I’ve all but finished the sword part of my custom falchion project. Though I have not yet started the scabbard at this point…
After the grip was finished up, I gave the blade a thorough polishing – with 1000 grit, then 2000 grit sandpaper, then finally the grey scotchbrite pad with a bit of oil.
This removed all the marks and smudges that I’d caused while working on the sword, and also finished it up nicely overall, giving it a satin sheen not unlike my Albion Thegn.
The four pictures below show the finished sword: First is an overall look at both sides, showing the complete falchion.
It is 33 inches long overall, weighting approx. 2.1 pounds. The blade is 27″ long and the grip is 4.5″. The centre of balance is at about 6″ and the centre of percussion is about 19″ – 20″. The CoB has moved due to my work (it was originally at 4.5″) but this has not made the sword overly blade-heavy in my opinion. There is a definate blade-presense but it feels good – choppy but not like an axe or machette.
The second picture shows a close-up of both sides of the hilt. On the right-hand side you can see a bit of the ragged-edge of the grip wrap. I may yet have a third try at the grip, but for now this does the job as-is.
The third picture is a close-up of the top of the pommel, showing the peen. You can see the peen does have a visible seam, and it has a slight crack where the steel split as I was hammering it. Nonetheless it is a very solid rivet. Also visible are some of the scratches I accidentally put in the cross, while working on the grip. I’ll have to fix those too at some point…
The final picture is a side-on look at the hilt. While the profile isn’t as fine as you would see on a professionally-made sword, I am still rather proud of it. These last two pics also give a better view of the cocked-hat pommel shape. It is still hard with 2d pictures to express the 3d curviness of this form.
Next updates should involve the scabbard. Although, I may make a scabbard for another sword before I tackle this one – the falchion has a somewhat funky detail in that the widest point of the blade is near the tip, not at the hilt. So the scabbard core has to accomodate the wide tip during the draw or sheathing, and yet hold the sword tightly when the blade is fully inserted. I’ve got my head around the concept, but it might be worthwhile to practice the skills on a simpler design, where the blade tapers to the tip instead of tapering to the hilt.
Project thread at MyArmoury.com
