Kissaki said:
As for Angus' swords, I feel stock removal is "cheating" when it comes to sword making, but that's just me. They certainly perform, and the steel is certainly excellent for swords. I have not handled more than one or two mounted ATrims, and they felt alright. The Albions I've handled have felt better, and Gus makes swords more for test cutting than actual swordsmanship (I have heard from others that many ATrims feel rather "dead").
The Atrim's I've handed have been grand. Truely grand. I've never heard anyone call them dead before, and I've talked to an awful lot of Atrim owners.
Gus once said that "[Albions] are definitely more show than go", which is absolutely ridiculous.
Angus is invariablely very careful not to directly compare his work with Albion.
Just yesterday he posted on Myarmoury.com the following.
[quote author=Angus Trim who isn't on this board]
I don't think I'll really get into the comparison of an Albion and AT sword, particularly when they're so different to start with, not even close to apples and apples......
I do want to mention the steel stuff. Neither 1075 or 5160 is much like medieval steel. Nor does one have much advantage over the other as raw steels, rather the difference in heat treating would make the difference......
Both steels chemistry is pretty similar. 1075 has a bit more manganese, and a bit more carbon, and 5160 has a trace of chrome.........Neither is what I would call a high tech steel......
(here he is speaking of a comparicent some other people were making in that thread.)
As far as handling differences between the two, a big part of that is that they are such different types of swords. Yep, both may fall into the XVIIIIb category, but one is a "longsword", and the other more "warsword". The AT does just what it was designed to do, which is excel in handling, and cutting. The 1508 is very similar in blade geometry to the 1516 which David Welch and his brother tested on pork shoulders last summer.
The sword was designed around the handling parameters as I interpret them for the Lichtenour descended traditions, and Fiore.
[/quote]
So I would say his stuff is disgned to handle like a sword. Of course, it is true Atrims are more about the sword as a weapon then an art object.
Sure, the quality of Gus' steel may be better, but how much quality do you need?
How much can I get?
Actually, I would say that the main issue with Albion is that they had a few issues with heat treating, which the grape vine has told me are totally fixed. Albion are top quaility swords, no doubt about it. (But never make the mistake that an Atrim isn't a damned good weapon) and Angus is one heck of a guy.