MastertheSword Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 About a week ago, I started on a blank piece of carbon steel. I shaped it into a European broadsword without any heat. I used an angle grinder and several files to shape the blade, tang, and guard. I am ready to put the hilt and pommel on, but I am unsure how to do it without heat. Wood seems problematic since I can't burn through cleanly. Metal seems like it would be a good idea, but it would take a lot of filing to get the tang down into the handle and pommel. Any ideas that you could give me would be great. Note: I have done lots of metal work with my uncle, with heat and without. He is out of the country for a month and I cannot get his help. I hope you'll be able to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Just a side note...How are you going to heat treat the blade before putting the hardware on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 1: you have not mentioned any forging, just stock removal. Is this really Cold Forged or just stock removal? The terms mean quite different things! Cold forged would be to work harden the blade by hammering on it cold. Not a great idea for a blade that has enough carbon in the alloy to harden through heat treat; but it was used for bronze and early iron age blades. 2 Metal handles are not a good idea for swords, usually too heavy for one thing; (remember that when your sword is *finished* it should probably weigh around 2.5 pounds---as that was the general average for european using swords for around 1000 years---and is actually a good weight for Japanese swords as well.) Also metal grips tend to get slippery with sweat or blood and so Not be a good thing for a dangerous weapon! 3 Take two pieces of wood with a flat side on each and trace your tang onto them and then inlet with a chisel. I usually glue them together after inletting with a piece of cardstock between them to be able to rough form the outside using rasps, belt grinder, chisels, drawknives, curbstones---whatever you work wood with. You can then split them apart along the card stock, sand off any remains of it and be ready to do the final gluing with it on the tang. Note if there are voids between the wood and tang, epoxy can help fill them. I apprenticed to a top swordmaker ( Cutlery stock removal too!) and we *Never* used heat to put a guard, grip or pommel on with: Guards should be filed to fit the tang. Grips can be epoxied on and pommels can be screwed, peened, pinned, etc. Some makers will use a low temp silver solder like Stay-Brite that can be applied at a temp below the draw temperature. As you don't hilt a blade till after it's been heat treated; how did you go about that? Run go to you local library and have them ILL "The Complete Bladesmith" by Hrisoulas. It will explain all to you and save you weeks of mistakes! I must admit that your alias doesn't do much for me; perhaps I need it explained? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MastertheSword Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 1. Your right. It's just stock removal. Sorry, My uncle mentioned the process once, not in much detail, so I looked it up in a book at the library, the book didn't help much so I'll try the other one. 2. Metal would probably not be a good idea, though I wasn't going to use solid metal. I was also going to wrap it in leather and leather thread. 3.Thanks for the tip on wood, I don't have the tools to cut the hilt in half. my uncle has a ban saw that should work pretty good. The name and signature. inside story. My uncle Lee owns a metal working shop and he has done smithing and nearly anything with metal. they sell custom metal furniture, nearly anything metal. He has his own propane forge and at the shop he has about 30 specialized workers. Anyway, uncle Lee told me the first day he took me to show me the shop. that your mind was the most important thing with metal. You had to know what you were doing and you had to be confident. his dad, my grandpa, had owned the shop before him and had taught him most everything with the metal. my grandpa's slogan, my uncle's and now my slogan. "Master yourself, Then master the sword." My Grandpa was a great smith, and so he brought in several people during the great depression to work with metal, lots of them went off on their own but some stuck with him and that's how his shop got started. You have to know what your doing before you can become good at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 The method I mentioned with wood doesn't require sawing, just two pieces with a flat side so you can glue them together *after* you have inlet the tang---don't skimp on the tang size as that's the classic difference between a wall hanger and a real sword. Don't make the ricasso/tang transition with a sharp corner as that's a stress concentrator in the worst place. Hrisoulas books "The Complete Bladesmith, The Master Bladesmith and the Pattern Welded Blade" are some of the few that deal with swordmaking as well as knifemaking, there are some differences between the too! Thanks for the explanation on the name. I'm less likely to think of you as a 15 year old SMW or OBW. Most of the really really good makers I know are not pretentious at all. They don't need to be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MastertheSword Posted July 31, 2009 Author Share Posted July 31, 2009 so you take two separate blocks that have the cumulative thickness you want then shape it after the glue is dry? sorry I thought you meant shape the hilt first then cut it etc. This sword is going to be decorative. would it be better to use a darker wood and risk the oils causing problems, or should I stain it? Im visiting my library this afternoon, and I'm going to try to get that book. thanks for the tip. and the pommel. that should be to balance the blade. how far above the guard do you want it to be balanced? I might find it in the book but I doubt they'll have it for me today. Should I post that explanation in the sig that I have? I guess it sounds Juvenile but it's really important to me. it helps me understand about who my grandpa was. He died several years ago. I never really got to know him, so the saying is really important to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokshasa Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 well to be honest why would you want the blade to be balanced if your just gonna hang it on the wall? but really the "balance" should be in the "point of contact" that is the area of the blade that is meant to hit the target, it takes some practice to get right, you would probably want it to be about half way up the sword for something that big and long, you know, to better cleave off arms the such well i think anyway lol correct me if im wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 No the COP is never the balance point. If it balanced there then there would be too much tendency to rotate around that point when you hit something---the sword would be more prone to try to leave your hand! *where* a sword balances depends on the type of sword, how it will be used and the personal preference of the user. Sabres and "cutting" blades often balance out from the guard towards the tip to varying degrees. "point" blades often balance at the guard to make moving the point easier. Watchout for the many "swords" where they have increased the weight far too much by adding on a heavy pommel to balance the sword at the guard when it never should have. What do you gain making the point easy to control if you can't move the entire blade cause the hilt is too heavy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.