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Post by TheMu on Feb 19, 2014 22:25:03 GMT
Here's a quick sketch of my pommel design/plan, I hope it makes sense: I'm going to remove the old loose pommel using an angle grinder. Or is there a better way to remove a pommel? I'll leave the tang as intact as possible so I can attach the new pommel to it. I'm going to make the new pommel out of bronze, or steel, or... any suggestions? ...A relatively soft and heavy material that is easy to modify. My tools are restricted to files, hacksaws and a dremel... an angle grinder if necessary. Casting isn't an option at the moment. Designing phase is still in progress... All advice and ideas are welcome. Thank you. Attachments:
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Feb 19, 2014 22:55:45 GMT
What do you mean "using an angle grinder"? The normal (and best if possible) way to remove a pommel is to grind down the peen, remove the grip and hammer down the pommel. That way most of the tang is left intact and there's no need to grind down the shoulders (or only a little). If the pommel doesn't budge, one can try heating it with a torch to break any epoxy bond and if that doesn't work one is left with either cutting the tang off below the pommel or cutting the pommel apart.
You are aware that changing the pommel (weight) can result in messed up harmonics? Even if of the same weight, the pommel you designed will draw the POB back, since it's longer and moves mass further away from the guard.
The main difficulty with making a pommel is making the slot for the tang. I've done it using only a drill and files but it took forever and I never want to do it again that way. The actual shaping is rather easy. So until I get a milling machine, I have a machine shop do the slots for me (or I buy an already slotted pommel).
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Post by Bryan Heff on Feb 19, 2014 23:05:35 GMT
I agree with Chennessfan and the ONE time I slotted a disk pommel using a dremel and hand files will be the last time I do it. It sucked big time. Now with the tang on the knightly, you probably have a rectangular tang all the way till the last little bit then it goes circular (I think), so it could be a tricky internal shape, a slot to receive the majority of the rectangle tang followed be a cylinder shape to receive the circular remaining bit that you would actually peen.
The other question I have for you is, in your picture...is the grip length staying the same? Because your new pommel looks much longer than the original disk...so I don't think you are going to have enough tang to make it through that pommel, assuming you were planning on peening it at the end of the current shape, unless you moved the blade shoulders up and gave yourself more tang to work with, or peened it deep inside the pommel though a "well" type hole from the end of the pommel down inside of it.
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Post by TheMu on Feb 20, 2014 0:01:48 GMT
Thank you chenessfan and Bryan Heff, I was thinking doing it the "normal way" as you described it. And if that doesn't work, I planned to split the pommel. Thanks to you I now have other choices too. I know I may mess up the balance of the sword, but I'm a little bit heathen so I will do it anyway. Of course I'll do my best to keep the balance as good as possible. I'm going to do a lot of calculations and take measurements to succeed as well as possible. (I made a "cutlass-messer-ish-..." tsuba to my Liondog as you can see from my avatar. It did change the balance, but IMHO to better and more to my liking.) Yes, It will take forever to make the pommel and the slot for the tang, but I'm a determined fellow The grip length is staying the same. I'm going to turn it into a hand-and-a-half-ish sword. I have to think about how I'll do it. Maybe I have to do some welding there. I may have to ask some help from a professional welder friend of mine. So many things still to resolve...
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Feb 20, 2014 6:15:51 GMT
The PoB isn't the problem really, it's the harmonic balance. The PoB is merely the result of the important placing of pivot points and percussion notes. But actually you might even improve it, the Knightly I handled had a bit messed up harmonics (the hilt node wasn't placed too well) that made it downright painful to cut hard targets due to strong vibrations. I didn't experiment with a heavier weight for the pommel but that might have improved things.
If you don't want to loose blade length but keep the long grip as depicted, you will probably have to weld. It can be done but it's tricky. The welds need to be done right (not a butt-weld!!) and then you are going to have to anneal the area to reduce grain size... all that without getting the blade hot or you'll ruin the heat treat.
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Post by TheMu on Feb 18, 2015 16:32:41 GMT
I finally started working with this project. I made a lot of changes to the design. I'll post pictures later. I started by removing the pommel. I'm not sure is this the best way, but it worked well. I used dremel to remove some material from the pommel around the peen. Couple of strong hits with a hammer and the pommel was off. I think it might have come off even if I didn't use the dremel at all. It came off SO easily.
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