if they are arranged on a shield which is hung high
up on a wall of a room or hall, says the English

[Illustration: FIG 1; FIG 2; FIG 3; Three Fifteenth Century
Swords]

Mechanic, London. The following described arms are authentic
designs of the original articles. A German sword of the fifteenth
century is shown in Fig. 1. This sword is 4 ft. long with the
crossguard and blade of steel. The imitation sword is made of wood
and covered with tinfoil to produce the steel color. The shape of
the sword is marked out on a piece of wood that is about 1/8 in.
thick with the aid of a straightedge and pencil, allowing a little
extra length on which to fasten the handle. Cut the sword out with
a saw and make both edges thin like a knife blade and smooth up
with sandpaper. The extra length for the handle is cut about 1 in.
in width and 2 in. long. The handle is next carved and a mortise
cut in one end to receive the handle end of the blade. As the
handle is to represent copper, the ornamentations can be built up
of wire, string, small rope and round-headed nails, the whole
finally having a thin coat of glue worked over it with a stiff
bristle brush and finished with bronze paint.

The crossbar is flat and about 1 in. in width. Cut this out of a
piece of wood and make a center hole to fit over the extra length
on the blade, glue and put it in place. Fill the hole in the
handle with glue and put it on the blade. When the glue is
thoroughly dry, remove all the surplus with a sharp knife. Sheets
of tinfoil are secured for covering the blade. Cut two strips of
tinfoil, one about 1/2 in. wider than the blade and the other 1/4
in. narrower. Quickly cover one side of the blade with a thin coat
of glue and evenly lay on and press down the narrow strip of
tinfoil. Stick the wider strip on the other side in the same way,
allowing equal margin of tinfoil to overlap the edges of the
blade. Glue the overlapping edges and press them around on the
surface of the narrow strip. The crossguard must be covered in the
same manner as the blade. When the whole is quite dry, wipe the
blade up and down several times with light strokes using a soft
rag.

The sword shown in Fig. 2 is a two-handed Swiss sword about 4 ft.
in length, sharp on both edges with a handle of dark wood around
which is wound spirally a heavy piece of brass or copper wire and
held in place with round-headed brass nails. The blade and
crossbar are in imitation steel. The projecti