Jirí Kronák (Fabri Armorum) Marozzo style two handers

[Nikos]

Okay, here they are, turned up today, not tried yet obviously, but I shall post my first impressions and update as we use them, firstly heres a pic to start with:



First Impressions:

Very well packed to start with which was nice to know, next, they are identical swords, but he has fitted different colour wire on the grip of each, which was a nice detail for us which we didn't ask for. They look damn impressive, far more substantial than the Kovex and Armourclass equivelents that we just sold, but lighter at the same time, I was also impressed at the quality, nothing like the rough unfinished look of a Kovex and far more like what you would expect to get off many British swordsmiths.





Figures:

Total length: 55"
Blade: 39.5"
Pob: 2.5" from quillon




Conclusion

These were custom made to our specification and delivered to our door in a total of 3 weeks, which I find astonishing, Tim Noyes can sometimes do the same, but hes in the UK, this had to come a far bit further in the post. The build quality seems very good and its very nicely finished, the handling is also a huge improvement over the armourclass that it is replacing, more will follow as we use them. Lastly I will say before anyone else does about my description of it being a Marozzo style sword, is pretty much is looking at the original plates the same, with the addition of the D-rings, the were coming into use anyway so thats not an issue, plus the added hand protection for training is rather desirourable. If these go as expected I am sure we will be getting a few more things from Jiri, but custom, not from the catalogue, his homepage:

http://www.fabri-armorum.cz/angl_uvod.htm

[Lyceum]

I was expecting something rather cumbersome. They do look rather nice, on all accounts. I wonder how safe they are for training though?

[Nikos]

Yeh well the point was to get something that wasn't cumbersome, of course they are still quite weighty compared to a normal longsword, but they are going to be, as for how safe, well that really depends on your level of protective gear, though your obviously not going to go full contact with them anyway, but medium contact and at a good speed is easily do-able with the right gear, I am ordering a few other bits of armour soon for using these.

[Lyceum]

Interesting, armour in all forms is cool, plus from what little footage I've seen, even dispelling half sword it's a completely different game.

I wonder, how much you'll sweat wearing armour and swinging those around Nickos.

[admin]

They look good - would you mind telling us how much they cost and how much shipping was?

A link to the manufacturer's site might be good as well.

[Dai D]

I free played with something similar from Paul MacDonald last summer it was a joy to use, and so much fun. There is a little moe inertia than a long sword but you quickly get use to it.

[Nikos]

They look good - would you mind telling us how much they cost and how much shipping was?

A link to the manufacturer's site might be good as well.

Link has been added to first post.

The cost worked out at £200 including shipping each, his shipping was really cheap.

[Motley]

There is some nice looking stuff on his site

[Nikos]

There is some nice looking stuff on his site

I agree, these are the lux versions by the way, the standards aren't too pretty, I think providing you give him precise intructions he can do good work, and best of all very quickly, his prices are also very good and hes clearly capable of making almost anything, so I may have a few things on order soon, he even does rapiers, wonder what they would be like.

As with many suppliers though he doesn't know how to sell himself, the pictures he has are terrible.

[Nikos]

Something I just noticed about these swords is that the edges are much thinner than most re-enactment weapons, under 2mm from what I can see, opposed to the usual re-enactment 3mm, thats clearly helped a lot with the weight, as with most Czech swords the tip isn't rounded off, so it will need a quick go on the grinding wheel, I expected that though.

[Fab]

A lot of French reenactors buy from Jiri - mainly because he seems to be a really nice person.

I'm not too fond of his products however, but I haven't had the chance to see from close a special comission from him thus far.

Will you let me play wiht it at fightcamp ?


I still don't like the grip, though.

[Nikos]

Yes he is a really nice chap, honest and decent, we haven't even paid for them yet, he said get them and see if we are happy first, a gentlemans agreement, when does that happen anymore?

Yeh you are welcome to check it out, play with it, whatever you like.

I know what you mean about the grip, it isn't perfect, but its still nice, and the fact is I do not know anywhere else in the world that would make a sword like this for the money, and definately not in that time, also, the grip is the least important thing in my opinion, I have reg-rr-gripped plenty of swords, so if I grow tired of it I will redo it.

[Corporal Carrot]

A lot of French reenactors buy from Jiri - mainly because he seems to be a really nice person.

I'm not too fond of his products however, but I haven't had the chance to see from close a special comission from him thus far.

Will you let me play wiht it at fightcamp ?


I still don't like the grip, though.

Wasnt he at the Dijon event one year? First time I was there I think. There was a smith there who made swords with very similar hilts to what i see on this guys site. He had a huge saber which was similar to the two handed saber on the site as well.

[Fab]

Not Jiri, but one of his French resellers, Marc Muscadel, who runs his own shop in Paris. He's by no means a smith - a mere merchant, and quite happy with that.

[admin]

Is there much distal taper on these? They seem quite thin/flat at the forte for the type of sword.

[Nikos]

No there isn't a huge amount Matt, the forte is totally flat, though not thin, thats a trick of the light, I don't see that they are particularly unusual for the type though, just look at a few in the pics here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Zwei ... _Basel.JPG

[admin]

I'm not sure if we mean thin in the same way - I mean they look about 5mm thick at the base of the blade? Which is thin-ish for that type of sword - the ones in the Wallace Collection and Graz that I can remember were more like 8mm-10mm and aggressively distally tapered - very thin in the last foot or two of blade. That has the effect of making the COP further from the hilt of course, so you can effectively cut things further away. And it makes them handle better of course. One of the reasons reenactment swords tend to feel dead is because they lack this distal taper which is characteristic of broad bladed original swords.

[swordflasher]

That was certainly an eye-opening feature for me of several of the swords at the Wallace - a lot of thickness at the top of the blade that would be difficult to reproduce with stock removal, tapering dramatically over a few inches then a more gradual distal taper for the length of the blade.

I have to say I like these swords! Nice design based on your specs.

[Nikos]

Yeh I know what you mean Matt, I am in work now and its at home, so I can't take measurements, but it is certainly difficult to make blades like that considering most people make blades with take down, therefore making a blade that thick would mean starting with very thick stock, it would drive the price up substantially.

[admin]

I know, but it's still a shame. It means most people's blunt training swords are quite a way from the originals in the way they move and also the way they react in the strike and bind. Generally this problem gets exacerbated the longer the sword is - it's not really a problem at all with shorter swords, as many original single handers and some longswords were only 3.5 - 5mm thick at the forte anyway. It's also not so much of a problem with tapered pointy swords (Type XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII etc), as they tended not to have much (or any) distal taper, as their taper was in the other plane of course. It's one of the reasons I go for tapered pointy swords - it's less of an issue getting the sword maker to get the distal taper right.