ATrim type XII.1 - Munitions Grade
Feb 11, 2011 9:31:50 GMT
Post by Greg on Feb 11, 2011 9:31:50 GMT
The day many of us have waited for is finally upon us. Tried and True armory, which is run by our local forumites Tom and Hiroshi, is now the primary distributor for all ATrim lines. Not only that, but they have worked out, with Gus, the ability to sell not only the standard line, but the mercenary and munitions line too.
This XII.1 is one of the munitions that I picked up last week on during the grand opening of www.TriedAndTrueArmory.com. It fell into the munitions category because the quality did not meet Mr. Trim's standards. In this case, the sword is 8oz heavier then what is intended for this typology.
The good news is that Gus has decided not to scrap these pieces and finishes them off as swords.
As we can see in the above picture, this blade still has minor ridges extending from the end of the fullers and travel out towards the tip. The blade is finished off in a lower grit paper then his standard line, and if the time and effort would have been put into bringing the polish to a higher grit, these lines would probably disappear.
Edit: I have been informed that the ridges were left on the blade because this blade has historically been a hexagonal cross section. Gus could have sanded the blade till it became an apple seed, but then he wouldn't have been true to the form.
Here are some stats:
Materials: Type 5160 blade, mild steel guard, wood core grip with leather wrap, pommel unknown- probably stainless
Weight: 2 lbs 13 oz
Total Length: 37.25"
Blade length: 30.25"
Grip length: 4.25"
Blade width at base: 2.3"
Blade width at CoP: 1.55"
Point of balance: 5"
Blade percussion node: 20.5"
Hilt percussion node: 1" from guard, just under the index finger
Upper grip diameter: 4"
Lower grip diameter: 3.25"
Initial Impressions:
Tom did a wonderful job in packaging. Instead of a thick cardboard box, he opted for a cardboard envelope. Some people might not like this because the blade would be more prone to the forces outside the box, but I think it's an improvement from the standard sword shipping box because there isn't any chance of it being crushed.
The internal supporting cardboard was done equally as well. The tip was incredibly reinforced and a 'guard' was set 3/4 of the way up the blade to keep it from moving around.
When I finally got the blade out of the packaging, I was relieved to see that the grip was nice and thick and the pommel was huge!
Before holding this blade, I never understood what people meant when they said, "When I picked up the sword, it seemed to levitate." Even tho this sword was 8oz heavier then it should have been, it seemed to float in my hands. The balance was amazing.
The side effects from being labeled "Munition"
As you already know, the finish of the blade was of a lower grit then Gus's standard line. But one of the other side effects from being to heavy is that the fullers weren't cleaned out. I personally love this look and will likely order all of my future ATrims with this feature.
Since the fullers weren't polished out, then Gus did not get a chance to shore up the terminations of the fullers and there is roughly a 2mm variation in length between the three:
Also, the leather termination of the upper and lower grip showed the splits. I don't hold this against Gus because the extra time it would have taken to redo this would have raised the cost. It is still functional and doesn't appear to be in danger of spreading or coming apart.
(Edit: Further down in this thread Tom had told us that these were the last batches of the old grips. Since then, Gus has learned of a cleaner method to wrap the grips with, and after this stock is used up, then it will no longer be an issue on any of his lines.)
You may not notice from the above picture that the recess in the guard is very well done. In the picture it appears to be shifted to one side, but after breaking it down and putting it back together, the blade rests evenly in the recess. Also, in the picture above, you can still see some metal shavings on the side of the guard; again, the accumulated time that it would take to bring this blade up to ATrim standards would have added up, and would have cost more.
Another note about the picture above is that the ricasso of the blade was left unsharpened, allowing the wielder to wrap an index finger over the guard. I have tried this and had mixed results. It did allow for more agility in handling, but the blade is rather heavy and I found it was much harder to stop then on a lighter sword.
Moving on to the pommel, I was rather perplexed to see some apparent corrosion.
But this had easily wiped off with a simple cloth and oil. However, much to my surprise the pommel was nonferrous, meaning it wasn't attracted to a magnet. Usually this indicates that the metal is made of stainless, and stainless doesn't rust easily under normal conditions. I believe that these spots were from small flakes of steel that found their way to the guard during sharpening.
Edit: In the discussion below, Tom did find out from Gus that the pommel was, in fact, stainless. It was the very last one that Gus had in his bin and he assures us that all furniture from now on will be mild steel.
Breakdown:
Let me start with the good.
The first thing that I noticed were the shoulders of the tang. They are nice and rounded, which increases the structural integrity greatly. Not only are the shoulders rounded, but the slot in the guard is angled to allow a very snug compression fit. When I was taking the hilt apart, I had thought that some sort of glue was used to keep the guard in place.
Removing the guard took more effort then I have ever had to use on other swords. For the lesser informed, this is a very good quality in swords. If the guard isn't fitted to the shoulders of the blade, then you'll experience a rattle each time you strike a target.
Another neat feature is the pointed end tang termination. This allows the nut to seed it's way easily and effortlessly onto the threaded portion of the tang. Speaking of threads, I checked how much of the tang was in contact with the nut. I spread some beeswax onto the threads then disassembled and reassembled the blade to see where the beeswax was removed. The nut comes in contact with 1/2" of the tang, which is more then enough to secure the blade during use.
Now the bad. For tho's of you with a keen eye, you might have noticed the pommel. The right most side to center measurement is 3/16". From left to center is it 2/16". The opposite hole is dead center with literally the exact same measurement from my calipers. I have yet to notice a difference in handling, and doubt I ever will. I can also totally forgive this mishap because I have drilled holes lengthwise in a disk of metal and know how incredibly frustrating it can get to get the two sides to align perfectly.
Video review and some random chit chat:
Conclusions:
In lue of listing pros and cons, I'll end with a casual statement. This is a wonderful blade, despite the fact that it was a mistake. But because it was a mistake, I was able to pick it up for $100.00 cheaper then a standard line ATrim. It is a shame that this will probably end up as a one of a kind. However, I do recall that Tom said it handled exactly like his MHAT XII, so if you like what you see, I'm sure you could get one for yourself.
In the brief time that I've handled the blade, I can already tell that it is well on it's way to becoming my favorite. I think the most important question that can be answered in a review is this:
If I had known, when I placed the order, what I know now, would I have still purchased this blade?
Absolutely.