a good idea or not but all seems well and, so far I am very happy with how the sword is performing. Thanks all.
Conclusions; As a functional sword with intent to cut I am going to have to recommend against buying this sword except as a project piece. The blade is marvelous, the wood core and tang, up to where it is welded, quite adequate. The assembly and components are suspect.