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Post by porkchopexpress on Feb 6, 2023 22:18:32 GMT
Found this old (windlass, I think?) sword on Ebay for cheap and remembered it as the "Norman" sword in the 90's era museum replicas catalogue and how I was always wanted one as a kid. What arrived was a very simple three plus pound cruciform sword with a 33" stiff well tempered blade and a god awful cheap leather covered rectangular grip. So I decided to reprofile it a little bit to fit me better and improve its handling and appearance. I started by cutting 3" off the length and regrinding the point to bring the blade down to a round 30" which reduced the weight and brought the tip heavy balance closer to the hand making it a lot faster. I reshaped the grip to a slimmer ovoid contour which made it much more comfortable, then did twine with two layers of good brown leather (the two layers gives it a nice very firm but grippy feel almost like a hard rubber). Lastly just some simple bluing on the hardware. I really like how it came out and it's actually become one of my favorite swords I own, even for being just a little beater project. I like that it looks used and it's kinda bare bones simple character, It brings to mind a worn tried an true standard issue medieval soldiers sword.
What I started with...
Finished product...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2023 3:40:25 GMT
Beautiful job on re-profiling the blade, looks great. Grip also looks good - You're saying you blued the guard and pommel? Evidently very lightly and evenly which is hard to do, it almost looks like a darkened satin finish--very good work -
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Post by porkchopexpress on Feb 15, 2023 11:44:42 GMT
Thank you. As for my bluing method I just use cold bluing solution and once it's set I even out the finish with 0000# steel wool, I usually do it 2 or three time to get the bluing deeper more even.
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Post by markus313 on Feb 15, 2023 19:34:23 GMT
Great job, looks awesome!
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Post by tancred on Feb 16, 2023 6:45:01 GMT
I too got this same model sword off Ebay after having longed for it for a long time. Yours seems to have come with a more elaborate scabbard than mine. I really like the job you did with it. Wish I had some of that skill, esp. being able to grind some of the blade length off. Your Norman looks really good. Definite upgrade!
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Post by porkchopexpress on Feb 16, 2023 20:21:35 GMT
Thank you, I'm really pleased with how it came out. I just used an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel and then rough shaped it with the ole bench grinder (making sure not to overheat it) an some filing, followed by electric and hand sanding.
I wouldn't attempt it on a pricier sword or something with a mirror polish but it really wasn't too hard.
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