ElementalBreakdown
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2020
- Messages
- 489
Since I was a D&D playing middle schooler in the early 1980's, we went to the Renaissance Faire (note: spelling Faire any other way is strictly prohibited), there was always a vendor that went by the name "Angel Sword". I'm curious whether anyone else remembers this maker. There are a few threads here regarding "Angel Sword' and "Living Steel"but it's worth another look considering how far we have come and how any more members and bladesmiths are here now. Thought a lot of you would be happy to dispute most (if not all) of their claims. I'm just as interested if anyone can substantiate even a portion of the claims made.
Posting a link to a major news outlet below and you can find them easily enough on the web. Why now? Because I think the vast majority of their sales come from the Renaissance Faires and most of them fall right around this time of year.
Selling to the uninformed masses, the main bladesmiths (mostly Daniel Watson) insisted they made the sharpest knives and swords in the world, and I still see news articles reporting on them and not questioning the claim. The web pages I viewed appeared to have been updated earlier this month using the "view source" console in Chrome.
I recall even as a kid that I was skeptical, their big show-off was taking one of their business cards, bending it in half, and slicing a sliver off the card without cutting through to the other side.
In the 80's there weren't nearly as many choices available to most people- and of course no internet to research anything, but I remember wanting to buy one of their knives for the longest time.
Most of the blades looked like costume pieces... but again there was no real way to see truly great blades unless you were able to drive to a show or somehow locate and contact a bladesmith. Or if you had a place to purchase knife specific magazines. Looking through past threads, one of the better arguments I read was that the price they set on their blades must naturally fall in line with what the market will pay, but I can say beyond a doubt that isn't the case because I recall one sword that he brought back year after year to the Renaissance Faire with something like a $20,000 or $30,000 price tag.
Their claim was that they had this secret way to make what they called "living steel", later backing up this claim by saying it was a true Wootz process. The ojust how ther claim was that they had a secret forge technique. I'm an open-minded person, but now that I have another 30 years of knife experience I realize how gullible the average person is-especially with a few pints of mead in them.
I think this is a fairly easy myth to debunk, but every summer it seems another news outlet reports on this maker and his claims, and for most folks their knowledge of knives and swords comes from hollywood.... so maybe if you have a friend headed to the Faire with the idea of buying a sword you can fill them in. Some of the links are from August of this year, byt I was a little surprised that as lae as 2016 NBC was "reporting" on this bladesmith as if they were breaking a story about where to find a modern version of Excalibur.
As far as I know even true "Wootz" that's been properly treated still doesn't stand up to our modern steels. Always interested in learning though, and again I always keep an open mind.
Anyone think that there is any truth to any of this?
www.cnbc.com
https://austinot.com/angel-sword-best-sword-maker-world
(the above claims "He personally holds over 20 patents or patents pending in metallurgy..."
AND finally the website for the man the myth(maker),the legend (in the sense of P.T. Barnum) ANGEL SWORD
www.angelsword.com
What do you think?
Posting a link to a major news outlet below and you can find them easily enough on the web. Why now? Because I think the vast majority of their sales come from the Renaissance Faires and most of them fall right around this time of year.
Selling to the uninformed masses, the main bladesmiths (mostly Daniel Watson) insisted they made the sharpest knives and swords in the world, and I still see news articles reporting on them and not questioning the claim. The web pages I viewed appeared to have been updated earlier this month using the "view source" console in Chrome.
I recall even as a kid that I was skeptical, their big show-off was taking one of their business cards, bending it in half, and slicing a sliver off the card without cutting through to the other side.
In the 80's there weren't nearly as many choices available to most people- and of course no internet to research anything, but I remember wanting to buy one of their knives for the longest time.
Most of the blades looked like costume pieces... but again there was no real way to see truly great blades unless you were able to drive to a show or somehow locate and contact a bladesmith. Or if you had a place to purchase knife specific magazines. Looking through past threads, one of the better arguments I read was that the price they set on their blades must naturally fall in line with what the market will pay, but I can say beyond a doubt that isn't the case because I recall one sword that he brought back year after year to the Renaissance Faire with something like a $20,000 or $30,000 price tag.
Their claim was that they had this secret way to make what they called "living steel", later backing up this claim by saying it was a true Wootz process. The ojust how ther claim was that they had a secret forge technique. I'm an open-minded person, but now that I have another 30 years of knife experience I realize how gullible the average person is-especially with a few pints of mead in them.
I think this is a fairly easy myth to debunk, but every summer it seems another news outlet reports on this maker and his claims, and for most folks their knowledge of knives and swords comes from hollywood.... so maybe if you have a friend headed to the Faire with the idea of buying a sword you can fill them in. Some of the links are from August of this year, byt I was a little surprised that as lae as 2016 NBC was "reporting" on this bladesmith as if they were breaking a story about where to find a modern version of Excalibur.
As far as I know even true "Wootz" that's been properly treated still doesn't stand up to our modern steels. Always interested in learning though, and again I always keep an open mind.
Anyone think that there is any truth to any of this?
Former engineer turned master swordsmith makes the world’s sharpest sword
The sharpest swords in the world are being forged in Texas, where a former "bored engineer" has stunned Japanese experts with his handiwork. Daniel Watson runs Angel Sword, creating artistic weapons which sell from $2,000 to $20,000. CNBC’s Jane Wells attempts to take matters into her own hands.
https://austinot.com/angel-sword-best-sword-maker-world
(the above claims "He personally holds over 20 patents or patents pending in metallurgy..."
AND finally the website for the man the myth(maker),the legend (in the sense of P.T. Barnum) ANGEL SWORD
Custom Battle Ready Swords & High Quality Knives For Sale
We have many battle ready swords and custom knives for sale and ready to go to a good home for many years of use! Take advantage of our layaway program and get yours today!
www.angelsword.com
What do you think?
