Ace, Thank You (and Roger) for posting both versions of the aluminum hilted reversed swastika swords. They add a lot to the discussion because it indicates that these swords were series production with no effort made to to change or modify the knucklebow assemblies. If Bill Shea said his sword was aluminum because it was extra lightweight, then that was probably was what it was. However, while the lighting seems to be off, in the middle image to me it looks like perhaps the base metal possibly was zinc?? I am not saying that it was. Just pointing out that it seems to have a much darker gray color than the blade - and aluminum when it oxidizes tends to be more white (image reposted below).
And thank you also for the additional input on casting. It roughly coincides from what I remember about it and gives a good snapshot view as regards current practices. While in the dim past I�ve done sand casting myself, now I am more conversant with investment casting as one of my brothers is in the business. (And another worked as a plant engineer for U.S. Steel but the castings there were much larger.) That said, it was the visible problems in the aluminum sand casting first posted that indicated to me that whomever was doing the casting for Voos had not quite figured out how to handle aluminum. Which as you illustrate is more difficult to achieve good detail using gravity.
The Germans use the same word as English with a slightly different spelling. And the German dictionary/engineering definition is pretty clear that �Tombak� is a brass alloy made primarily from copper with zinc being the alloying element (roughly 70%cu 30zn% - varies). After copper was restricted to military production all sorts of materials are seen in an effort to replace it. If Pack & Co. late manufactured �Tombak� is primarily zinc that may be the case. Although I would think that it could get a little confusing for Third Reich collectors because badge/medal collectors use �Tombak� when referring to badges made primarily from copper. As do on occasion early blade collectors. Regards to All, FP
