Review: DSA 1351- Feanor's Two-handed Medieval Sword
Aug 23, 2011 3:32:29 GMT
Post by Feanor on Aug 23, 2011 3:32:29 GMT
DSA 1351: Feanor’s Two-handed Medieval Sword
Introduction:
Alright, some of you asked for a review on this sword, so here it is. I hope you’ll pardon the delay. Between work, road trips, etc., there wasn’t a lot of time or energy to get this out faster. So thanks for waiting!
This review is for “Feanor’s Two-handed Medieval Sword,” which was one of the winning swords in the contest held by Eyal quite some time back. When he announced the contest I figured why not join in on it? I mean heck, if my design wins I get a free sword! And, c’mon, who out there doesn’t want a free sword? So I sent in the design and I’ll be perfectly honest, I designed the sword with my size in mind (I’m a little below average in height). I wanted a nice long handle with a 34” blade if not a bit shorter.
Disclaimer:
I’m by no means an expert on this stuff. Some of the things I point out may be so minor that the reader might just breeze on by them because they feel that such things have no real weight on the sword’s functionality. If there is something that would likely affect the reader’s decision to buy (in either a positive or negative direction) I’ll do my best to point them out.
Initial Impressions:
I’ll go with my initial initial impression, and that was when DSA put out the photo for the sword. I was really happy with it! I understood that the original design was going to be altered for the sake of fitting the sword in the $300 range. Yet despite the changes made, the sword still turned out very nice and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.
Here's the original design:
Here's what it looks like now:
Then there are my impressions I had once the sword arrived. It was well protected, wrapped tightly with a lot of plastic wrap and fit snugly into a cardboard box. After finally getting all the wrapping off and handling it my thought was “This feels light!” The fittings looked great, and I noticed Eyal’s nod to some small details from the original design that I thought he might’ve left out. So it was cool to see those there on the cross guard and on the handle.
Stats:
These stats are mostly from DSA’s site, though I did add a few more.
Blade: 1060 High Carbon Steel
Guard and pommel: mild steel
Total length: 45.5"
Blade length: 34"
Blade width at base: 2"
Handle Length: 11.5”
Guard width: 8”
Weight: 2 lbs. 11 oz.
Point of Balance: 6”
Components:
Blade:
The blade is hand forged 1060 carbon steel, and came unsharpened. On close inspection there are a couple of really minor quirks in it though I sincerely doubt they affect the blade’s functionality. I tried to capture them in the photos as best I could, and heck, I might even be over analyzing a bit.
One is that the ricasso doesn’t look even. The curve is gentler on one side than the other and it looks like the points don’t line up perfectly, like one is higher than the other.
The other is that the fuller on one side has (for lack of a better term) a wonk. It looks like it dips a bit before going back to a straight line. The fuller on the other side looks a lot better.
Overall I really like the blade’s appearance. The polish is nice and the hammering you can see when you look down it isn’t overly present, it seems pretty well fleshed out to me. The edges after the ricasso going all the way up to the tip are straight and don’t flare in or out, giving the blade a wobbly look.
Handle:
The handle starts a little flatter near the guard before coming perfectly round towards the pommel. It feels pretty nice I feel like I have a good grip on it.
I’m very pleased with Eyal’s leaving a shadow of the original handle design there. You’ll notice in the contest design I had a ring placed around the middle of the handle. The actual sword has string wrapped underneath and it stops for a bit and then starts again, indicating where the ring would’ve been. This is an indication I plan to keep when re-doing the handle.
Cross Guard:
The guard is about 8” across and is patterned after the guard from Valiant Armory’s “Bristol.” It’s made of steel and looks great. Only thing I noticed was that after unwrapping was that there was a bit of rust on the end. So with these fittings being made from steel that is something to look out for. This image shows the guard after the rust was cleaned off.
There’s also quite a gap between the blade and the guard as you’ll see in the picture. That’s a bit of a bummer, but again, a little work can help that too.
Hats off to Eyal for indicating the old guard design drawn for the contest. I originally designed it to look like it folds over itself. That fold-over sculpt in the middle of the guard was meant to be more rounded and softer in appearance. I thought that design in the center of the guard would’ve been removed altogether but Eyal still placed that fold-over there by chiseling it in. While it has a harder look to it I still like it a lot!
Pommel:
The pommel is a fleur de lis and is made of steel. I wanted something different and also…I just can’t stand disk pommels. But that’s just me. The petals that curl out to the side come to a point at the end. I’ve already noticed some people are worried about getting jabbed with those if they slide their hand down the handle to get more leverage. Sliding my hand down I didn’t find it too bad, but that was just holding the sword still. Swinging it around some I did get scraped a bit.
The pommel is attached very, very well. It’s not peened so I figure its threaded on… and riveted…or something! Seriously, I tried to twist it off, and that sucker is not gonna budge. This’ll make rewrapping a bit more challenging and for anyone who is thinking of making the sword a one-hander, good luck with that and if you figure out some grand secret to getting that pommel off, don’t forget to tell me.
Scabbard:
I really like the scabbard I think it looks fantastic. I love the feel of the leather a lot more on this one versus the scabbard for the “Sage.” DSA has done a great job on these newer scabbards. It’ll need to be shimmed though, the sword just falls right out. The belt is a bit large for my size, and I have to wear it at a pretty high angle to get it to stay on, but cutting down the length of the belt some will alleviate that.
Handling Characteristics:
As I said before, upon pulling it out of the box and holding it, the sword felt light to me. Took it outside and swung it around for a bit. Feels nice, and with little blade presence one could cut bottles with this sword for a long time, and I think it’s heavy enough to pack some punch without the user having to swing too fast to make a cut. Someday the blade will be sharpened then I’ll cut with it. Someday.
Went ahead and slid my hand down closer to the pommel for more leverage, and did a few cuts in the air. The down-turned petals on the pommel did scrape my hand a bit. So either grab a pair of gauntlets, or round those ends off.
Conclusion:
With everything said, I have to say despite some flaws I do like this sword in the end and am happy to own it. There are some things I wish were done better. Well one thing really, and that’s the pommel. I would like for it to come off to make any rewrapping jobs easier. Also the fleur de lis design needs some work. From a purely artistic standpoint it’s very beautiful, but it has its bugs when it comes to functionality. Those petals that turn down do cause a bit of trouble. If this sword could be done again, I’d like to see those petals to the side turn down and the tips either curl out just a little or curl in more (as seen in the drawing) so the points don’t bite your hand. Also having the pommel longer would be nice to really make it elegant.
The best thing about this sword is that it’s a two-hander that’s a nice size and weight for people that are average to below average in height. (I’m about 5’6”). I’ve always liked two-handed swords. I’ve handled a couple other two-handed swords in the past. One was Gen 2’s Ranger sword. It’s amazing what a few extra inches will do. It was just too much sword to handle. The other is DSA’s “Sage,” which is a beautiful sword, but it’s heavy.
To sum up:
Pros:
-good sized two-hander for people a little on the short side
-an overall good-looking blade
- very attractive fittings
Cons:
-pommel as designed does scrape at your hand a bit
-fittings do rust
-large gap between guard and blade
Bottom Line:
Would I recommend this sword? Yes. Despite some flaws here and there I still really like this sword. It’s attractive, suitable for smaller people, and it’s made of great material. For example you pay a little bit more than you would for the Sage and you get higher quality fittings.
Once again, thanks to Eyal for holding the contest, it was a blast. And seriously, the sword turned out very beautiful. If I sound too tough on the sword, bear in mind it’s done with love.
Introduction:
Alright, some of you asked for a review on this sword, so here it is. I hope you’ll pardon the delay. Between work, road trips, etc., there wasn’t a lot of time or energy to get this out faster. So thanks for waiting!
This review is for “Feanor’s Two-handed Medieval Sword,” which was one of the winning swords in the contest held by Eyal quite some time back. When he announced the contest I figured why not join in on it? I mean heck, if my design wins I get a free sword! And, c’mon, who out there doesn’t want a free sword? So I sent in the design and I’ll be perfectly honest, I designed the sword with my size in mind (I’m a little below average in height). I wanted a nice long handle with a 34” blade if not a bit shorter.
Disclaimer:
I’m by no means an expert on this stuff. Some of the things I point out may be so minor that the reader might just breeze on by them because they feel that such things have no real weight on the sword’s functionality. If there is something that would likely affect the reader’s decision to buy (in either a positive or negative direction) I’ll do my best to point them out.
Initial Impressions:
I’ll go with my initial initial impression, and that was when DSA put out the photo for the sword. I was really happy with it! I understood that the original design was going to be altered for the sake of fitting the sword in the $300 range. Yet despite the changes made, the sword still turned out very nice and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.
Here's the original design:
Here's what it looks like now:
Then there are my impressions I had once the sword arrived. It was well protected, wrapped tightly with a lot of plastic wrap and fit snugly into a cardboard box. After finally getting all the wrapping off and handling it my thought was “This feels light!” The fittings looked great, and I noticed Eyal’s nod to some small details from the original design that I thought he might’ve left out. So it was cool to see those there on the cross guard and on the handle.
Stats:
These stats are mostly from DSA’s site, though I did add a few more.
Blade: 1060 High Carbon Steel
Guard and pommel: mild steel
Total length: 45.5"
Blade length: 34"
Blade width at base: 2"
Handle Length: 11.5”
Guard width: 8”
Weight: 2 lbs. 11 oz.
Point of Balance: 6”
Components:
Blade:
The blade is hand forged 1060 carbon steel, and came unsharpened. On close inspection there are a couple of really minor quirks in it though I sincerely doubt they affect the blade’s functionality. I tried to capture them in the photos as best I could, and heck, I might even be over analyzing a bit.
One is that the ricasso doesn’t look even. The curve is gentler on one side than the other and it looks like the points don’t line up perfectly, like one is higher than the other.
The other is that the fuller on one side has (for lack of a better term) a wonk. It looks like it dips a bit before going back to a straight line. The fuller on the other side looks a lot better.
Overall I really like the blade’s appearance. The polish is nice and the hammering you can see when you look down it isn’t overly present, it seems pretty well fleshed out to me. The edges after the ricasso going all the way up to the tip are straight and don’t flare in or out, giving the blade a wobbly look.
Handle:
The handle starts a little flatter near the guard before coming perfectly round towards the pommel. It feels pretty nice I feel like I have a good grip on it.
I’m very pleased with Eyal’s leaving a shadow of the original handle design there. You’ll notice in the contest design I had a ring placed around the middle of the handle. The actual sword has string wrapped underneath and it stops for a bit and then starts again, indicating where the ring would’ve been. This is an indication I plan to keep when re-doing the handle.
Cross Guard:
The guard is about 8” across and is patterned after the guard from Valiant Armory’s “Bristol.” It’s made of steel and looks great. Only thing I noticed was that after unwrapping was that there was a bit of rust on the end. So with these fittings being made from steel that is something to look out for. This image shows the guard after the rust was cleaned off.
There’s also quite a gap between the blade and the guard as you’ll see in the picture. That’s a bit of a bummer, but again, a little work can help that too.
Hats off to Eyal for indicating the old guard design drawn for the contest. I originally designed it to look like it folds over itself. That fold-over sculpt in the middle of the guard was meant to be more rounded and softer in appearance. I thought that design in the center of the guard would’ve been removed altogether but Eyal still placed that fold-over there by chiseling it in. While it has a harder look to it I still like it a lot!
Pommel:
The pommel is a fleur de lis and is made of steel. I wanted something different and also…I just can’t stand disk pommels. But that’s just me. The petals that curl out to the side come to a point at the end. I’ve already noticed some people are worried about getting jabbed with those if they slide their hand down the handle to get more leverage. Sliding my hand down I didn’t find it too bad, but that was just holding the sword still. Swinging it around some I did get scraped a bit.
The pommel is attached very, very well. It’s not peened so I figure its threaded on… and riveted…or something! Seriously, I tried to twist it off, and that sucker is not gonna budge. This’ll make rewrapping a bit more challenging and for anyone who is thinking of making the sword a one-hander, good luck with that and if you figure out some grand secret to getting that pommel off, don’t forget to tell me.
Scabbard:
I really like the scabbard I think it looks fantastic. I love the feel of the leather a lot more on this one versus the scabbard for the “Sage.” DSA has done a great job on these newer scabbards. It’ll need to be shimmed though, the sword just falls right out. The belt is a bit large for my size, and I have to wear it at a pretty high angle to get it to stay on, but cutting down the length of the belt some will alleviate that.
Handling Characteristics:
As I said before, upon pulling it out of the box and holding it, the sword felt light to me. Took it outside and swung it around for a bit. Feels nice, and with little blade presence one could cut bottles with this sword for a long time, and I think it’s heavy enough to pack some punch without the user having to swing too fast to make a cut. Someday the blade will be sharpened then I’ll cut with it. Someday.
Went ahead and slid my hand down closer to the pommel for more leverage, and did a few cuts in the air. The down-turned petals on the pommel did scrape my hand a bit. So either grab a pair of gauntlets, or round those ends off.
Conclusion:
With everything said, I have to say despite some flaws I do like this sword in the end and am happy to own it. There are some things I wish were done better. Well one thing really, and that’s the pommel. I would like for it to come off to make any rewrapping jobs easier. Also the fleur de lis design needs some work. From a purely artistic standpoint it’s very beautiful, but it has its bugs when it comes to functionality. Those petals that turn down do cause a bit of trouble. If this sword could be done again, I’d like to see those petals to the side turn down and the tips either curl out just a little or curl in more (as seen in the drawing) so the points don’t bite your hand. Also having the pommel longer would be nice to really make it elegant.
The best thing about this sword is that it’s a two-hander that’s a nice size and weight for people that are average to below average in height. (I’m about 5’6”). I’ve always liked two-handed swords. I’ve handled a couple other two-handed swords in the past. One was Gen 2’s Ranger sword. It’s amazing what a few extra inches will do. It was just too much sword to handle. The other is DSA’s “Sage,” which is a beautiful sword, but it’s heavy.
To sum up:
Pros:
-good sized two-hander for people a little on the short side
-an overall good-looking blade
- very attractive fittings
Cons:
-pommel as designed does scrape at your hand a bit
-fittings do rust
-large gap between guard and blade
Bottom Line:
Would I recommend this sword? Yes. Despite some flaws here and there I still really like this sword. It’s attractive, suitable for smaller people, and it’s made of great material. For example you pay a little bit more than you would for the Sage and you get higher quality fittings.
Once again, thanks to Eyal for holding the contest, it was a blast. And seriously, the sword turned out very beautiful. If I sound too tough on the sword, bear in mind it’s done with love.