Swordsmithing

Hello: Here is a prototype piece for book IV..done in the Japanese style of Shinogi-Zukuri. The blade is laminated 1070 and L6 steels in the Kobuse method of construction around a mild steel/iron core. The blade length is 22 3/4" and it has two (2) scraped in Bo-Hi on each side. OAL is 34 1/4". The Hada is very interesting and I would call it Mokume-Gane Hada. The Hamon is vibrant and it is much more active than you are able to see in my feeble photos.. I wish I knew how to take better pics.. The Tsuka is blood red Samegawa under black silk and is mounted in a "Hawk" motif. The Siya is wood with black lacquer under red cracked lac and that is sealed wi…

FYRDRACASLAGA (Fire Dragon Slayer) By Owen Bush and Petr florianek. A Dwarf made hero’s sword for slaying fire dragons. In our discussions and musings, Petr and myself tend to think of our work as that of the Dark Elves (from the Nordic heritage) or Dwarves (from the world of JRR Tolkien) Working magic and craftsmanship together with the raw stuff of nature, these mythical artisans forge the weapons of legend for the gods and for mortal heros. The sword blade is made by myself and the handle, sheath and fittings are made by Petr Fliorianek (Gullinbursti) The sword blade is forged with eleven bars of steel, 3 fine twist…

recently my katana has been broken while I was away for a while. It was mounted on my wall until a sibling of mine took it off to play with in the backyard. The blade came out of the hilt and will not go back into it fully. I do understand that it is a wall decoration only and it would probably be best to get a new one. It was the first sword I have bought though so it has personal meaning to it. Any comments or suggestions would be helpful in fixing it and I will include pictures of the katana in its current state. Thank you for taking the time to read through this and for any comments or suggestions given.

Well, Mr Sells was wondering if I was OK since I haven't been active on here for about half a year.. truth is, been very active but not very social. Here's a piece I started last Wednesday and finished up Saturday. 1095/15N20, herringbone pattern seax. 16.5" blade, 200 year old wrought for the fittings, cocobolo, copper and elk antler for the handle. -J

Anyone know how to go about forging this type of sword blade specifically the hole near the cross gaurd.

I just finished up the Habaki on this one . OL is 31 " It is a wide blade . Will cut a Shirasaya soon . Thanks for looking .. Steel is low manganese 1075...... James

Some pics of a sunobe I forged today along with another sunobe my friend forged as well at his place

Haven't posted here in a long time so what the heck! Dont wanna be a welder anymore just wanna make swords(I can dream right?) just a little random assortment of work over the past bit...

I know this question gets asked a lot, but it's really starting to bug me. The first part is to why (and when) civilian swords fell out of fashion: And to the first person who says 'Guns became a thing', I'd like to point out that most countries have laws against civilians carrying firearms, and even when both were legal and available, it was considered 'socially unacceptable' to carry a firearm (at least in Britain). The second and important part is what we'd be carrying today (shout out to Micheal Kors new sword line up, and the iSword). But seriously. As far as I've landed, blade length would be around 2 feet. We left off on Smallswords, Spadroons, and the…

Recently forged a new blade... Im still pretty new to the swordsmithing scene, But what do you guys think? 1075 steel, Buffalo leather, Not quite sure what the wood is to be honest. Inspired by Tormund Gaintbane's Sword from Game of thrones.

Here is a pic of an almost finished gladius I've been working on off and on. I still need to clean up near the soldered on guard and where it was held in the vice when I drove on the handle and pommel. I also need to put an edge on and sharpen it though I have a video of a unsharpened cutting test, heehee. She was made of 5160 weighs 2 lbs 2 oz. POB 4" forward of guard, overall length 28" blade length 20 3/8", width at broadest point 2 1/8" hardened in oil vertically tempered to 450F. Handle is oak stained dark, fittings are brass patina'd, need to redo the area near the guard on the blade though. I call her Imperatrix.

Hey guys. I'm wanting to learn more about swordsmithing and the like. And was hoping I could get pointed in the direction of some good material for learning how to start forging blades. Now to get this out of the way, I know it's probably a better path to learn on small blades; knives, trinkets, general blacksmithing etc... but pure honesty here, i'm not too interested in making those as this is going to simply be a possible side hobby. And I don't mean for that to come across as disrespectful or egotistical. I'm fully expecting to make some absolutely terrible blades many times before i forge anything worth holding lol. Now, I can't spend a ton of money unless …

Hello, I know this may be a long shot, but my husband has expressed a lot of interest in blacksmithing, particularly sword smithing, and as a surprise for our anniversary, I was wondering if there is anyone out there who would be willing to have him around as an observer/apprentice and help him see if it is something he would like to really do in the future, before investing in all the tools. We can pay for this - reasonable cost - of course. It is important to be somewhere in proximity to Salina KS. Thanks! Monica

I've been working on another blade inspired by the katzbalger style sword... and honestly can't figure out if I like it. I think I want the whole guard to be broader, which would mean I need to untangle and untwist then draw out. I rather like the perfect squareness of the guard material though (I cheated and did the cuts with and angle grinder), and don't trust myself to perfectly squarely draw out the guard. Then I started doodling some other neat ideas I like a bit more, but only work if I draw out... but is it worth it? Maybe I set this guy aside and experiment. In retrospect I should have played with this design in mild steel first before cutting up a bar of S7

Hello: Here is the product for the last week...5 PW swords in wood, bone and bronze. Blades are a mix of 1095/meteoric iron with enough WI to help refine the meteoric iron to a usable material .. Grips are mounted in phosphor bronze with Coco-Bolo, African Blackwood or Bovine ivory. Not too bad for a old forge rat just puttering about. Website stock ..gotta keep the beans and bacon around..folks gotta eat. That fancy guard on the centre sword was a real BEAR to get forged right...ruined 3 pieces trying to forge it out. 4th one worked.. Blade lengths are in the 19" to 22" range..Forged in fullers on the 4 blades that have them... JPH

What so you guys think ? this is my first successful blade. I made it from a ferrier's rasp, its a mix between a panga machete and a khopesch. The blade is 29cm long, with an 11cm grip/tang ( I'm not sure what to call it in this case ) and the spike at the end is 7 cm long ( that was the RASP's handle). I'm thinking of keeling the spike and giving it a bit of a curve. Its name is shark skin, due to the very rough texture of the rasp.

It's that time again. I'm honored to have been asked with my production team to come on and help create the video product. this year. I am also a smith, and hope to bring a nice balance to the broadcast as well as some higher production value while presenting the smiths as they are and showcasing their wonderful work. If you like forging, and anything artistic or just have a love of history and blades, check out the free live stream of Arctic Fire 2016: Grendel's Hoard, July 5th-8th. I'll also be making a much larger and involved project that'll be available afterwards with some exclusive content or in the event you cannot see the whole thing There's also a live Q&…

Here's my take on the VOC (Dutch East India Company) cutlass. Blade is 1075, bell is brass, done as individual elements and brazed together. Overall length is 34", blade is about 28". Unfortunately the customer picked it up as I was finishing the handle so I didn't get a chance to take some close ups, but here's a few of the process and final product. J I started by hammering out the tang. Next I marked off where the fuller will go. This is my fullering setup. A simple air cut off saw on an adjustable shaft connected to my vise pedestal. I set the height, turn on the air and then grind the fuller in. I have several other air tools mounted to shafts for other operations…

My first several blades were swords, and what a mistake that was. It took me a wasted year to truly understand what a monumental challenge a sword truly was, at which point I focused on knives. I would forge a sword once or twice a year because of adamant customers, but they were unrefined and crude. This will be my first real sword, confident enough to attempt it only because of my recent success with 3D printed cast bronze components. Luckily the customer was eager to embrace the technology/technique, and we had a great time coming up with the perfect gift for her husband. A tiger themed katana with paw tsuba and roaring head pommel. There will be a small sapph…

Ok so I want to make a sword (Just to display in home as a decor piece) I was wondering a few things. There is a video online by the "king of random" and its him making what he calls a mini master sword by vaporizing a small foam/Styrofoam model of said sword with molten aluminum he melted in what he again calls a mini metal foundry ( would make mine a bit bigger than his). I was mainly wondering 1) Could i do this with a full length sword if I had the means to do it with. (would make it in pieces to put together and I am thinking of making the blade about 3 1/2 ft long) 2) If I could, would heat treating the sword do anything to the aluminum/make it so that I c…

Be gentle it's the first sword I've ever attempted. Smithed from a land rover coil spring. Learned and applied many new principles as I worked on this. The hamon isn't great but it's there. Going to add some kind of thin hide under the wrappings, menuki and saya, but the blade itself is done. A lot of firsts with this learning sword - First time copper welding, first time differential hardening, first time doing ferric chloride. Worked on it infrequently for a year with breaks in between to make a few other things and fish a lot. There is a lot about this sword that is very basic, but it is very functional and I learned from a great many mistakes along the way. …

So, remember a week and a half ago I posted a hideous burn? Well, got back to that sword today, short gladius hispaneus...is....um, spanish gaul style? and got the length done, and a point on it, distal taper, etc, still have the bevels, to width, finish, heat treat, more finish, and the furniture... Which brings us to my question. I've been looking at a LOT of historical gladiuses, and love the look of a bone grip. I read through some of the old forums on them, and I'm still kind of looking for idiot proof instructions. It looks like, and I might be wrong. 1. Go to a butcher. Ask for a femur bone or cannon bone. 2. Boil the crap out of it. (well, marrow and grease, not c…

Forged from 4140. The handle is hammered aluminum with a rubberized cord wrap. I haven't got a chance to use it yet but it feels great in the hand.

I've been bladesmithing for about 15 years now, and have been wanting to try a sword. I've actually got a sort of Falchion forged and rough ground, but while I can harden it, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around tempering it. Trouble is, my oven is only 24" deep, blade and tang is a bit longer than that. I've thought about heating a bar of steel in the gas forge and running the back of the blade over the sword and watching the temper colors, or even putting a steel pipe in the forge as an oven. I've seen a pipe with oil heated and used for tempering on Man at arms, reforged, but not sure how high a temp the oil can stand, or what oil to use. How do yo…

So, I've recently realized that it's been entirely too long since I've made a good sword.(it's just been axes, axes, and more axes) I then remembered that this is beacause sutible bar stock for swords is really XXXXX expensive. After a bit of searching, the most economical option I've found is chromoly, at $7.50 for a 3/16 x2 x36" bar. So, before I go spending money on it, I was wondering if anyone has some experience making swords with it? I mainly want to know: how does one (or does one even) heat treat it? Can it be forge welded? Does it make decent swords? And is there anything better (and "better" here being directly correlated to "economical") that I could be using…