45-70nut

Ok, this turned into a semi forged project. I have a form with a blade length of 30", 39" oal. Distal taper ground in with no bevels. I still need to forge in the fuller, but am wondering if I should go thinner as previously suggested. My question is there any advantage to going thinner vs thicker other than weight. I always thought midevil weapons would have been heavy for true battle weapons.

Ok, by tradition I mean my perfered meathod, forging over a charcoal forge using homemade charcoal. It just so happens I also have access to 5160 bar stock, a burr king grinder, and a free supply of 3M cubitron belts. I couldnt pass up the latter. Forge thick grind thin has always worked for me but I more respect the smith who can forge and finish with a file and stones.

I have access to a modern production forge, where my skills have grown at forging, but spend more time grinding because its quick, and yes, its a hard earned skill. I do prefer doing things the traditional way, it just takes more time.

Ahh, I really felt kinda guilty grinding a sword from 1/4" bar stock so this is a personal challange. I figure hammering in the bevels along with a fuller will be quite a challenge. And this go around I will have a much better grasp on the heat treating process for a sword.

Ok I must admit I was a little slow to get the stock removal jabs, I had that coming. Now I am taking it as a challenge. Ill try to keep updated.

Thank you. I chose to do a stock removal process because it is the fastest way to make a sword, thats the easy part. I know I can forge a sword, what I was most nervous about was the heat treat as I have never done anything that big before and didnt know what to expect.

Thank you basher that was very helpful, and yes, I will be doing more research along with testing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This link best describes austempering. I believe this best describes my last heat treat. I may have found my new favorite meathod, but further testing will need to be done. I do like the idea of quenching and tempering in one opperation.

I did normalize first, and hardened two seprate times but both times when I tried to temper in oil it overdrew the hardness to the point where the blade would no longer flex but would bend. The oil was only 325 F, forcing me to abandon my approach. I do know the heat treat process, but i am still learning the science behind it.

That may explain why my first swords heat treat was so odd. After two failed tempering attempts I let the oil cool to 150 F, heated the blade to about 1650 F and held it in the oil a good 30 seconds, when it cooled, a file wouldnt touch it and it flexed nicely. It seemed to already be tempered. After testing extensively I did eventually do an oven temper, for good measure.

The heat treat is good, a bit on the hard side but has been tested extensively, including snapping two inches of the tip by driving it into a log and flexing as far as it would take, and I couldnt be happier with the performance. Weight was kept high intentaly to be used for heavy chopping. The next one will be lighter, as i believe a fuller will help greatly.

A snap temper is possible but only if i can figure how to do it in hot oil. I have not had good luck with this method as it always seems to draw the hardness back too far. Any advice would be helpful in regards to tempering in oil.

Steel is 5160 and weight is 2 lb 13 oz.

The typology would be an XIIIa. A hand and a half, 30" blade, 39 o.a.l., with a fuller running down 2/3 of the blade. Im planning on forging in the fuller using 1" round stock for the dies, and for the tempering tongs. Im hopeing to blue the spine while getting the edge to a straw color. I have some experience in chasing colors, but not on a double edged sword and not of this length. Any advice? Or flaws in my plan?

I am starting a new project soon, a hand and a half knights templar with a 30" blade and a fuller. With the tang it will be 39". This is to long for my oven so I am thinking of tempering using 2 short sections of 1" round stock and holding them into the fuller while hot. Has any one used this method before or should I just build a tempering oven?

This has truly been a challenge, but I am already thinking of another one. The scabbard still needs a chape but for now I have a functional and fully tested sword.

One of the first knifes I made the scales of black locust. It is very hard, rot resistant, and beautiful when polished. The locust in my area is almost neon yellow. I have been told that black locust in the southern states are mostly unusable due to a borer. Fortunately they havent made it as far north as Maine.

I've never heard of a pell until now, but i will deffinatly be making one outdoors this spring. The blade is heavy but is incredibly sharp. All you can feel is the flex when blowing through frozen milk jugs of water. I had planned on making a riser between the upper and lower portions of handle but ultimately went with the strongest and most simple way I could.

A close-up of the handle.

Best estimate on the weight is 2.5 - 3 lbs and the balance point is 1.5" forward of the guard. It is intended to be a hand and a half short sword.

Finally done. Thanks for all the help and the twisted wire wrap suggestion. I never held a sword before making one and now have a great respect for this weapon of war.

This is where I'm at. How would you guys go about a handle, keeping in mind I will be peening the pomel on. I had considered dowel risers wrapped in some braided line wrapped in leather. Suggestions?

Just read the master Smith tests and that is about on par with how I test my knives with the exception of a 90 degree bend test. I have tested many to destruction. Couldn't find any sword specific tests.

Chipping a stone is probably not a test I will try, but I do love testing and every test I do I go into with the mindset of: are you ready to break this sword that you have countless number of hours into.

Another setback, I tried cleaning up bevels with diamond files and realized after one bevel the whole thing "bowed". I will try to straighten it at tempering temps. A common occurrence?