|
Post by mattjohn98 on Nov 25, 2018 6:09:39 GMT
I like sabers. I also like all swords in general but I noticed that most high end $1000 dollar plus swords are longswords, Arming swords, Katanas, etc. Mostly pre- colonial era blades.
As a result, I have been forced to buy from lower cost companies like Cold steel, Windlass, Hanwei with bad results. They just dont temper the blades properly. Out of the 5 sabers I own, 3 of them take a set when bent over the knee.
Does anyone know of high end saber smiths that can produce a blade properly?
|
|
|
Post by Dave Kelly on Nov 25, 2018 6:46:10 GMT
I like sabers. I also like all swords in general but I noticed that most high end $1000 dollar plus swords are longswords, Arming swords, Katanas, etc. Mostly pre- colonial era blades. As a result, I have been forced to buy from lower cost companies like Cold steel, Windlass, Hanwei with bad results. They just dont temper the blades properly. Out of the 5 sabers I own, 3 of them take a set when bent over the knee. Does anyone know of high end saber smiths that can produce a blade properly? Antiques can often be purchased in good to VG condition for less than it would cost a modern forge to make one. If you want something in particular and are willing to pay 1000-1500.00 I'll bet you can get some willing forges to realize your need.
|
|
|
Post by Jordan Williams on Nov 25, 2018 6:51:55 GMT
I like sabers. I also like all swords in general but I noticed that most high end $1000 dollar plus swords are longswords, Arming swords, Katanas, etc. Mostly pre- colonial era blades. As a result, I have been forced to buy from lower cost companies like Cold steel, Windlass, Hanwei with bad results. They just dont temper the blades properly. Out of the 5 sabers I own, 3 of them take a set when bent over the knee. Does anyone know of high end saber smiths that can produce a blade properly? Antiques can often be purchased in good to VG condition for less than it would cost a modern forge to make one. If you want something in particular and are willing to pay 1000-1500.00 I'll bet you can get some willing forges to realize your need. A quote from a smith on here was around 2800 Euro for a sabre like the Austrian 1861. His reasoning is that their more complex to make and without a set up or reason to make loads of them they are a bear to make properly and cost - effectively. My own attempts to recreate guards like the 1861 or 1796 have been mostly failures, aside from one nice steel guard and one nice brass guard.
|
|
|
Post by Jordan Williams on Nov 25, 2018 6:59:23 GMT
Tallying everything up, my current collection of antiques was bought for 2,160 USD, with repros that comes to 2,671. I counted in a gift in the repro tally. So for less than the Albion lady Vivamus, I was able to put together a collection of 8 antiques, and for a little more a collection of total 11 swords.
That said, the Del Tin offerings look tempting and for way less than an original 17th or 18th century Hussars sabre would be.
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Nov 25, 2018 7:24:45 GMT
I can attest that Del Tin knows how to make a good saber.
|
|
|
Post by mattjohn98 on Nov 25, 2018 8:09:31 GMT
I can attest that Del Tin knows how to make a good saber. How is the gap in the del tins btw? Which one do you own, the 18th or 15 th century saber?
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Nov 25, 2018 16:18:34 GMT
I can attest that Del Tin knows how to make a good saber. How is the gap in the del tins btw? Which one do you own, the 18th or 15 th century saber? The gap? Like the performance gap or the gap between the blade and guard? I owned a shorter prototype of the 18th century Hussar sabre. There is a full review posted in the review board. In any case, the topline is the finish was rough and simple but the handling was totally historically accurate. It had almost the exact same balance and feel as my antique US 1812 militia saber.
|
|
|
Post by wlewisiii on Nov 26, 2018 4:27:27 GMT
This is disturbing information to learns. Well, disturbing for my wallet and budget, anyway ...
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Nov 26, 2018 5:10:15 GMT
There are some more expensive saber makers over seas. However, statistical information and reviews are very hard to come by. For example, Szbla Polska produces nice looking sabers for around $800 USD but I cannot find a verifiable hands on review with one of their products to save my life. Even though they look good, I'd feel pretty bad if I dropped $800 on a sword that disappointed me on arrival. If you really have really have tons if money to burn, consider contacting a custom forge and explaining what you want. Arms and Armor may be up to it. Some of their custom swords seem more complex than your average saber. I'll stop rambling now.
|
|
|
Post by MOK on Nov 27, 2018 9:44:44 GMT
On this side of the pond, at least for earlier saber types I can personally attest for Viktor Berbekucz. Very good quality for very reasonable prices.
The problem with 19th Century sabers is that they were industrially mass produced with production lines of dies, power hammers etc. specifically set up for this purpose - insert a piece of metal, the machine goes CLANG!!! and you have a backstrap. (Well, that's slightly hyperbolic, but you get the idea.) Doing the same work by hand, without that whole infrastructure, takes kinda unreasonable amounts of sweat and time and thus money.
|
|
|
Post by bluetrain on Nov 27, 2018 10:45:41 GMT
Although what you just said is absolutely correct, there is more handwork going into more products than you might imagine. A good question might be, why do products fail, no matter how they're made? There is no general answer, except perhaps for cheapening of the product which occurs a lot. It may be that products routinely fail or are of poor quality but such things do not reach the consumer.
|
|
|
Post by MatthewGMK on Nov 27, 2018 13:07:47 GMT
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Nov 27, 2018 13:32:56 GMT
On this side of the pond, at least for earlier saber types I can personally attest for Viktor Berbekucz. Very good quality for very reasonable prices. The problem with 19th Century sabers is that they were industrially mass produced with production lines of dies, power hammers etc. specifically set up for this purpose - insert a piece of metal, the machine goes CLANG!!! and you have a backstrap. (Well, that's slightly hyperbolic, but you get the idea.) Doing the same work by hand, without that whole infrastructure, takes kinda unreasonable amounts of sweat and time and thus money. His stuff looks nice, does it have any distal taper?
|
|
|
Post by MOK on Nov 27, 2018 15:54:42 GMT
On this side of the pond, at least for earlier saber types I can personally attest for Viktor Berbekucz. Very good quality for very reasonable prices. His stuff looks nice, does it have any distal taper? Apparently some of it does, some doesn't - I've seen some of his swords with readily perceptible amounts of distal taper, but the early 16th Century saber I currently own is uniformly thin throughout (handles surprisingly well, though).
|
|
Zen_Hydra
Moderator
Born with a heart full of neutrality
Posts: 2,625
|
Post by Zen_Hydra on Nov 27, 2018 17:19:28 GMT
"are"
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Nov 27, 2018 17:27:44 GMT
Glad you showed up, I remember you'd been thinking about trying some Euro saber manufacturers. Did that ever pan out?
|
|
Zen_Hydra
Moderator
Born with a heart full of neutrality
Posts: 2,625
|
Post by Zen_Hydra on Nov 27, 2018 17:58:11 GMT
Glad you showed up, I remember you'd been thinking about trying some Euro saber manufacturers. Did that ever pan out? No, not yet. It's still something I intend to do, but (like you) I'd really like to see some in-depth reviews. At least more in-depth than "yeah, their stuff is pretty good." I really want to pick up a high-end Polish 17th-18th century sabre, pallasch, and koncerz (I'd actually love to collect the full Polish hussar kit).
|
|
|
Post by elbrittania39 on Nov 27, 2018 18:12:07 GMT
Glad you showed up, I remember you'd been thinking about trying some Euro saber manufacturers. Did that ever pan out? No, not yet. It's still something I intend to do, but (like you) I'd really like to see some in-depth reviews. At least more in-depth than "yeah, their stuff is pretty good." I really want to pick up a high-end Polish 17th-18th century sabre, pallasch, and koncerz (I'd actually love to collect the full Polish hussar kit). I got in touch with Jerzy from the silkfencing team and he got me a name of a smith who makes his sabers. I can refer you if you'd like.
|
|
Zen_Hydra
Moderator
Born with a heart full of neutrality
Posts: 2,625
|
Post by Zen_Hydra on Nov 27, 2018 18:34:16 GMT
No, not yet. It's still something I intend to do, but (like you) I'd really like to see some in-depth reviews. At least more in-depth than "yeah, their stuff is pretty good." I really want to pick up a high-end Polish 17th-18th century sabre, pallasch, and koncerz (I'd actually love to collect the full Polish hussar kit). I got in touch with Jerzy from the silkfencing team and he got me a name of a smith who makes his sabers. I can refer you if you'd like. Sure, I appreciate it. You can just message me the contact info.
|
|
|
Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 28, 2018 20:41:10 GMT
One possibility I have toyed with is getting some original hilt parts and then make the blade for it... that would be doable, much more so than creating a one-off brass guard.
|
|