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Post by ShooterMike on Jun 10, 2008 22:14:39 GMT
The Valiant Armoury Practicals are good, solid swords as they come. And if you have Gus regrind the tip half of the blade, they really become an outstanding sword for the money.
Last I heard, Gus is kicking around the idea of offering to regrind and refinish the blades on any of the practicals that were bought by SBG members (after the "Sale Swords" go out). He's contemplating pricing, and I don't know if it's a "done deal" or not. But if there's enough interest, it might be something on the order of $50-75 for the rework. That may or may not include return shipping.
I have here (for review), that have been reground, the longsword I originally bought and reviewed, Gus' personal (heavier) longsword, and Gus' personal arming sword. I haven't gotten a chance to do anything with them yet. But I hope to soon.
If you guys are interested in having your swords reground and refinished, shoot him a PM or email, or just post your interest here so he can gauge the interest.
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Post by enkidu on Jun 11, 2008 1:17:37 GMT
If it includes shipping and if it is a better improvement as you say then i will definitly be interested !
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2008 1:46:06 GMT
I am definitely interested. I am waiting for your(mikes) review of the re ground blades. I was thinking about doing it myself, but if Gus would do it........my only concerns would be ; price and turn around time.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2008 8:18:59 GMT
What is he planning on accomplishing with the regrinding?
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Post by ShooterMike on Jun 11, 2008 19:14:11 GMT
I am definitely interested. I am waiting for your(mikes) review of the re ground blades. I was thinking about doing it myself, but if Gus would do it........my only concerns would be ; price and turn around time. Turn around is always a concern. He has said he's only interested in starting this up when he's finished with all the "Sale" swords and he's built up some stock for Christian Fletcher. I think he wants to get the turn-around time down to a week or two, plus shipping time. What is he planning on accomplishing with the regrinding? Very good question! The original design was based on existing ATrim blade geometry of the AT1415 longsword. While the Chinese forge that did the first batch of these swords got it mostly right, they botched the blade geometry. Then main thing they didn't get right is the grind of the blade from the end of the fuller to the tip. It is left as a flattened diamond cross section. This makes it about 20% heavier than it was designed to be. All that extra weight at the tip causes the swords to handle incorrectly and significantly increases the whippiness of the blade at the base. If you look closely at the cutting video I posted in the VA longsword review, you will be able to see the blade flex significantly just in front of the guard when the sword is driven through turns during cutting. This is something you must be aware of and compensate for, as the blade will land in a slightly different location on the target than where you are aiming. Regrinding the blade eliminates this effect, thus allowing you a much improved degree of controllability regarding where the edge lands on the target. Also, the distal taper and tang thickness varies a lot from sword to sword. I kind of like this because you can ask the retailer to pick you a light one, a medium-weight one, or a heavy one. I have a light one and a heavy one. While they are the same model, if I handed you each in turn, you'd swear they aren't even remotely the same design. And I like them both for different handling characteristics. One is nimble and quick. The other is still pretty fast, but really packs a lot of power. Both have been reground and they handle very well now.
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