so, i had a thought, for a long/greatsword, why not get 2 leaf springs off the trailer, forge weld them together and then make them even with eachother, and then, take another two leaf springs and do the same, take the two parts you have, start at the end and forge weld them into one very thick, very long sword.

so, is this idea a bust or possible?

Please read

Why not start with the right sized material. Leaf springs come in many sizes I have seen them 6 inches wide and 3/4" thick. Makeing a forge weld of that size is very hard. All but the most skilled smiths would fail and those that could would ask why would you want to. Its a poor idea I suggest you read up on some basic blacksmithing first.

It is possible. A great sword only weighs about 8 pounds maximum though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claymore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zweih%C3%A4nder

with a long sword weighing about 3 pounds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longsword

Phil

Actually some of the new things in the blade world start out just like this..about the only way you can know for sure is to try just wot you suggest and see how it works..Take pics.

Rich has a good point. Go for it.

"If we could all do the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves"- Thomas Edison

However, some of the things we are capable of are neither safe, nor overly intelligent. If you have the equipment and skill make the welds you describe, and you can do it safely, by all means go for it! Take pictures, and document the process!

Even if your venture isn't successful, you can learn from it!

"If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward...." Same Guy.

It's certainly not impossible. How large is each leaf?

bout 2" wide by 3/8" thick.

Just how long would the final length be??

Are we talking William Wallace great sword dimensions, something in the realm of 5 foot blade and 1 1/2 foot hilt?
Do you have a picture or drawing to give idea what your after?

dodge: i have no idea on length of said item.
adam: nope. im free-stylin'!

So we're talking typical leaf spring dimensions.

The sword you envision would weigh approximately 25 pounds, assuming each leaf is only 30" long -- most I've seen are longer than that. Even allowing for massive scale losses during welding and forging, you're looking at something two or three times as heavy as a real, functional great sword.

a.) As others have pointed out, it would not be a practical using size when finished. Maybe it could work for a portable fortification to hide behind, but try swinging those four leaf springs at the same time tied together into a bundle with baling wire and see if it's something you want to fight with against an opponent with a much lighter, faster weapon.
b.) 5160 (which is what the leaf spring has a decent chance of being) is darn cheap. By the time you figure in the cost of the fuel and labor to do the forge welding, you could buy a big enough chunk of new steel for far less.

This reminds me of the time before I had done much forging that I got the bright idea (without intentions of trying it since I already had a good 150 lb. Peter Wright) of building an anvil by forge welding railroad track caps together to build it up. Wiser heads pointed out the folly, the fever passed, and I make light blades on my Peter Wright. :D

Do you remember the opening scene in The Patriot where Mel Gibson is trying to make a light, strong, beautiful chair?

The secret to art (and proper bladesmithing is an art) is not trying to keep adding stuff, but knowing when to stop taking away, and still have the essence.

Even the largest historical greatsword that I have ever seen (and handled) was scarcely 1/4" at the hilt, and about 1/8" a foot back from the tip. And almost all were fullered to keep the weight down and the strength up. They were never crowbars with handles, they were "whippy" for lack of a better term.

Don't be fooled by wallhangers that come out of glossy catalogs and 3rd world workshops, research the real thing if you are serious. And then take ***one*** of those springs and turn it into a real sword.

Ok, Ive just been knocking the numbers around in my head and heres what I get. Using average spring length above of 30" and say, 3/8" thick. If I understood ram's original specs he wants it double thick and double length. So we have a blank of 3/4" thick x 60" long. Now, we forge this down to 2" x 3/8" at the hilt? With a proper distal taper and (not sure of the term) "facial" taper?? and lets forge; not scrape a fuller. forge down a nice.... gonna have to be 2 1/2 hand tang. I'm seeing (considering even moderate scale loss) a sword blade about 15' long. :unsure:

this was an idea that came to me out of no where guys. i didnt know if this was going to work or not. i didnt plan on using the sword either guys.

For nearly 1000 years a typical weight for an European sword for battlefield use was around 2.5 pounds.

Even Great Swords, Zweihander, Doppel Schwerts, etc were ridiculously light compared to what people *thought* they were.

The basic problem is that, besides being able to swing one for hours in battle, *heavy* is slow and *slow* is *D*E*A*D*. I tell people that I would love to face them with their SLOs using only a 6" knife as all I have to do is to dodge their first slow swing and then I am inside their guard and then they are helpless.

Some people get confused by "bearing swords" Ornamental wall hangers used to show off the power of the owner by being carried before them in processions and parades and NEVER use in battle.

If you want an oversized piece of spring steel you can buy a nice straight one from a spring maker with no possibly bad forge welds or fatigue cracks in it. Yes it will cost money but the TIME and Frustration it will save makes it well worth mowing lawns or washing cars to pay for it!

In theory, you could get 30 or 40 pounds of nails, forge weld them all into one big lump of steel, and forge that into an enormous sword-like object (or even a real sword!), But with very few exceptions, it'd be a pointless waste of time, effort, and a whole lot of frustration.

One thing to remember is that making swords is not cheap. even cheap SLO take some tooling and effort.

When I studied under a swordmaker one of his pieces of advice was that to do it for a living you had to burn through grinding belts as if they didn't cost a penny! Worn belts tend to overheat the blade and don't make as clean a cut on one.

I tried, I really did, not to post on this thread, but the temptation is too great. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. I'm forcing myself to keep it short....."REBAR" !!!!!!!!

WE all try and hide our weaknesses

Actually---No. The internet is full of "I've never done this before in my life but *this* is how you do it!" posts and even videos---remember the SLO videos that got pulled as they were so bad they were dangerous?

ive never tried this, the only forge welding ive done is a hand made stick of redneck damascuss, im wanting to, but i dont know if its at all possible, i might go with rth's method and play with rebar.