Hanwei Tinker Longsword BARE BLADE builders perspective
Mar 23, 2016 23:14:57 GMT
Post by coyotemutt on Mar 23, 2016 23:14:57 GMT
This is a review of a Hanwei/Tinker Longsword BARE BLADE.
Also, my first post...
I wanted a good quality longsword, but lacked the skill to make one and also lacked the funds to buy one. I was very pleased to see that Hanwei was offering the Tinker swords unmounted because I DO have the skills to profile a blade by hand, forge hilt components, and build handles.
I noticed there were no reviews on the blades as a foundation for a project. I HAD seen a few reviews in which the author had given the plain handle a facelift with new leather, but not a ground-up rebuild. I have experience forging small blades, making small pieces of pattern welded steel, and have forged a few axe heads with welded cutting bits. My woodworking and leather experience comes from years of making hickory self-bows. With this background, I felt confident that I could make a solid, functional hilt. Now that the intro is over with, here's the meat and potatoes.
The blade had perfectly even fullers and a nice brushed steel finish. Every line and curve was executed symetrically except for the center ridge running barely off-center at the tip. The tang is beefy and long and actually allows for peening if that is your preferred construction method. An important aspect of this blade is that it felt reasonably well balanced even without a hilt. It seemed like the node of rotation near the hilt would probably end up right under the cross-guard once it was weighted down with a hilt. Futhermore, the blade flexed easily, but would return to true without wobbling around. The word I would use to describe the feeling in-hand would be "Precise".
The edges were very sharp right in the middle third of the blade. The forte was, and still is, dead dull. The foible needed some serious work. The bad news is that it required some steady draw filing with a bastard file followed by a fine mill file and then some hours with polishing stones. The good news is that the center ridge is so well executed that you can literally watch each stroke slowly blend the center into the edge! And for the price, having more work to do wasn't an issue. It's a project, after all. Now the blade fwips through plastic targets so smoothly that I rarely knock them off the cutting stand.
So, I built my crossguard from some salvaged rebar, no power tools were used. I made the cross with a slight interference fit so I had to tap it on with a mallet. The handle was built from some elm-limbs a friend had given me. I then added a leather riser in the middle and wrapped the handle with a scrap of suede that my Midwife had given me. I wanted an open-ring pommel, but had a very hard time forging a smooth, even ring so I settled on cutting the small end off of an old VW connecting rod in the forge. I had to use a drill to make a hole for the tang. I assembled it with a nut at first and used it like that for a while. I found that the POB was a little over 5 inches from the guard and the blade felt a little sluggish in the hand so I forged up a peening block, peened the tang down, and then filled in the open ring with melted Tin. NOW the blade handles like a dream POB of just a touch over four inches from the guard! It finished at 2lb 9oz which is a bit too light compared to what Tinker had designed it to be, but here's the best part: The sword doesn't care! What this means is that you have a lot of room for error when mounting this weapon which means it should be a very forgiving platform to build on.
To sum it up, it's a diamond in the rough for the right artist. I'm 100% pleased with my rough looking cutter.
Oh, one last thing. It seems to like a pommel of about 120g to MAYBE 160g.
Also, my first post...
I wanted a good quality longsword, but lacked the skill to make one and also lacked the funds to buy one. I was very pleased to see that Hanwei was offering the Tinker swords unmounted because I DO have the skills to profile a blade by hand, forge hilt components, and build handles.
I noticed there were no reviews on the blades as a foundation for a project. I HAD seen a few reviews in which the author had given the plain handle a facelift with new leather, but not a ground-up rebuild. I have experience forging small blades, making small pieces of pattern welded steel, and have forged a few axe heads with welded cutting bits. My woodworking and leather experience comes from years of making hickory self-bows. With this background, I felt confident that I could make a solid, functional hilt. Now that the intro is over with, here's the meat and potatoes.
The blade had perfectly even fullers and a nice brushed steel finish. Every line and curve was executed symetrically except for the center ridge running barely off-center at the tip. The tang is beefy and long and actually allows for peening if that is your preferred construction method. An important aspect of this blade is that it felt reasonably well balanced even without a hilt. It seemed like the node of rotation near the hilt would probably end up right under the cross-guard once it was weighted down with a hilt. Futhermore, the blade flexed easily, but would return to true without wobbling around. The word I would use to describe the feeling in-hand would be "Precise".
The edges were very sharp right in the middle third of the blade. The forte was, and still is, dead dull. The foible needed some serious work. The bad news is that it required some steady draw filing with a bastard file followed by a fine mill file and then some hours with polishing stones. The good news is that the center ridge is so well executed that you can literally watch each stroke slowly blend the center into the edge! And for the price, having more work to do wasn't an issue. It's a project, after all. Now the blade fwips through plastic targets so smoothly that I rarely knock them off the cutting stand.
So, I built my crossguard from some salvaged rebar, no power tools were used. I made the cross with a slight interference fit so I had to tap it on with a mallet. The handle was built from some elm-limbs a friend had given me. I then added a leather riser in the middle and wrapped the handle with a scrap of suede that my Midwife had given me. I wanted an open-ring pommel, but had a very hard time forging a smooth, even ring so I settled on cutting the small end off of an old VW connecting rod in the forge. I had to use a drill to make a hole for the tang. I assembled it with a nut at first and used it like that for a while. I found that the POB was a little over 5 inches from the guard and the blade felt a little sluggish in the hand so I forged up a peening block, peened the tang down, and then filled in the open ring with melted Tin. NOW the blade handles like a dream POB of just a touch over four inches from the guard! It finished at 2lb 9oz which is a bit too light compared to what Tinker had designed it to be, but here's the best part: The sword doesn't care! What this means is that you have a lot of room for error when mounting this weapon which means it should be a very forgiving platform to build on.
To sum it up, it's a diamond in the rough for the right artist. I'm 100% pleased with my rough looking cutter.
Oh, one last thing. It seems to like a pommel of about 120g to MAYBE 160g.