Windlass Munich Cut & Thrust Sword. Part II.
Jan 18, 2015 15:53:59 GMT
Post by Uhlan on Jan 18, 2015 15:53:59 GMT
Some excellent reviews of this sword have allready been posted, to note: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/28262 and Dave Kelly's: sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/17005/german-16th-cent-thrust-swords?page=1 and a nice cutting video:
So why do another one? Well, not everything has been said about the Munich. That is to say: Most everything HAS been said, but not on this forum.
So, what I am trying to do here is to gather everything posted on other fora, so people interested to learn about what is right and wrong with the Munich have a one point of access here on the forum and do not have to trawl around. Maybe ,,everything'' should be taken with a grain of salt, let us say, some important posts.
Yesterday, after a month of waiting, I got the Munich and it's Main Gauche. Everything I had learned in other reviews and posts I can now verify.
And yes, it is an excellent sword for the money, the dagger too and yes, they are one of the best Windlasses ever. That said I have some small gripes with both.
Let's start with the sword and with the finger rings to be precise. For me they are too small. It takes ample time for me to get my finger in there. My hands cq fingers are not that large and my gauntlets not too thick. By the time I get my finger in there I will be skewered.
For me the natural thing to do, also because of the ergonomics of the rest of the hilt, is to lay my finger over the bar, which exposes said part of my precious body to people with criminal and bad intend. I do not like that.
Secondly and just as the above little gripes, highly personal, I think it is about time Windlass started thinking about how they go about polishing.
As you can see here the fullers lack any definition and most of the times have this oinky ending. Chinese Katana of about the same price point can be a lot better in this regard, so why cannot Windlass do a better job of it?. Also, the ridges on almost all their diamond sectioned blades are wavy. These small and easy to rectify things as of late have started bugging me. As I said before, highly personal critique and most Windlass buyers couldn't care less I am sure.
And now the fun.
As sword and dagger are not peened, all things described above can be made much better in quite an easy way. Be sure to have a hairdryer in the house though because at this price point a lot of glue cq epoxy could have been used to hold everything together and give the blade that famous bell tone.
Lengthy and interesting discussions have taken place on My Armoury and elswhere on the merits of the Windlass Munich versus the A&A version versus the originals and some of the things discussed there can be copied to ones Munich if one were in a modding mood.
For instance the grip may be modified:
The blade shoulders may be rounded off and the ends of the guard and knuckle bow given more definition. The grip may be shortened so the end of the knuckle bow sits at the right hight versus the pommel ( see picture above ). The pommel could be flattened a little to make it look like the originals.
What poses more problems is the enigma as to why Windlass did this:
and not this, as it should have been done:
To change that, most of us would need the help of a blacksmith.
Also a fun job is ageing the blade and/or hilt, as can be seen here in Pinottes post, after some scrolling: www.sword-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=8703
Anyway. As I said, a lot of info can be had at the following links, which may give the modders among us some inspiration and, in my view, could give the Windlass Munich a much needed face lift.
www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=142023
www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=19621&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Cheers.
So why do another one? Well, not everything has been said about the Munich. That is to say: Most everything HAS been said, but not on this forum.
So, what I am trying to do here is to gather everything posted on other fora, so people interested to learn about what is right and wrong with the Munich have a one point of access here on the forum and do not have to trawl around. Maybe ,,everything'' should be taken with a grain of salt, let us say, some important posts.
Yesterday, after a month of waiting, I got the Munich and it's Main Gauche. Everything I had learned in other reviews and posts I can now verify.
And yes, it is an excellent sword for the money, the dagger too and yes, they are one of the best Windlasses ever. That said I have some small gripes with both.
Let's start with the sword and with the finger rings to be precise. For me they are too small. It takes ample time for me to get my finger in there. My hands cq fingers are not that large and my gauntlets not too thick. By the time I get my finger in there I will be skewered.
For me the natural thing to do, also because of the ergonomics of the rest of the hilt, is to lay my finger over the bar, which exposes said part of my precious body to people with criminal and bad intend. I do not like that.
Secondly and just as the above little gripes, highly personal, I think it is about time Windlass started thinking about how they go about polishing.
As you can see here the fullers lack any definition and most of the times have this oinky ending. Chinese Katana of about the same price point can be a lot better in this regard, so why cannot Windlass do a better job of it?. Also, the ridges on almost all their diamond sectioned blades are wavy. These small and easy to rectify things as of late have started bugging me. As I said before, highly personal critique and most Windlass buyers couldn't care less I am sure.
And now the fun.
As sword and dagger are not peened, all things described above can be made much better in quite an easy way. Be sure to have a hairdryer in the house though because at this price point a lot of glue cq epoxy could have been used to hold everything together and give the blade that famous bell tone.
Lengthy and interesting discussions have taken place on My Armoury and elswhere on the merits of the Windlass Munich versus the A&A version versus the originals and some of the things discussed there can be copied to ones Munich if one were in a modding mood.
For instance the grip may be modified:
The blade shoulders may be rounded off and the ends of the guard and knuckle bow given more definition. The grip may be shortened so the end of the knuckle bow sits at the right hight versus the pommel ( see picture above ). The pommel could be flattened a little to make it look like the originals.
What poses more problems is the enigma as to why Windlass did this:
and not this, as it should have been done:
To change that, most of us would need the help of a blacksmith.
Also a fun job is ageing the blade and/or hilt, as can be seen here in Pinottes post, after some scrolling: www.sword-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=8703
Anyway. As I said, a lot of info can be had at the following links, which may give the modders among us some inspiration and, in my view, could give the Windlass Munich a much needed face lift.
www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?p=142023
www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=19621&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Cheers.
