Old Del Tin Italian Type XV little review
May 6, 2013 3:53:23 GMT
Post by Beowulf on May 6, 2013 3:53:23 GMT
This sword is one I recently purchased directly from Bruce Brookhart. This is a small review at the request of Mr. Capanelli, who also lusted for this particular blade, but was not able to purchase. Mr. Brookhart commented that this has been on his wall for years now, has never been used, and is one of Del Tin's old ones of German Krupp CK 55 steel.
This is a Type XV arming sword replica that is a copy of an original that Ewart Oakeshott once owned. The original is now in private and (as far as I know) anonymous ownership. The original is said to be Italian in origin, and one of a small number of artifacts which still has it's original handle completely intact. The original can be seen in Plate 19A of "The Archeology of Weapons" by Mr Oakeshott. It also appears in Mr. Oakeshott's fine book "Records of the Medieval Sword" as "Type XV.4". Mr. Oakeshott's brief comments include the quote, "Rather a heavy sword, well balanced for thrusting".
These smaller Type XV swords seem to fill a similar role to the earlier Type XIV arming swords, with the caveat that the XIV's seem to be made for use against a more maille-only protected adversary and the newer XV arming swords have greater thrusting capabilities to counter maille-and-plate and/or plate-supplimented-at-the-joints-with-maille (fully developed plate armour) foes.
My replica is:
39.5 Inches overall
29 Inches of blade
4.25 Inch point of balance
3 lb 0.7 ounces overall weight
All I know of the original is it has a 27 Inch blade. I could get very accurate measurements of the whole artifact by using some Photoshop magic and applying some basic logic, but this is not really an in-depth review.
Mr. Brookhart came through for me and the weapon is really nice and worth what I paid. My comments about the weapon are in NO WAY a reflection on Mr. Brookhart. This is an old Del Tin that has been discontinued and as of this point I just suspect this weapon was made during the phase of Museum Replica's history when they were using Del Tin as their primary weapon manufacturer. This review is also in NO WAY a reflection on current Del Tin quality as should be logically inferred; this weapon is lost to time. I do not know the original selling name of the piece, nor do I know the original price nor really the original mercantile source through which to buy this sword.
The sword initially felt a bit heavy, but after warming up my muscles for a half an hour I realized it is a fast and very responsive piece. The wire wrap is somewhat loose, but the red leather handle wrap in fully intact. My one initial negative observation- the cross was not entirely centered on the blade. I believe this is an old Del Tin made for MRL due to the fact it has a pommel nut holding the hilt assembly together. Am I wrong in this assumption? I have not looked through the entire current Del Tin catalogue looking at how many peened assemblies they make.
See the loose wire wrap? Easily remedied.
Pommel Nut. Looks like a Windlass from this angle.
The very blunt beginnings of the blade.
The blade starts blunt, as in the base/ricasso area of the blade is really as blunt as the blade would have been when it was a blade blank. The bevel shaping starts within inches of the blade's base and soon becomes a bone fide blunt edged blade- something very capable of being sharpened. In fact, at the "sweet spot" (the 4-6 inch area of blade about 3 inches in from the point- the optimal cutting area) the blade would require very little work to sharpen up. Despite being a Type XV (a stabby blade/weapon type) the point is rounded off, but there is so much extra "meat" at the point I have luxury in shaping a stout and deadly point out of it if I so choose.
It was time to take it apart.
The pommel is not threaded, but the very last section of tang is to engage with the pommel nut. The tang is full width for the first half, then there is a rod welded to the end of the thick tang section to continue the tang into the last part of the handle and pommel. Not entirely ideal, but it looks very stout and Lutel, a Czech weapon maker has done this type of tang for a long time without any problems.
In removing the cross (cross-guard) I found a surprise. The blade was NOT IN the tang slot! The blade was butted up against the cross. I realized that the blade's base was too thick to seat properly into the slot. Further, there are some little beads of at-one-time-molten "splash" inside of the guard's blade slot. These can be seen in this photo, to the far left and right inside of the blade slot.
Ultimately a bit disappointing I guess. But really, these are minor things to fix. The blade's base will need to be thinned or the cross will need to be sent to someone much more skilled than I am to widen it. Also, and the more difficult task, the "beads" of metal will need to be removed. I have already realized that a Dremel Tool will not work at all due to the "beads" placement so close to the walls/ends of the slot. Perhaps there exists a really sharp metal-working chisel? Something not too expensive that is used for jewelry making? I am open to suggestions if anyone has any. I might get lucky by reshaping an old screwdriver and using a hammer and some heavy cloth protection for the cross in a vice, I might be able to knock off the little infuriating "beads".
All in all I think this weapon is very salvagable. It requires a little work- at a problem I have never encountered in a sword-fix before. But it seems lively, it is a rare type of reproduction, the geometry while not sharp as-is seems good enough to push it into sharp and stabby pretty easily. All in all I think it will be nice. Especially when I fix it up and source some good red velvet to redo the grip.
Lots of potential.
Thanks for the read! Suggestions welcomed!
This is a Type XV arming sword replica that is a copy of an original that Ewart Oakeshott once owned. The original is now in private and (as far as I know) anonymous ownership. The original is said to be Italian in origin, and one of a small number of artifacts which still has it's original handle completely intact. The original can be seen in Plate 19A of "The Archeology of Weapons" by Mr Oakeshott. It also appears in Mr. Oakeshott's fine book "Records of the Medieval Sword" as "Type XV.4". Mr. Oakeshott's brief comments include the quote, "Rather a heavy sword, well balanced for thrusting".
These smaller Type XV swords seem to fill a similar role to the earlier Type XIV arming swords, with the caveat that the XIV's seem to be made for use against a more maille-only protected adversary and the newer XV arming swords have greater thrusting capabilities to counter maille-and-plate and/or plate-supplimented-at-the-joints-with-maille (fully developed plate armour) foes.
My replica is:
39.5 Inches overall
29 Inches of blade
4.25 Inch point of balance
3 lb 0.7 ounces overall weight
All I know of the original is it has a 27 Inch blade. I could get very accurate measurements of the whole artifact by using some Photoshop magic and applying some basic logic, but this is not really an in-depth review.
Mr. Brookhart came through for me and the weapon is really nice and worth what I paid. My comments about the weapon are in NO WAY a reflection on Mr. Brookhart. This is an old Del Tin that has been discontinued and as of this point I just suspect this weapon was made during the phase of Museum Replica's history when they were using Del Tin as their primary weapon manufacturer. This review is also in NO WAY a reflection on current Del Tin quality as should be logically inferred; this weapon is lost to time. I do not know the original selling name of the piece, nor do I know the original price nor really the original mercantile source through which to buy this sword.
The sword initially felt a bit heavy, but after warming up my muscles for a half an hour I realized it is a fast and very responsive piece. The wire wrap is somewhat loose, but the red leather handle wrap in fully intact. My one initial negative observation- the cross was not entirely centered on the blade. I believe this is an old Del Tin made for MRL due to the fact it has a pommel nut holding the hilt assembly together. Am I wrong in this assumption? I have not looked through the entire current Del Tin catalogue looking at how many peened assemblies they make.
See the loose wire wrap? Easily remedied.
Pommel Nut. Looks like a Windlass from this angle.
The very blunt beginnings of the blade.
The blade starts blunt, as in the base/ricasso area of the blade is really as blunt as the blade would have been when it was a blade blank. The bevel shaping starts within inches of the blade's base and soon becomes a bone fide blunt edged blade- something very capable of being sharpened. In fact, at the "sweet spot" (the 4-6 inch area of blade about 3 inches in from the point- the optimal cutting area) the blade would require very little work to sharpen up. Despite being a Type XV (a stabby blade/weapon type) the point is rounded off, but there is so much extra "meat" at the point I have luxury in shaping a stout and deadly point out of it if I so choose.
It was time to take it apart.
The pommel is not threaded, but the very last section of tang is to engage with the pommel nut. The tang is full width for the first half, then there is a rod welded to the end of the thick tang section to continue the tang into the last part of the handle and pommel. Not entirely ideal, but it looks very stout and Lutel, a Czech weapon maker has done this type of tang for a long time without any problems.
In removing the cross (cross-guard) I found a surprise. The blade was NOT IN the tang slot! The blade was butted up against the cross. I realized that the blade's base was too thick to seat properly into the slot. Further, there are some little beads of at-one-time-molten "splash" inside of the guard's blade slot. These can be seen in this photo, to the far left and right inside of the blade slot.
Ultimately a bit disappointing I guess. But really, these are minor things to fix. The blade's base will need to be thinned or the cross will need to be sent to someone much more skilled than I am to widen it. Also, and the more difficult task, the "beads" of metal will need to be removed. I have already realized that a Dremel Tool will not work at all due to the "beads" placement so close to the walls/ends of the slot. Perhaps there exists a really sharp metal-working chisel? Something not too expensive that is used for jewelry making? I am open to suggestions if anyone has any. I might get lucky by reshaping an old screwdriver and using a hammer and some heavy cloth protection for the cross in a vice, I might be able to knock off the little infuriating "beads".
All in all I think this weapon is very salvagable. It requires a little work- at a problem I have never encountered in a sword-fix before. But it seems lively, it is a rare type of reproduction, the geometry while not sharp as-is seems good enough to push it into sharp and stabby pretty easily. All in all I think it will be nice. Especially when I fix it up and source some good red velvet to redo the grip.
Lots of potential.
Thanks for the read! Suggestions welcomed!