Finally. New sword unveiling.
Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 3:19 pm
Who doesn’t like a new sword breakdown? After a year of frustration, three revision changes, and a lot of work my new blade is complete. I give you my new ranger sword.
We’ll start with the specs:
Overall length: 51 inches
Blade length: 39 7/8 inches
Handle: 7 1/2 inches
Guard: 7 7/8 inches wide
Weight: 4 lbs 2 oz
POB: 5 inches up from the guard
The blade is a large type XIIa and is made from 5160H by John Lundemo of Longship Armory and Odinblades. John does absolutely amazing work and was kind enough to make me a blank blade for this project. The flair at the base can be found on historical finds though is usually more subtle. It’s intended purpose for me aside from esthetic is to help prevent incoming blades from being able to overlap and bite the thumb.
The guard and pommel were both hand ground and fitted by me out of C95400 aluminum bronze. The guard is a type 2 with an octagonal cross section. The pommel I would classify as a type I.
The grip is popular and was soaked in linseed oil for several days before being fitted and bound with 2 oz veg tan in the style made popular by Albion. I settled on a antiqued brown for the dye. I’ll probably rewrap the handle at some point as I’m not happy with some of the excess leather at the pommel where the skived edge was folded over.
The scabbard is also by me. The body is made of layered 1/16 inch thick slats of poplar the were
glued and clamped around the blade for a near perfect fit. The liner is a thin 100% wool that was rubbed with lanolin. The covering is 4 oz veg tan molded over cord to mimic the blades fuller and is dyed a dark green over brown and has a basic dual buckle suspension system.
The handling is amazing if I must say so. Like many early style longswords it can be handled in one hand with relative ease but truly shines with two. For someone who says that good enough is never quite good enough I am beyond happy with how this project turned out and cannot wait to get on the trail more with it.
We’ll start with the specs:
Overall length: 51 inches
Blade length: 39 7/8 inches
Handle: 7 1/2 inches
Guard: 7 7/8 inches wide
Weight: 4 lbs 2 oz
POB: 5 inches up from the guard
The blade is a large type XIIa and is made from 5160H by John Lundemo of Longship Armory and Odinblades. John does absolutely amazing work and was kind enough to make me a blank blade for this project. The flair at the base can be found on historical finds though is usually more subtle. It’s intended purpose for me aside from esthetic is to help prevent incoming blades from being able to overlap and bite the thumb.
The guard and pommel were both hand ground and fitted by me out of C95400 aluminum bronze. The guard is a type 2 with an octagonal cross section. The pommel I would classify as a type I.
The grip is popular and was soaked in linseed oil for several days before being fitted and bound with 2 oz veg tan in the style made popular by Albion. I settled on a antiqued brown for the dye. I’ll probably rewrap the handle at some point as I’m not happy with some of the excess leather at the pommel where the skived edge was folded over.
The scabbard is also by me. The body is made of layered 1/16 inch thick slats of poplar the were
glued and clamped around the blade for a near perfect fit. The liner is a thin 100% wool that was rubbed with lanolin. The covering is 4 oz veg tan molded over cord to mimic the blades fuller and is dyed a dark green over brown and has a basic dual buckle suspension system.
The handling is amazing if I must say so. Like many early style longswords it can be handled in one hand with relative ease but truly shines with two. For someone who says that good enough is never quite good enough I am beyond happy with how this project turned out and cannot wait to get on the trail more with it.