On Wednesday, February 9, 2005, at 04:14 PM, Stephen Hand wrote:
The biggest
problem I've seen with commercially available blades is the lack of
thickness at the forte. Original rapier blades are almost always very thick
at the forte, around the 8mm mark is normal (that's a touch under a third of
an inch), tapering to around 2mm thick (1/12th of an inch) near the point.
This allows them to be so long while retaining the rigidity needed to
thrust. It also allows a half way decent smith to use the massive distal
taper to create a blade that is very stiff for 2/3 of its length and quite
flexible in the last third (much like a modern foil).
Hi Stephen,
I absolutely agree here. I'd like to add a couple of comments to this observation.
The lack of correct distal taper with regard to thickness has a terrible effect on the handling of most modern replicas. Several of the original Spanish cup hilt rapiers I've handled are far more agile and responsive in the hand than most modern made epees; in fact, I've heard several other fencers pick up similar original weapons and gasp, "it feels like an epee!" I would go even further and state that I've never held a modern reproduction that handles as well as the originals. The only way I can describe good original rapiers is that they really seem to float in the hand. What little weight you do perceive rests very comfortably in the palm of the hand and does not fatigue you when you move the sword; there is no sensation of "drag." We should expect much more from our reproduction blades if we truly want to see good rapier fencing.
And finally I must also agree with Mr. Hand that I have never held a schlager-bladed implement which handled anything like a rapier, regardless of the hilt or pommel.
Antone Blair
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