An early XIVth Century War Sword, of Oakeshotts Type XIIa, by Eric McHugh of Crown Forge.
Eric did a beautiful job on this one, a classic design of the high middle ages. By the time of this designs full maturation, full all encompassing suits of mail were the state of the art in armor. Larger swords, capable of powerful shearing blows were developed as a counter measure.
The swords handling is, in a word, sublime. It's a substantial piece with good presence and a lot of mass, but moves beautifully. It effortlessly transitions between guards, pivots on a dime and the blade follows the point quite well. The blade is well honed and extremely sharp. I prefer large swords with presence and mass. Eric told me, "This one's right up your alley." As expected, he's absolutely right. In short, it's the finest modern example of this type I've ever handled.
Fit and finish is excellent. Not perfect, but nearly so, which is how Eric and I both prefer it. There are a few small imperfections left to denote its handmade nature. The blade is forged from 80cRV2, a German steel known for it toughness and durability that has become quite popular in sword making circles in the last few years. The guard and pommel are forged from mild steel.
Bringing this one to fruition was a long and tortuous path, but it's finally here and beautiful it is.
Eric and I have been friends for twenty years and I've enjoyed watching his development as a craftsman. At this point, I'd put his work up against that of any other smith with full confidence.
Well done my friend.
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Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
