7 Fall, 513AV
It was interesting to Eanos that the whole of the sword was dependant upon so many different parts. In many ways this was a weakness for a failure in any one part threatened the usability of the sword. Against this the sword was a specialist weapon, a weapon for those who understood it and cared for it. It was not a rough piece of metal with a forged guard and hilt welded onto the end which could happily pass from one recruit to the next, carried around in all weathers and conditions, stored in a barrel of water one day and used to pry open a box the next. This was not a sword to be abused but one to be passed on to the next generation, though the hilts and scabbards would have been replaced several times, and even the blade itself might have seen at least a few re-polishes over that lifetime.
One of the key items was a small collar, often made of copper or similar alloy, sometimes gilded but all in all it was one of the most apparently insignificant items. It served however to be the thing on which the sword guard was mounted and which would hold the sword in the scabbard in such a way that minimised the risks of damage to that blade.
Eanos pulled a suitable sheet of copper from his store of that metal and carefully measured it using the sword blade as a guide for one of the traditions of this part was that as little metal as possible was wasted. Eanos had wondered about this in the past and come to the conclusion that on a dress sword it would likely be made of gold or similar and the need to waste as little as possible had merely become a habit which was passed down to future smiths with no explanations of it.
With hammer and chisel he cut out the piece he wanted using the lines that he had scribed and replaced the rest in his store. One of the ways that there was little waste was that nearly all the shaping of the part would be done by forging it. He started the work by starting to create a wedge shape by thinning down one long edge. This would be the edge that was closest to the point of the blade and the wedge shape served two purposes. The thick end was lodged in the handle which meant that it would not pull out of the handle if the wedge became a stiff fit in the top of the scabbard. Drawing the sword aside the reverse was also true for it was a close fit on the sword and helped keep the hilt attached. The thin end served as a guide to get the blade into the centre of the scabbard and then as the sword was pressed downward so the wedge would gradually become a tighter fit until if finally lodged solid and meant the sword would not fall out. Of course that also meant that the sword needed to be eased free of the scabbard before it could be drawn, but that was true of most swords which used collars to somewhat similar purposes.
It was interesting to Eanos that the whole of the sword was dependant upon so many different parts. In many ways this was a weakness for a failure in any one part threatened the usability of the sword. Against this the sword was a specialist weapon, a weapon for those who understood it and cared for it. It was not a rough piece of metal with a forged guard and hilt welded onto the end which could happily pass from one recruit to the next, carried around in all weathers and conditions, stored in a barrel of water one day and used to pry open a box the next. This was not a sword to be abused but one to be passed on to the next generation, though the hilts and scabbards would have been replaced several times, and even the blade itself might have seen at least a few re-polishes over that lifetime.
One of the key items was a small collar, often made of copper or similar alloy, sometimes gilded but all in all it was one of the most apparently insignificant items. It served however to be the thing on which the sword guard was mounted and which would hold the sword in the scabbard in such a way that minimised the risks of damage to that blade.
Eanos pulled a suitable sheet of copper from his store of that metal and carefully measured it using the sword blade as a guide for one of the traditions of this part was that as little metal as possible was wasted. Eanos had wondered about this in the past and come to the conclusion that on a dress sword it would likely be made of gold or similar and the need to waste as little as possible had merely become a habit which was passed down to future smiths with no explanations of it.
With hammer and chisel he cut out the piece he wanted using the lines that he had scribed and replaced the rest in his store. One of the ways that there was little waste was that nearly all the shaping of the part would be done by forging it. He started the work by starting to create a wedge shape by thinning down one long edge. This would be the edge that was closest to the point of the blade and the wedge shape served two purposes. The thick end was lodged in the handle which meant that it would not pull out of the handle if the wedge became a stiff fit in the top of the scabbard. Drawing the sword aside the reverse was also true for it was a close fit on the sword and helped keep the hilt attached. The thin end served as a guide to get the blade into the centre of the scabbard and then as the sword was pressed downward so the wedge would gradually become a tighter fit until if finally lodged solid and meant the sword would not fall out. Of course that also meant that the sword needed to be eased free of the scabbard before it could be drawn, but that was true of most swords which used collars to somewhat similar purposes.
