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Post by kidcasanova on May 9, 2008 5:21:10 GMT
I've looked over my tang and the threaded rod does not appear to be welded on at all. Are you positive?
Made the new grip. The wood is hickory, from a new hammer handle. Three leather risers (one at each end of the grip and then one between my index and middle finger). The rest of the grip is wrapped in cotton string. No pictures yet. I'll get some up before I wrap it in leather (only thing I could find was a piece of black suede, so it's going to have to do).
Never made a grip before, so it's been a fun, and frustrating, experience. Lesson learned: Loc-Tite dries faster than I can wash my hands.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2008 13:24:43 GMT
I just got it last night.
Your right it's definitely not a welded tang. I'm rather impressed for the price and all. Are all windless srew-ons threaded tangs and not welds or does it vary?
I have slightly larger hands though so the grip is going to have to be a good bit thicker. And the corners on the pommel are also going to need to be ground down. I already sanded off the "antique" finish on the hilt. I think it looks a lot better all shinny and now it can just fade more naturally.
Over all I really like it.
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Post by ShooterMike on May 9, 2008 20:25:07 GMT
... Are all windless srew-ons threaded tangs and not welds or does it vary? Windlass uses all three common assembly methods, depending on the sword (screw-on pommel, tang peened into pommel, threaded tang with pommel nut)
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2008 21:31:52 GMT
One Windlass I have has a welded tang. It's a much older model. None of the 4 newer Windlasses I own have welds.
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Post by Jeff K. ( Jak) on May 10, 2008 0:59:31 GMT
I'm sorry....I just took my windlass Sword of Guy apart (same blade as Reynald and Knightly) I was sure that it was a welded on threaded rod on the end of the tang (just the part the pommel screws onto, not the whole tang) but I was wrong, the tang is all one piece. I have'nt had this sword apart in 3 years (since I bought it). I dont know what I was thinking about, my apologies again for the confusion...please dont smite me!!!! oh wait..... there is no smite button! ;D ;D. Hammer away, my friend! If you do peen it I found that after you mushroom it over by bashing the crap out of it.....alternating light taps to peened over tang material and a few taps to the pommel itself are the way to go to get it to seat properly and tightly....I learned this when re-peening my Hanwei Bastard....I kept hitting it hard and the cross stayed rattly and the flattened tang material kept breaking away. Again, sorry for the confusion, I feel like a dummy cheers, Jeff
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2008 1:51:35 GMT
That's cool man. Thanks for the advice any way though. I think I'm going to leave this one with the current construction but the advice will almost surely be handy in the future.
I actually liked the look of the guy more but it wasn't on sale. This one should the good once I'm done with my customizations. I think I'm going to try to make a scabbard for it too, eventually.
It's growing on me.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2008 10:23:45 GMT
I just ordered the sword of reynald as well, I'm psyched.
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Post by kidcasanova on Jul 12, 2008 6:20:33 GMT
Very cool, Nomorewords. I have since cold blued the blade on mine, and shortened the cross about an inch off of each side. I haven't shaped it yet, but I'm going to round the tips off. The pommel and cross are solid brass, luckily.
I havent gotten to grind the pommel yet. I've decided on a scent-stopper style of pommel instead of the octagonal one I wanted to shape. It's going to be faceted. This shape will make it easier to grip with two hands.
The old wood grip it came with snapped in half while trying to put the sword back together (only hand tightening the pommel, too!), so luckily I built the new grip. The wood seemed dry, and it wasn't dense at all. Almost felt like pine, but less substantial, if you'd believe it. I'm not sure if that was just my particular piece, being stored to long before I purchased it, or if it is widespread over the entire line. Because it's a project blade, and because I've modified it, I am not emailing KOA about it.
I've also taken it down to a 60 grit polish. And got rid of that "Made in India" stamp. It looks much nicer (though I wish I could get a more even finish on the bluing solution).
I'm also having problems putting the sword back together, due to the new grip. The loc-tite I used doesnt seem to want to hold under the pressure of the pommel and cross. So I'm going to tear it apart and tackle it with epoxy. Once I get that done I will begin grinding the pommel to shape.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2008 12:45:12 GMT
that sounds like quite the project, awesome. FYI I had a grip snap on one of my windlasses a few months ago, plain grain wood handle no leather cover. snapped while hitting a tree but the blade is tough as hell so I'm going to glue it back and leather wrap the grip. (or try at least)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2008 13:18:10 GMT
What kind of loctite are you using? Elmers wood glue is really good stuff, it doesn't sound substantial but for holding two pieces of wood together, there isn't much better. If you are using resinous wood, clean the surfaces with acetone before applying glue.
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Post by kidcasanova on Jul 13, 2008 5:27:39 GMT
I've heard a bit about Elmer's wood glue. I was using Loc-Tite's super glue. It's worked fantastically on everything else I've used it on, but I guess there's just too much pressure on the wood for it. If the wood glue doesn't work, no big deal. Thanks for the tip though, +1 to you. I'm also not sure if I want to sharpen it and use it for cutting. The blade is borderline whippy (not nearly as bad as some of the Windlass's we've seen). I'd say it goes just under an inch either way on ShooterMike's "Whippy test." I also worry if the sword will be able to handle the strain of cutting with the new grip (though how it could have been a good cutter with that old grip is beyond me). I do NOT want to have a catastrophic structural failure in the middle of a cut. However, I also dont want to screw up my Fantasy Viking, on account of how pretty it is.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2008 22:36:34 GMT
Sounds cool. I've done quite a bit to mine as well but I'm not done just yet. I ground down the corners on the pommel a lot and also took a fair amount of metal off the guard. The blade is two inches shorter as well. Oh, and i made a scabbard recycling a few pieces from an old wall hanger scabbard. I'll take some pictures when I'm done
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