Peening vs Threaded tangs

[Sir William]

I do recall that- but thanks for the reminder.  We're spoiled, are we not?  We have bladesmiths that do it all...and we have choices based on any number of factors!

[Joshua Santana]

We're spoiled, are we not?

Sadly yes, that is a bad thing.


On the other hand, we all have the rare freedom of telling our bladesmiths what type of sword we want.  That freedom doesn't come easily.

[Sir Wolf]

i have a viking sword that had a threaded pommel with a nut. i took teh nut off, cut down the thread a bit and peened it down. suckers never coming off unless the rat tale breaks where the thread is welded onto the tang.

[Sir William]

I had a nice looking viking sword once...brass handled too.  I was not in love with it at the time...then I saw someone else (Ulrich I think) with a similar one and found myself wanting it back.  Weird, huh.  lol

[Sir James A]

I have a question about swords- I had read somewhere that swords were crafted for a specific user; one would commission a blade with measurements that coincided with the measurements of arm, hand as well as fighting style.  Is this so?

I was thinking of having a custom blade commissioned and wondered about that; it brought the question to mind because there is a picture from the knighting ceremony where I'm just able to get my sword into the scabbard but it felt a bit too long for me.

I don't recall where I saw it, or if it was even historically based, but there is a "proper" size sword for each person. If I recall correctly, rest the sword in it's scabbard on the ground, on it's tip, and the pommel should be within 1" of your armpit.

The logic behind it is that some transitions between stances, unterhaus, etc, would catch the blade on the ground if the length was too long, and you'd lose reach if it was too short. And reach is one of the key factors to winning, so to give up reach is to put yourself at a disadvantage before the battle began.

I vaguely, think, that I sort of remember something else similar to the hilt of the sword should be the size of your forearm (elbow to wrist), but I am MUCH more fuzzy on that than the "overall length" measurement guide.

I don't remember anything about the hand or fighting style playing a part in the sword, though.

[Das Bill]

I don't recall where I saw it, or if it was even historically based, but there is a "proper" size sword for each person. If I recall correctly, rest the sword in it's scabbard on the ground, on it's tip, and the pommel should be within 1" of your armpit.

Do you know where this is from? I can only think of two thing similar. The first is Filipo Vadi of the 15th century, where he states that his specialized sword for judicial duelling in armor was to be the distance from the ground to your armpit, and that the hilt and the crossguard should be the length of your forearm, but this is not a typical sword. There are also a couple of 16th century Italian rapier masters that preferred longer blades and stated the exact same length measurement (Capoferro is one of those masters).

Either way, there is no general perfect length for all styles, cultures and times. Certain historical fencing masters had preferences for specific lengths (such as George Silver who believed the way to determine your perfect blade length was put your off-hand straight forward and put your sword in the other hand and pull the hilt back to your shoulder, and the blade should end at the off hand), but even they all disagreed half of the time. Even the ones from the same period.

[Sir William]

When I read that 'pommel should be within 1" of your armpit' - I wondered if you meant kneeling or standing- standing would mean a rather large and long sword.

The one Bill mentions from George Silver is what I recall reading, although I did not recall that it was him who'd said it.  Thanks Bill!

[Sir Wolf]

i remember something early on about a one handed weapon should be clear of the ground when you swing it down. have no idea where it came from.

[Sir James A]

I don't recall where I saw it, or if it was even historically based, but there is a "proper" size sword for each person. If I recall correctly, rest the sword in it's scabbard on the ground, on it's tip, and the pommel should be within 1" of your armpit.

Do you know where this is from? I can only think of two thing similar. The first is Filipo Vadi of the 15th century, where he states that his specialized sword for judicial duelling in armor was to be the distance from the ground to your armpit, and that the hilt and the crossguard should be the length of your forearm, but this is not a typical sword. There are also a couple of 16th century Italian rapier masters that preferred longer blades and stated the exact same length measurement (Capoferro is one of those masters).

Either way, there is no general perfect length for all styles, cultures and times. Certain historical fencing masters had preferences for specific lengths (such as George Silver who believed the way to determine your perfect blade length was put your off-hand straight forward and put your sword in the other hand and pull the hilt back to your shoulder, and the blade should end at the off hand), but even they all disagreed half of the time. Even the ones from the same period.

Sorry, I don't remember for sure. Vadi and Capoferro both sound like they might be it, I think John Clements quoted them when he gave a class I took?  If I had to guess between the two, I would lean towards Vadi, since it was a longsword class. If it wasn't Clements, it might have been at Longpoint 2011. That's the only two classes I've taken thus far.

The only fechtbuch I have is Flos Duellatorum by Fiore, the others are all modern authors, though maybe they quoted someone too.

[Sir Matthew]

I guess I must be contrary to most of the masters then, I prefer shorter blades. I also prefer slashing blades to thrusting blades. My favorite sword is the Falchion, it's primarly a slasher but the point wasn't totally ignored making it work for thrusting too. I'm also not much for fighting fair, ussually I get in real close and throw in punches and grapples too, but we are replicating battlefield fighting not the dueling or gentleman's sword fighting 

[Sir Ulrich]

I had a nice looking viking sword once...brass handled too.  I was not in love with it at the time...then I saw someone else (Ulrich I think) with a similar one and found myself wanting it back.  Weird, huh.  lol

Is this the sword you're talking about? It's basically just a prop sword, very heavy and handles like crap. Good for making good pics with though and parts of it are rusting...

[Sir William]

No, not that one...and maybe it was Wolf in his 10th or 11th C garb.  I recall that one as I have one just like it....as you say, a prop sword and nothing more...but here's the one I'm talking about (went to Wolf's Knight page and grabbed it).

[Sir Wolf]

its my deepeeka brass hilted viking sword. i got it vs the del tin because A it was cheaper and B it had as much wrong with it vs the original one as the Del Tin version did.  this is the sword that i peened down the tang on. mine is pretty sold, a tad blade heavy but i would hit you with it and not worry too much save the rat tale breaking where the screw is welded on.

[Sir William]

That's the one...it was pretty, I'll give it that.  Wish I hadn't sold it!

[Lord Dane]

Peening is where it's at.