Portuguese navigator sword for comments

[Philip]

Originally Posted by fernando

There certainly must be a metallurgic explanation for the apparent lack of patina. In any case it is visible that it has not been tampered with; and so far i am confident will over that.

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Hi, Fernando
Thanks for explaining it. Question: In "real life" does the metal on the exposed part of your tang have a somewhat bluish tinge?

If so it might be mill scale, a tough oxidized "skin" that forms on iron when hammered or worked at forging heat. The stuff is surprisingly durable, it clings tenaciously to the underlying iron and retards corrosion. I've noticed, when experimenting with a file on pieces of old junk iron which has the layer intact, that this thin layer tends to be harder than the underlying metal. So it is quite abrasion resistant. I have removed loose handles from damaged swords which I know to be 18th cent. or even earlier, and been surprised to see patches of this bluish skin intact in places not attacked by the rust which you would expect from something that old. Often, the undisturbed scale and the rust pitting are right next to each other. I am sure that if the tang was ground or polished so that all the scale was removed at time of manufacture, the entire tang would have rusted more consistently.

[fernando]

Hi Philip,
I think i know what you mean and subscribe such reasoning.
Mind you, the soft rubbing i gave it, with a deliberately worn sponge, may hardly be considered abrasive, for what the term means; the 'blueing' remained intact ... only brighter. I wonder whether at the time to mount these sword hilts, the tang ends receive another heat up to make it easy to bend them over the pommels. Such silly thought is due to the fact that these blades were stored in bundles until the moment they neded to be mounted. In the Paço dos Duques de Bragança collection there are a few of these swords that were gathered together with their guards but were never mounted, as they were kept in such condition in one of the arsenals, waiting for action days


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[Philip]

Originally Posted by fernando

Hi Philip,

Mind you, the soft rubbing i gave it, with a deliberately worn sponge, may hardly be considered abrasive, for what the term means; the 'blueing' remained intact ... only brighter. I wonder whether at the time to mount these sword hilts, the tang ends receive another heat up to make it easy to bend them over the pommels. Such silly thought is due to the fact that these blades were stored in bundles until the moment they neded to be mounted.


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Obrigado pelas fotos! Now I see the distinction that collection curators make in the quality of the various blades -- I have always wondered about the fact that it varies, and that some have ricassos that taper at an angle to the tang rather than having a distinct "step" -- so un-European in flavor.

It's not a silly thought -- military armorers who assembled the blades onto completed hilts were wise to heat the end of the tang again before bending and beating it down with the hammer. This would remove any stresses in the metal; also, with blades from disparate sources and qualities, it would be hard to judge from looking at the tangs "as is" whether the hard steel layer that comprised the "heart" of the blade extended all the way to the end of the tang, or if (in the case of cheaper quality blades), a soft iron tang was lap-welded to the billet that comprised the blade itself while it was being shaped into a blade. In the former case, it would be advantageous to heat again because bending steel while "cold" to such an angle might cause it to fracture.

Also, the difference in the surface appearance of your pommel might be explained by the fact that your hilt may have been recycled from a broken sword, and fitted to a newer blade during its service life. My impression from reading about Portuguese martial history is that a lot of equipment, from armor to ships, sometimes remained in use for a very long time.

[Reventlov]

Does anyone (Fernando?) recognize this sword shown on the cover of another of Daehnhardt's books, and have any more information about it? I could not find an image credit in the few pages available online as a preview...

https://issuu.com/apeironprojecto/docs/enigma

Mark

[fernando]

Hi Mark,

I am not so keen in memorizing specific items, and i don't see this one in Daehnhardt's books, namely "Homens Espadas e Tomates", where he shows a few specimens and typifies a few styles in drawings. But i wouldn't doubt this one also belongs (or belonged) in his collection.
I have just bought a copy of this book you mention, for a cheap price (used ?). The only chance is that he mentions the sword inside the cover.

[Reventlov]

Obrigado, Fernando.

[fernando]

The book has arrived. The sword is magnificent.
Not much detail on its provenance, except for the observation (in text) that it is from the period of this navigator (beg. XVI century).
I will try and get further detail through some source.


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