Windlass 1840 NCO Sword quick impressions
Oct 17, 2013 21:08:03 GMT
Post by Beowulf on Oct 17, 2013 21:08:03 GMT
This is all I'm going to say about this because I know nothing about these weapons.
I bought this for fun, NOT because it is an 1840 NCO, but because it's a pseudo small sword- and CHEAP.
Impressions: Scabbard is immaculate and complex, with nicely brazed seams and joins. I immediately felt that half the cost was the scabbard upon looking both pieces over. The sword is good, just not as good as the scabbard. I would (for my purposes) have liked to have had a Windlass $80 effort put into just the sword. You can keep the scabbard.
Sword is nice and light (for someone used to longswords and Type X single handers). The peen is good. It fits my hand! Knuckle guard is slightly bowed out of line so the end of the guard can fit into the requisite hole in the pommel. IOWs something is skewed a bit, probably the handle/pommel piece is turned one quarter inch to one side.
Blade is not perfectly straight. After a severe bout of crying and wailing I came to terms with it. It has a very small and acceptable jog near the tip. Good enough for my purposes. What I could not see from the vendor's pictures is that the tip is actually double edged for the first two or so inches. I do not want to overstate this, but a stout blade for such a weapon. A stiff blade, but it will flex a bit when pushed pretty hard. Acceptable, not whippy at all yet seems to have an adequate temper.
Yes, I immediately see that I will need to be creative in shoring up the hilt. While it does ring like a bell, there is a slight gap on each side of the blade where it goes into the guard. I think I will devise some way (flavor injector from grocery store? Cheap frosting bag with piping tip? Wax paper shield and popsicle sticks?) to get a large amount of epoxy down into the hilt. I will be shimming on each side of the blade capping off my internal fix with either art-brass sheeting or some filed down pennies.
The other fix I am already considering is to roughen the handle and maybe pommel with sandpaper. Perhaps build up the handle a bit with homemade micarta wrap. It is just a bit too slick.
All in all worth the price I paid. I'll be sharpening it up like an older sword and having some serious fun with this piece. On the other hand compared to the originals this is a rather primitive replica. The originals, dare I say it are beautiful compared to this thing. Still, it is a nice little beastie for what it is.
Thanks for the read!
I bought this for fun, NOT because it is an 1840 NCO, but because it's a pseudo small sword- and CHEAP.
Impressions: Scabbard is immaculate and complex, with nicely brazed seams and joins. I immediately felt that half the cost was the scabbard upon looking both pieces over. The sword is good, just not as good as the scabbard. I would (for my purposes) have liked to have had a Windlass $80 effort put into just the sword. You can keep the scabbard.
Sword is nice and light (for someone used to longswords and Type X single handers). The peen is good. It fits my hand! Knuckle guard is slightly bowed out of line so the end of the guard can fit into the requisite hole in the pommel. IOWs something is skewed a bit, probably the handle/pommel piece is turned one quarter inch to one side.
Blade is not perfectly straight. After a severe bout of crying and wailing I came to terms with it. It has a very small and acceptable jog near the tip. Good enough for my purposes. What I could not see from the vendor's pictures is that the tip is actually double edged for the first two or so inches. I do not want to overstate this, but a stout blade for such a weapon. A stiff blade, but it will flex a bit when pushed pretty hard. Acceptable, not whippy at all yet seems to have an adequate temper.
Yes, I immediately see that I will need to be creative in shoring up the hilt. While it does ring like a bell, there is a slight gap on each side of the blade where it goes into the guard. I think I will devise some way (flavor injector from grocery store? Cheap frosting bag with piping tip? Wax paper shield and popsicle sticks?) to get a large amount of epoxy down into the hilt. I will be shimming on each side of the blade capping off my internal fix with either art-brass sheeting or some filed down pennies.
The other fix I am already considering is to roughen the handle and maybe pommel with sandpaper. Perhaps build up the handle a bit with homemade micarta wrap. It is just a bit too slick.
All in all worth the price I paid. I'll be sharpening it up like an older sword and having some serious fun with this piece. On the other hand compared to the originals this is a rather primitive replica. The originals, dare I say it are beautiful compared to this thing. Still, it is a nice little beastie for what it is.
Thanks for the read!