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Post by bfoo2 on Oct 17, 2015 5:14:48 GMT
I was not aware that they banned sword ads on facebook (but I would not be suprised). Darksword and Valiant still have active facebook pages advertising their wares. Seeing how well the gun lobby is doing in the states, maybe we need to start a sword lobby . Second amendment says they can have my sword when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
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Post by bfoo2 on Oct 17, 2015 5:17:31 GMT
Also, on a topic somewhat related to sword-wary nanny-states: I found out recently that nunchucks are illegal in Canada. If I were ambushed by a thug with nunchucks, I'd be glad as odds are that he'd hurt himself first
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Oct 18, 2015 7:25:52 GMT
What on earth are nunchucks? Frozen seal parts to bang someone on the head with? A blow pipe that shoots frozen seal eyeballs?
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Post by bfoo2 on Oct 18, 2015 15:31:37 GMT
Nunchucks are catapults that chuck tiny midget nuns at you. Isn't that obvious from the name? Most useful against pagan non-believers as the nun's habit confers superior aerodynamics compared to the Holy Hand-Grenade of Antioch.
What is it with you and frozen seal parts anyway?
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Oct 18, 2015 20:23:31 GMT
No, not obvious. I do not speak Innuit. Well, that is all you get to eat over there init. Whats with sailing around on big giant doughnuts?
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Scott
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Post by Scott on Oct 18, 2015 23:39:12 GMT
Being ambushed by a nunchuck wielding thug shouldn't be too much of a worry. By the time they've given a blood-curdling scream, leapt out of a tree, and brandished their weapon in a threatening but impractical manner, you should have ample time to hit them with your baby seal club...
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Post by Afoo on Oct 19, 2015 0:53:40 GMT
No, not obvious. I do not speak Innuit. Well, that is all you get to eat over there init. Whats with sailing around on big giant doughnuts? Nunchaku: native martial art primative weapon based on the grain threshing implement. two sticks chained together to beat the rice and separate the grains. Doughnut sailing: One of several native canadian winter suicide rituals. ( see also, hockey, ice sailing and Bigfoot baiting ). Don't forget the polar bear dip!
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Oct 19, 2015 15:54:55 GMT
So, this is what's understood to be fun over there? Holy Mother of God! My father, after WWII ( this might explain his slightly deranged state of mind), went to Canada to check the place out. He wrote his bride to be a big bank wanted him, so to get herself on a boat. Mother replied politely there was nothing doing because I was in the works. He came back, like the gentleman he was. So I escaped all this..ah..fun. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
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Post by Afoo on Oct 19, 2015 20:38:23 GMT
and this is why we have (read: need) free health care. Also why I feel the need to have my hand on fire.
Though I feel like you missed out on a great opportunity - where else would you get the opportunity to live in a community called Happy-Valley-Goose-Bay, or Moose Factory? Actually, I take that back. I have been to Moose Factory. Its very disappointing - no moose in sight. Must have moved South along with all our other manufacturing.
On that note, how durable do you feel the blueing is on the new empire costume stuff? I am thinking about one, but don't want to have to grit my teeth and clench my buttocks every time I draw the sword from its scabbard, in fear of damaging the finish.
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Post by aronk on Oct 20, 2015 0:53:19 GMT
The blueing on my EC sabre is quite stable so far. I've probably drawn it 300-400 times.
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Post by bfoo2 on Oct 20, 2015 2:30:27 GMT
...will the blueing survive the Canadian cold, though?
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Post by bfoo2 on Oct 20, 2015 3:30:18 GMT
Going back to the (sort-of) original topic of getting proper repros:
I’m just thinking… you know how Cold Steel takes normal “India Pattern” wares, sharpen them a bit, slap on a price increase and sell them as the “ultimate backyard cutters” (with the aid of some unintentionally funny videos)?
I’m wondering what the economics would for an enterprise (either a cottage-industry gig or a larger more established company) that does something similar, but instead of just sharpening, also reground them? Sure, it’d be more expensive, but some individuals are willing to pay more for a Cold Steel sharp, so it may not be so unmarketable. One big advantage is that the sword community is rather small, and word-of-mouth / online forum sword reviews can do much to promote a sword. I think with time, such a product could get a pretty good rep in the sword community. Us antique sword boffins would love it because it’s brilliant, and I’m sure the backyard cutting crowd would love it because it’s probably much more fun to cut with something that doesn’t handle like a ton of bricks.
In other words, if people are are willing to pay more for a CS "ultimate cutter", it may be possible to convince them to pay even more for a re-ground "really, forget the CS: THIS is the ultimate cutter".
The one issue in mind is cost. Obviously, all this would add more to the cost of the final product. How much more? I’m not sure. I know very little about re-grinding swords and I can’t even guess at the labour costs or the possibility of scaling up such an operation to industrial semi-mass production levels.
Anyway... that's just my little daydream of the day...
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Post by aronk on Oct 20, 2015 3:47:40 GMT
The problem is that the stock often starts out far too thin, unfortunately.
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Post by bfoo2 on Oct 20, 2015 3:50:20 GMT
Fair point. Shoulda crossed my mind earlier, but as the evening grows later, the brain grows fuzzier.....
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Post by aronk on Oct 20, 2015 4:35:42 GMT
Now, if anyone ever makes a good Napoleonic repro with stock that is too thick, I'll buy one and send it off to my smith for a regrind to original spec. I'd love to have an accurate repro of really any of the French or British cavalry weapons.
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Post by Afoo on Oct 20, 2015 5:03:38 GMT
Except CS already does that - Their 1860 is different from the Windlass one in that it has a thicker stock and actually tapers. Same with their 1830 - it starts off at 8mm, and then tapers to 3-4mm. Its not historically accurate, but its certainly better than the Universal equivalent ANXI.
I do not know about the past, but to me, it seems like present CS swords are doing just that - using modified blades from the lower end Indian forges and/or re-grinding their stock to make it taper more. Again, its not all the way perfect, but its certainly an improvement over Universal.
A quick gander through KoA shows that they pull the same trick for their 1796 - with much better stats than the Universal copy. Their spadroon is also much improved over the Universal one, with a different blade shape entirely.
So there is apparently some market force towards better performing swords - else there would be no reason why CS would bother modifying the existing India patterns. Just takes a bit of time to reach the point where real pedants like us will be happy. Certainly more accurate than the repros from ages ago.
On that note, I have a repro 1840 US artillery sword. I dunno the maker. However, it tapers from 7mm to 2.5mm, so it seems like companies outside of CS are getting onto the taper bandwagon as well.
EDIT: Also, another (more nefarious) reason for making more realistic blades - for many of us, sloppy handling is a dead giveaway for a repro. If you make the handling more realistic, you increase the chance that you can fool a collector into thinking its a legit antique.
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Post by aronk on Oct 20, 2015 5:25:14 GMT
The CS ANXI still suffers from microhilt though, does it not? I can't seem to recall your comments about handling.
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Post by Afoo on Oct 20, 2015 5:31:00 GMT
It does. Its only marginally small for my hands, though I have no original to base it on . The handling is good - its the hilt and grips which let it down rather than the blade I feel.
So yeah, not a perfect repro, but progress, and definitely better than the Universal
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Uhlan
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Post by Uhlan on Oct 20, 2015 5:46:35 GMT
and this is why we have (read: need) free health care. Also why I feel the need to have my hand on fire. Though I feel like you missed out on a great opportunity - where else would you get the opportunity to live in a community called Happy-Valley-Goose-Bay, or Moose Factory? Actually, I take that back. I have been to Moose Factory. Its very disappointing - no moose in sight. Must have moved South along with all our other manufacturing. On that note, how durable do you feel the blueing is on the new empire costume stuff? I am thinking about one, but don't want to have to grit my teeth and clench my buttocks every time I draw the sword from its scabbard, in fear of damaging the finish. Bluing can only be done in two ways: The old school way: Heat to around 350C with lots of charcoal powder and dunk in water or oil. That is the way it is done for over 200 years. There are still a lot of old sabres around that have good bluing, so I would think it is a quite strong layer. Like the curious monkey I am, I did a letter opener blade a couple of years ago and it is still okay, what with scraping while cutting paper. That said, it is a layer just like plate, so in the end it will come off. Protecting it with wax looks to me the best method of conservation, but in the end the wood of the liner will scrape it away. Maybe the best way to conserve the blue is to store the sabre outside the scabbard. The biggest killer is rust. When that formes, your done. Overall I think blue is quite durable, but like everything special in life, it needs extra care. Note that most of the sabres / swords were parade items, not meant to be used in battle at all. If you see a painting with a guy on a horse with a battle in the background brandishing his blue sabre, you can be sure it was the artist who put the blue blade there. ( And the horse of course. The guy, or a model would be sitting on a wooden stand with saddle. If a model was used, the head / face was painted on later by the Master. The rest would be delegated to various pupils in the workshop. One was good in doing the sky, another did trees or the battle in the background, textiles, etc, etc. The second way is heat / oil bluing. It is quite easy to do. The trick is to have an adequate source of heat and to be able to dunk the hot object at a fraction of a second in the oil. If this takes too long the colours will change. What we think of as blue is just a layer of molecules on top of the steel, working as a prism. With heat / oil bluing this layer will be very thin. This layer refracts light that is bounced back by the underlaying steel, so one gets to see all kinds of colours,depending on the quality of the light and the way the object is held in the light and of cource the temperate the object was heated to. This effect can be observed too on old ceramics where the lead based glaze is oxydising or antique glass, which has started to decay. However beautiful it may look, it is sought after by collectors after all, in fact it is a sign of rot as far as ceramics and glass are concerned. 17th C. Wine goblet. It was clear glass once, with a gold wire inlay. Early Antwerp made Venician glass. Someone stole the Venician formula and made it, alive, to Antwerp quite early on. Yes, the Venician Guilds would murder you. This stuff was worth a fortune in gold at the time and they held the monopoly. 11th C. Syrian / Aleppo blue and black vessel. The iridisent layer is turning drab. Here and there a bit of iridisation can be spotted still. Charcoal blued letter opener. Iridisation in mostly the purple bandwidth. In reality the iridisation is much more pronounced. The camera lens does suppress the effect a litlle, but I hope you get the idea. Heat / oil bluing:
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