Basket hilt

[MacKenzie]

Thanks you for the replies.

Luke, you pretty much answered my next question, which was going to be: How to take it out? Perhaps it's best left alone.

[MacRob]

Thanks you for the replies.

Luke, you pretty much answered my next question, which was going to be: How to take it out? Perhaps it's best left alone.

I would leave it alone. If I remember correctly, the Cold Steel sword has a pommel which screws onto the tang. That makes the basket easier to remove than one which is peened but it is still possible to bugger up the threads on the tang while doing so, which creates some problems. Basket liners are correct for the 1828 pattern sword. Most of the earlier swords were originally equipped with a pad at the front of the basket to protect the hand and a few may have had partial or full liners but this did not become common until the 1828 pattern was introduced.

The Cold Steel sword is pretty well made and does have a nice blade but I agree that it combines a Jacobite era blade with a basket which would have been much later. However, no small number of newer baskets attached to older blades survive in Scotland.

[Luke MacGillie]

I would leave it alone. If I remember correctly, the Cold Steel sword has a pommel which screws onto the tang. That makes the basket easier to remove than one which is peened but it is still possible to bugger up the threads on the tang while doing so, which creates some problems. Basket liners are correct for the 1828 pattern sword. Most of the earlier swords were originally equipped with a pad at the front of the basket to protect the hand and a few may have had partial or full liners but this did not become common until the 1828 pattern was introduced.

The Cold Steel sword is pretty well made and does have a nice blade but I agree that it combines a Jacobite era blade with a basket which would have been much later. However, no small number of newer baskets attached to older blades survive in Scotland.

The pommel is merely decorative, it comes off, then you have to remove one or two actual nuts that hold handle and blade together, then there are a couple of shims that go between top and bottom of handle and hilt. Its more that what you want to do when you have 10 mins till formation and think taking that horrible polycotton felt liner should take no more than 5 mins.......

MacRob is right about old blades and new baskets, recently handled a very early 18th Cent basket hilt with a 1531 date and a Passau Running Wolf.

The half liner, the ones I have seen have been buff leather, are nice, I need to put one of those in my sword!

Of course finding some good buff leather, not just buff colored leather is always problematic.

[MacRob]

I never took one apart in the 14 years I sold swords. So, that is what happens when you assume that one sword is constructed just like another. Good to know that it is easy to disassemble, although I do not have one and probably will not.