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Originally Posted by Lee
How fortunate that our tastes and interests are diverse; otherwise most of us would not be able to afford a single thing that we really wanted. This thread has really opened into a number of philosophical discussions and it is the sort of off topic thread that I enjoy.
My own collecting philosophy and taste very much parallels that espoused by Ariel, although I do have a few modern pieces of diverse origins and also a few recently reworked pieces incorporating antique components.
I remember an old forum thread (on another site) in which one participant asked of the membership which Oakeshott type of European medieval sword they would most like to own an original antique example of. One reply nearly blew me off of my seat, for its author opined he would not want an antique out of revulsion as to what evils might have been committed with it and that he strongly preferred to be the owner of a new sword of known (clean) provenance.
Provided a modern bladesmith understands balance, edge geometry and material selection including proper heat treatment for that material and has the skill to apply same, that bladesmith can likely make a blade of significantly better functional quality than most of the antique blades many of us so cherish. That is the advantage modern science has given us and many modern smiths are truly great masters of their craft. Still I must reserve a special awe for the old masters who, without a framework of science and without modern tools, managed to create some fine works out of tradition and trial and error with the most primitive of tools.
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When some visitors (usually of female persuasion) ask me in a swooning tone of voice, whether some, but just some, of those horrible things might have, you know, actually ... killed a person, I try to keep a straight face and honestly answer "I hope so"
