museum replicas

Triton

It seems Chada didnt learn his lesson very quickly. Aside from the artsy Robert Jordan piece. I can agree with you whole heartedly. If these are supposed to be "Museum Quality Replicas" then the weight, balance, tempering shouldback this up. I have recently purchased two Del Tin pieces and have been extremely happy with their quality and their value for the money. They are not much more expensive than the mrl junk and woth the few extra dollars.


Has anybody noticed my spelling is terrible?

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SSgt Christopher Wardlow
USAF Security Forces
425th ABS Izmir Turkey
 
Your rundown about grips twisting around the tang...this is why the tangs have to be wider at the blade shoulders and taper gradually back to the pommel. So many companies use a very slender tangs with their grips.

The grip should be tight against the guard as well without you having to do their job for them ..either through peening the tang down tight, screwing it down if threaded without having to make a washer. As for loose wirewrapping....we twist our own wire when doing this and it is a matter of keeping the tension while wrapping the wire around the handle...then making sure the end is tight. If the wooden handle shrinks too much, not much you can do.

Kirby makes his grips one piece hardwood over the tangs so they are form fitted and tight...even if they swell or shrink there is no loosening because the tang is much wider at the shoulders with a flat taper. There is no way one of his grips will "twist". Any custom smith, worth his/her salt will make sure of that.

However, buying from a production company like Windlass/Museum Replicas or others, you are up against whatever quality controls they may or may not have before shipping anything out.
 
Christopher,

Yeah I wondered about Chads continued MRL purchases despite is bad luck as well. I guess he just couldn't resist those pretty catalogs!

So you really like that Heron Mark blade? How does it handle? Is it as katana like as its blade looks? I am a big fan of the books, and in my minds eye I always see a katana when they are talking about swords. For some reason the whole quillions thing just doesn't register.

Which Del Tins did you buy? How long did you have to wait for them. Rumor has it that the wait is like a year now.
 
I ordered a Del Tin from albion about 3 months ago...it's supposed to get here this month some time.

a very long 3 months! If your interested in getting one, call albion, they may have ordered a supply.
 
Actually my next sword is either going to be coming from JPH at Salamander Armories (assuming his eye ever gets fixed properly) or just possibly from a company called Lutel in the Czech republic. I just bought a 15th century mercenary by Atrim from Albion and it is one heck of a sword! It is nice to hear that Albion has some stock though, I'll be sure to pass that along.

[This message has been edited by Triton (edited 08-15-2000).]
 
yeah but i doubt it lasts long!

Once you hear some more info on the quality of Lutel, could you please post it? I also saw their website on SFI, and they look nice!
 
Here is some more info:

- Swords are made from springsteel with a hardness of app. 45rc.
(this seems kind of soft to me I think most folks aim for something in the low 50s)

- blade dimensions combination of crossguard and pommel may be customized.

- weight of a one handed sword is app. 1.45kg
(this is kind of heavy that works out to a little over 3 lbs which is slightly on the heavy side but it is about the same as most Del tins)

- hand-and-a-half 1.75kg
- swords may be ordered sharpened or not
- delivery time app. one week
- payment is in advance

So unfortunately although the prices are great the swords might not be there yet.
 
one week from the czech republic to the USA?

I'm definately interested in these! I'm anxious to hear some first hand reports on the quality however
 
Ooops! I meant to take that out. The guy that actually got in contact with them is in Germany. It only takes them a week to ship to Germany. He also mentioned it only cost 25 dollars to ship to him but I am betting for us it would be significantly more.
 
Triton

The Heron Mark is definitely the only good thing I have seen from mrl. I love the series of books (even more than the Belgariad and the Lord of the Rings). The swords balance is above average for the considering the maker. As i said this would not be a live play sword. The qullions instead of the tsuba makes it a little less sure gripped. I like my hand up close to the tsuba when practicing. Its worth the money hust for novelty and the image it presents. This might be what a east and west collaboration piece would look like. I picture this sword whenever I read the books. There are others that I may invest in such as Perrins axe, Matts Spear (if the make it) and the Shirenean Long Sword. My Del Tins came from a net site, but I cant seem to remember which one. I think it was Fantsy Cutlery East. Ipurchased the Scottish Single Hand, and Mid Thirteenth Medeival Sword.
 
Do you think naginata when you read the description of Matt's spear/sword?

I enjoyed Edding's Mallorean and Belgariad as well, but I was immensely disappointed with the Elenium and Tamuli which turned out to be basically the same thing as the first two series just rewritten with guys in full plate armor.

Tolkien is still probably my favorite of all time, you have to go with the grand master. Well YOU don't have to of course but I do.

Have you ever read Saberhagan's Book of Swords? If you haven't try it out, I think you will like it.
 
Triton
I have the complete book of swords, but i found the writing a little cryptic. I love Tolkien and Eddings. I think I like Jordan the best. The books Shadow Moon and Shadow Dawn (Lucas and Clairmont)are also really goo and the fact it follows then Willow story 15yrs later is really cool. When I think of Matts spear naginata is the first thing that comes to mind. Although some of the art work on the books covers show it to be maybe a cross between a naginata and an old Korean single edged spear. There is a book that was released that was an overview of the series and a area and character discription (I dont know the title my friend wont let me borrow the book). Anyway in this book the spear looks almost like a Halberd.

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SSgt Christopher Wardlow
USAF Security Forces
425th ABS Izmir Turkey
 
Yeah I'll have to give you that about Saberhagan I always feel like there were some books I missed when he starts talking about the prehistory of Draffut and Ardneh.

I think Jordan is so good because he has completely done his own thing as far as creating his own world. Now that is not to say that he hasn't borrowed pretty heavily from just about every culture I can think of for names, languages and basic plotlines.
Did you know that Aes Sedai (with a different spelling) were an irish name for fairy folk with magical powers? Shaitan is Arabic for devil and so on and so forth...
 
There is definitely a cultural reference there. In the overveiw book (which was written before the Path of Daggers)the art work showed some of the different nations clothing style and physical features. For instance the Defenders of Tear look a little like Spanish Conquistidors (spelling?), the Seanchan look Oriental to include a drawing of a warrior in what could a carbon copy of the armor of fuedal Japan and the Aeil look arabic and are portrayed as being nomadish.
Did you ever notice that the maps of the land in the paperback books looks like the map of South Western England?

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SSgt Christopher Wardlow
USAF Security Forces
425th ABS Izmir Turkey
 
You know I don't think I ever noticed that. So you think of the aiel as being arabic? I guess that veil business sort of leads to that...hmm I guess I always thought of them as being more apache then anything else although I guess the apache weren't really that stuck on spears. On the cover of POD it also shows some of the defenders of the stone looking like conquistadors. That never worked for me either since it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the book.
 
It also would seem like a time rift quality. The style of TEAR folk seem ren. in nature. Which doesnt quite fit with the broadsword medeivel feel of the rest of the world. The Aeil could be Indian I guess, but the style and culture of the people seem to fit Arabic or maybe even Aborigini.


All Hail the Dragon Reborn!!
 
I love the Wheel of Time series. Janny Wurts has an excellent series out also. George R.R. Martin has a new series out that I think you guys will find is fantastic.

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http://www.fullcontacthi.com

[This message has been edited by Stuart S. Igarta (edited 08-24-2000).]
 
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