Jindřich Figura Hungarian Palasch.
Jul 5, 2022 1:09:12 GMT
Post by beardo on Jul 5, 2022 1:09:12 GMT
On the 9th of January, I contacted Jindřich Figura, of Lightswords.cz, to commission a copy of a sword I'd seen on Czerny's website. The original is a Hungarian palasch, from the late 17th, or early 18th century. Quite strange, in the fact that it's a lenticular, double edged blade. After a delay at customs, and the parcel being sent to the wrong delivery depot, it arrived today. It is simply, incredible.
First, some pictures. The original, and the ones that Jindřich sent, when he finished the sword. There is a full imgur album of my own pictures at the bottom of this post.
The specs.
Fit and finish is very, very good. Easily matching smiths that charge double what he does. Everything is clean, tidy, and well executed. However, it is not machine perfect. Nor would I want it to be. While finished to a very high standard, it is very obviously hand made, with occasional file marks, and ever so slight irregularities if you really look for them. In this regard, I could not ask for anything better. If it is too perfect, it does not look correct, to my eye. The scabbard is black leather, over a wooden core, with steel fittings.
You might look at the 240mm PoB and think it handles like a crowbar. I can assure you, it does not. While it does have a certain inertia to overcome, it is incredibly agile in the hand. I would not like to do any fine fencing with it. But, I can guarantee it would be a devastating cavalry weapon, and I would not like to meet the owner of the original, on a bad day.
If you want me to really nitpick, it's not quite as sharp as I'd like. While I have no doubt it could remove a limb with it's current edge, it could do with a little honing. But that's more of a slight inconvenience, than anything else.
More pictures here - imgur.com/gallery/wz8x531
Based on initial impressions, I can fully recommend Jindřich to anyone else looking for very well made, historically accurate swords.
First, some pictures. The original, and the ones that Jindřich sent, when he finished the sword. There is a full imgur album of my own pictures at the bottom of this post.
The specs.
- Overall length (without scabbard) - 1047mm
- Blade length - 912mm
- Cross section - Lenticular
- Blade width - 50.5mm down to 34.5mm approx 10cm from the tip
- Distal taper - 4.7mm down to 2.2mm approx 10cm from the tip
- PoB - 240mm
- Crossguard width - 180mm
- Grip length (inside "beak") - 94mm
- Weight - 1042g. Or, 1568g with scabbard.
Fit and finish is very, very good. Easily matching smiths that charge double what he does. Everything is clean, tidy, and well executed. However, it is not machine perfect. Nor would I want it to be. While finished to a very high standard, it is very obviously hand made, with occasional file marks, and ever so slight irregularities if you really look for them. In this regard, I could not ask for anything better. If it is too perfect, it does not look correct, to my eye. The scabbard is black leather, over a wooden core, with steel fittings.
You might look at the 240mm PoB and think it handles like a crowbar. I can assure you, it does not. While it does have a certain inertia to overcome, it is incredibly agile in the hand. I would not like to do any fine fencing with it. But, I can guarantee it would be a devastating cavalry weapon, and I would not like to meet the owner of the original, on a bad day.
If you want me to really nitpick, it's not quite as sharp as I'd like. While I have no doubt it could remove a limb with it's current edge, it could do with a little honing. But that's more of a slight inconvenience, than anything else.
More pictures here - imgur.com/gallery/wz8x531
Based on initial impressions, I can fully recommend Jindřich to anyone else looking for very well made, historically accurate swords.