Broken Guard

by Francesc Montserrat
(Barcelona, Spain)

I own the medieval knight sword portrayed in your site (the one illustrating the 'How they are made' part) and had just one single issue: the guard is cast iron. Polished and chromed to look just like steel. The thing broke upon hitting a wooden shield. The blade is wonderful tho and has a really nice sound and is real hard (but still softer than most of the czech blades nowadays) with a 6x20mm tang that makes it a very reliable piece. I made a new guard myself for such a beatiful blade and it's now perfect for reenactment combat and training (I'm a member of the AEEA which stands for Asociacion Española de Esgrima Antigua in spain). If you purchase a blade for fighting and training purposes, just get rid of the guard and place a new one but for display purposes is more than perfect. I made a few pics of the broken guard but I lost them, if you're interested I still have it at home and can make some new pics.