The Armour Archive

I've got a 54" piece of rattan I'd like to turn into a bastard sword/ short two hander. Is there any magical formula to finding the sweet spot to place the guard? I'm going to do a simple round "Tsuba" type handguard like the guy in yellow in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTgrBD--9lk

I've never made a longsword before, so any other tips would be appreciated.

Cheers.

Others will probably disagree, but I'd have to say no, there is no magical ratio formula. It would vary by personal preference, style, and even the weight of the specific piece of rattan and guard/pommel. Actually, it's not that there isn't a magical formula, it's that there's many of them, and they all disagree. Some might want to keep their hands this far apart, others might base it off where the nodes fall on the stick, and others will want it to balance a certain distance from the hilt, and there are those who base it off historical swords or the teachings from one of the historical manuals. I'd say experiment a bit and see what works best for you.

What he said. My advice is, keep it simple. Give enough space for your hands, and then balance accordingly with the pommel.

11" on a 53" sword for me.

your mileage may vary based on gauntlet width and hand space preference.

I use 18 inch handle on a 52 inch sword, planed down

On a long sword, you generally want to have around 12-14 inch grip. Too long, and you cannot wheel the sword around like you should be able to, too short and your hands get bound up on themselves. Generally an SCA bastard sword grip will be a bit longer than an historical one, simply because the gauntlets we tend to wear are big. You come across a lot of people who have shorter sword blades and long handles for more leverage and blocking, but that is not a longsword anymore.

Cheers,

Don't forget to add in the weight of your gauntlets when you balance your sword.

Uric

Folcric wrote:I've got a 54" piece of rattan I'd like to turn into a bastard sword/ short two hander. Is there any magical formula to finding the sweet spot to place the guard? I'm going to do a simple round "Tsuba" type handguard like the guy in yellow in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTgrBD--9lk

I've never made a longsword before, so any other tips would be appreciated.

Cheers.

Historical examples at 54" overall length tend to have in the neighborhood of 10-14" handles. You should have no problem fitting gauntlets onto a handle that size so there is no need to modify for the armour you are wearing.

History is replete with examples of, "I want the biggest weapon/blade I can get." So if you've got 54" to play with start off seeing if 44" of blade works for you. And then inch the guard down if necessary. If you get below 40" of blade and it isn't working yet then add more pommel weight or work on technique. There is simply no need to give up more blade length than that.

Cheers,
Steven