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Post by jwest on Jun 30, 2015 21:39:58 GMT
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Post by Bryan Heff on Jun 30, 2015 21:53:43 GMT
I'm taking a pass on that one. Not a fan of the extra long grip.
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Post by Caboose on Jul 1, 2015 14:40:55 GMT
I'm a bit confused by this picture: What exactly is going on with the guard slot? Looks like the slot was widened after it was made, but without trying to blend the widened part with the rest of the slot. The furniture look to be exactly the same as the Makers Mark Xa.3 I bought a little bit ago. The guard slot on my Xa is a little wonky too. The slot is quite a bit larger than the blade, so it got mounted slightly crooked. Unfortunately since it's mechanically peened, I'm not able to fix it.
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Post by Bryan Heff on Jul 1, 2015 17:56:47 GMT
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Post by sonofarwyn on Jul 1, 2015 19:49:57 GMT
Rather like that second one... to bad my sword fund is on hiatus...
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Post by steelhound on Jul 1, 2015 19:58:04 GMT
The weights listed at KOA for both of these swords seems very light compared to similar ATrims in the past. Wondering if this is due to the extra 1/2" of grip somehow, or is it just a faulty scale at KOA?
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Post by Bryan Heff on Jul 1, 2015 20:04:12 GMT
The weights listed at KOA for both of these swords seems very light compared to similar ATrims in the past. Wondering if this is due to the extra 1/2" of grip somehow, or is it just a faulty scale at KOA? My guess is the KOA stats are correct. They usually are pretty spot on. But I am sure an expert will be able to tell from the pics and stats and hopefully will post soon.
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TomK
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Post by TomK on Jul 1, 2015 21:10:57 GMT
The Xa is modeled after a riding sword Gus had done a few years ago that was an extremely light sword this one kept all the same geometry just grew longer and so it too is light for its size.
I don't see the XVIII as being light at all. 2 lbs 7oz is a lot heavier than the vast majority of single handed swords Gus makes most of which are 2lbs 4oz or less. The 1557 and the 1315 were both among his most popular single hand designs and both sit at 2 pounds flat
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Post by Caboose on Jul 1, 2015 21:25:06 GMT
The Xa is modeled after a riding sword Gus had done a few years ago that was an extremely light sword this one kept all the same geometry just grew longer and so it too is light for its size. I don't see the XVIII as being light at all. 2 lbs 7oz is a lot heavier than the vast majority of single handed swords Gus makes most of which are 2lbs 4oz or less. The 1557 and the 1315 were both among his most popular single hand designs and both sit at 2 pounds flat The listing says 2 lbs 0.7oz, not 2lbs 7oz. Still a valid point about the most popular designs being 2 lbs though.
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TomK
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Post by TomK on Jul 1, 2015 21:26:48 GMT
Oh! Missed that decimal. Thank you for pointing that out! Makes a big difference.
Gus works very hard to try and keep the weight of his single hand swords to 2lbs 4oz or less. Quite a lot of them are right at 2 pounds or just a smidgen over
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Post by steelhound on Jul 1, 2015 21:40:24 GMT
The Xa is modeled after a riding sword Gus had done a few years ago that was an extremely light sword this one kept all the same geometry just grew longer and so it too is light for its size. I don't see the XVIII as being light at all. 2 lbs 7oz is a lot heavier than the vast majority of single handed swords Gus makes most of which are 2lbs 4oz or less. The 1557 and the 1315 were both among his most popular single hand designs and both sit at 2 pounds flat The Xa I can understand a bit more, it has what appears to be a deep fuller almost it's whole length, and starts out at 4mm at the base with this fuller. The XVIII is actually listed at 2 lbs. 0.7 oz., which seems pretty light given the blade length and lack of a fuller. That's just over two pounds. IIRC, the original 1315 came in at 2 lbs. 2oz, and the heavy version was around 2 oz. more. Maybe the blade on this one thins out more towards the tip than other ATrims of similar size? Or else KOA accidentally put a decimal before the 7, which wouldn't surprise me. While KOA is generally very accurate in their descriptions, they do make mistakes, and may have too many items in stock to want to correct all of those mistakes. For example, they have been listing these Mechanically Peened ATrims as 'nut' construction and not permanently assembled, as well as continuing to describe his Phat Bowie with a Black Oxide finish, months after confirming to me that it is actually a Duracoat finish via email.
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TomK
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Post by TomK on Jul 1, 2015 22:36:40 GMT
Looking at this XVIII I see it is basically a 1557 that is slightly narrower and a bit longer. Looks like some of the stretching is in the point area which means I completely believe the weight
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Post by steelhound on Jul 1, 2015 23:23:19 GMT
Looking at this XVIII I see it is basically a 1557 that is slightly narrower and a bit longer. Looks like some of the stretching is in the point area which means I completely believe the weight Wow, so this does appear to be Gus's magic in trimming a blade down to the bare essentials. I remember that Riding Sword review of yours from years back, and that was something like a 28" blade with the same weight as this Xa.5 with a 31" blade. And that early Riding Sword was a heck of a cutter. After taking some measurements 1" from the tip on my 1557 and 1422, these blades at KOA are noticeably thinner in this area. It would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison of my 1422 and this XVIII.3 and see how Gus was able to trim off over 3 oz on a similar-sized blade. No doubt these newer ATrims will still be great cutters and fantastic in hand!
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TomK
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Post by TomK on Jul 2, 2015 1:40:36 GMT
Just spoke to Gus, about these swords.
The grip of the Xa is NOT 5" it is 4.25" looks like KOA has corrected that tho.
These swords were designed with a specific thing in mind: use with a buckler like in I.33 manuscript
Gus went out of his way to design swords that were as close to 2 pounds flat as he could manage but still have the blade presence for good cuts and a 31" blade length.
The XVIII was a brand new design from beginning to end and not a stretched out 1557 as I originally thought.
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Post by steelhound on Jul 2, 2015 20:07:55 GMT
Very interesting, and thanks for getting some info on these swords, Tom. No surprise that the XVIII is already sold.
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Post by chrisperoni on Jul 2, 2015 20:21:57 GMT
Are these newly made or previously owned making the rounds
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Post by steelhound on Jul 2, 2015 20:32:21 GMT
Seem to be newly made from what Tom said, and not listed as 'Used' on KOA.
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Post by Rabel Dusk on Jul 2, 2015 21:00:17 GMT
The XVIII is gone but the Xa appears to still be available.
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TomK
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Post by TomK on Jul 2, 2015 21:40:31 GMT
Yup one of us got the XVIII saw him post about it on Facebook
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Post by siralan (Sir Alan Adale) on Jul 4, 2015 19:47:04 GMT
Yup one of us got the XVIII saw him post about it on Facebook I am very happy to be able to say that XVIII.3 is on its way to my house and is expected to arrive next week. I will try to have a short review to post up by the following weekend if possible.
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