Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Philip · 10th June 2017, 04:06 AM

Actually, fully-sharpened radiused points aren't all that rare on European swords. You see quite a few katzbalgers and Scots basket-hilts in the same configuration. Usually these are well-used blades, and it's my impression that they were fully pointed when they hit the market but got rounded off during extensive use, when the point got chipped and users successively ground away at the flats on either side to restore usable sharpness without removing too much metal from the sides. My experience as a polisher, when receiving a sword with a broken-off tip, is to scribe the original tip outline on what remains with a marker pen, and more often than not, a lot of metal needs to come off to get the original profile back. On various Far Eastern blades that are edge-tempered, you can lose most of the hardness at the extremity that way, which does affect the historical integrity of the piece in addition to its functionality. It calls for a consultation with the customer before I do anything because once the material is removed you can't put it back on!

All else being equal, a pointy tip penetrates easier than a sharpened radius, but there are lots of areas a trained swordsman can aim for that don't take much effort to get in and do damage -- the jugular, armpit, the abdomen under the ribcage, and (eesh) the groin. The first two, along with the area behind the knee, are also difficult to fully protect with armor, and in all these regions, there are vital things just below skin level. (Who was it that said that the proverbial stab through the heart existed mostly in novels, opera, and Hollywood?)

Also, a wider, round or irregular tip makes a nastier wound, not as clean as a poke from an acute one. This is why the Russians put those chisel-shaped tips on their spike bayonets, from the 19th cent. until WW II. Instead of the needle-sharp ones the French, Italians, and Brits used on theirs.

10th June 2017, 04:06 AM	#4
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	rounded tips Actually, fully-sharpened radiused points aren't all that rare on European swords. You see quite a few katzbalgers and Scots basket-hilts in the same configuration. Usually these are well-used blades, and it's my impression that they were fully pointed when they hit the market but got rounded off during extensive use, when the point got chipped and users successively ground away at the flats on either side to restore usable sharpness without removing too much metal from the sides. My experience as a polisher, when receiving a sword with a broken-off tip, is to scribe the original tip outline on what remains with a marker pen, and more often than not, a lot of metal needs to come off to get the original profile back. On various Far Eastern blades that are edge-tempered, you can lose most of the hardness at the extremity that way, which does affect the historical integrity of the piece in addition to its functionality. It calls for a consultation with the customer before I do anything because once the material is removed you can't put it back on! All else being equal, a pointy tip penetrates easier than a sharpened radius, but there are lots of areas a trained swordsman can aim for that don't take much effort to get in and do damage -- the jugular, armpit, the abdomen under the ribcage, and (eesh) the groin. The first two, along with the area behind the knee, are also difficult to fully protect with armor, and in all these regions, there are vital things just below skin level. (Who was it that said that the proverbial stab through the heart existed mostly in novels, opera, and Hollywood?) Also, a wider, round or irregular tip makes a nastier wound, not as clean as a poke from an acute one. This is why the Russians put those chisel-shaped tips on their spike bayonets, from the 19th cent. until WW II. Instead of the needle-sharp ones the French, Italians, and Brits used on theirs.