Swordsmithing

This might seem like a bit of a rant, but I do mean well. Here we go. One of my greatest pet peeves is being asked to make swords three seconds after I tell someone I'm a blacksmith. I understand that swords are semi-legendary weapon forged in the fires of King Arthur, knights in shining armor, samurai, the ninja, and countless other fantasies, and that they have a magic all their own. I also hear many beginner smiths declare proudly "I'm going to make a SWORD!!!". Oftentimes, there are requests on IFI that essentially say: "Hi! I just started three weeks ago, and I want to make a sword! How do I....?" I've seen two "camps" on IFI: the "Go-For-It's", and the …

hello to everyone that is thinking about trying to smith a sword. just giving you a heads up I have been a hobbyist for about 5-6 years now and got into bladesmithing about 2 years ago. I've been making quite a few knives and decided i wanted to try forging a short sword and let me tell ya, you got some serious work ahead of you trying to forge it all to shape keeping it even length width and thickness. good luck with that. in fact the first two i have tried have utterly failed. so in case you think your all bad and can make a sword on your first go around then go ahead but don't say i didn't warn you ADMIN addition: in simple terms, read these pinned posts on swor…

This is my first sword. I’d like feedback on what I’m doing wrong or right. I’m a very self‑taught smith, and back in September I decided to try making my first sword. It’s come a long way, but it’s still unfinished, and I’d like to know if I’m on the right track. The blade is made from a truck leaf spring. It hasn’t been hardened or heat‑treated yet — I’m still working through the rough grinding. It’s probably thicker than it needs to be since I was being overly cautious. The sword is 46" overall (34.5" blade, 11.5" tang). I want it to be technically functional when finished, so I’m wondering when I should start thinking seriously about balance and weight …

I made this sword to propose to my girlfriend. Blade is 1.33 lbs 26.5 inch blade and 33 inch overall length. 1075 steel quenched in Parks 50 and tempered in 500F avocado oil. Guard is 1045 steel with hand graved copper inlay. Handle is purple heart. Pommel is cast aluminum bronze with twisted silver wire and a 1045 steel base held together with brass screws. Tang is threaded with 1/4-28 to hold the handle together. Scabbard is CNC carved Alder and then sanded to a nice oval cross section. Total weight is 2.2 lbs and the balance point is 4.5 inches from the guard, vibration node a…

I am just now getting into Swordsmithing, and I am trying to make a sword that will only be used for looks. It's just going ot be something that will be carried around and used in ceremonies. But I am wondering what I can use to make it? I am not looking to spend a lot of money and would like to keep the cost as low as possible, while still being good quality.

I've been looking for a book on European swords making, but have had no luck. Can anybody provide suggestions? Apologies if this has been addressed, search isn't working for me. Thanks

As usual I pick up and do things that should not be done according to everyone else.. With this I decided to bring a unique item to the NYSDB fall meet which I demonstrated at and this gave an opportunity to show the method.. Of course I suggested to use clean 1084 to the like to start the taco aspect.. But I just used a dirty old rasp and some mild steel with mill scale on it. I'll keep the thread updated as work progresses.. The basic method was shown, then I showed how to do the layout for the hilt and tip areas.. This was forged to shape.

Hi everyone, I’m working on making a katana using a high-carbon steel leaf spring, but I’ve encountered an issue. There is a hole in the leaf spring that I need to weld before proceeding. Since leaf springs are made of high-carbon steel, I know they can be tricky to weld without compromising the material’s integrity. I have an inverter-type welding machine. I am not using any forging, heating, or tempering processes. This project will be done "cold" without the use of a forge or heat treatment. What’s the best method for welding this type of steel without heat treatment to prevent the material from becoming too brittle or cracking after the weld? Should…

This is the doctoral blade for my sibling who graduated with their PhD in clinical psychology. They've wanted a Kriegsmesser for a long time, and I heard that there's a tradition (finland I think) where Doctoral graduates are presented with swords. I thought that was cool, but the swords they get are tiny and not sharp. Here's my answer Blade is 1075, hilt is mild steel (the nagel (nail) is a psi, made of a railroad spike (nail heh), grip is ebony and figured maple. I comissioned a scroll to present with it (SCA award style) and presented both upon the conference of their degree it's fast and light for its size, and I can't wait for them to cut with it! Th…

Howdy: Many years ago the first sword I made for sale was a short leaf blade.. That was 45 odd years or so ago...Here is that same type of sword that I just finished... 5160 blade..22" in length..forged phosphor bronze mounts and an exquisite piece of curly redwood. I wish I knew how nice this wood was as i have two pieces left. It took me totally by surprise ! It is NICE wood.. All in all this one didn't turn out too badly.. JPH

I had decided to make a Wakizashi some time ago. The plan was to make one of the Kobuse style. So, I grabbed some old re-bar and went at it. (no I didn't) I have plenty of known steel kicking around in the 1085/95 range, and plenty of low carbon for the "heart" of the blade. Started with the HC steel, about 5/16" thick, and cut it, to length then folded it into a "bun", to accept a piece of the LC as the "hot dog". I used a piece of 5/8" square for the "dog". Got it all put together, and started welding. That was an interesting experience. Two different steels, that like two different temps to weld. Plus the scale loss from the HC. What a fiasco. The "bun" too thin, …

Forged from older lawnmower blade.. Good tough steel.. Started as a demo on 8/13.. Made new dogs head hammer to get a thinner edge 8/19.. Met with customer and Finalized size and measurements on 8/29.. Finished forged with the new excellent dogs head hammer. Started clean up 8/29.. Finished clean up and prep for Hardening. 8/30. Will have to run test samples to find best hardening and tempering parameters. I have plenty of parent material for testing. Not bad for all hand work.. I did use the Multool grinder to remove the scale.. Sadly I only had 36grit and 1 old 50grit belt.. 95% finished out by hand file and sanding. Photos of …

Hello..Since I am still on light duty thank to some rather nasty health problems all I can do is hand work..So here is my latest..just finished the polish.. This is 1070 with a mild steel core...my "3 Brothers" Hamon..Undyed Tiger ray rayskin..bronze dragonfly theme mounts. Turned out better than I thought it would..seems that the undyed Tiger ray rayskin just "brought everything together":... This is current available through my website. JPH

So I started this a couple weeks ago and I've already identified one annoying mistake. My steel was too big so its been some extra work. Currently the blade is forged and I brought it down to a reasonable weight prior to heat treating. I'm holding off on that until I get a tempering oven made or located big enough to handle this blade. I got into this because I was making a dagger and thought, what this is the side weapon without the primary. Anyway here's what I've managed to accomplish. I started out with a piece of 5160 26 inches long, 3 inches wide and tried to get it down to 2.25 inches. My thought process was I wanted to make sure I had enough materia…

Howdy!! Just finished up this one..This will be on the cover of book IV as well as in the text under grip fluting by hand.. Sword specs: Blade 27" welded from 1070, L-6 and a small amount of meteoric material thrown in for grins and giggles...welded in my "wood grain" pattern.. Grip is custom mixed bowling ball material/acrylic in what I call "petrified wood" colouration. The fittings are phosphor bronze. Sheath is leather, dyed in my "red wine" stain and mounted with a phosphor bronze chape and locket and set with a nice piece of carnelian I hand cut about 20 years ago..The colour matches quite well and the banding in that agate even works with the colouration pat…

I'm going to start my first sword and I dont have and leaf spring and I really dont wanna buy and steel for it because it's all in fun and I really like working steel under the power hammer!!! So my forklift forks are somewhere in the 4140 range and my research has brought me to a 1084 range with added manganese for the railroad track? I've made a draw shave with the top of railroad track and I'm going to try and get it heat treated tomorrow if I can get some propane for my gas forge and see how it heat treats. I've made a lot of hammers from the forklift fork and know the heat treat pretty good but never with anything that flexes any. What would you recommend between the…

Enough people asked me "when are you gonna make a sword?" until someone finally paid me to make her one for her wedding. Four months of work (on and off) and I have this thing! She's fully heat treated 1075, brass crossguard with bronze fittings, and a handmade scabbard. I hear she cuts wedding cake quite nicely. Thanks, y'all, for leaving all sorts of interesting and helpful info on this site. I spent cumulative days of research reading about tempering, heat treating, nonferrous metals, grinding, and assembly to get this blade finished. Lots of testing and trials, too! And all without writing an ambiguous post asking "how do I make a sword"

Howdy!! Just finished this one..took me like 8 months or so of a lot of failures and frustrations to figure out how to get a good "wave" in a feather pattern..but I think I finally did it.. 31" blade, double fullers, file worked spine..(wore out 3 files doing it..this steel is tough on files...) welded from 1095/meteoric iron and 1070..great contrast.. I am calling it the "Quetzalcoatl" pattern... hilted with steel fittings and copal grip panels..tuirned out pretty nice for an old man... I am keeping this one for myself.. This one is going on the cover of book IV for certain.. Thought I would share... JPH

Im finally nearly done this wakizashi which has been a personal project of mine since last fall, when I forged the blade out and did all the grinding and polishing. At the time I then had a bit of a break from the sword as I wasn't sure how to make a couple of the handle pieces with the tools I have. Currently it is technically done with the exception of the tsuba engraving and inlay work, which is requiring me to make some new tools and learn engraving. The blade was forge welded san-mai using hitachi white #2, nickel sheet, and wrought iron. At the time I didn't have a heat treatment oven (now I do), so it was heat treated in the forge, and water quenched. I…

I give myself maybe a 10% chance of making anything that survives to being a sword right now since I am still so new to smithing. I was starting to make a machete but the steel, 5160 leaf spring, was moving so easily under the persuader, my 8 pound sledge, that I decided to try for an actual short sword of some type. The problem I am concerned about is the amount of steel I started with and if my rough estimations are correct. I started with 10.5 inches of 2.5 x .25 inch steel. If I reduce its width by half that should bring me to about 21 inches and working the tang down further I may be able to get 24 inches of metal over all? My goal for the thickness is 1…

Hello guys, I've been busy watching Brother Banzai's videos again. Thinking about building a mini forge press myself I found some profoundly meaningful frames. Those are blades he either just finished forging under the press or, one step further, hammered the edge bevels on. The blades are scaled, rough, and thick at that point. The lines a bit wiggly. And yet they are perfectly fine, tapered and ready to be taken to the rough grinding. This is an important message and I'd like to capture the nature of a blade blank in that condition for reference. And while I'm at it I'll make a beautiful concept drawing from it. If someone could help me out …

I'm neither a swordsmith nor a HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) practitioner, but I thought this video from Matt Easton of Schola Gladiatoria in the UK might be of interest to those who are:

Ran across this and thought it interesting: Note that in one of the ones; it mentions 10 expert craftsmen as making the sword for presentation to General Eisenhower.

Howdy.. Here is another book IV prototype sword. This one is in Uno-Kobe Shobu Zukuri in Kobuse 1070 with a mild steel core. The Hamon is my Choji type II. Went a little extra on the siya.. All in all came out OK..At least I think so... I just posted it on my site this evening. Hope these photos turn out better than the last ones did.. JPH

Howdy!! At long last...I have finally finished my limited series of 125 Japanese style blades.. This one is number 84/125 ( I used a random numbering system..giving everyone a chance at a lower number..) Hand forged 1070 Kobuse construction ( 1070 jacket wrapped around a soft iron core).. 28" blade..Shinogi-Zukuri..Gold and black silk ito over black same-gawa. Temple lion theme fittings. The siya is wood, with black horn fittings and gold and black finish in my "two tone" style.. Came out OK if you ask me.. I'm FRRRREEEE!!! I'm FRRREEEEE!!! DONE!! This one goes up on my site this evening... along with the other last numbered sword and two book IV pro…