The Armour Archive

All:

I'd recently come into possession of an Angus Trim sword blade (Oakeshott Type XI) and the corresponding crosshilt and wheel pommel. The tang is sufficiently long that this would make a really nice "Epee' de Guerre" (war sword) and I think I'd like to build it that way. But I have a few questions:

<B>

• What do you recommend for a handle? I considered a hickory hammer handle, but may go with an ash 1x2.
• How do I taper the end of the tang so I can mount the pommel on squarely? Will it require heating the end of the tang, or simple brute force?
• How do I insure the tightest fit possible, so there's no rattling to the pommel or hilt?

</B>

Anybody with ideas out there?

No clue on questions 1 and 2.

3. When I want to make sure there is no rattling on my swords, I insert a home-made leather washer between the grip and pommel. Fairly thick leather... like 6-8 oz.

------------------
Matthew Broadway
(SCA: Dante de la Vallée)

1. Either wood should work fine. I'd go with ash or even poplar myself. Anything carveable. Are you going to cover it or leave it bare?

2. A file? ( No heating should be necessary for mounting the pommel. )

3. If you make the grip properly ( drill through it or burn through it with a similarly sized and shaped piece of steel--I like old broken fencing weapons--- then heat the tang and burn the longitudinal hole to a custom fit ) you shouldn't have rattle problems. If you do, slivers of wood driven down in along the tang should tighten up the grip. I've used flat, triangular copper shims made by flattening and clipping pieces from heavy-gauge copper wire to tighten up loose crosses---drive them down into any space between blade and cross....

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Marshal:
1. Either wood should work fine. I'd go with ash or even poplar myself. Anything carveable. Are you going to cover it or leave it bare?</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Most extant pieces I've seen in Oakeshott's <u>An Archaeology of Weapons</u> show these with a leather or cloth covering. Many also have either grooves cut into the wood to allow thonging, or some wire wrapping. They even have some with one to three strips of leather underneath the covering leather or cloth

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Marshal:
2. A file? ( No heating should be necessary for mounting the pommel. )</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll have to get an new metal file for this perhaps...hmm.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Marshal:
3. If you make the grip properly ( drill through it or burn through it with a similarly sized and shaped piece of steel--I like old broken fencing weapons--- then heat the tang and burn the longitudinal hole to a custom fit ) you shouldn't have rattle problems. If you do, slivers of wood driven down in along the tang should tighten up the grip. I've used flat, triangular copper shims made by flattening and clipping pieces from heavy-gauge copper wire to tighten up loose crosses---drive them down into any space between blade and cross....</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have an old narrow file that would work for that. I'm thinking starting with a pilot hole, then using the heated metal to burn through, perhaps?

Thanks for your help.

I've also got a nice sword blade, with no furniture. I thought I'd make the grip by getting some nice wood laminating pieces and building it up, cutting the inner layers to match the shape of the tang (as tightly as possible), then gluing the grip together, shaping it and perhaps covering it with leather.