|
Post by willhart on May 24, 2012 16:04:52 GMT
Edited. Problem kinda fixed with my mistake. Will try coke can shims to stabilize it some more. Hey guys So I just bought a Malatesta and received it 1 week ago. I used it for the first time at the NorCal cutting party. When taking the sword against Tatami, I heard a clinking noise when I was swinging. I noticed the crossguard twisted during the swing. The youtube video below shows me twisting the crossguard. It's fairly tight, but you can see it can twist around and I cannot tighten the hexnut anymore. So I have a few options, 1.) Send the sword back and have Sonny try to do something about this. Talking to him on the phone it seems like he would just do something that would allow the hexnut to apply more pressure to the crossguard to lock it better in place. (This doesn't seem like the best strategy) 2.) Try to put a shim at the bottom of the crossguard and wedge the crossguard to the tang better.(Puts all the strain on the tang) 3.) Try to file out a channel where the blade touches the crossguard so the crossguard cannot rotate. (Puts all the strain on the blade) What would be the best thing to do here, besides using epoxy? Obviously the crossguard is not fitted to the sword tang and blade. I'm not sure what other options there could be. Another option is just to do a full on return. Hopefully you guys can help me think of something
|
|
jhart06
Member
Slowly coming back from the depths...
Posts: 3,292
|
Post by jhart06 on May 24, 2012 16:49:59 GMT
Man, took you that long to get it and it chuffs it at the first outing, sorry to hear it. Epoxy is the best bet besides a return I know of. I agree with you in that the tighter nut situation seems not so ideal.
|
|
|
Post by chrisperoni on May 24, 2012 17:18:53 GMT
I wonder if the new polishing method - rock tumber forthe antiqued finish- is making the fit a bit looser now...?
|
|
ghost
Member
Posts: 1,323
|
Post by ghost on May 24, 2012 17:31:13 GMT
Bummer, but I think it's an easy fix. 1. tighten everything firmly. 2. wedge rectangular pieces of copper or alum (yes even soda can, canned food stuff), maybe 1cm x 2cm from the blade side. 3. Tap them in with a screwdriver (tape up the head so it doesn't scratch the blade) -Easily pops out when you disassemble the sword. Marc Ridgeway's tutorial: www.sword-buyers-guide.com/fix-loose-tsuba.htmlgl
|
|
|
Post by tom555 on May 24, 2012 17:47:12 GMT
Hey Will, First off - apologies I didnt get back to you yesterday - I didn't have time to check mine last night. Just tried the thing you were doing in the vid on my Malatesta and I don't seem to have the same problem. Commiserations on yours Ps Would it maybe be worth you getting a new guard off Sonny? Or is that not likely to work? Regards Tom.
|
|
|
Post by willhart on May 24, 2012 18:15:11 GMT
So Tom, if you are to loosen up the hexnut and slide the grip down, your crossguard will not twist a little? Is this because the crossguard fits the tang so it allows no movement? Sonny said he would pay for me to ship the sword back and he would fix it. But I'm guessing he wouldn't replace the guard, he would just allow for more compression to hold the guard in place, which doesn't seem right either. I know on my VA 303 and HT Longsword, the throat (not sure if this is the right term) where the blade shoulders touch the crossguard fit to the point where there is no movement when a little upwards pressure is applied. With this crossguard, where the blade touches the crossguard is a flat surface and the tang portion of the crossguard is obviously not perfect or else it wouldn't allow the twisting. Thanks guys for your advice. Not sure if I want to do the shim solution from Ghosts post, it would be hard to get a shim that's even on each side that would allow it to be aligned properly (this is based off my skill level ) Still not sure what to do. Definately don't want to go the epoxy route.
|
|
|
Post by Voltan on May 24, 2012 18:20:10 GMT
Hey Will, Bummer deal!
If it was mine, I'd send it back, maybe even start from scratch. You already weren't happy with the longer blade, and now this? :roll: I know you were waiting a long time for this sword, but for the money you spent, multiple issues like this is unacceptable IMHO.
Good luck, let us know how it works out.
|
|
|
Post by willhart on May 24, 2012 18:26:12 GMT
Ghost I don't think I can do it the way you state. You can't tell that well from the video, but I don't have room to stick a screwdriver from the blade down into the guard. I would have to go from the bottom of the guard upwards towards the blade. But from Mark's example I can see how this might work. I just don't know if I have the skills to make it right.
|
|
|
Post by tom555 on May 24, 2012 18:47:23 GMT
Hmm let me check
I had the screw done up pretty tight when I tested it.
Edit:
I loosened it up a bit - same result - seems my guard fits fine
Sorry about yours once again!
Tom
|
|
|
Post by chrisperoni on May 24, 2012 19:36:27 GMT
Why not send it and ask for a permanent peen instead? Sonny can solve it from ever moving again. You could even ask for the guard to be welded to the blade. I kinda wish I'd asked for this with my current order (only asked for the peen).
|
|
|
Post by willhart on May 25, 2012 16:07:25 GMT
So last night I had time to play with it a little more. I found that the hexnut was not screwing in anymore and that is what was stopping the compression. I must have mixed up the hexnut with my VA arming sword when putting everything together, because one hexnut will screw into the tang much deeper. It now holds the crossguard in with compression.
But I still will make some coke can shims to reinforce the cross guard to the tang for my own peace of mind. Thanks guys for all your help.
|
|
|
Post by chrisperoni on May 25, 2012 22:08:28 GMT
take a permanent marker and number the hex nuts for each of your swords. When I was making grips for swords I made sure to keep matching parts in order this way- even between the same model I found a bit of variety and better fits when the matching hex was with it's original sword.
|
|
|
Post by willhart on May 26, 2012 0:16:06 GMT
Hmmm, I really wish I could inspect someone elses Malatesta to see what's different about my Malatesta vs others. I know my VA arming sword and HT Tinker has less than 1mm to move around. This is more like 3-4mm to move around if I twist the guard. But with compression now the guard is so tight that I can't rotate it anymore, even with a lot of pressure. Since it won't move around anymore, I'm wonder what shimming it would actually do to the structural integrity. Just thinking in my head, but hoepfully someone can tell me I'm wrong, but as long as I don't see it move around when swinging it, it should not be any different than the HT Longsword or VA Arming sword, which also have a tiny gap for it to move around in. I may buy some more Tatami to try to swing at again to see if it gets dislodge with pressure and my bad edge alignment
|
|
|
Post by Voltan on May 26, 2012 0:31:22 GMT
That sounds like the best option for now. If you did have the wrong nut on there before, in theory the sword should be right as the mail now, at least I think... :?
|
|
|
Post by tom555 on May 26, 2012 12:07:41 GMT
Good to hear that things got sorted for you
|
|
ghost
Member
Posts: 1,323
|
Post by ghost on May 26, 2012 15:53:49 GMT
I dunno, at 3-4mm of wiggle room that would bother me (well nag at me in the back of my mind)
I didn't notice this on my former Malatesta, but the fittings were mounted onto the larger savoy blade. I haven't seen this problem on the the crusader, va knights templar, or bristol
Also for the HT unfullered - absolutely no wriggle room; really really tough to take out and had to tap it off. HT Viking had some wriggle but I poxied the guard down
I'd send it back to Sonny and he'll fix you up. Pretty sure he has guards floating around to mix and match. If you don't want to send it back, another decent fix would be to give it some silicon caulking in the guard and clamp it until it dries in the proper position.
|
|