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Post by blackbow15 on Jun 6, 2020 3:04:11 GMT
I'm considering buying an Albion sword blank off their website. However, considering I'm fresh out of college with no experience or space to grind the blank down to a finished, functional product, I was wondering if it would be appropriate to send to another craftsman for the grinding work, or if that's some breach of etiquette in the sword community.
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Post by MOK on Jun 6, 2020 8:30:03 GMT
Welcome aboard!
And no, there'd be nothing gauche or uncommon about that. There are plenty of cutlers who'll gladly finish and hilt the blade for you.
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kaiyo
Member
Posts: 1,201
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Post by kaiyo on Jun 6, 2020 13:51:18 GMT
Wes Beem, lonely wolf forge
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Post by tdiamante on Jun 6, 2020 23:00:30 GMT
It's a great idea. You know exactly what steel you're getting and the quality of the heat treat. And a good craftsman/cutler/scabbard maker can produce just about any design you want with it. I don't know too many makers who have access to the same molten salt heat treating methods Albion does.
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Post by blackbow15 on Jun 7, 2020 1:30:20 GMT
Thanks all for your responses. You've really made a guy feel a little less lost. I tried contacting Albion to order the blank, but apparently they're closed on weekends? Also, as an estimate, how much would outsourcing grind work and fittings cost? Would it still put me around the same price as a finished Albion sword at the end of the day, or would I still manage to save a decent chunk of money?
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Post by tdiamante on Jun 7, 2020 3:05:08 GMT
I'm not sure if they're back up to full staff yet or not. Definitely try Monday, you should be able to get a hold of them.
As far cost, it will totally depend on what you want and who is doing the work. It is very possible to get the blade finished and fitted for less than a new Albion, but don't expect a huge savings. A base Next Gen Albion like the Hospitallar is $840. I would expect you could save maybe $100 having someone make a similarly simple hilt and finishing out their Type X bare blade.
It could also cost you MORE than buying an Albion. Albion gets their hilt components cast, and that is a major time saver for the more complex designs. Everything other aspect of grinding, polishing etc is essentially the same between an employee at Albion and a custom smith. Plus Albion has had years to become efficient with their production methods, a smith may be working on a particular aspect for the very first time and that can be time consuming.
I think the real opportunity with their bare blades is getting someone to make you a custom design that is unlike what Albion offers. That is Albion's one real negative is that they are still a production company and there's not much they can do to make your sword unique to you.
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Post by blackbow15 on Jun 26, 2020 21:28:04 GMT
Hey all, back on this thread. The blank has been completed and is en route to my home. I've been researching a few smiths that might be able to help me out on this in the meantime, but I've found a few other details worth considering:
First, since I am fresh outta college (and freshly unemployed, due to the pandemic) I've been looking for ways to keep costs down on this project wherever I can, which led me to searching for ways to find a separate crossguard and pommel of my liking that I can purchase on my own without having to spend extra on having it custom done. So far I've come up with very few resources on this, and I was wondering if anyone else knew of good places I could look at.
Second, there's a (small) chance I may use this sword for cutting in the future once the pandemic lifts and I can get some training, and so I was thinking of extending the tang by about two inches to fit a grip length I'm used to. I haven't seen very much on this topic though, so I wasn't sure if this was a no-no, or something that can be done in the right hands.
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Post by tdiamante on Jun 27, 2020 19:14:52 GMT
Happy to see you you moving forward with your project. On fittings, take a look at Printed Armory fittings at LG Martial Arts. Second would be Darksword Armory if they still sell fittings. Last just keep an eye on the classifieds, fittings pop up now and then. All parts will require fitting, some more than others. You should be able to fit the Viscount set from Printed Armory with a basic set of files as the guard is already slotted for a similar blade.
On extending the tang, it can be done, by someone who knows what they're doing(I've never done, don't have the tools to).
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Post by blackbow15 on Jun 28, 2020 5:13:07 GMT
I've taken a look at Darksword, and I like their Ranger set, but I've also seen that that particular sword model is ridiculously heavy (pommel alone is just shy of a pound I believe, and the whole sword model is about 5.5 lb). Not sure if that's about right for a standard pommel and guard, or if it's normal and the sword blade itself is just beefy as all hell.
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Post by tdiamante on Jun 28, 2020 13:59:27 GMT
A one pound pommel on an extended tang for your blade would most likely be too heavy.
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