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Post by fester on Feb 21, 2022 21:23:36 GMT
I'm really close to pulling the trigger on an Albion, but a Youtube review by LIER brought the issue of QC tolerances to my attention. At 1570g, his Brescia weighs 6.4% more than the listed stat on Albion's website (1470g). Would that be considered a QC issue that Albion would fix (though I'm not sure how) or is that just the nature of the beast with these things? I've never purchased a sword before so I'm not sure what's considered acceptable or not. Is there a consensus of what's considered acceptable in terms of tolerances for Albion's Next Gen and Museum Line swords? There will always be some differences in sword stats and no two swords are exactly the same. Even Albions though their stats are similiar. In historical medieval swords you would find much wider variations in stats than modern counterparts. The above would be considered well within tolerable ranges on a medieval sword. Actually would be considered quite good back then. You will have to make the decision what your tolerances are and what you expect. My suggestion is that if you can afford it to get a cheaper Albion first and see if you like the quality. If you did not like it you could sell it on here or on another forum and just about get your money back on it. And I believe Peter Johnson addressed some of these complaints showing how some peoples expectations are really too high. Overall Albions are quality swords and most do not have any QC issues. And Albion will correct any found if it is a flaw on their end and not just nit picking. There is an occasional lemon but most are not. And Albion will fix any lemons in the mix. But even Albions are not perfect nor were their medieval counterparts. But overall Albions are quality blades. Many modern consumers expect much more perfection from their blades than their ancestors. I personally have never had a bad Albion and I have owned over 15 throughout the years. But that is my perspective. Others may have found flaws that were not acceptable to them but it did not bother me.
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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 22, 2022 18:07:29 GMT
I'm really close to pulling the trigger on an Albion, but a Youtube review by LIER brought the issue of QC tolerances to my attention. At 1570g, his Brescia weighs 6.4% more than the listed stat on Albion's website (1470g). Would that be considered a QC issue that Albion would fix (though I'm not sure how) or is that just the nature of the beast with these things? I've never purchased a sword before so I'm not sure what's considered acceptable or not. Is there a consensus of what's considered acceptable in terms of tolerances for Albion's Next Gen and Museum Line swords? This is quite curious, usually Albion makes swords lighter than the spec due to overgrinding. At least this is the case for the 5 Albions I own. I have seen a couple of times online people do complain it is heavier than the spec. It can definitely happen, but it’s far less likely than getting a lighter sword from them.
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Post by RKBA on Feb 22, 2022 18:14:47 GMT
I'm really close to pulling the trigger on an Albion, but a Youtube review by LIER brought the issue of QC tolerances to my attention. At 1570g, his Brescia weighs 6.4% more than the listed stat on Albion's website (1470g). Would that be considered a QC issue that Albion would fix (though I'm not sure how) or is that just the nature of the beast with these things? I've never purchased a sword before so I'm not sure what's considered acceptable or not. Is there a consensus of what's considered acceptable in terms of tolerances for Albion's Next Gen and Museum Line swords? This is quite curious, usually Albion makes swords lighter than the spec due to overgrinding. At least this is the case for the 5 Albions I own. I have seen a couple of times online people do complain it is heavier than the spec. It can definitely happen, but it’s far less likely than getting a lighter sword from them. Indeed. I wonder where the extra weight comes from too because his sword is actually smaller than the listed specs (the blade is half an inch shorter).
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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 22, 2022 18:20:48 GMT
This is quite curious, usually Albion makes swords lighter than the spec due to overgrinding. At least this is the case for the 5 Albions I own. I have seen a couple of times online people do complain it is heavier than the spec. It can definitely happen, but it’s far less likely than getting a lighter sword from them. Indeed. I wonder where the extra weight comes from too because his sword is actually smaller than the listed specs (the blade is half an inch shorter). It's difficult to speculate. The excess weight can be near the base, or throughout the blade. Whatever the case, it seems possible that this was worked on by a less experienced worker, especially judging from the slightly shortened blade--most likely to happen due to overgrinding near the tip. Well their head grinder passed away last year, and it's difficult to find skilled worker as replacement these days. It is still a bit shocking to see that happen on a Museum Line sword.
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Post by alientude on Feb 22, 2022 18:24:36 GMT
I would probably bring up a half inch length difference on a Museum line sword with Albion. They're billed as nearly one-to-one reproductions of historical swords, so that kind of difference isn't really something I would be happy with. On a Next Generation sword, I think it's probably within acceptable variance.
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Post by RKBA on Feb 22, 2022 18:52:32 GMT
I would probably bring up a half inch length difference on a Museum line sword with Albion. They're billed as nearly one-to-one reproductions of historical swords, so that kind of difference isn't really something I would be happy with. On a Next Generation sword, I think it's probably within acceptable variance. I guess it's subjective, but what would you consider acceptable tolerances for a Museum Line piece?
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Post by alientude on Feb 22, 2022 19:05:52 GMT
I would expect the length to be within a 1/4" at most, personally.
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Post by alientude on Feb 22, 2022 19:15:00 GMT
I agree with The Levin Lance. Even if you go with a Next Gen, you're going to get an excellent sword that is outrageously better than just about anybody's first sword.
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Post by Lord Newport on Feb 22, 2022 19:46:07 GMT
As you look and analyze Albion, I don't think you can do it in a vacuum of just Albion but rather compare its products and QC to all its competitors before passing judgement. I know Albion's Customer service is impeccable and have never heard of a serious/legitimate complaint. If you watch alientude's reviews of Albion swords he does a very detailed comparison of actual versus stated specs and the variances are pretty small given Albion swords are hand finished/sharpened. www.youtube.com/c/alientude
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Post by RKBA on Feb 22, 2022 19:51:25 GMT
RKBA, I think that you are heavily over-thinking this and it might lead to a paralysis by analysis situation. This is common with beginners and I know I have been there before. Let's just put it this way. You will be starting of with a better sword than likely ANY of us here have started out with if your first is an Albion Brescia, lol. 😂 I hear. I'm not really worried about the quality of Albion in general. I know they're top of the line. Just afraid of getting a lemon and having no recourse. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, because of my lack of experience here, I don't know what would be considered a lemon as opposed to not being an issue at all. Honestly the idea of measuring and weighing the sword didn't even cross my mind until LIER pointed out the discrepancies between his sword and the advertised specs. He seemed pretty bummed out about it, so I don't know whether it's just someone having unrealistic expectations or if it was indicative of QC issues.
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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 23, 2022 2:06:21 GMT
😂 I hear. I'm not really worried about the quality of Albion in general. I know they're top of the line. Just afraid of getting a lemon and having no recourse. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, because of my lack of experience here, I don't know what would be considered a lemon as opposed to not being an issue at all. Honestly the idea of measuring and weighing the sword didn't even cross my mind until LIER pointed out the discrepancies between his sword and the advertised specs. He seemed pretty bummed out about it, so I don't know whether it's just someone having unrealistic expectations or if it was indicative of QC issues. I get that it's your first purchase and you are spending 2k, so you'd better do your due diligence. Generally speaking Albion's level of fit and finish is nothing to be concerned about. If you want absolute perfection though, maybe just contact one of the European smiths for an one-off custom piece. Maciej Kopciuch has made over a dozen swords based on the Brescia museum sword, and since every one of those is an one-off piece you can specify your requirements--things like the weight should be 1500g square, with less than 10g of deviance. Not to mention you can have some modifications over the original to your liking, like having a diamond or octagonal cross section rather than the hexagonal one. artofswordmaking.com/category/1380-1450
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,704
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Post by stormmaster on Feb 23, 2022 2:27:03 GMT
😂 I hear. I'm not really worried about the quality of Albion in general. I know they're top of the line. Just afraid of getting a lemon and having no recourse. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, because of my lack of experience here, I don't know what would be considered a lemon as opposed to not being an issue at all. Honestly the idea of measuring and weighing the sword didn't even cross my mind until LIER pointed out the discrepancies between his sword and the advertised specs. He seemed pretty bummed out about it, so I don't know whether it's just someone having unrealistic expectations or if it was indicative of QC issues. I get that it's your first purchase and you are spending 2k, so you'd better do your due diligence. Generally speaking Albion's level of fit and finish is nothing to be concerned about. If you want absolute perfection though, maybe just contact one of the European smiths for an one-off custom piece. Maciej Kopciuch has made over a dozen swords based on the Brescia museum sword, and since every one of those is an one-off piece you can specify your requirements--things like the weight should be 1500g square, with less than 10g of deviance. Not to mention you can have some modifications over the original to your liking, like having a diamond or octagonal cross section rather than the hexagonal one. artofswordmaking.com/category/1380-1450maciej doesnt really go for the perfect clean looking aesthetics tho but his work is great
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,704
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Post by stormmaster on Feb 23, 2022 2:27:33 GMT
RKBA, I think that you are heavily over-thinking this and it might lead to a paralysis by analysis situation. This is common with beginners and I know I have been there before. Let's just put it this way. You will be starting of with a better sword than likely ANY of us here have started out with if your first is an Albion Brescia, lol. 😂 I hear. I'm not really worried about the quality of Albion in general. I know they're top of the line. Just afraid of getting a lemon and having no recourse. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, because of my lack of experience here, I don't know what would be considered a lemon as opposed to not being an issue at all. Honestly the idea of measuring and weighing the sword didn't even cross my mind until LIER pointed out the discrepancies between his sword and the advertised specs. He seemed pretty bummed out about it, so I don't know whether it's just someone having unrealistic expectations or if it was indicative of QC issues. if theres something wrong with the sword albion will fix it as long as its not user error
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Greg E
Member
little bit of this... and a whole lot of that
Posts: 1,335
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Post by Greg E on Feb 26, 2022 17:35:30 GMT
There are 2 Albion Axe heads up on eBay. The Medium Dane and bearded axe. They say new unused but look to have some smaller dark spots of maybe rust on them. $350 a piece.
Not mine. Just FYI. Bought a Stamford from this person some time ago.
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Post by Kane Shen on Feb 28, 2022 16:57:39 GMT
I get that it's your first purchase and you are spending 2k, so you'd better do your due diligence. Generally speaking Albion's level of fit and finish is nothing to be concerned about. If you want absolute perfection though, maybe just contact one of the European smiths for an one-off custom piece. Maciej Kopciuch has made over a dozen swords based on the Brescia museum sword, and since every one of those is an one-off piece you can specify your requirements--things like the weight should be 1500g square, with less than 10g of deviance. Not to mention you can have some modifications over the original to your liking, like having a diamond or octagonal cross section rather than the hexagonal one. artofswordmaking.com/category/1380-1450maciej doesnt really go for the perfect clean looking aesthetics tho but his work is great Yeah, I’m aware. This guy is more concerned with the weight, as he referenced a Youtube review where a Brescia Spadona he received is 3 oz heavier than spec, so the reviewer was very upset. This level of tolerance has been seen on Albion swords but they usually turn out to be lighter than spec, not heavier. He is very hesitant to spend 2k on an Albion, so I suggest probably Euro smiths for an one-off, where the clients have greater control, thing like the weight must turn out to be 1500g (+-5g). Easier to communicate that prior to the sword being finished and shipped.
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Post by Hardrada on Mar 3, 2022 21:42:47 GMT
There are 2 Albion Axe heads up on eBay. The Medium Dane and bearded axe. They say new unused but look to have some smaller dark spots of maybe rust on them. $350 a piece. Not mine. Just FYI. Bought a Stamford from this person some time ago. Thanks for the tip, I grabbed the Medium Dane Axe for my birthday.
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Greg E
Member
little bit of this... and a whole lot of that
Posts: 1,335
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Post by Greg E on Mar 4, 2022 3:51:39 GMT
There are 2 Albion Axe heads up on eBay. The Medium Dane and bearded axe. They say new unused but look to have some smaller dark spots of maybe rust on them. $350 a piece. Not mine. Just FYI. Bought a Stamford from this person some time ago. Thanks for the tip, I grabbed the Medium Dane Axe for my birthday. You are welcome. The one I have is my favorite of my axes.
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Post by Lionhardt on Mar 8, 2022 22:57:50 GMT
Speaking of Albion issues; how long does it usually take to hear back from them with a simple question? I emailed them two weeks ago and never heard back. So I emailed them again yesterday, still nothing back. This is right on par with why I dislike Albion, horrible impersonal customer service. I keep trying to give them more chances but they keep failing...
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Greg E
Member
little bit of this... and a whole lot of that
Posts: 1,335
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Post by Greg E on Mar 8, 2022 23:18:49 GMT
On a Facebook message, 1 day, usually early the next day depending on when I send it. Email 1 to 2 days max usually. The only time when it took longer was when I had ordered one of their axes and they are not made in house, so they had to message Eric McHugh and get his response and then email me back, then it could be a few days. I have never had a 2 week gap like that. I wonder if your mail is going to spam for some odd reason.
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Post by Kane Shen on Mar 9, 2022 0:12:14 GMT
I asked them to cancel one of my two orders one late night via email, they replied and complied next day in early morning around 3AM, on Saturday no less, so there shouldn't be any communication issue. I also sent a message about the same matter and it took a few hours longer but they responded as well. Very helpful and accommodating customer service.
This was right after I placed the order though, before they charged me the deposit. I ordered a Prince and a Ringeck, and canceled the Prince because I got one from a member here on the same day. I kept the order on the Ringeck.
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