Angel Sword Co.?

[Vorpal Blade]

Sure. When just holding it out there is no weight forward to torque on your wrist.

Do you think this is unimportant? I place it very high on a list of desirable features in a sword. The wrist can create extra snap at the end of a stroke but it is not free to do this if it is locked rigid due to high torque. The wrist also contributes alot to changes of direction and general maneuverability.

Not sure what you mean by an atypical 3 pound sword though...

Sorry. What I mean is simply that a sword with POB somewhere very near the tip, like an axe, is atypical. Even on a falchion POB is usually not all the way out near the tip.

This is where I disagree. If your example sword balances behind the guard, what would happen if you held it in your hand and placed the tip on a scale? The scale would say it's weightless, right? But when you try to swing it, does it really feel like the blade is weightless? Can you swing it as fast as a pocketknife? It does not, because the center of mass is not what controls how the blade feels (the amount of strain on your wrist/body) during fast moves. The moment of inertia does. This could be easily demonstrated with a couple different swords- they could be the ame length and weight, with the same center of mass, yet handle totally differently

.

Right now, I own only four swords. Two have conventional POB, about five inches forward of the guard. The other two balance at one and two inches respectively forward of the guard. These are the only swords I have available for comparison. You may very well be right and you certainly have the documentation to back it up.

I'm sure moment of inertia is important. That said; In regard to otherwise well designed sword but with POB close to the guard: It seems to me, when you start the swing, it does not take alot of torque to start the pommel moving because it is relatively close to the hand. It takes more force to get the blade moving because the main mass is farther removed from the hand. The pommel helps get the blade moving faster. This effect is more pronounced in a sword with POB near the guard because there is less inertia to overcome. Think of Turner's own example of a short sling being easier to get rotating than a long one.

Next, there are fundamental differences in the way you'd move swords balanced differently. If the center of mass is out on the blade, when you start the swing, the blade will naturally want to lag behind your hand, and then you snap it around once your arm is up to speed. This way you can get the swing started without having to move the mass of the sword- it just pivots. On the other hand, if it balances on the grip (behind the guard), then the blade won't want to rotate when swung. You will be forced to swing it as a whole, or actively make it lag behind your hand with wrist action.

Maybe from lack of group reenactment practice; Maybe from not enough swords to play with this differs from my own personal experience. The last two swords I acquired were selected BECAUSE of POB close to the guard. The Angelsword: POB one inch and the Busse AK47 about two inches in front of the guard. Both are more responsive and rotate faster than my two swords with POB about five inches forward of the guard. Neither imparts hand shock.

Up to now, I was hoping to find a longsword with the right quality and aethetics and POB right BEHIND the guard, in the hand. Now, after Turner's article and this discussion, I am not so sure. I have been very tempted by some of Albion's beautiful swords but was bothered by the forward balance.

Honestly, if I had known you owned one of these I probably wouldn't have spoken up. I understand it can be hard to look at things objectively when you have that much invested in a piece, both financially and therefore also emotionally. edit- I missed when you mentioned this earlier; I should have paid better attention

.

Thanks, but I am glad you spoke up, so don't worry about it. I would appreciate any criticism of any sword I mentioned and not take it personally. With one exception:
I must confess, hearing people b--ch about the price over and over is wearying. Back when I bought my Angelsword, they cost about the same as the average Albion sword now.

Compared to what?

Hits hard and maneuverable:
1. Compared to when I hold it near the pommel. you take this up in the next paragraph 2. Compared to my two other swords with POB farther toward the tip.

Re: Viking swords-
I do not think Turner was advocating small pommels at all. He was advocating pommels of the correct size. Some designs do require a fairly sizeable pommel to adjust the pivot points. I own a Windlass sword where the corresponding pivot point for a center at the guard is indeed well beyond the end of the blade. (I removed some weight from the pommel to help it out, but that's not the real problem; the blade is. The mass in the blade must be distributed correctly before you can fine tune things with the pommel.) It's performance is exactly as predicted by the article. My big bowie knife can out chop it. Have you tried finding the pivot points (what Cliff has termed the "dynamic balance point") for your sword? I would expect it also to be beyond the blade's tip.

Yes, the pivot point is definitely beyond the blade's tip. I still like the way it handles though; And there is no trace of hand shock on impact.

I could be wrong but I don't think he gives any computations to demonstrate his ideas about pommels. Maybe he originally did the math but describes it in words in the article.

I don't like the way he got on a soapbox making fairly obvious attacks on certain sword makers, in an article that was supposed to be scholarly. I take his slam agains the concept of "harmonic balance" with a huge dose of salt, because I have not had enough experience with that concept to say yes or no. However, several sword makers have used this concept predictably and repeatably to change the performance of their swords, and have seen the same things in original antique swords they've handled. So I'm not ready to embrace or renounce it either way yet. I don't like the way he handled the section on draw cutting. While I agree that the blade can't magically get thinner when drawn, it is true that cuts should be drawn when cutting skin and flesh simply because that's how those materials respond to the edge. Bone does not, but it should be blatantly obvious to anyone who has any degree of butchering experience, etc., that the blade glides through much easier when drawn.
But I do very much agree with his ideas about the pivot points, and wish I had read this article 15 years ago.

Yes, I think his ideas about pivot points cannot be denied. I just suspect there is yet more to it than even he has come up with so far. To me he is on strongest ground when he he backs up his theories with the way pre-obsolenscent swords were made.

To me, the low point in Turner's article is when he shows us a photo of an ancient sword hilt with the caption....."A tang on and authentic sword if the Lockheed Skunk works designed a tang. It would probably look much like this.".....Anyone who would say that must be pretty impressed with himself. I wonder how the ancient sword smiths would have designed a stealth fighter.

 

[the possum]

Do you think this is unimportant?

Yes. How the sword feels when just holding it out statically is not nearly as important as how it feels during movement. At least with the types of swords we're discussing here, they are not just held still- you have to swing them in order to strike your opponent or parry his blows. And swinging a 3 pound sword with life-and-death speed will wear you out a heck of a lot quicker than just standing there holding it horizontally.

Again, these two concepts (static vs. dynamic balance) are not the same.

The wrist can create extra snap at the end of a stroke but it is not free to do this if it is locked rigid due to high torque.

The idea is not to fight the sword's torque. It is to make it want to torque on its own and use it to your advantage.

...it does not take alot of torque to start the pommel moving because it is relatively close to the hand. It takes more force to get the blade moving because the main mass is farther removed from the hand. ...This effect is more pronounced in a sword with POB near the guard because there is less inertia to overcome.

You're jumping between two different concepts here. The center of mass controls linear accelleration, and the moment of inertia controls rotational movement. And the two affect each other during most swings. A sword could certainly have a center of mass behind the guard and still have lots of blade mass (large moment of inertia) and seem slow in rotation. Next, as I mentioned earlier, if the center of mass is too close to the hand (such as behind the guard), the sword will not want to pivot on its own easily at the start of a swing. But, if it's a little further out on the blade, then the sword will want to cock back over your hand. The further your hand is from the CoM, the more leverage you have on it. So the end result is that one sword has a CoM an inch in front of your grip, while the "heavier" one's CoM is now directly over or even behind your grip. So you use its natural pivot action to get the CoM even "closer" to your grip. You can pick up a stick and play around with this idea to see it's not that complicated.

Think of Turner's own example of a short sling being easier to get rotating than a long one.

Exactly, except you seem to be misunderstanding it. A sword (or knife) with no pommel will generally have a "dynamic balance point" (the point where the pendulum would stay in time if hung from the crossguard) about a third back from the tip. By adding a proper pommel, we pull back the CoM a bit and move the dynamic balance point to the tip. But if we try to pull the CoM back too far, such as at or behind the guard, then the dynamic balance point moves far beyond the tip.

And keep in mind that as you get close to having the proper pommel size, small changes in the weight and CoM can have a huge effect on the dynamic balance point. Turner says this in the article, and I've also verified it with my own short swords. If everything is properly tuned with a balance point 5" in front of the guard, then the dynamic balance point could easily move several feet beyond the tip if we just add weight to the pommel in order to pull the CoM back to the guard. Thus making it hard to rotate, like a very long sling.

Right now, I own only four swords. Two have conventional POB, about five inches forward of the guard. The other two balance at one and two inches respectively forward of the guard.

The Angelsword: POB one inch and the Busse AK47 about two inches in front of the guard. Both are more responsive and rotate faster than my two swords with POB about five inches forward of the guard. Neither imparts hand shock.

Hits hard and maneuverable:
1. Compared to when I hold it near the pommel. you take this up in the next paragraph 2. Compared to my two other swords with POB farther toward the tip.

Meaning no offense here, but I don't believe any of those will give you a good basis for comparison, since none were designed with these principles in mind. The Windlass sword I mentioned earlier had a CoM about 5" forward of the guard too. But again, the CoM is not what controls handling qualities. It still "feels wrong", and this stuff we're discussing perfectly explains why it feels wrong. But of course, if that's what you've gotten used to, then a sword balanced like originals would probably "feel wrong" to you.

Also, I would not expect a huge/painful amount of hand shock with the Angel Sword, since that seems to be more of a problem in the opposite direction. But I would expect its cutting power to drop off rapidly as you cut closer to the tip, and likewise more hand shock as you cut towards the tip. My Windlass sword didn't cut with any real power unless I connected with a spot about halfway down the blade- tip cuts would literally stop the blade cold and even bounce off soft targets.

I've never handled one of those Busse pieces. I'll withhold comments until I have an idea how the mass is distributed.

I also have no experience with the Albion pieces, but have heard only good comments about their quality. I've got a couple big bars of L6 sitting in the shop that I plan to make into a falchion and German longsword in the coming years. I plan to do lots of experimentation with these ideas then.

 

[Vorpal Blade]

Meaning no offense here, but I don't believe any of those will give you a good basis for comparison, since none were designed with these principles in mind. The Windlass sword I mentioned earlier had a CoM about 5" forward of the guard too. But again, the CoM is not what controls handling qualities. It still "feels wrong", and this stuff we're discussing perfectly explains why it feels wrong. But of course, if that's what you've gotten used to, then a sword balanced like originals would probably "feel wrong" to you

No offense taken. I mentioned the pieces I have realizing, at this point, that they are not adequate to for comparison. I think you are absolutely right that what you get used to is what feels right to some extent. I suspect I have not yet handled a really well designed sword. I am very attracted to
some of the Albion pieces and may end up getting one. The problem is which one .

I also have no experience with the Albion pieces, but have heard only good comments about their quality. I've got a couple big bars of L6 sitting in the shop that I plan to make into a falchion and German longsword in the coming years. I plan to do lots of experimentation with these ideas then.

Please let us know on this forum how you are progressing. It has been a very stimulating discussion. I have to read parts of Turner's article a few more times and digest and integrate these ideas better.

 

[the possum]

I have been discussing various ideas on how to distribute the mass with the falchion towards the end of this thread in the testing section.

As to which Albion sword to get? I've had my eye on The Munich for a long time. The longsword I plan to make will be based on this piece. (or rather, the original sword that The Munich was also based upon.)

edit- regarding big pommels on Viking swords, I just found back the source for something- In many cases the pommels of Viking swords were actually hollow, being constructed in two halves, so they're lighter than they appear. Link.

 

[kerrystagmer]

I had not seen this listed anywhere in this thread, but as it started at the Wootz reference....

The blades referred to here, unless Mr. Watson is making something completely different then last year, are not Wootz. They simply show wootz patterning, or should I say have patterning appearing like wootz. The pattern is real, and I would assume is throughout the blade based on how this type of patterning is created by other smiths.

It is however not crucible steel, wootz or even pattern welded to the best of my knowledge.

He does not claim it to be actual wootz last I looked, so no foul.

Angel Sword does have an amazing number of different swords available, and I've never seen less then a hundred swords and daggers/knives in his booth at any given time. Personally I find much of the design work very odd in the combinations used to make everything different. Its kind of like parts bin assemblies where many of the parts simply dont work together and he often uses brass washers of odd and bulky sizes to make things fit.

I would say he often uses very nice quality materials. Woods are usually top pick exotics

that being said.... Some of the swords come out really wonderful, I'd say check him out at the show and REALLY look at everything. There certainly are some nice pieces in with the oddballs.

One of the Bright Knight swords that my brother and I handled in 2004 was certainly one of the nicest modern swords I have seen. Fit and finish was perfect, the edge was wonderfully formed and the blade,engraving and lines worked perfectly with the style of hilt. $5500.00 maybe high? maybe not for this one... certainly it would be as high (or higher) from a well known maker.

Understand My brother and I have made over 10,000 swords in the last 25 years and I have handled several hundred originals. Sometimes, reguardless how you feel about the bulk of Mr. Watsons work, he hits a home run. Certainly if your at a show he attends it is a must see.

I used to think his prices were the fantasy part of his work, now I'm not so sure. Certainly some are beyond reason for the finished product, but doesnt someone say that about everyone? If you love it, can afford it and want it, the price its worth is up to you.

Kerry Stagmer
www.baltimoreknife.com
www.fireandbrimstone.com

 

[Vorpal Blade]

Angel Sword does have an amazing number of different swords available, and I've never seen less then a hundred swords and daggers/knives in his booth at any given time. Personally I find much of the design work very odd in the combinations used to make everything different. Its kind of like parts bin assemblies where many of the parts simply dont work together and he often uses brass washers of odd and bulky sizes to make things fit.

Agreed.

that being said.... Some of the swords come out really wonderful, I'd say check him out at the show and REALLY look at everything. There certainly are some nice pieces in with the oddballs.

Exactly. I feel the Bright Knight model I picked out years ago is one of the more plain and traditional looking examples. But many people are obviously attracted by the eccentric or even bizarre look of some of his pieces.

Angelsword Bright Knight prices have more than doubled in the last few years. The Bright Knight line is their least expensive. The blades are of S7 Shocksteel with no patterning. The simpler swords in the Bright Knight line are now probably about about twice the price of Albion Next Generation swords on average.

IMHO AS offers durable, hard use swords; More resistant to damage than most. In my experience, if something does break, they fix it as per the guarantee.

 

[bithabus]

Howard Clark makes a good sword, and he deserved much credit for inventing a now copied process, but the steels and metallurgy that Angel Sword is using will give you a tougher sword at high hardness that will support a very acute edge geometry. Their swords currently hold the world's record in power cutting of soaked wara. Some cool videos: (the 23 wara cut is at the end of the first series)

http://angelsword.com/videos/videos.php

Of course most of the designs are not purely traditional, but the performance can't be beat right now.

 

[BlackMK3]

Ahh I understand. Yes I agree in that sense. I can't speak to Angel Sword's marketing I don't really follow them that much since their products appeal to a different genre then my areas of interest. I will have to admit that I enjoyed working on that particular sword though, it's nice to get a changeup every now and again although I do wish the customer would have had the funds to allow me to play with the design a little bit more.

Hey Triton! I would call you by your real name, but I don't know if you want that posted on the internet. This is Daniel, the owner of the Angelsword you made a scabbard for.

I do wish I had more funds, and time for that matter. The scabbard you made for me is beautiful, and I really appreciate the work you did to have it done in time for the wedding (which turned out awesome by the way, I can send you a couple pictures if you like). Maybe I can send it in again in the future (when I save up some more money) and then you can do a bit more of that playing with the design you were talking about, and you definately get the go ahead to do some cutting with it if I send it in again.

To the discussion at hand. I am more in the same boat as Vorpal Blade, though I only have one sword (the Angelsword) I have tried others and personally I have found that I have better speed and control over a blade that is balanced near or at the hilt. Changing the direction of the blade is very fast, even though my sword is on the heavier side.

I can say that the ruggedness of my Angelsword is fantastic. I can cut away at anything and the blade does not get damaged a bit. It even holds an edge very well under constant abuse against hard targets. I have managed to dull the blade a bit about two thirds of the way down the blade from the hilt, and because of this, I have been using the point to do most of the cutting. I have found that I can control the point quite well and have seen no loss of cutting power using just the foward third ot the blade.

One pic from the wedding for good measure.

 

[Triton]

Hey Triton! I would call you by your real name, but I don't know if you want that posted on the internet. This is Daniel, the owner of the Angelsword you made a scabbard for.

I do wish I had more funds, and time for that matter. The scabbard you made for me is beautiful, and I really appreciate the work you did to have it done in time for the wedding (which turned out awesome by the way, I can send you a couple pictures if you like). Maybe I can send it in again in the future (when I save up some more money) and then you can do a bit more of that playing with the design you were talking about, and you definately get the go ahead to do some cutting with it if I send it in again.

To the discussion at hand. I am more in the same boat as Vorpal Blade, though I only have one sword (the Angelsword) I have tried others and personally I have found that I have better speed and control over a blade that is balanced near or at the hilt. Changing the direction of the blade is very fast, even though my sword is on the heavier side.

I can say that the ruggedness of my Angelsword is fantastic. I can cut away at anything and the blade does not get damaged a bit. It even holds an edge very well under constant abuse against hard targets. I have managed to dull the blade a bit about two thirds of the way down the blade from the hilt, and because of this, I have been using the point to do most of the cutting. I have found that I can control the point quite well and have seen no loss of cutting power using just the foward third ot the blade.

One pic from the wedding for good measure.

Hey Daniel! Thanks for posting, you can call me by my real name if you want, it's sort of an open secret around here anyway.

Thanks for posting the picture I very rarely get to see any of my stuff in actual use so that was a real treat. I would love to see other pictures and if it is okay may try to work it into the website. I'm glad that it worked well for your wedding. As always if I can be of service in the future I would be glad to help out, the best customer is a repeat customer.

 

[Triton]

Howard Clark makes a good sword, and he deserved much credit for inventing a now copied process, but the steels and metallurgy that Angel Sword is using will give you a tougher sword at high hardness that will support a very acute edge geometry. Their swords currently hold the world's record in power cutting of soaked wara. Some cool videos: (the 23 wara cut is at the end of the first series)

http://angelsword.com/videos/videos.php

Of course most of the designs are not purely traditional, but the performance can't be beat right now.

Again I shy away from making absolute claims on any one type of sword or any sword from a particular manufacturer. If by the metric for "performance" is cutting mats you may be able to stake a claim. Is that the be all and end all of "performance" however? For example good performance from a rapier would not neccessitate any real cutting ability at all. The same thing can be said for most other metrics, there really is no one size fits all nor is there any "best" sword or "best" sword manufacturer. Rather there are sword types and sword manufacturers that best suit the needs and desires of particular individuals.

 

[BlackMK3]

Hey Daniel! Thanks for posting, you can call me by my real name if you want, it's sort of an open secret around here anyway.

Thanks for posting the picture I very rarely get to see any of my stuff in actual use so that was a real treat. I would love to see other pictures and if it is okay may try to work it into the website. I'm glad that it worked well for your wedding. As always if I can be of service in the future I would be glad to help out, the best customer is a repeat customer.

Yeah Russ, I will definitely send you some more pictures, and you can use them all you want on your website. My wife and I are quite glad to share pictures from our wedding. Check your e-mail for them.

Oh, and you can count on me for return orders. Not just for the first sword, but I am sure to get more swords in the future, and they will all go to you. Heck, I keep trying to send other people to you as well. I must say, I like your work.

 

[TroiElend]

The smith who runs it says his premium swords, Japanese or European, will outperform Howard Clark's near-mythical L6 bainite katanas.

I find that HIGHLY unlikely at best.

 

[aleyn1975]

As to the AS Techno-Wootz, I don't know if the pattern is through and through, but the carbides in the steel apparently are finer and more evenly spaced than in original Wootz steel. Look on AS website for an article done by a metalurgist who took a slice of original Wootz steel and compared it (at full depth) metalurgically with the Techno-Wootz from AS.
I have an AS bright night katana, and wakizashi. I've owned their bright knight viking blade and a smaller, lighter cruiciform european sword. I've had Paul Chen Hanwie swords and Windlass swords. The AS is the toughest out of any blade I've ever had. That's why I buy em.
That being said, I don't have my PERFECT sword yet but I think it is the AK47 from BUSSE. I want a short sword, single edged, flat or convex ground, with enough handle to geat at least a hand and a half grip. The AK47 looks like it will chop vegetation very well due to the full width flat grind and is the right size. If AS made a sword like this out of S7 I'd know it was perfect. I doubt the BUSSE will be as strong as the AS swords I have but it will likely PERFORM better for vegetation, saplings which will be what it will be used for.
I've used no tougher swords than AS, but design (edge geometry) and user fit is very important. In other words, I'll use the BUSSE if it WORKS better even if it isn't as tough as an AS.

 

[horseclover]

Am I fashionably late?

I don't get by here very often but who can resist reading an Angel Sword thread? There are really only a couple of things I feel I can add here that might be something different.

First, reading this troubled me. It troubled me after I had already found something to point out but I read it last, so I'll reply to it first.

Howard Clark makes a good sword, and he deserved much credit for inventing a now copied process,

Howard has said, more than a few times, that he didn't invent anything. He learned how to do it and applied it to his purpose. Many years ago, he said; "anyone can do it, the information is out there".

I only saw the word mythical used once in this thread, which was refreshing I admit to skimming a lot of the pivot point, dynamic balance, point of rotation stuff because handling is often quite subjective. I know what I like.

Mostly, I was simply going to mention that many of the large "viking" pommels were somewhat hollow, not solid pieces of metal. Ok, I'll throw one more obsrvation out there.

Kevin Cashen made an aquaintance a recreation of an early migration era sword. He actually did this to save the fellow from cutting with much fancier swords he had made previously. That sword is also L6, not such an unusual steel. I have no idea of the heat treat formula but that wasn't the point of mentioning the sword anyway. The sword is a delight to handle. The first time it was handed to me, the owner asked me to guess the center of gravity. A couple of hefts and air hacks later, I handed it back and said; "probably eight to ten inches out there but it doesn't feel like that". He indicated it was actually just about nine inches from the guard. This sword has a simple thick plate as a "pommel" (maybe a quarter inch thick) The blade is over thirty inches long, thin but not whippy. Cuts mats like crazy and feels like a feather in your hand. COG nine inches from the guard. Historically accurate.

Disclaimer;
Don't read this if you believed I didn't have anything to say about sword handling.

I tend to look at it all as oversteer and understeer. Yes, changing your grip changes things JMO but most swords I handle with a COG close to the hilt tend to handle like a Porsche 911. Trailing throttle oversteer. The further away the cog, the more they tend to handle like a front engine front wheel drive car. It may take a little less throttle (lift your foot) to pull it into a corner once you point it in that direction, understeer at too much throttle. Two different driving styles and builds. Both win races. One of the last big buzzes was low polar moments. Kind of like a nuetral handling car. I've been saying this stuff for more than six years but it is really just how I relate to my many and varied long sharp pointy things.

Cheers

horseclover; Hotspur most other places

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

That being said, I don't have my PERFECT sword yet but I think it is the AK47 from BUSSE. I want a short sword, single edged, flat or convex ground, with enough handle to geat at least a hand and a half grip. The AK47 looks like it will chop vegetation very well due to the full width flat grind and is the right size. If AS made a sword like this out of S7 I'd know it was perfect. I doubt the BUSSE will be as strong as the AS swords I have but it will likely PERFORM better for vegetation, saplings which will be what it will be used for.
I've used no tougher swords than AS, but design (edge geometry) and user fit is very important. In other words, I'll use the BUSSE if it WORKS better even if it isn't as tough as an AS.

The Busse actually has a Saber Grind. . . . It does chop vegetation very well.

I am curious why you think the Busse will not be as strong as the AS. (assuming an equal thickness)

 

[Galloglas]

Howard Clark makes a good sword, and he deserved much credit for inventing a now copied process, but the steels and metallurgy that Angel Sword is using will give you a tougher sword at high hardness that will support a very acute edge geometry.

Well, this is a decent thread with good information and opinions so it's a good thing to revive it and continue to discuss at intervals. The only thing I'd like to add to this discussion is that a "blade" is not a "sword" in the Japanese styles and much of the handling characteristics of the finished weapon are contributed by the guys who do the mounting and final fitting.

Even the best of blades could have their potential handling characteristics enhanced or ruined by someone doing the mounting of the bare blade....in my modest experience with Western styled swords, the guys who make them tend to make a whole sword. So, in these cases, the smiths final vision and intentions are installed by the smith/maker himself or someone working directly with him. Perhaps even employed by him. In the case of custom Japanese style blades some of them are mounted by a different guy than the smith who made the blade.

My point is that we should differentiate between the words "blade" and "sword" as they might or might not be the same thing depending on the maker and the style of weapon. I have not handled any of Angel Sword Co. weapons. I do train regularly with one of Howard's L-6 blades in my mount and can say that if Mr. Watson can indeed produce a sword that will outperform Howard's work it is worth whatever he asks for it. That's a pretty powerful statement to make in my opionion.

The pix of the Angel swords I have seen leave me a little cold but that's just personal taste and bears little relevance to the discussion as the proof of a good sword is in the handling and the using of the weapon. Looks are secondary to me and I haven't handled or cut with an Angel Sword. Balance and handling are everything to me and I'm pretty picky about how I like my swords to cut, thrust, guard, parry, and balance. A clunky or overly light sword/poorly balanced weapon is useless to my purposes no matter how it is hyped or how nice it looks. I think a lot of people fixate on some blades (Howard's in particular..) from a "how much abuse can they sustain" standpoint and totally miss the functionality aspects. My favorite feature of my personal L-6 is that it handles so traditionally and faithfully to the style it was made in. Few folks can tell the difference between Howard's blades and antique Japanese katana blades. Howard's greatest contribution is not the toughness or indestructibility. His blades make excellent swords with outstanding balance and geometry. The outstanding performance is an added plus.

Ya gotta give Mr. Watson an "A" for promotion and attitude. He has the pictures of his products and the videos of the cutting on his website and I'm always impressed to actually see the product and a demonstration. It's refreshing in this Internet Discussion world where words seem to be king sometimes.

A picture is worth 1000 words...a movie is worth perhaps 10X that much. IMO

Brian

 

[aleyn1975]

Thanks for calling me on that statement Rat Finkenstein. I took a closer look at the Busse website and see that they start off with S7 too! Of course they have an extensive process to put the steel through to increase strength and edge holding, as does AS. Now I really have to get one. Saw the edge too, yup not flat ground, still looks good though. I've seen the bending demos from both AS and Busse and think these makers both put out near indestructible (for my purposes) blades. I know from my own experiences how tough the AS blades are and plan on getting a Scrapyard Dogfather to check out their steel, though from what I've seen on this forum about the Dogfather, the steel looks pretty darn tough!