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Post by joe_meadmaker on Jan 24, 2020 3:49:32 GMT
Hi all. I have a couple Hanwei/Tinker Bastard Swords that I’ve been working on getting customized. I didn’t actually make the custom parts myself, but called on the services of the Printed Armoury and Steve Huerta. I did run in to a little snag when I was putting everything together, but I’ll get into that in a little bit. First thing, here are the original swords and some closeup shots of the hilts. And here are the blades with the new crossguards and grips. A completely different look! You may notice that the swords still have the stock pommels. That is the snag I ran into. The pommels I ordered from LG Martial Arts are the Fishtail style. When I ordered them, I didn’t realize they wouldn’t fit with a stock length grip. Just eyeballing where things line up, it looks like the stock grip length is about 3/4” too long. I think the swords look great! But I’m also a little disappointed that they don’t have the new pommels. So I’d like to hear from anyone who’s willing to give their opinion. What would you do? Would you leave the swords as they are with the stock pommels? Would you cut a little bit off the new grips? I contacted Steve and he said this could be done. He recommended cutting the leather with a very sharp knife so it doesn’t fray, and then cutting the wood core with a saw. Or would you plan to get some new grips made again, but with the correct length? Whether that be ordering them or making them yourself. Let me know what you guys think of the swords, and if you have any other ideas that I haven’t thought of.
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Post by leviathansteak on Jan 24, 2020 5:03:12 GMT
When i did something similar, i made the new grip from scratch as the pommel sat differently on the end of the tang.
Steve Huerta's work does usually look good, but is it just me or does the waisting of the grip look far too dramatic and exaggerated? Ive never seen a waisted grip that pronounced on a longsword before. A little odd imo.
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reptaronice1
Member
Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on Jan 24, 2020 15:09:14 GMT
Looks like it would be uncomfortable to hold. But very cool looking
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Jan 24, 2020 15:38:45 GMT
Me, I'd go the other way. I'd have some tang added and peen the new pommels on. Much more work intensive...
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christain
Member
It's the steel on the inside that counts.
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Post by christain on Jan 24, 2020 16:02:43 GMT
I'm in agreement. They are both beautiful pieces, but the red one looks 'over-done'. As reptaronice1 said---It looks like it would be uncomfortable to hold. But...if it fits your hand(s), then its all good. Cool builds...I like 'em!
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Post by joe_meadmaker on Jan 24, 2020 16:21:26 GMT
I'm in agreement. They are both beautiful pieces, but the red one looks 'over-done'. As reptaronice1 said---It looks like it would be uncomfortable to hold. But...if it fits your hand(s), then its all good. Cool builds...I like 'em! ::) Yeah, the hand fit is definitely key. When I saw the first image of the wooden cutout, I had some concerns. But now that everything is put together, the grips actually feel incredibly secure as long as your hands fit around the big waist. Fortunately mine seem to fit pretty well. But these grips could definitely be a problem for someone with wider hands.
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christain
Member
It's the steel on the inside that counts.
Posts: 2,835
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Post by christain on Jan 24, 2020 16:44:02 GMT
I'm still having some confusion on my Windlass Arbedo. It's really the first 'waisted grip' sword I've owned, and I can't really decide if I like it held in one or two hands. Bastard swords are strange things. Not a one-hander....but not a true two-hander. Guess I'll just one-hand it for the majority of the fight, then grab the pommel for the kill-shot.
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Post by libra on Jan 24, 2020 17:23:51 GMT
Hi. All in all a good job concerning the assembly of the parts. To be honest, for me the grips look overbuilt, too. But if those grips fit your hands... so what.
Spoken for me: during my sword/knife projects I had to learn to reduce the size of the grips (medium hand size ). Concerning the fishtail pommels: damn, they look great. I'd use them at all costs! But extending a tang is not a thing to take lightly. In your case I'd shorten the grip and use the fishtail.
And again spoken for me, I'd reduce the width of the grips (tried to use photoshop ). That's the style/proportions I prefer meanwhile without any claim to be historically accurate.
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Post by joe_meadmaker on Jan 25, 2020 19:11:47 GMT
Just for a reference, here's a couple images of how my hands fit the new grips. Having handled them for a little more time, I can explain better what the very wide waist feels like. It feels like both hands have a pommel at the base. Which does give the one handed grip a very secure feeling. It does introduce the problem that there really isn't room to adjust the position of your grip if you want to. I'll see how they do as time goes on. Concerning the fishtail pommels: damn, they look great. I agree with this 100%! I want to get them on. Still deciding on how to go about it. I appreciate all the input so far.
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Post by joe_meadmaker on Nov 1, 2020 19:15:20 GMT
My two HT Bastard Swords have been changed again. I've wanted to get the Fishtail pommels I got from the Printed Armoury on them, but the custom grips were too long. (Just to note, this was in no way the fault of the maker. When I bought the new pommels, I didn't realize they required a shorter grip. So when I ship a sword to Steve Huerta to have the new grips made, it was sent with the stock pommel.) I did try cutting down one of the custom grips. It worked well enough, but I didn't like the placement of the risers afterward. I thought about trying to make an entirely new grip myself, but haven't made that jump yet. Recently in one of the other Sword Customization threads, there was a mention of using leather paint to change a grip color. I still had the original grips from the HT Bastard swords and decided to give it a try. It worked way better than I imagined it would. I only have one of the swords finished. I'm waiting on another bottle of paint to finish the second one. It's unfortunate that I'm not using the customer grip I had made, but I love how this sword turned out. So here I've got the HT Bastard sword with a curved Zurich Guard and Fishtail pommel from the Printed Armoury. The original grip has been cut about 3/4 inch shorter and painted (I used Angelus leather paint). I also used a matte clear coat to finish it. I'll add some photos of the second sword when it's complete.
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Post by Cos on Nov 1, 2020 20:41:35 GMT
Looks great Joe, but I'm really surprised the grip isn't red!
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Post by joe_meadmaker on Nov 1, 2020 21:27:56 GMT
Thanks man! And have no fear, the other one will be red. The paint should be coming in tomorrow or the next day.
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Post by joe_meadmaker on Nov 6, 2020 21:21:15 GMT
These swords are finished. I'm done messing with them. They both came out great. Definitely another big recommendation from me to using leather paint if someone only wants to change the color of a grip. I ultimately had to switch the grips around. I wanted to have the blue grip on the un-fullered sword with the curved guard. When I originally put it together (in the previous images), I noticed the grip was very tight when sliding it on to the tang. I had to hammer it quite a bit. When I was putting the other sword back together, I found that I had the grips mixed up. I could have left one grip tight and the other loose, and did a little more filing on the curved guard so it would fit the fullered blade, but it was easier and a much better fit just to switch them. One other thing I'll mention. I tried two different finishes on the grips. The blue grip is finished with matte, and the red one with satin. They both have a nice little shine, but I can't see any difference between them. Maybe if they were both the same color there would be a visible difference.
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Post by peterrific on Dec 12, 2020 22:47:46 GMT
Very nice. Did you end up painting the scabbards to match?
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Post by joe_meadmaker on Dec 13, 2020 2:11:59 GMT
Thanks! And, no. To be honest, that never even occurred to me. Maybe a project for the future. :)
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Dec 13, 2020 14:50:02 GMT
Do you want to sell your old grips? Even one of the old Hanwei stock ones?
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Post by joe_meadmaker on Dec 13, 2020 15:07:51 GMT
I replied to your PM.
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