Questions about United Cutlery LotR swords

[thd9791]

Hi folks,

I was wondering if anyone is familiar with the construction of some UC lord of the rings products.

I have a museum collection sting, one of the last ones produced when they got cheaper, and have always understood it to be full tang but I don’t see a peen on the pommel. It is beautifully balanced though, and made me realize what it means to have a sword blade ground to the correct thin profile.

I just picked up someone’s Strider sword and it is much different. The blade is stainless and the balance is about 4” above the guard, a little front heavy. I understand this to be threaded and glued in the pommel, is this a welded piece or was the blade cut smaller and threaded? I’m probably always going to be weirded out trying to pick it up and someday I may grind my own blade to replace it… we all saw Adam Savage do that at weta!

In all seriousness it is an amazing replica, especially being copied from an aluminum stunt sword, I feel lucky to own one. Never knew the leather was green!

I sort of want to buff it up since the aging isn’t very detailed. I also need to track down the scabbard somewhere!

 

[Tommy]

I remember Peter Lyon mentioning in that Adam Savage video that the black orc blood soaked into the handle’s leather on set, so depending on whether a reference photo was taken early/late or whether a sword was heavily used, it could appear as either color!

Maybe you already came across these, but multiple members of the Sword Buyers Guide forum have at least commented that United Cutlery’s strider sword “had the best tang of [their LOTR swords]” and that its tang “was actually pretty decent.”

Stainless. | SBG Sword Forum

Stainless swords don't get much respect but there is a fellow named Barry Dawson that has been making swords out of differentially heat treated 440C for at least two decades. I often wonder - had

sbg-sword-forum.forums.net

Is this price normal for this sword? | SBG Sword Forum

Blank Post

sbg-sword-forum.forums.net

I surprisingly can’t find any photos or video of a disassembly, though. Maybe you can spot Adam’s old blade lying around his cave somewhere…

That being said, I’m not sure why you’re so concerned with the UC swords, because based on faint witness marks, what you’ve got there is the incredibly historic, iconic, and well documented only surviving “Sword of Strider” originally used by Viggo Mortensen starring as Aragorn in filming and promotion of the 2001 epic The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
It also saw previous screen time in the hands of Frank Sinatra in The Naked Runner.

 

[DracoAdamantus]

I'm after a scabbard myself, and it's been ROUGH. No sign of any on the internet for a while now.

 

[Ron]

Hi folks,

I was wondering if anyone is familiar with the construction of some UC lord of the rings products.

I have a museum collection sting, one of the last ones produced when they got cheaper, and have always understood it to be full tang but I don’t see a peen on the pommel. It is beautifully balanced though, and made me realize what it means to have a sword blade ground to the correct thin profile.

I just picked up someone’s Strider sword and it is much different. The blade is stainless and the balance is about 4” above the guard, a little front heavy. I understand this to be threaded and glued in the pommel, is this a welded piece or was the blade cut smaller and threaded? I’m probably always going to be weirded out trying to pick it up and someday I may grind my own blade to replace it… we all saw Adam Savage do that at weta!

Which piece do you mean exactly? If there is a welded portion, it might be where the grip meets the guard though I'm not sure. The pommel I believe is simply threaded and glued. There's a video of a Glamdring disassembly that I watched a while back that might be helpful. I would guess Strider's sword is of similar construction.

The UC swords, despite being wall-hangars, are very sturdily constructed. Kit Rae (who does the design work for United Cutlery) said UC is looking into a line of functional Middle-Earth sword replicas; higher carbon blades and stronger hilt material. The only problem is accuracy would suffer. There's a museum collection Anduril in the works. Won't be functional but will have a higher carbon blade, accuracy improvements, and a new plaque.

You guys should sign up over at Ultimate Collectors' Forums. It's a relatively small forum but the members there are all very knowledgeable and Kit posts there regularly and answers questions about all the Hobbit/LOTR replicas and sometimes even shares some research and prototype photos. He often explains the construction of the various replicas.

I'm after a scabbard myself, and it's been ROUGH. No sign of any on the internet for a while now.

I've been after it for a long time too. When they come up on ebay, they're just too expensive. Now, I'm not even seeing them at all.

But fear not! Kit mentioned that UC is looking into reissuing the Strider scabbard. They just reissued the Blue Glamdring and LOTR Sting scabbards and are working on producing a Guthwine scabbard. I see Montegar already told you about UCforums. Definitely sign up there and stay up to date on all things Middle-Earth.

 

[DracoAdamantus]

Which piece do you mean exactly? If there is a welded portion, it might be where the grip meets the guard though I'm not sure. The pommel I believe is simply threaded and glued. There's a video of a Glamdring disassembly that I watched a while back that might be helpful. I would guess Strider's sword is of similar construction.

The UC swords, despite being wall-hangars, are very sturdily constructed. Kit Rae (who does the design work for United Cutlery) said UC is looking into a line of functional Middle-Earth sword replicas; higher carbon blades and stronger hilt material. The only problem is accuracy would suffer. There's a museum collection Anduril in the works. Won't be functional but will have a higher carbon blade, accuracy improvements, and a new plaque.

You guys should sign up over at Ultimate Collectors' Forums. It's a relatively small forum but the members there are all very knowledgeable and Kit posts there regularly and answers questions about all the Hobbit/LOTR replicas and sometimes even shares some research and prototype photos. He often explains the construction of the various replicas.


I've been after it for a long time too. When they come up on ebay, they're just too expensive. Now, I'm not even seeing them at all.

But fear not! Kit mentioned that UC is looking into reissuing the Strider scabbard. They just reissued the Blue Glamdring and LOTR Sting scabbards and are working on producing a Guthwine scabbard. I see Montegar already told you about UCforums. Definitely sign up there and stay up to date on all things Middle-Earth

Yup, I’m looking around UC forums right now! There’s a lot to take in, but it seems like a lot of the place isn’t super active anymore. Unless I’m reading the activity wrong.

Now if only I could get ahold of the Shards of Narsil. I had it in the bag on eBay and I was outbid by $25 at the literal last second

 

[Ron]

Yup, I’m looking around UC forums right now! There’s a lot to take in, but it seems like a lot of the place isn’t super active anymore. Unless I’m reading the activity wrong.

Now if only I could get ahold of the Shards of Narsil. I had it in the bag on eBay and I was outbid by $25 at the literal last second

No, it's not active in general but the main UC LOTR/Hobbit thread is relatively active.

 

[thd9791]

This is such good information, thank you!

I noticed in the AS video that he said the lower half of the handle was square but threaded (like an American doorknob from the hardware store) and if it's anything like Glamdring (and if it's one of the more solid products) I'm hoping the threaded portion is cut from the same stainless sheet. I was afraid the threaded portion was welded on and ... being top-heavy... if I tip it for too long or something I was afraid of stress cracks at those joints.

The sting scabbard is on my next-purchase list, i can't wait until they re-release this one

 

[thd9791]

Oh yea, I made a plaque for it, tried to paint a similar tree to the Elendil/Gondor thing and ****** it up 3 times. So... I just made a thicker tree and it doesn't look that bad. I have that aluminum hanging mount that is a beveled rectangular plate that matches another beveled plate affixed to the wall.

 

[Tommy]

I was afraid the threaded portion was welded on and ... being top-heavy... if I tip it for too long or something I was afraid of stress cracks at those joints.

 

[Bluestorm]

Which piece do you mean exactly? If there is a welded portion, it might be where the grip meets the guard though I'm not sure. The pommel I believe is simply threaded and glued. There's a video of a Glamdring disassembly that I watched a while back that might be helpful. I would guess Strider's sword is of similar construction.

The UC swords, despite being wall-hangars, are very sturdily constructed. Kit Rae (who does the design work for United Cutlery) said UC is looking into a line of functional Middle-Earth sword replicas; higher carbon blades and stronger hilt material. The only problem is accuracy would suffer. There's a museum collection Anduril in the works. Won't be functional but will have a higher carbon blade, accuracy improvements, and a new plaque.

You guys should sign up over at Ultimate Collectors' Forums. It's a relatively small forum but the members there are all very knowledgeable and Kit posts there regularly and answers questions about all the Hobbit/LOTR replicas and sometimes even shares some research and prototype photos. He often explains the construction of the various replicas.


I've been after it for a long time too. When they come up on ebay, they're just too expensive. Now, I'm not even seeing them at all.

But fear not! Kit mentioned that UC is looking into reissuing the Strider scabbard. They just reissued the Blue Glamdring and LOTR Sting scabbards and are working on producing a Guthwine scabbard. I see Montegar already told you about UCforums. Definitely sign up there and stay up to date on all things Middle-Earth.

Our prayers answered!
The strider scabbard is listed on the BUDK website!
https://www.budk.com/The-Sword-Of-Strider™-Scabbard-Officially-Licensed-6023
I’ve been looking for this for years on eBay and hoping UC would re-release it. So I was thrilled see this, thanks UC and Kit Rae! Glad UC will benefit so they can make more great products rather than the money going to eBay sellers. Thank you RPF as well for connecting fans.

 

[thd9791]

YES!

 

[Ron]

Yeah, I noticed it had been relisted about a week ago. I figured it was only a matter of time. The Glamdring white scabbard has also been listed. The past 3 years have seen a welcome resurgence in the UC LOTR line. LOTS of their replicas have been or are going to be reissued and we'll be getting some new items in the next couple of years like the long awaited Faramir sword as well as the Guthwine scabbard.

 

[DracoAdamantus]

For those that aren't already aware, this forum has a ton of regular discussions on the UC LOTR replicas, from a collector's standpoint.

United Cutlery's - LOTR & The Hobbit - Movie Props! - Ultimate Collectors' Forums

Kit, the guy who actually designs the UC versions, is on there fairly regularly with news.

 

[Ron]

Back in stock!

The Sword Of Strider™ Scabbard - Officially Licensed Lord Of The Rings Collectible

This is an officially licensed Lord of the Rings collectible

www.budk.com