Sword Hilt

[Ignis Forge]

I have been designing a sword for a while now and I've gotten stuck on this Question, what type of metal should I use to make the hilt of my sword?
I want it to be strong but not so strong I can't work with it considering I
have limited resources.

[Steve Sells]

brass, bronze, steel, wrought iron, titanium, cast aluminum?

[ThomasPowers]

Hilts are made up of several pieces often of different materials: the grip is traditionally made of wood and covered by leather, twisted wire, sharkskin, etc for a better grip.

The guard was generally iron/steel or brass depending on time and place and was expected to be able to absorb the impact of another blade in "use".

The pommel is basically a counterweight and can be made of pretty much any metal you like.

Can you refine your question?

[Ignis Forge]

Okay, The blade is going to be a Greek leaf style design made of wootz and is going to be a little longer than a usual one handed sword (still working on the exact length).
The hilt will be a hand and a half in length and a cheap red gem for the pommel (in the gem will be a weight for balance), I want it to be a war sword so my question real depends on which kind of material is best for making a hilt.
My question includes everything except the blade.

[ThomasPowers]

Are you trying to make it historical in style? Early Greek swords usually didn't have a lot of metal in the hilt.

Otherwise what do you want it to look like? I'd go with an etched wrought iron (the material) guard if you want an aged look to the blade. Stainless steel otherwise. Olive wood for the grip covered as mentioned before and the pommel---how are you going to mount the gem and if it's supposed to be the counterweight it would be a whopping big one! In general it's good to mount stones so they are protected by the metal so inset between "horns" or in a depression in the pommel, etc.

Have you read the hilt making section in Hrisoulas "The Complete Bladesmith, The Master Bladesmith, The Pattern Welded Blade" Dozens of pages of info will sure be better than a few posts on a forum...

[Dwarfsmith]

How do you attach the hilt to the blade without, I repeat for emphasis: WITHOUT smithing?

Edited March 31, 2009 by steve sells
typo correction

[dablacksmith]

How do you attatch the hilt to the blade without, I repeat for emphasis: WITHOUT smithing?

thread it and screw it on ... glue it on... weld it on....

[ThomasPowers]

You slide the pieces over the TANG; I think you need to look into "The Complete Bladesmith" on the page that details the names for all the pieces of a blade. The local library should be able to ILL it for you.

[Steve Sells]

How do you attatch the hilt to the blade without, I repeat for emphasis: WITHOUT smithing?

Never thought about that one, as this is a smithing forum :D

[Rantalin]

I've got the answer, but its not something you're going to like :-D The earliest swords were designed for thrusting, so all that was needed was a sharp point on a long dull blade. The blade was flat at the handle end and rivet holes were punched. A separate (possibly wooden) handle was then riveted or pegged on to allow for thrusting, but not chopping strength.

An improvement upon this was to forge a handle out and again punch holes for rivets. However, this means fully forging the basic shape of the handle and then filling in the grip with additional materials. I will post a picture of what I mean and link to it from this post.

I have also attached a picture of a sword made in its entirety from bronze.

Both pictures taken at the Higgin's Armory Museum, Worcester, MA. A wonderful place, I recommend it to all who can make the trip. Website at Higgins.org

Edited March 31, 2009 by Rantalin

[ThomasPowers]

I know a professional swordsmith---had a two year waiting list for swords that cost in the thousands back in the 1980's; None of his hilts used any smithing or welding. I don't understand how you expect to need such to hilt a blade?

Go ILL "The Complete Bladesmith" from your local public library and save yourself and us hours of time!

knowing the basics is a requirement for good design work; just think how a car designer who didn't know about drive trains or engines could go astray!

[Kasaron]

Hrm, it all depends on your personal preference, and skill level. As for the red gem; it won't do as much for counter-balance as a brass pommel will, or even better a hollow brass pommel filled with cast lead. Of course it depends on your preference for the center of gravity...

Really, it's up to you. If you think it'll look right, and you think you can pull it off, then try it.

[tholdorimm]

im disinging my sword and i know the materials im makeing the hilt out of i just need to know how to attach the hilt the the blade

[ThomasPowers]

Solder, heat shrink, epoxy, peg, rivets, screw and riveting the tang over the end of the pommel are ways that have been used.

Have you read "The Complete Bladesmith", Hrisoulas, yet? If not ILL it at the local public library and *READ IT* then come back and ask more detailed questions. (But you probably won't need to! One of the few blademaking books out there that includes sword info!)

[Charlotte]

How do you attach the hilt to the blade without, I repeat for emphasis: WITHOUT smithing?

You might want to look at the way Japanese swords a put together!

It was a shock to me when I saw it the first time.

[cloudy-cola-corp]

from your post about the design 1 major thing popped up: Greek leaf style

leaf blades were originaly celtic made of bronze and very short used for stabbing because bronze is easy to bend and is to soft to hold the blade edge also it would have had a gaurd that was no further out from the blade than an inch mabey two at the very most. also for the blade to look right must be quite thick to and wide and elongateing would make it far to heavy and a hand and a half grip is unuseable as a stabbing blade only as a slashing weapon like the claymore and if you wished to use it praticaly in reenactment a long leaf blade would be to heavy as you would be unable to safely pull the blow sorealy it depends on what your after if you want it as a wallhanger of a practical reenactment blade.

but i think that the grip and guard should be made out of the same material as the blade and it should be 1 solid part.

[ThomasPowers]

Note that workhardened bronze is about the same hardness as real wrought iron that took over with the iron age. Iron is just *easier* to find as ore most places. Of course once they figured out carburization and heat treating then steel zooms way up past either one in hardness.

[Ken]

Another way to mount a handle to a tang is to drill a 1/2 hole the length of the handle ( easy on a wood lathe ) Silver solder the guard on to the blade then put the tang through the wood handle and pour in molten lead. It sets up in less than a minute and works to counterbalance the blade. It can not be removed short of beating the wood off with a hammer. I Know from experience

[Charlotte]

You might want to consider going to Association for Renaissance Martial Arts - Swords & Swordsmanship They have a great deal to say about what the proper balance of a sword blade is as opposed to a knife blade.

There is such a thing as a "center of precussion" which affects a swords usefulness.

In particuliar you will want to read:
http://www.thearma.org/spotlight/GTA/motions_and_impacts.htm

Edited July 29, 2009 by Charlotte
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[Ed Steinkirchner]

well, i have made only one sword and two daggers. (the daggers were to learn the steel and bevel forging)and i have a leaf bladed sword with a carved grip in the works and the cross guard is forged, the slot for the tang is punched and filed to fit. so i guess i am trying to say that i have forged all of my guards, they can be drilled and filed to fit, cast, from aluminum, copper, or bronze. i have seen a lot of damascus, wrought iron, heat colored mild steel, all look very nice if the design is good. but make sure the design is good because poor execution can make the best materials look bad.