Drool Worthy Swords

[Sir William]

Every now and again, I'll torture myself and check up on a particular smith who makes some AMAZING works; here is one such work.  I've never contacted him to ask about price...in looking at this and his other wares, I'm of the mind that if I need to ask...

What I like most about his work is the intricacy, the attention to detail...take this particular one for example, Du Sith, is a civilian longsword.  It takes its name from a legendary faerie named Du-Sith (dark elf) who helped a Sir James MacDonald during the battle of Trai-Guinard, Islay, Scotland, 1598.  Look at the hand carving of the grip and scabbard....mindblowing.  You would not want to cover that in leather!

[Sir Edward]

Lots of artistic license taken, of course, but very pretty!

[Sir William]

In what way?  The description, or the sword itself?

[Sir Edward]

Oh, just the artistic styling. You probably won't find a museum piece quite like that. But then again, they did all sorts of things back in the day. I'm not complaining, mind you. It's quite pretty!

[SirNathanQ]

I concur with Sir Edward. Although to ramp up the Historicity, he could cover the handle and scabbard in leather and tool the designs.

[Sir William]

And ruin all that beauty?  I think NOT.  Besides, who is to say that it isn't historical?  There is much we do not know about what occurred back then.

[SirNathanQ]

We wouldn't cover it up, simply transport the nice design onto leather.

And I have yet to see any sword (Much less one of good quality) not still posses or show evidence of a leather Handle.
The reason you see some wood today is that the leather (very organic) is the first to break down. You still see some evidence in the wood though.

[Sir William]

Yes, but that is not to say that it did not occur.  No real way to know that...think about it; of all the swords that must've been produced over the centuries, only a very small handful have ever been recovered, so far as we know.

[SirNathanQ]

While we do only have a small sampling, all the evidence we have suggests that open wood handles would not be seen on a sword.
And while it may have happened, I don't think it would be very plausible. From a practicality standpoint, wood would get trashed by the elements without a leather covering, and it has a habit of splintering on impact.
Anyway, it is a very pretty sword. Although for above reasons, while it may be functional, I wouldn't take it on campaign! (Personally, I think it's too pretty to do so  )

[Sir William]

We can agree on that point...too pretty for campaign.  That is definitely a dress and/or court sword.

[Sir Edward]

I believe there are historical examples that were bare wood, but they're in the minority.

If I recall correctly, Albion debated leaving a bare wood grip on the Dane, because several of the surviving pieces of that type were constructed that way, but ultimately chose to use a leather wrap since that was also correct for the style, and is simply more durable in the long-run.

It's amazing what the elements and skin oils can do to wood over time.

[Sir William]

I do like their Danish longsword I do...you know whoe else makes a good looking one?  I say looking, as I haven't handled it yet, nor do I know anyone who has.  It is DSA's XVIIIe; their version is quite comely.  And only a fraction of the cost of the Albion.

Granted, the Albion will probably be more beautiful, but how much better would it be?  Think we had this discussion before...

[SirNathanQ]

IMO, I think Albion will have to watch their backs. while their product is awesome, if their prices go up, their primary market might decide to spent a tiny but more and go full custom. Some of their stuff is approachign that threshold.
And all the while the more "Lowly" makers product is dramatically increasing in quality. Just look at Valiant Armoury offerings from merely a few years ago. Night and day.

[Sir Edward]

Granted, the Albion will probably be more beautiful, but how much better would it be?  Think we had this discussion before...

That's the thing. Part of the reason the Albions cost so much, is because of the attention to detail they have for the blade geometry. They go to museums and measure the blades all up and down with calipers, to get the thicknesses all over the place, not just to reproduce length and profile taper, but also distal taper, cross section, and so on at various points along the length of the blade. So it doesn't just look authentic, it also cuts authentically.

IMO, I think Albion will have to watch their backs. while their product is awesome, if their prices go up, their primary market might decide to spent a tiny but more and go full custom. Some of their stuff is approachign that threshold.
And all the while the more "Lowly" makers product is dramatically increasing in quality. Just look at Valiant Armoury offerings from merely a few years ago. Night and day.

This is definitely true. The cheaper offerings continue to improve, and Albion is pricing themselves into the custom market, while still being a production line with a fixed catalog and no customization (except grip color). A lot of people are starting to go full custom, or even into antiques as a result.

I'd hate to see them paint themselves into a corner.

[Sir William]

Agreed...and I was sorta in on that when VA turned itself around.  I was a member of SBG at the time and Sonny was also, and he'd told us all what he planned on doing years before it occurred.  I give him that, he has vision and knew where he wanted to take the company.  As you say, night and day between the wares they used to offer compared to today.

Agreed also on Albion's pricing...their museum line swords are at or in some cases higher than full-on customs.  One of my favorite bladesmiths is John Lundemo of Odinblades (http://www.odinblades.com)...my first full-on custom will come from him, or Brendan Olszowy of FableBlades (http://www.fableblades.com).  Leaning more towards John because he was the first custom bladesmith I'd ever really interacted with, and his work is gorgeous.  Brenno's work is more fantasy-related so I'll probably get my custom Boromir sword from him some day.