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Post by william m on Nov 11, 2014 14:15:46 GMT
Hi all, So after nearly a year of waiting I finally received my Windlass XIV sword from the states. I chose this sword as from what I could see on the various forums the sword has fantastic DIY potential. Changes I plan on doing: Create a new grip with a thinner shape with a new leather wrap in Oxblood dye. Re-dye the scabbard in Oxblood. Shim the scabbard Re-shape the crossguard Soften edges of the pommel Insert coin/relic into the pommel Removal of the ugly secondary bevel Blade re-polish The sword arrived in a less-than fantastic shape, with my primary points of concern being the misaligned crossguard and pommel. A rubber mallet sorted these out easily enough but the tang itself looks a bit bent, but there is nothing I can do about that. It is not a huge issue so I am happy to leave it for now. Taking my dremel to the guard to cut off the points, to be more like the original sword. tinyurl.com/m6el8xjAfter I cut off the ends I cut in bevels into the guard using a mixture of handfiles and dremel to help give the guard an octagonal cross section as the original square shape is really uninspiring. To blend in the bevel I have used a sanding drum on my dremel to flatten the bevel. This process removed a good amount of metal as the sword's steel is so soft. I am sure after all the dremelling and polishing the sword has lost a decent amount of weight. After this I moved onto 120 grit sandpaper and have been blending it in. I think it looks pretty good so far and so once I am satisified I haven't put in any major scratches I will move up the grits and give it an albion-esq finish with the scotchbrite pad. I have damaged the razor sharp edge so I will give it some love once I have finished the polishing. Left hand side = original bevel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . right hand side = blended Sword as it stands today. For the pommel I have decided to insert a pound coin in one side, which has a fantastic British coat of arms design and on the reverse a Euro coin with the French motto of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité", which I chose due to being mixed nationality. The changes I have made to the guard and pommel have made the sword much easier to handle as before I found the sharp corners were hurting my hand. I am looking forward to how the sword will handle once I have thinned the grip!
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Post by Bryan Heff on Nov 11, 2014 14:34:08 GMT
Looking good so far. The new grip you have planned should really take it to the next level.
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Post by JGonzalez on Nov 11, 2014 18:34:22 GMT
May I join you in this post? I also have a Windlass Oakeshott XIV to which I am making changes. These are mine.I did a cut & paste of your list. JGonzalez Changes I plan on doing: A new leather wrap in Oxblood dye. I like the grip, it just needs to be cleaned, sanded down and wrapped. Building a new scabbard and going to dye the scabbard in Oxblood. It seems that we have the same taste in color. Re-shape the crossguard yes but not to same extent yours is done. Yours looks marvelous btw Soften edges of the pommel, me too Insert coin/relic into the pommel Done! Mine is a Half-Groat of Winterfell Removal of the ugly secondary bevel, Yes! I'll get there but I have no power tools or a shop vise. Blade re-polish, doing this also I may antique it as well Attachments:
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 12, 2014 18:15:14 GMT
Good work, both of you!! Very good choice of "platform", too. I don't know if you've cut with the sword before but with the new edge it should be a very good little cutter. And visually the new edge is a huge improvement, too. If you're still considering, I wouldn't round over the fuller's edges. I always feel that washes out the lines too much and a crisp fuller is a very prominent and catching characteristic that has a big impact on aesthetics.
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Post by Bryan Heff on Nov 12, 2014 18:45:18 GMT
Question William. For the secondary bevel blending...you mentioned you did a lot of the "heavy lifting" with a dremel sanding drum right? Which grit did you use and did you just run the tool up and down the bevel? Basically flatten out the angle where the bevel meets the blade? How long did that take? Thinking about doing some of that action myself.... I love the aesthetics of the blended edge.
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Post by william m on Nov 12, 2014 19:23:51 GMT
Looking forward to seeing what you can do with your sword Gonzolez! Did you not think that your sword's scabbard needs a shim also? My scabbard doesn't hold the sword in at all. @bryan. Well I did the bulk of the work on one of my day off work and it must had taken me perhaps 5 hours of working on the sword, where I softened the pommels edges and gave it a bevel, cut up the guard end bits, ground the bevel away on the blade and reshaped the guard. I don't think it took me too long to do the grinding on the edge.. maybe an hour or so? I have just had a look at the packet of drums but they are just generic cheap and nasty ones, pretty low grit at perhaps 80 or so. I haven't found it hard to polish them out though as the swords steel is pretty soft... perhaps too soft. I ran the sanding drum on the very edge of the bevel where the bevel carries onto the middle of the blade. This is the nasty angle that had to go and would make the greatest difference once gone. My picture below may help explain!
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Post by william m on Nov 16, 2014 18:40:38 GMT
OK so I am now considering removing the diamond cross section in the tip, to become more of a flat lenticular shape to emulate the Albion XIV offerings. I have done this successfully on a H/T viking sword and I think although it should be easy enough to do on the XIV as the steel is quite soft and easy to work.
Now my question is.. should I do it?
Would I have to flatten the rest of the sword blade? Will the cop etc be negatively affected? I am not sure, but I wouldn't mind the sword becoming a little bit less tip-heavy.
Anyways I plan to do this tomorrow during my day off, so if I could have some thoughts either way by the, that would be fantastic.
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Post by MOK on Nov 16, 2014 19:25:09 GMT
Type XIV blades usually have a lenticular cross-section - I can only think of a couple with a flattened diamond point, although one of those is quite the celebrity, of course - so blending the ridge like you did the edge bevels would certainly be appropriate for the type. It doesn't seem to be very pronounced, anyway, so the effect on handling shouldn't be all that great, and in any case I'd be very surprised if it made things worse. Well, unless it would make the point section too thin, I suppose, but I've never seen that be an issue with a Windlass blade. (Interesting, BTW - my H/T Viking actually came with a lenticular cross-section, otherwise I would have done this to it myself, too.)
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Post by JGonzalez on Nov 16, 2014 19:28:26 GMT
I've been asking myself the same questions. With me though it's a bit tougher to do these things since I don't have a workshop. I think that I can manage this so I may try it when it gets warmer.
Edit: Yes, my scabbard is good for storage and transport but not else.
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Post by william m on Nov 16, 2014 21:06:05 GMT
Get yourself a dremel Gonzalez! Pretty cheap tools that are very useful. I did a lot of my work with the sanding drum attachment. Now I am having second thoughts about flattening the diamond cross section, as it seems that the sword this is based on does have a diamond cross section. www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=9087
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Nov 17, 2014 8:05:13 GMT
[/attachment] [/quote] Where did you get a Winterfell coin please
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Post by JGonzalez on Nov 17, 2014 12:21:01 GMT
Aussie-Rabbit: I bought them from Shire Post Mint. www.shirepost.com/wp/#!/A-Game-of-Thrones/c/11090111/offset=0&sort=normal The great houses are represented, they also have a Kickstarter going for Faceless Man chocolate coins. Wiliiam M: I will get a dremel. thank you. Updates: I spent a few hours yesterday wrapping the grip. I used 1mm Waxed cotton cord and some leather lace. I also took a file to the guard and softened the edges. I need to do more of that I think. Last thing; I found a couple of lumps inside the scabbard under the locket (?) so I placed the empty scabbard on the floor and stepped on it just wearing my socks. This picture is me holding the sword upside down! Woot I began sanding away the color on the scabbard to prep it for a re-dye. Thank you all for the encouragement.
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Post by william m on Nov 18, 2014 12:21:14 GMT
Looking good gonzalez!!
What are you using to remove the leather dye? I have been experimenting with various substances but haven't found on that works effectively yet.
Not sure what those lumps are in the scabbard as I have them too but didn't think that squashing them would help with the general fit of the scabbard, which is why I am thinking of gluing some leather strips on the inside to effectively shim the scabbard.
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Post by MOK on Nov 18, 2014 13:24:46 GMT
Ethanol and cotton wool have worked well for me.
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Post by Acsunda on Nov 18, 2014 13:46:16 GMT
I just bought one of these recently as well, and just finished customizing it. I agree, it's like the perfect customization sword! Attachments:
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Post by JGonzalez on Nov 19, 2014 15:53:30 GMT
William I've been using the old Marine Corps method of stripping boots and shoes. Using a stiff nylon bristle scrub brush and shaving cream to break down the outer layer and sanding the leather until the pores open up to better accept the dye. MOK I have to try your method, it sounds less labor intensive.
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Post by Acsunda on Nov 20, 2014 0:28:28 GMT
I've used a light sandpaper to remove the black finish from my Windlass Towton scabbard.
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Post by william m on Nov 20, 2014 8:37:14 GMT
Some of these methods with the sandpaper and so on, sounds like it has the dangerous potential to turn the leather into a suede. Yikes!
Quick question though, what is the POB on everybodys sword? I am sure that everybody has a slightly differently weighted sword as I find my sword fairly heavy and not the nimble sword that is often talked about in reviews.
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Post by Acsunda on Nov 20, 2014 13:05:20 GMT
The black is so thin, just a light sandpaper doesn't really harm the integrity of the leather. You just have to be real easy with it.
The POB on my Windlass Type XIV is about 3.5" from the guard. I agree, It seems heavier than I thought it would be. It's funny how balance can affect how the weight feels. My Hanwei Henry V sword feels lighter, even though it's a good five ounces heavier than the type XIV. My Towton is significantly larger, and weighs 2 lbs 12 ounces, but feels lighter than the XIV, which I think is 2 lbs 10 ounces.
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Post by JGonzalez on Nov 20, 2014 17:08:57 GMT
William, the trick is to use a fine grain sandpaper like acsunda wrote. I use 220 and when I get it to where the leather is clearly visible I switch to 400 only then do I apply the dye. My sword balances at 3 and a half inches. I've been swinging it a bit now and my arm is getting use to the sword's weight distribution. I don't notice it as much. Edit: Update with pics. I used a chamois for the outer layer on the grip. These pictures show the grip with two coats of Fiebing's British Tan dye. I'm going to give it a day to dry and then start waxing it. I'll be using neutral shoe polish. I don't think that I will use the chamois on any future grips. I am going to order leather online
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