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I Forge Iron

My longsword forging attemp (WIP)


GeorgeLots

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Hello guys.

After a lot of reading and chating and advices and some knife forging attempts i finally started my longsword forging attempt from a leaf spring part.

The attempt started about 2 years ago. i got a piece of a leaf spring and cut a piece of 60cm long 8mm thick and 4cm wide.

Then i started the drawing out proccess wich took me a lot of time banging on the rail anvil with a pin hammer. Finally it ended up about the size i wanted to reach and it looked like that.

 

sword2_zpsf7bbffc1.jpg

 

sword_zps8bea126b.jpg

 

So after some corrections and forging the bevels and some more corrections i finally grind it to clean out the surface from slags and hammer blows etc. And it looked like that.

 

Sword9_zps64b30dcf.jpg

 

Sword8_zpsf9705a15.jpg

 

Then i made a guard from a metal piece and tried to see how it will look. So it looks like this. :)

 

Sword10_zpscd1518ae.jpg

 

Sword13_zps824f9441.jpg

 

Any comments appreciated. So far i am still trying to rough grind correctly. Since i dont own a belt grinder i use files and try to grind to the desired sharp point on all bevels and the proccess is slow. also i did drilled the guard  and the handle, made out of oak wood and doing the pommel. More pics will come soon. As for the quenching and tempering ....... well i dunno if will do it at all. i am afraid of it :)

We will come to that later i guess :) cheers all.

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Thank you Mitch. Thomas the weight of the blade atm is around 0,8kg. Total weight with handle guard and pommel i estimate it around 1.1kg. Distal taper it has yes. start at 4,4mm at guard and slowly tappers down at the point. the balance point atm when i place all the handle materials on the tang is about 10-12cm from guard. total blade length is 70cm. (keep in mind its my 1st sword forging attempt :) )

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Thomas it turns out the blade is going lower on the weight as i grinding it. it was at 800gramms when finished forging but with all the grinding and corrections here and there the weight is at 660gramms atm. The handle parts all together atm are at 700gramms ( bit heavy), but i have a lot of grinding and material removal for the final shape yet. So i guess it will be around 400-500gramms for handle and about 600-650 for the blade. Are these weights acceptable or the balance will be off?

Benton and Basher thnx for the guard. The pic above is the guard at the early stage, the rough shape. Atm i have grinded it a bit more and gave it a better shape . I also drilled (not punched, since i am not that good yet ) on a friends drill mill the guard and the handle and made some addittions with bronze pieces on a lathe. I post some more pics on the W.I.P. of the handle and how it will look on the blade.

 

Sword16_zps8319677e.jpg

 

The handle pieces all together. the markings at the bronze shows the part that will be removed to give the final conical shape of the bronze part.

 

Sword15_zps0719c345.jpg

 

How the sword will look like at the end. (short off i hope it turns out as i imagine it ) lol.

 

Sword14_zps0fa6ff16.jpg

 

And the handle on the sword again. Hope you all like. all comments welcome.

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Yes good point and notice taken. But the pommel is not that sharp edged. The metal part is 8mm thick and the edges are rounded and they will be fully rounded at the end.Still, if it dont turns out as i wish it, i can always make a new pommel :) Any comment-tip-advice on the question i made above for the weights?

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Well 1+ a little kg is a good weight for a using sword.

 

As for the balance Where is it supposed to balance? THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL PERFECT SPOT FOR A SWORD TO BALANCE; it depends on style, age, type of sword play intended, personal preference, etc and so on.  Also you  can't tell by the numbers as length of the grip makes a difference too---the pommel makes a big contribution in sliding the balance point back.

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ok got it. So it's not about the weight of the every individual part but mostly how they are placed together for the final outcome. Ok thanx a lot Thomas really helpfull tips. I'll keep in mind the tip you gave above also for the chopping swords , since it is the style i wish to make. Thanks a lot.

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The best thing you can do is to handle as many *real* swords as possible and eschew fantasy ones.  Hard to do as most of the medieval ones in good original shape are guarded by fierce curators.  *MANY* replicas are totally off.  If you have any WMA aficionados near you they may be aware of some blades that handle appropriately but are modern made.  And then there is pell work...

 

Are you familiar with blade vibrational nodes?  You want a node, zero point, at the grip.  Such a blade will act as if it's glued into your hand in use; if you get a max then the blade will try to leap out of your hand when you hit something---ever "buzzed" you hand hitting something with an object?  It had a max where you were gripping it.  Now creating a blade with such a node at the grip is more of an art than a science. 

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The swordmaker I studied under liked to create a graphite positive of the tang and have the SS guards EDM'd; until they got a new fellow who wasn't as talented as the old and the price doubled.  (the Swordmaker allowed as he wasn't willing to pay for the new guy's training.)

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  • 2 months later...

Hello again folks. Some more progress on the file grinding and sand paper. all done in hand. Also the handle and guard testing the fitting.

I am at the stage that i need to do the hardening and tempering of the blade and dont know how to accomplish it. I dont have an oven so big (that many swordmakers use) and my homemade charcoal forge is small for this proccess. Any ideas??

here's the pics. Hope you like it so far.

 

Sword20_zps4d5374e8.jpg

 

Sword19_zps2e58d61a.jpg

 

Sword18_zps0ecc0b58.jpg

 

sword17_zps42a28e49.jpg

 

Sword24_zps2ba65399.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've used it once before, kind of a Tim Lively forge idea. It works great. I used an old chain link fence post. It was rusted, so I knew most of the zinc coating was gone, so I just wire brushed it with the angle grinder and capped the end, drilled holes about an inch or so apart, and used bricks to make the "trench". Connected it to my roll film dryer and off she went. It was to re-harden the big section of a concrete buster bar. Got about 18" of 2" square a low orange.

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I don't know anything about this stuff, but I have to say it sure looks great.  One heck of a lot of work in this.  Question on the pommel.  Is the shape a historical replica?  Is that shape also used in combat, or is it just a design feature.  Any way it looks cool! 

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