Forum: European Armoury
22nd August 2021, 08:12 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
New Shotley Bridge book.
Hello Keith, I have just-re read your excellent book on the swords of Shotley Bridge and I recall a while ago you were actually in Solingen searching their archives most thoroughly ! The sword you...
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Forum: European Armoury
19th August 2021, 03:39 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
man, myth and magic
Hello Fernando.
What an astonishing and revelationary treatise on Toledo.
Toledo was always the most famous of course: as an individual, completely unconnected with the blade world, I was always...
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Forum: European Armoury
18th August 2021, 08:47 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
Wootz up Doc'
Hey Fernando, thank-you for that link: I was able to absorb about 50% of it before my brain imploded. The metallurgy involved in blade-making is simply too vast to take on board without devoting...
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Forum: European Armoury
18th August 2021, 06:49 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
Tempus fugit
The issue I was opening for debate is that Wootz may not have been tempered.
This seems like a contradiction to everything we have come to understand about blade forging.
Are there any blacksmiths...
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Forum: European Armoury
17th August 2021, 10:08 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
ps
Note the very distinctive forge weld of the blade up at the forte and the gouge under the letter B in the softer metal.
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Forum: European Armoury
17th August 2021, 10:06 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
Shotley Bridge blade
My Shotley Bridge sword (which was actually forged in Solingen and brought over with the immigrants: it has a Passau Wolf along with the script Shotley Bridg; see images) is still fantastically sharp...
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Forum: European Armoury
17th August 2021, 09:44 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
Wootz
It was vital that the correct leaves and twigs were added to the crucible when making Wootz. Just adding charcoal/carbon didn't do it as there needed to be trace elements of Molybdemum, Vanadium and...
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Forum: European Armoury
17th August 2021, 07:53 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
Poor standards of English blades
Here is an edited piece from Bezdek on the run-up to establishing Hounslow:
In 1621, King James I declared that he needed military swords for 12,000 men (for the Thirty Years War). Previously, he...
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Forum: European Armoury
17th August 2021, 07:23 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
Toledo blade science
Thank-you Fernando. I ran it through Google Translate and got an 85% accuracy.
Unfortunately, with so much technical content the translator was unable to achieve a usable result.
If I had a...
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Forum: European Armoury
17th August 2021, 01:49 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
Myth, magic and metals
In response to the query about Solingen's superior output, here is a short explanation:
In the 16th century, the forging technique in Solingen was already quite advanced in its development and...
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Forum: European Armoury
14th August 2021, 08:34 PM
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Replies: 35
Views: 42,936
English blades
This seems like another simple question but I have a feeling it may prove otherwise.
During my research there has been one unavoidable issue that remains unanswered:
why could the English not...
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Forum: European Armoury
14th August 2021, 08:30 PM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
blade marks at Hounslow
Benjamin Stone was the biggest operator at Hounslow; he was certainly the most notorious. His factories and mill feature prominently on the map of Hounslow at the time.
Most of the Germans there...
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Forum: European Armoury
14th August 2021, 12:04 AM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
remarkable about turn
Jim, that first sword is almost identical to mine. In fact, I would not be surprised if my grip binding was not a replacement for the original antler.
Adding it all up, I now think that the 1553...
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Forum: European Armoury
13th August 2021, 09:24 PM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
blade marks cont'
I have to agree with you Jim and disagree with Stuart: you will recall that my initial question at the beginning of this thread was whether such a blade as mine was produced in Solingen in the early...
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Forum: European Armoury
13th August 2021, 06:14 PM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
Shields
Yet again we progress, thank-you Jim.
The shield is like a one on a swept hilt rapier I have. You attributed it to a City Guard which is almost certainly correct as far as the rapier is...
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Forum: European Armoury
13th August 2021, 02:40 PM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
2 swords
Don't let my grasshopper attention confuse: the latten with the crosses and accompanying shield are from the sword I didn't acquire.
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Forum: European Armoury
13th August 2021, 02:37 PM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
Dates
Thanks again Jim... when do you sleep???
Your information regarding numbers is equally compelling and makes me question my indication of the historical event of 1553.
This business of ANNO...
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Forum: European Armoury
12th August 2021, 10:01 PM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
ps
Sorry, should have included the image of the shield; here it is:
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Forum: European Armoury
12th August 2021, 09:52 PM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
Hounslow
Thank-you Jim, great research as always.
The latten wolf has cropped-up on Hounslow blades a few times for me; once with a curious X marking and a shield as well (see pics) which I only just...
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Forum: European Armoury
12th August 2021, 10:52 AM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
PS
Here is the entire sword image:
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Forum: European Armoury
12th August 2021, 10:49 AM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
1553
The blade is from a Hounslow Hanger and is date-stamped 1553 which obviously must be a commemorative unless it was in existence 100 years earlier and was subsequently re-hilted a century later; this...
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Forum: European Armoury
10th August 2021, 07:04 PM
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Replies: 18
Views: 15,411
blade mystery
Hello Folks.
Here is a simple question:
was Solingen producing and exporting to England such a blade as this in the early 1500s?
Further details will depend on the answer.
Thanks in...
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Forum: European Armoury
17th June 2021, 09:27 PM
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Replies: 12
Views: 11,936
third time lucky
OK, I'll try one last time: Marius indicated the retailer and - with tongue in cheek - I asked if he knew the price also: THE PRICE IN THE 1700s, NOT TODAY'S PRICE.
Marius understood the humour and...
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Forum: European Armoury
17th June 2021, 11:15 AM
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Replies: 39
Views: 54,397
baffled
I only visit this planet occasionally, so I have to confess that the behaviour of the male species is sometimes even more perplexing than the female:confused:
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Forum: European Armoury
16th June 2021, 04:16 PM
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Replies: 12
Views: 11,936
incomprehension
Marius and I were having a joke between us.
It was the original price paid - when new - I was interested in.
Marius understood that; you obviously didn't.
My inclusion of the mid.18th century...
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