Fantasy - Sword of the High King: A birthday gift
Dec 28, 2018 22:10:16 GMT
Post by RaylonTheDemented on Dec 28, 2018 22:10:16 GMT
Introduction
Family and I decided to offer a sword to my brother for his 40th birthday - Now lets say that he prefers medieval and fantasy swords, given our pen and paper RPG background.
So, being the one into swords, I started looking for medieval or fantasy sword for a budget of around 200$ CA. It isn't much, but then there wasn't much money flowing around, our parents being retired and nobody's rich. Also considering he will likely not to use it to cut but have it as a wall hanger, with the nice touch of being a real sword.
I ended up turning on Ebay, as shipping from the US or EU busted our budget, so there is the LINK to what I chose.
Historical overview
There is none, this is a fantasy sword sold on Ebay by a Chinese reseller, but it looked pretty and was withing budget. That being said, the hilt and pommel are a bit weird and look a bit like tooled modern coat hanger pieces, but heh, fantasy you know.
Full Disclosure
Initial Impressions
Statistics
Blade Length: 72cm
Handle Length: 29cm
Overall Length: 103cm
Guard Thickness/Width: 2cm / 17cm
POB (Point of Balance): Forgot to note it, need to go ask my bro to have a look.
COP (Center of Percussion): Read above
.
Weight: Received a scale for Christmas, will know more soon, read above.
Components
The Guard
The Scabbard
Handling Characteristics
Dry handling the thing (wasn't about to try cutting with a gift) it felt quite tip heavy, but then I have no experience handling medieval swords to compare it to. Handle is nicely sized for my hands, though I figure that sweating could make it slippery.
Conclusions
Pros
- Nice ebony handle with brass pins and polished steel collar.
Cons
- Edge was not as sharp as advertised.
- Hilt and pommel are not the nicest, but then its a question of taste I guess.
Family and I decided to offer a sword to my brother for his 40th birthday - Now lets say that he prefers medieval and fantasy swords, given our pen and paper RPG background.
So, being the one into swords, I started looking for medieval or fantasy sword for a budget of around 200$ CA. It isn't much, but then there wasn't much money flowing around, our parents being retired and nobody's rich. Also considering he will likely not to use it to cut but have it as a wall hanger, with the nice touch of being a real sword.
I ended up turning on Ebay, as shipping from the US or EU busted our budget, so there is the LINK to what I chose.
Historical overview
There is none, this is a fantasy sword sold on Ebay by a Chinese reseller, but it looked pretty and was withing budget. That being said, the hilt and pommel are a bit weird and look a bit like tooled modern coat hanger pieces, but heh, fantasy you know.
Full Disclosure
The Ebay seller is shuanglong819
I am not afiliated to the seller, forge or company in any way and paid the full price for the item. This is one of the rare cheap Chinese made fantasy blade that I could find on the internet.
Initial Impressions
Packaging was your standard tightly yellow taped Chinese sword package, styrofoam and blade was oiled and wrapped in a plastic film in the leather sheath it was coming with.
Everything was in a good state, except for the blade that was a bit bent, which I fixed easily later on. Almost lost the plastic in the sheath when I drew it but managed to draw the plastic out with pincers afterward.
Statistics
Blade Length: 72cm
Handle Length: 29cm
Overall Length: 103cm
Guard Thickness/Width: 2cm / 17cm
POB (Point of Balance): Forgot to note it, need to go ask my bro to have a look.
COP (Center of Percussion): Read above
.
Weight: Received a scale for Christmas, will know more soon, read above.
Components
The Blade
Said to be 1095 with an HRC of 60
Leaf shaped and quite tip heavy, nice engraving on both sides of the blade that taper to nothing as you get to the edge. Advertised a very sharp but it is in fact quite dull, need a sharpening.
The blade was a bit bent when I received it, straightened it by putting it in a vice between wooden blocks - I was surprised at how easily it bent back to straight, assuming if it is a characteristic of being 1095.
There is no hamon. Since it is claimed to have a HRC of 60, we shall assume through hardened. Definitely not springy.
The Handle
Dark ebony wood, I asked the seller about it and he said it was glued and riveted and not made to be taken apart, pommel screwed and glued. There is two brass 'mekugi' pins and a polished steel collar abutting the hilt. Wood looks sound with no cracks, no creaking when I dry handled it.
With careful looking at the hilt's base, you could see that the tang seems quite wide, and with the two brass pins I am not worried there.
Black painted tooled steel, not at all historical, the least appealing part on the sword, but then it IS fantasy, so I guess anything goes.
The Pommel
Black painted tooled steel, don't really offer a counterweight to the blade.
The Scabbard
A semi-rigid leather sheath, there is a peace leather strap to secure the sword and a 50cm nylon strap at the back but I fail to see what use it can be so short it is, looks cheap to be honest, the weakest point of the product, but then I didn't buy the sword for this.
That being said, I made a wooden scabbard for the sword, there's the pic where you can see it along with the leather sheath and sword. More on this later.
Handling Characteristics
Dry handling the thing (wasn't about to try cutting with a gift) it felt quite tip heavy, but then I have no experience handling medieval swords to compare it to. Handle is nicely sized for my hands, though I figure that sweating could make it slippery.
Conclusions
I have a doubt about the sword being high quality and am disapointed about the (un)sharpened state, though that is no katana and sharpening shouldn't be a problem even for an amateur like me given the right tools. There could be more information about the sword's specifications and characteristics in the seller's store.
The blade and handle are quite nice looking despite the hilt and pommel being somewhat meh.
Sheath is meh, but then I don't really care.
I have to idea about the quality of the heat treatment.
Edit: Given the discussion we had in this thread and my experience unbending the sword I have to conclude that the sword isn't, or at least is badly heat treated.
Pros
- Nice ebony handle with brass pins and polished steel collar.
- Pretty leaf shaped blade with very nice engravings.
- Solid built, all steel and wood.
- Cheap for a fantasy sword.
- Brother was REALLY happy.
Cons
- Edge was not as sharp as advertised.
- Hilt and pommel are not the nicest, but then its a question of taste I guess.
- Cheap leather sheath (it was expected, not really a let down, especially at that price).
- Not, or badly heat treated
Bottom Line
Except for some test cuts on soft targets I wouldn't want to cut with it in fear of damaging the engravings, but for a functional wall hanger and possibly see occasional use it is nice enough.
Would I recommend buying it? I don't know, it is very cheap for a fantasy sword but quite short though tip heavy, so not a good handling, but if you are on a budget and want a sword more to look at than cut with, then maybe.
Also, Ebay.
But my brother loved it, so.
EDIT: Given the thread discussion over the heat treatment (or likely lack thereoff), unless someone else with the same sword could test the spring of the blade and/or file test the edge to check on the HRC, I wouldn't recommend this product.
Hope you enjoyed the review, it was sorely belated, my brother's birthday was in August.
Younger brother receiving the sword:
The Scabbard Review:
Seeing the sorry look of the leather sheath, I decided to make an aniversary scabbard for my bro.
I don't have all the tools, so I headed toward our father's garage and together he and I selected a nice ash plank he had in his reserve and I started on this.
After measuring the blade, I cut the rough plank to lenght and width, then cut it in half lenght wise on the bench saw.
Still on the bench saw, I lowered the balde to 1/16 inch and roughly hollowed the inside part of the scabbard planks using guides held with clamps and a stopper so I wouldn't saw through the whole scabbard's pieces and go through the tip.
Last part was chisel work to make the hollowing to size. That was the longest and most fastidious part of the work. Once done, it was time to glue the parts together, and once dry, start sanding down the scabbard to shape.
Finishing touches were black dye and varnish. I added maybe 3 layer of wood staining dye, wiped until satisfied, then 2-3 layers of varnish.
Look wise it was a bit dry, so considering it was a fantasy design I did some drilling at the edge of the scabbard, found some darkened brass nails used for padding and cut them short to insert a small bit in the drilled to size holes, added glue and voila.
Finish was cutting a brass sheet I had around to size and make a brass collar for the mouth, bit of adjusting, polishing and glueing. Finally, my wife had a little plaque engraved with the number 40 to underline the birthday glued to the outer side of the sabbard and it was done!
Pictures courtesy of my adorable wife.
o7