Fabri Armorum Custom Two-Handed Sabre
Apr 23, 2015 12:16:29 GMT
Post by TheMu on Apr 23, 2015 12:16:29 GMT
Introduction
I've recently started practicing IHEMATWHBMI(Informal hema training with hmb influence) lol. My friends use Fabri Armorum blunt training swords and they are very reasonable priced and very durable. I asked from Fabri Armorum, Jiri Krondak what would be the price for complete custom two handed sabre? I gave measurements and raw sketch that matches my signature sword Great Beast. Price was 250€ and production time less than a month!
Historical overview
This is my contemporary two-handed-swiss-saber/kriegsmesser/katana hybrid design.
Initial Impressions
Packaging was tolerable. Guard had penetrated the box. Sword looked crude but I knew that's how Fabri swords are. Weight felt OK. Balance was clearly off. Straight away I noticed the blade was bent and guard was loose. Also the leather wrap was coming off. I contacted Jiri and my friends who own swords from Fabri and they all told me that it's normal. Well 250€ is very low price for custom sword so I just fixed the issues. I wrapped steel wire around the leather and secured the guard with wooden wedges. I'll straighten the blade later. Jiri said it is normal maintenance operation with these full contact steel practice swords. Well, my initial impressions are contradictory.
Statistics
Blade Length: 77.5cm
Handle Length: 34,5 cm
Overall Length: 112 cm
Point of Balance: 5 cm (from guard).
I asked for 12 cm from guard. I'll probably remove material from guard and pommel to fix the POB. I heard that with practice swords it's normal to have POB closer to guard. I don't think this extreme POB is a good idea.
Weight: 1536 g
I asked for 1400g so there is 136g material that I can remove to fix the POB
The Blade
Blade is actually surprisingly nicely shaped. Profile taper and curvature are logical and pleasing. In Fabri swords there is no distal taper. Blade is made of "high-grade spring steel type 14260.7". My understanding is that these are not forged and I'm not sure are these heat treated after shaping. Blade has 2mm thick blunt edge and blade is 3mm thick all the way. It has nice flex, though it doesn't flex from the thinnest part closer the tip but somewhere from the middle. These are known to be extremely durable. We've been using these in full steel blade to blade contact. I haven't yet practiced with this but I whacked it strongly few times with bokken and it seems to endure. Tip isn't rounded enough to be safe to use. Blade is noticeably bent.
The Handle
Handle construction is plywood scales glued to the tang. Tang is as wide as the handle is. Leather is glued and wrapped around the plywood negligently. There was some tape around the plywood scales too. It's crude but construction has proven very durable.
The Guard
Guard is my design that imitates my Knuckle-Guard-Tsuba. It's crude and chunky, but it is designed to take a lot of beating. Mouth of the guard is around 2-3 cm long along the tang so it makes the construction really durable. But it's loose so it negates the good idea. Steel is so soft that I can bend the knuckle guard back and forth easily with bare hands.
The Pommel
Pommel is simple and crude but nicely shaped piece of steel hard soldered to the tang.
The Scabbard
No scabbard, but I'll make one later.
Handling Characteristics
This is complex guestion to answer. It's not what I asked for. It feels comfortable and it feels like a "sword" but 5cm POB makes it feel pretty strange. As I mentioned before, I've heard that it's OK to have POB closer to handle in practice sword, but 5cm feels way too close. But with protective gloves the grip is a few sentimeters from guard so it kinda compensates it. Lack of distal taper makes it feel a littlebit crowbar like. Nice curvature and profile taper gives some liveliness to it. If I hold my right hand about 3 cm from guard, this sword is pretty nice to swing around. I'll write more about handling and everything after I've used this in sparring.
Conclusions
Well... At first I was pretty disappointed. Bent blade and loose guard are quite strange things to have as a standard feature. Now after talking with Jiri and my friends I understand that it's the standard with these cheap blunt training swords. I guess it's normal that I have to straighten blade every now and then and fix the guard, when the blade is designed for full steel blade to blade contact. Somehow still I'm not quite convinced. But the price and production time were really reasonable for full custom sword and the problems are really easy for me to fix, and this should be really durable blade, so I'm OK with this. Jiri was willing to fix these issues, but I'm not sure did he mean that I should pay the shipping...
Pros
- Low price and short production time for full custom sword
- Fabri blades are known to be really durable
Cons
- Bent blade, loose guard and lazy leather wrap
- Sword harmonics are far from what I asked for (They didn't promise exact accuracy, so...)
- No distal taper
- Overall finishing and appearance is awkward
- Steel in guard is too soft
- Tip isn't rounded enough to be safe to use
- Blade is too wobbly
The Bottom Line
I think it's still a good choise for someone who wants a blunt blade for not so serious but tough steel sword practicing. Fabri swords are guite popular amongst HMB practitioners. Custom sword option is really good for the price if you are ok with the fact that sword is not usable out of the box. Production times and prices can also vary quite a bit. Communication with Fabri Armorum is also challenging. I wasn't sure did they fully understand my english and they answered really briefly. But they seem to be really nice people in Fabri Armorum and in the end I recommend Fabri Armorum blades, but with caution.
Thank you!
I've recently started practicing IHEMATWHBMI(Informal hema training with hmb influence) lol. My friends use Fabri Armorum blunt training swords and they are very reasonable priced and very durable. I asked from Fabri Armorum, Jiri Krondak what would be the price for complete custom two handed sabre? I gave measurements and raw sketch that matches my signature sword Great Beast. Price was 250€ and production time less than a month!
Historical overview
This is my contemporary two-handed-swiss-saber/kriegsmesser/katana hybrid design.
Initial Impressions
Packaging was tolerable. Guard had penetrated the box. Sword looked crude but I knew that's how Fabri swords are. Weight felt OK. Balance was clearly off. Straight away I noticed the blade was bent and guard was loose. Also the leather wrap was coming off. I contacted Jiri and my friends who own swords from Fabri and they all told me that it's normal. Well 250€ is very low price for custom sword so I just fixed the issues. I wrapped steel wire around the leather and secured the guard with wooden wedges. I'll straighten the blade later. Jiri said it is normal maintenance operation with these full contact steel practice swords. Well, my initial impressions are contradictory.
Statistics
Blade Length: 77.5cm
Handle Length: 34,5 cm
Overall Length: 112 cm
Point of Balance: 5 cm (from guard).
I asked for 12 cm from guard. I'll probably remove material from guard and pommel to fix the POB. I heard that with practice swords it's normal to have POB closer to guard. I don't think this extreme POB is a good idea.
Weight: 1536 g
I asked for 1400g so there is 136g material that I can remove to fix the POB
The Blade
Blade is actually surprisingly nicely shaped. Profile taper and curvature are logical and pleasing. In Fabri swords there is no distal taper. Blade is made of "high-grade spring steel type 14260.7". My understanding is that these are not forged and I'm not sure are these heat treated after shaping. Blade has 2mm thick blunt edge and blade is 3mm thick all the way. It has nice flex, though it doesn't flex from the thinnest part closer the tip but somewhere from the middle. These are known to be extremely durable. We've been using these in full steel blade to blade contact. I haven't yet practiced with this but I whacked it strongly few times with bokken and it seems to endure. Tip isn't rounded enough to be safe to use. Blade is noticeably bent.
The Handle
Handle construction is plywood scales glued to the tang. Tang is as wide as the handle is. Leather is glued and wrapped around the plywood negligently. There was some tape around the plywood scales too. It's crude but construction has proven very durable.
The Guard
Guard is my design that imitates my Knuckle-Guard-Tsuba. It's crude and chunky, but it is designed to take a lot of beating. Mouth of the guard is around 2-3 cm long along the tang so it makes the construction really durable. But it's loose so it negates the good idea. Steel is so soft that I can bend the knuckle guard back and forth easily with bare hands.
The Pommel
Pommel is simple and crude but nicely shaped piece of steel hard soldered to the tang.
The Scabbard
No scabbard, but I'll make one later.
Handling Characteristics
This is complex guestion to answer. It's not what I asked for. It feels comfortable and it feels like a "sword" but 5cm POB makes it feel pretty strange. As I mentioned before, I've heard that it's OK to have POB closer to handle in practice sword, but 5cm feels way too close. But with protective gloves the grip is a few sentimeters from guard so it kinda compensates it. Lack of distal taper makes it feel a littlebit crowbar like. Nice curvature and profile taper gives some liveliness to it. If I hold my right hand about 3 cm from guard, this sword is pretty nice to swing around. I'll write more about handling and everything after I've used this in sparring.
Conclusions
Well... At first I was pretty disappointed. Bent blade and loose guard are quite strange things to have as a standard feature. Now after talking with Jiri and my friends I understand that it's the standard with these cheap blunt training swords. I guess it's normal that I have to straighten blade every now and then and fix the guard, when the blade is designed for full steel blade to blade contact. Somehow still I'm not quite convinced. But the price and production time were really reasonable for full custom sword and the problems are really easy for me to fix, and this should be really durable blade, so I'm OK with this. Jiri was willing to fix these issues, but I'm not sure did he mean that I should pay the shipping...
Pros
- Low price and short production time for full custom sword
- Fabri blades are known to be really durable
Cons
- Bent blade, loose guard and lazy leather wrap
- Sword harmonics are far from what I asked for (They didn't promise exact accuracy, so...)
- No distal taper
- Overall finishing and appearance is awkward
- Steel in guard is too soft
- Tip isn't rounded enough to be safe to use
- Blade is too wobbly
The Bottom Line
I think it's still a good choise for someone who wants a blunt blade for not so serious but tough steel sword practicing. Fabri swords are guite popular amongst HMB practitioners. Custom sword option is really good for the price if you are ok with the fact that sword is not usable out of the box. Production times and prices can also vary quite a bit. Communication with Fabri Armorum is also challenging. I wasn't sure did they fully understand my english and they answered really briefly. But they seem to be really nice people in Fabri Armorum and in the end I recommend Fabri Armorum blades, but with caution.
Thank you!
