The Armour Archive

Del Tin or Albion line swords.....which are the better of the two?

You left another MFG LUTLE for the Check Repblic awsome work I would easily compare to Del Tin.

From Knoch

Do you mean Albion Mark (the ones made by smiths from Albion), Albion Del Tin (made by Del Tin, but assembled at Albion) or Regular Del Tin (ordered by Albion pre-assembled from Fulvio Del Tin)?
Also, do you mean the current Del Tins made of Vanadium Steel, or the older ones made of Krupps CK55 Steel?

Muddying the waters,

T-Bob

I have a Del Tin and a Lutel. I like the Lutel as a blunt fighting sword and the quality of the metal is equal to the Del Tin, but the Del Tin has better craftsmanship to it. Del Tin's are much closer to the real thing. Even Better are Arms and Armor swords, they look just like the real thing and weight the same but I understand they are machine cast. Peter Johnson Blades are rumored to be the best thing around right now. Exact in every detail to the real thing.

You have to weigh what you need it for, live steel, reenactment, or do you want the real thing.

I have not had the chance to handle an Albion Mark blade but man do they look nice.

Flonzy

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Now to answer:

The Albion Mark blades seem to be superior to the current Vanadium Steel Del Tin Blades in both weight, handling and strength. The Albion Mark blades are lighter and more wieldy than the ones from Del Tin (comparable blades seem to differ by as much as a quarter to a half pound). Further down the scale, the Del Tin Krupps CK55 steel blades are far stronger and more flexible than the current run of Vanadium Del Tins.

A couple of years ago, Bascot did a test of the Vanaduim blades against the Krupps blades of identical swords. While both had similar spring tempers, the Vanadium blades showed significantly more burring on the edges, and Bascot pointed out a "buzz" in the handle where it seemed the pommel was loosening from its mounting. Perhaps it was the temper, or the grade of steel, but the older Del Tins seem superior to the current lot.

For what it's worth...

[This message has been edited by Templar Bob/De Tyre (edited 01-06-2004).]

Unfortunately, the buzz seems to be from a fracture in the blade/tang stress-point, thereby rendering the sword (the vanadium steel one) a wall-hanging, and potential short-sword.

I've learned to hate that buzz. Lost two swords to it so far.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Bascot:
Unfortunately, the buzz seems to be from a fracture in the blade/tang stress-point, thereby rendering the sword (the vanadium steel one) a wall-hanging, and potential short-sword.</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, in that specific case, the Del Tin Vanadium steel blades are definitely inferior.

It's possible that getting one of the Albion Del Tins might insure tighter fitting blade furniture, since they do the assembly. That probably helps a bit with quality assurance, but still, damage at the tang is pretty serious.

I have heard great things about both brands.......

Steve Peffley, who designs some of the celtic weapons for Albion is an old friend of mine. You can't go wrong if he designed it....this guy lives and breathes old celtic designs....he stops short of actually being an archeologist with these.

ALSO.......he does the most amazing intricate designs on leatherwork worthy of ancient celtic ones...amazing....

just my humble opinion......

I've got a Del Tin Sidesword blade and use it for a lot of percussive work. I've had it for over a year with no problems- most of the WMA school I go to uses them also, and we haven't had any issues. Some edge chips which need filing out, and that's about it.

I've got an old Krupps Del Tin (1st model Viking) and I love it. It's been horribly abused; chopped tent poles, acted as emergency wind stake, etc. and is still flawless.


alail/scott