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Post by matthewmachinist on Dec 30, 2019 18:38:30 GMT
I have a question regarding how Guards are made on Sabres, in particular my interest is 19th century sabres.
I would like to know how these guards were actually made, in particular 3 bar hilts and British Gothic Hilts (1845 for example).
Does anyone know of a book or video that discusses construction methods?
I did find one video on youtube that used lost wax casting... but I doubt that is historically accurate.
To be specific I am asking about the methods for forming the guard itself, but any relevant info on hilt making would be appreciated.
Thanks, Matt.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Dec 30, 2019 22:07:21 GMT
I think I have seen reference to forging/casting dies. I think the 3 bars and brass were cast, and then I'm not sure how they shaped them.
But please don't take this as fact - I have done no research and this is like 6th hand info more or less.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Jan 1, 2020 6:31:49 GMT
Brass guards (including the brass Gothic-hilted guards) and other hilt components were cast. The two reasons to prefer brass guards/hilts were corrosion resistance and cheaper manufacture due to this casting. This video: shows hilt components being cast c. 0:20 to 0:50. The guards look quite flat, and would be forged to the appropriate curvature. Iron guards were usually forged, with complex guards being forge-welded. Steel guards and hilt components might be cut from sheet steel and then forged to shape. 3-bar steel hilts (as used on some British P1821 swords) are a mystery to me - I don't know whether these started out as sheet, and were then forged and welded, or whether they were made like iron 3-bar guards. The British P1853 guard was, according to: ffoulkes, C., and E. C. Hopkinson. “THE SWORDS OF THE BRITISH ARMY (Continued).” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, vol. 12, no. 45, 1933, pp. 1–8. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44219497. made from malleable cast iron. I don't know how. Robson describes these as made from "wrought iron" or "malleable wrought iron" - the magic word "malleable" suggests that ffoulkes is correct.
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Post by matthewmachinist on Jan 1, 2020 19:10:57 GMT
Thanks for the video Timo, its amazing what you can find on youtube, I found myself going through that video frame by frame in a few places to see what was going on.
I also wonder how some of those 3 bar hilts were made, perhaps a combination of casting, forming/ forging and welding. I think it would be very difficult to shape them from a flat casting... unless they shaped them around a special jig or forming block somehow.
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