VGames Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 http://cdn2.ioffer.com/img/item/128/274/999/CxthpcrJYaUmKaw.jpg I am going to attempt to construct this massive sword in my spare time, but I don't know what kind of metal to use. I don't need the sword to be extremely durable because i'm not gonna be doing any kind of combat with it. But I would like to be able to cut wood with it if I wanted to. So I need to find a metal that's strong, light, keeps a decent edge, doesn't dent easily, and won't cost me an arm and a leg. This is mainly for show but like I said, I'd still like to be able to cut wood with it and swing it around for a while without having to worry about it snapping in 2. The sword will be about 6 feet in all. The handle will be about a foot and the guard will be about 2 inches. The rest of the sword will be all blade with a width of 10 to 12 inches. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Mayo Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Have you ever made a blade before? What type of equipment do you have to work with? Will it be forged or stock removal? These are a few of the things we need to know before giving you any kind of an opinion on steel types. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Sorry it's an impossibility. Using swords generally were around 2-4 pounds (over 1000 years of them both in Europe and in Japan!) Even Ti, (which doesn't hold a great edge) would be too heavy or so thin it would just crumple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakwoodforge Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 IMHO --- Carve one in balsa wood and paint it ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belargehair Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 A 5' long, 12" wide blade would be difficult to pick up let alone "swing it around for a while". I agree with oakwoodforge and Tom P. If it's for Cosplay style stuff, there is tons of info out there on display only weaponry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 You can find informtion on line about the weight of metals and in case we have misjudged your strength or ability, it may help if you find one of those sites, and for instance find the weight of a piece of mild steel, (which would not do wot you say you would like but will give you an idea of the wieght), Where the handle is and near the tip it will not be as wide as you say so maybe you could figure about five foot long and maybe eight inches wide, and maybe check into a thickness of three sixteenth of an inch. Figure out the square feet of that and check on the weight. To make any kind of a blade you will need some thing to cut the outline, I use a band saw , cheaper would be a jig saw and a pile of metal cutting blades. I use a belt grinder made for blades, you might be able to use files to taper down the edges, Or a bit faster would be a 4" side grinder and a pile of grinding discs. You will need respiratory and eye protection. this is only the tip of the iceberg on making one. But if it is to chop anything mild steel will not work and steel for blades is a bit more money and then will need to be heat treated. That is a whole 'nother world. A couple of options surface as choices in my mind: put this aside until you can develop skills and abilities to actually know the craft well enough to do this, Or put that much effort into education that will help you in the challenged real world. I think You can do this, I think it will be much harder than you can ever imagine, I also think it would take a couple of years of your life to finally say you did it. If you can find someone that does knives or sords, or blades of any kind see if they will let you spend a ffew hours just wtching wot they do and wot it takes. And Have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VGames Posted December 16, 2009 Author Share Posted December 16, 2009 (edited) Thanks Rich, it seems that I may have to use a metal that is good only for display. I never really intended to cut wood with this thing I just wanted it strong enough to stand the test of time. I guess I should have left the cutting wood thing out of my explaination up above. A good metal fit for a display weapon that will let me at least swing the thing around much like my other swords that I have mainly for display is what I'm looking for I guess. Grinders and band saws were tools that I was planning on using just like you mentioned. I'm not gonna shape the thing from a huge chunk of steel, I'm gonna purchase a slab of metal and then cut it out and grind it down to the way I want it. Now that we understand what I'm looking for, any ideas? Maybe some kind of aluminum? I know you guys are big time anvil pounding sword smiths, and I hope that I'm not insulting your skills with questions like this for a project like this. But you guys seem to be the ones to turn to. Check this out:Real Buster Sword Replica Tested Of course mine will not be this big, but what kind of metal do you think they used for this? Edited December 16, 2009 by VGames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 That's a big hunk of metal. Looks more dangerous to the user than the target. I had a good laugh though. Thanks for the video. Maybe you could make a somewhat smaller version of it and still swing it around just for giggles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedwards Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 http://cdn2.ioffer.com/img/item/128/274/999/CxthpcrJYaUmKaw.jpg I am going to attempt to construct this massive sword in my spare time, but I don't know what kind of metal to use. I don't need the sword to be extremely durable because i'm not gonna be doing any kind of combat with it. But I would like to be able to cut wood with it if I wanted to. So I need to find a metal that's strong, light, keeps a decent edge, doesn't dent easily, and won't cost me an arm and a leg. This is mainly for show but like I said, I'd still like to be able to cut wood with it and swing it around for a while without having to worry about it snapping in 2. The sword will be about 6 feet in all. The handle will be about a foot and the guard will be about 2 inches. The rest of the sword will be all blade with a width of 10 to 12 inches. Any ideas? Go for it, VGames. Whether I or anyone else think it's good idea is not the point. If it works, if it doesn't, either way you will have learned something. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parker Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 ok , this is coming from someone who also appreciates the FFVII saga. yes, the Buster sowrd is very cool. no matter what steel you use it will be about 30 lbs if you want it to be a tru buster sword. i dont care who you are that would be too much for more than one swing. but if that is what you want to make then do it. my opinion wopuld be to make Sephirothes sword. it is actually a real functional and practical(in its own form) sword. it will still be heavier than most swords. but like i said clouds buster sword is very cool . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 Sephiroth (Final Fantasy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A katana like sword that is longer than a man is tall is a more serious undertaking. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat pete Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 ha i dont even think there are many guys that could carry a piece of aluminium that big....i think the original balsa wood comment was prolly what you want.....the other comment on weight, i think is very useful to you....sheet metal wouldnt work either... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VGames Posted December 16, 2009 Author Share Posted December 16, 2009 Well does anybody have any idea what metal they used in that video? Was it just some kind of iron or what? I'm going to make this even if I can't swing it but one time. I don't care about that. I just want a buster sword to hang on my wall that is very very close to the actual thing in size. I don't care if it weighs 100 pounds, what kind of metal should I use that won't cost so much. I'm not making a wooden sword, I'm making a metal sword. Did the guys in the video use aluminum? I like Sephiroth's Masamune Sword but I can buy that online for a little over 100 dollars and it would be an exact replica. Even the size would be acurate. You can't get a buster sword replica that's the exact same size as the real sword. The biggest one I've found was 56 inches overall. The real buster is closer to 72 inches. That's why I'm making this sword. I do plan on buying Sephiroth's blade eventually just so you know. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 Aluminum would cost less and can be polished to a nice finish. In 1/4 inch it would weigh about 20 pounds vs 60 in steel. Aluminum is easier to work with too. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Aluminum costing less than steel?? Where?? I should go shopping there... he would be looking at a 1/4 inch thick by 8 inch wide by about 6 foot long... I would by T6 but that is me... and aluminum abrasives are less available than steel abrasives... but you can use most coarse files and some wood working tools on it.. but it would be shiny... I like things that are shiny... It does not look that good at cutting... for devastating cutting efficiency either axes or artillery.. I say Mazel tov... and post pics when it is done!! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 The Book of Biff Archive #168 – Sword Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I checked out Speedymetals. Looked up 1/4x12x72 in mild steel and aluminum 6061 by grade. $67 vs $98 for a36. I know they are not the best available price, but they are convenient and I have had decent service. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 The Book of Biff Archive #168 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VGames Posted December 17, 2009 Author Share Posted December 17, 2009 I talked to my dad a little while ago and he's in on making the sword. I told him about making it out of aluminum but he didn't know if it would be cheap. So we're going to use some flat iron that he has at his job. It's free so that's the way I'm going. Like I said this is for decoration so I'm not worried about swinging it to accomplish 6 hit combos or anything. Since we're going to use flat iron I decided we were gonna make the thing a little more complex in design. So we've switched from making the original buster sword to something similar to the fusion buster sword that was in Advent Children. Mainly because of the thin thickness of the iron that we will use. I think it's gonna be 1/4 inch thick flat iron. So to beef it's integrity up a bit we're going to tack weld pieces of flat iron to it to make it look like it has depth and compartments. We'll grind down the edges of the extra pieces to make it look like it's one whole piece. Check out the sword that we're attempting to make something similar too:http://www.globalgear.com.au/images/wooden%20buster%20sword_2%20copy.jpg I don't know if we'll be able to make it just like this seeing as how we've never done this before as far as swords go. But nevertheless it will be our own creation. I can't wait to get started. Does anybody know how to make flat iron look like stainless steel. Even if it involves using some kind of finish I need to know. Grinding it all over will make it silver but i don't think it will make it real shiny. And I too like shiny things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyshackleford Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Honestly man, buy one or make it out of Al or plastic. 1/4"x8"x3' piece of steel is 20.4 lbs, and that's before you pack on support pieces. if that's the route you want to go, you better get real on some forearm strength: forearm training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Polish makes it shiny, you grind progressively finer and switch to polishing compounds, or rouge, and work those progressively finer. You can achieve mirror finish, then protect with wax, lacquer, or shellac. Most actual swords are steel, very few are anything else. In steel you are looking at 60 pounds or more. Carrying this thing will be a bear, swinging it will be impossible, and dangerous. Get the aluminum. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Can you expand the center holes REAL LARGE---like air frame members or steam punk stuff? That can drop the weight a bunch. Can you rivet on the support pieces from Al? You can get a quite shiny surface by buffing with a sisal buff and black compound, the better the surface you start with the faster it goes. WARNING: Buffers are machines that stay up all night thinking up ways to *MAIM* their users so BE SAFE! (I believe that more knifemakers have ended up in the ER through buffers than any other tool in the shop!) WARNING II: Even as an untempered mild steel or Al display only piece it is not a toy and you can quite easily hurt yourself or others goofing around with it---even with a very dull edge. So take care; hurting your friends is counter productive, (hurting yourself is just stupid!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belargehair Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Ok, I think I found some help.How to Build a Cosplay Sword Looks like fiber glass construction. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Ok, I think I found some help.How to Build a Cosplay Sword Looks like fiber glass construction. Have fun! I like that. If you want a better finish spring for a higher quality paint than canned sprays. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Sooooooooo, OK, I did some Googling......This is basically a cartoon sword?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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