I'm in the process of making a 13 1/2 bladed single edged short "sword" from 5160.

It started out as 1/4" x 1.5" x 17" flat stock. I forged the blade to shape and gave it an even distal taper. I left it a little thick so that it could be used to process wood if someone felt the desire. I have done no reasearch on traditional oe historical methods, and this is not intended to be a historical reproduction of any kind.



Here is a photograph of it just after the blade was forged. You can see that the tang has not been forged into shape yet.

This is a photo after the tang was forged.

This is the raw material which will become the guard and pommel (mild steel)

Here is a shot of the sword and sketch of what the handle layout might be.

And finally, the guard forged and fit.

The guard was polished

I roughed out the handle. It's maple burl, not sure if I'll go with this material or not.

And I forged and fit the first piece of the pommel.

I got the jelly bean forged. It's the counter weight/cap for the pommel.

Weight?

I like what you have done so far,and it looks as if you are being very meticulous.Sorry I cannot give you any technical critique,but I'm just not qualified.Thanks for sharing and keep the photos coming.

Thanks.

Thomas, it should be around 2lb with the hardware.

I did a bunch more of file work:

Looking pretty nice so far Matthew. One thing in particular strikes me though, the haft thins as it towards the butt and from my experience with handles that makes them harder to hold on to. For instance my hammer handles are wider at the end and require almost no grip to hold securely while straight or factory handles do require a secure grip and sometimes thought to hold onto in action.

Frosty The Lucky.

Great photos, good stuff.

Good point Frosty. And thanks Andrew!

well I finished it. I ended up not using the pommel hardware or the handle that I had set up above... No less, I'm happy with the end result - somehow it stayed and ended up straight after all the forging heat treating etc... The handle is Hickory. I probably wont be selling this one as it's a little rough, probably take it out in the woods and see how it chops cuts etc...

 

Nice anyway. I've had the itch to build one myself just no time.