Game of Thrones - No spoilers

[Halb]

ZesPak said:

Greatsword is almost by definition a two hander, you'd have to be a mountain of a man to wield a zweihander with one hand.

[irocfan]

GarryDK said:

You guys seen this?
Blacksmiths making Longclaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40pUYLacrj4

you sod!! That's a lot of time going there... seems like they make a bunch of cool stuff

[VEA]

GarryDK said:

You guys seen this?
Blacksmiths making Longclaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40pUYLacrj4

That's fking awesome.

[ZesPak]

Can't watch it at work, but I suppose it's the AWE me channel?

Yeah, they do a new set of blacksmiths ("reforged") but I prefer the older format.
They make some awesome stuff.

[Asterix]

Seems a shame to make a beautiful bronze Wolf's Head and then Tippex it.

[GarryDK]

ZesPak said:

Can't watch it at work, but I suppose it's the AWE me channel?

Yeah, they do a new set of blacksmiths ("reforged") but I prefer the older format.
They make some awesome stuff.

Yeah its pretty awesome. I too prefer the older format.

[smithyithy]

Asterix said:

Seems a shame to make a beautiful bronze Wolf's Head and then Tippex it.

Would be nice to have it cut out of some sort of white stone, like this type of figures:

[Asterix]

smithyithy said:

Asterix said:

Seems a shame to make a beautiful bronze Wolf's Head and then Tippex it.

Would be nice to have it cut out of some sort of white stone, like this type of figures:

I'm guessing Bone or Ivory wouldn't have the weight to balance the weapon, stone might work. Probably get chipped over time. Bronze would be easier to rework and then paint again I s'pose.

[StuTheGrouch]

lukefreeman said:

Are you mad?

It helped get Cersei naked!

Body double though. I felt cheated

[FourWheelDrift]

Asterix said:

I'm guessing Bone or Ivory wouldn't have the weight to balance the weapon, stone might work. Probably get chipped over time. Bronze would be easier to rework and then paint again I s'pose.

Could Ivory or Bone also suffer outside in the cold of filming in Iceland?

[Halb]

VEA said:

GarryDK said:

You guys seen this?
Blacksmiths making Longclaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40pUYLacrj4

That's fking awesome.

Yeah it is! Interesting how he said it is sot of Viking style, I wondered about the width of blades on the show, they are much wider than my longsword. They are more like my mates Viking sword, but with a longswords length.

That enamel on the bronze head is pretty cool.
I've just been looking at the swords on Valyrian steel.
I wish the show Ice version Damascus version was still available.
http://www.valyriansteel.com/shop/

[richtea78]

I prefer the book version of Ice in Damascus steel but it's also gone

[Watchman]

GarryDK said:

You guys seen this?
Blacksmiths making Longclaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40pUYLacrj4

Screw-on pommels are deadly, especially as these guys are swinging them around at each other.

I'm amazed that they spend so long on the construction of the blade, only to completely misunderstand how the tang, handle, guard and pommel should be constructed and assembled.

There's load of info about this but here's a starter:

http://schoolofswords.com/european-sword-education...

[Halb]

richtea78 said:

I prefer the book version of Ice in Damascus steel but it's also gone

That's a little elaborate for me, I generally prefer the planer stuff. The most elaborate sword I like is Conan's sword from the 1982 film.
Always wanted that one.

[GarryDK]

Watchman said:

Screw-on pommels are deadly, especially as these guys are swinging them around at each other.

I'm amazed that they spend so long on the construction of the blade, only to completely misunderstand how the tang, handle, guard and pommel should be constructed and assembled.

There's load of info about this but here's a starter:

http://schoolofswords.com/european-sword-education...

Very interesting. I wonder why they would do it incorrectly?

[Halb]

Yeah, interesting article, I'll have to give it attention!

Just looked at Cona's sword, seems there was a slight variation in the two films, £3k is beyond my budget though.
http://conan.wikia.com/wiki/Atlantean_Sword
http://filmswords.com/conan/conan-sword-destroyer-...

My own longword is a Tinker Pearce.
http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/Hanwei-Tinker-Li...

http://tinkerswords.com/

http://www.theknightshop.co.uk/catalog/swords-c-18...

[irocfan]

GarryDK said:

Watchman said:

Screw-on pommels are deadly, especially as these guys are swinging them around at each other.

I'm amazed that they spend so long on the construction of the blade, only to completely misunderstand how the tang, handle, guard and pommel should be constructed and assembled.

There's load of info about this but here's a starter:

http://schoolofswords.com/european-sword-education...

Very interesting. I wonder why they would do it incorrectly?

quite possibly because they are 'show swords' and as such the need for 100% correctness isn't needed. I'd imagine that for fighting scenes that there would also be a 'stunt sword' so the nice shiny 'hero sword' isn't scratched/battered/nicked etc etc

[Watchman]

Given the research they must have put into creating the laminated blades, I confess I'm surprised.

As I had a period of downtime the last couple of days, I have watched a few YouTube vids from swordsmiths. Most screw their pommels on, suggesting they are aiming at "wall hanging" customers. I've only found one who solder/riveted his pommel on.

They ALL burn-fit their handles on, which might be why they screw the pommels on. It's a good/easy way of ensuring a tight fit for the handle. Also, once the handle is on, you can't hot-peen the pommel on anyway, or the handle will burn. But in this assembly, the pommel holds the handle in place, which in turn holds the guard in place. This is neither a traditional manufacturing method OR a good one. Handles, being wood, expand and contract all the time, and if your guard is only held in place by a wooden handle, a hard strike will move it, breaking the handle into the bargain.

Traditionally, the guard is fixed in place without the handle present, and the pommel hot-peened **permanently** in place, again without the handle present. The handle is then presented as a pair of "scales" - two wooden shaped pieces (have a look at the full-tang bowie knife below to see obvious scales) - then wrapped/bound with your choice of cord or leather strips.






Conversely, the samurai sword manufacturers appear to get their products right but they don't really have a pommel like the European middle ages swords AND manufacture of samurai swords is still "current" so techniques don't need to be rediscovered.

Edited by Watchman on Thursday 25th June 11:38

[Watchman]

irocfan said:

quite possibly because they are 'show swords' and as such the need for 100% correctness isn't needed. I'd imagine that for fighting scenes that there would also be a 'stunt sword' so the nice shiny 'hero sword' isn't scratched/battered/nicked etc etc

I agree - makes most sense.

Having said that, this company is making replicas of the shows' swords, so not even required to be used by the original show itself. So they may as well be nothing more than wall-hangers.

Edited by Watchman on Thursday 25th June 10:52

[Halb]

Shows usually have the good looking sword for the standing scenes and then they swap in a fibreglass or nylon sword for the actual fighting.