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Post by William Swiger on Mar 27, 2012 17:57:52 GMT
Hello Folks, I recently purchased a Windlass Swedish Viking Sword. I had always liked the looks of this sword but never purchased one due to a couple negative posts on different forums concerning the pommel being pinned. Not peened but pinned. I finally pulled the trigger and got one. I am somewhat surprised this particular sword made it past the QC from the vendor. Below is just a random pic from the web. Problems - the blade on this one is not as stiff as my other Windlass Viking Swords. The pommel is very loose on this particular sword and can be moved a little up and down and let to right. The pommel is pinned to the tang right above the top of the grip on the lower part of the pommel. It is a pin through the pommel going through the tang. The pin is secured very well. I removed the leather grip to get a better look and found the grip really should have been about 1/8 inch longer to have wedged against the pommel tightly. I put a strong glue/expoxy down the guard slot thinking it would run down the tang into the pinned area and dry to tighten it up. Did not work as the grip must be very tight against the tang. Guess the guard will never rattle now :lol: So once the glue dries in the guard slot - the next evil procedure will be to take some wire coated in expoxy and wrap it around the small gap between pommel and grip. Only other option would be to try and do some small shim work. I could have just returned the sword but I like messing with them Will post the results in the sword repair section if successful.
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Post by SwordLord on Mar 27, 2012 18:44:01 GMT
I've thought of purchasing this sword and see if I can disassemble it and figure out a way to peen it. It would consist of shortening the grip, but that is not a problem since the original piece had a very short grip. If the pommel can be tapped all the way through and then peened....it would make a great piece. I'm surprised though that the blade is not as stiff. Looking at the specs it would seem like a stout blade. Attachments:
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Post by Svadilfari on Mar 27, 2012 20:48:24 GMT
Man, that's one mean looking weapon. I'd hate to be pummeled in the face with THAT one
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Post by WEWolf on Mar 27, 2012 20:51:48 GMT
I'm not a Viking sword guy, but I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this particular one. I gather you'd consider it unusual for this to slip past Windlass quality control? (Not encouraging you to vendor-bash, if anything the reverse)
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Aaron
Member
Senior Forumite
Posts: 2,369
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Post by Aaron on Mar 28, 2012 3:35:21 GMT
I bought one for my brother a few years back. No loose pommel but I concur that the blade is a bit more flexible than I prefer. Not bad or unheard of for a type X, just not to my preferences (some could call it 'whippy' but that's more a matter of opinion).
Overall I did not enjoy the sword very much, but he likes it a lot.
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Post by William Swiger on Mar 28, 2012 3:48:18 GMT
It is unusual for the really loose pommel not be noticed during processing but the vendor has an excellent return policy. I just decided to keep it and perform surgery on it instead of a return. Maybe the grip shrunk a little which caused the pommel not to have any pressure against it. I shimmed it and it seems to have gotten rid of most of the movement and just has a very slight left to right movement.
This model has nothing but the pressure of the grip against the pommel to keep it in position.
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Post by William Swiger on Mar 28, 2012 11:43:10 GMT
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Post by William Swiger on Mar 28, 2012 11:47:56 GMT
The grip looks really long in the pictures but is only 4 inches.
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SanMarc
Senior Forumite
Posts: 3,193
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Post by SanMarc on Mar 29, 2012 6:07:24 GMT
I wonder if the OG was pinned like that???
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Post by TheCrunchyCrouton on Mar 31, 2012 4:35:05 GMT
That's too bad, it's a good looking sword.
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Post by William Swiger on Mar 31, 2012 6:35:11 GMT
If you get one that has a tight grip that keeps pressure on the pommel, it should be fine. I just looked in my tool box and found some of those metal picture hangers that the nail goes in and cut some into smaller parts. Put some expoxy on them and tapped one each on the front and back and sides between the pommel and grip. Very tight now and should not cause any problems.
I guess I could have made another grip. Removing the pommel by knocking out the pin could have been done but the grip is only 4 inches. Maybe a hole could be drilled through the top of the pommel and a peen attempted but you would have to shorten the blade.
Windlass really needs to figure a better way to attach the pommel. A threaded pommel would be much better than the current pin assembly method.
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Post by Kataphractos on Apr 22, 2012 17:23:00 GMT
I handled one of these swords in a shop not to long ago. Knowing of the pinned pommel, I tried nudging the underside of it with my thumb while holding the sword upside down. The pommel wiggled Le sigh...and it's such a cool, one of a kind pommel, too.
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