45-70nut Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 My first build is a stock removal 5160 blade. Blade length 22" OAL 32". A nerve racking quench and temper turned out a decent blade that flexes nicely and is hard. I wanted to get a feel for it before I try forging one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 Very nice job grinding the bevels. Congrats on your success with the heat treatment cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Welcome aboard 45-70, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the gang live within visiting distance. Nice job. How'd you heat and what did you quench in? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Welcome to IFI... I always suggest this thread to get the best out of the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 Thank you. This was my first heat treat of a blade this long and I am still learning but I heated in a gas forge to about 1600 F and quenched in 150 F oil, and tempered @ 325 F. Not posting this as a recipe, only as a starting point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 How much distal taper does it have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 2 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: 1/4" to 1/8". It will stab through a steel barrel well enough. How much testing do you guys normally do after heat treat, before finishing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 Basic Flexibility and hardness tests. No Richard the Lionhearted/Saladin tests need to be done. You can stab through a steel drum with a pickax too but it doesn't make a good sword. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 Testing... cut an Abrams tank in half, then split an atom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 There was a Toledo blade at the Army Museum, (now in Toledo) that was bent into a multipass spiral and then inset into a block of wood to keep it from springing straight again. Lead Cutting, I believe there was a test mentioned in "Practical Blacksmithing" for military swords. Splitting an Adam was a test for katanas.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted October 13, 2018 Author Share Posted October 13, 2018 Another setback, I tried cleaning up bevels with diamond files and realized after one bevel the whole thing "bowed". I will try to straighten it at tempering temps. A common occurrence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 14, 2018 Share Posted October 14, 2018 Practical Blacksmithing: Vol 3 pg 150: contains a paragraph on swordmaking at Solingen , Germany and the testing they did. (Note: Hearsay at best!) Sword Blades. Sword blades are made and tempered so that they will chip a piece out of a stone without showing a nick upon their edges, says a gentleman who has been through the great sword manufactory at Soligen, Germany. The steel, he says, is cut from bars into strips about two and one-half inches wide, and of the re- quired length, by a heavy cutting machine. These are carried into the adjoining forge room, where each piece is heated white, hammered by steam so that about twenty blows fall upon every part of its surface, and then thrown into a barrel of water. Afterward these pieces are again heated in a great coke lire, and each goes through a set of rolls, which reduce it to something like the desired shape of the weapon. The rough margins are trimmed off the piece of steel in another machine, and there is left a piece of dirty, dark-blue metal shaped like a sword, and ready for grinding. This is done on great stones, revolved and watered by machinery, the workmen having to be the most expert that can be obtained, as the whole fate of the sword is in their hands. It is afterward burnished on small wheels managed by boys from twelve to sixteen years old, and when it has been prepared to re- ceive the fittings of the handles, is ready for testing, which has to be done with great care. Any fault in the work is charged to the workman responsible for it, and he has to make it good. It is said that any blade which will not chip a piece out of a stone without showing a nick on itself is rejected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 On 10/10/2018 at 2:09 PM, ThomasPowers said: Splitting an Adam was a test for katanas.... How did Eve feel about that? 16 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: It is said that any blade which will not chip a piece out of a stone without showing a nick on itself is rejected. Basalt or pumice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted October 20, 2018 Author Share Posted October 20, 2018 Chipping a stone is probably not a test I will try, but I do love testing and every test I do I go into with the mindset of: are you ready to break this sword that you have countless number of hours into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Have you read the ABS tests? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted October 20, 2018 Author Share Posted October 20, 2018 Just read the master Smith tests and that is about on par with how I test my knives with the exception of a 90 degree bend test. I have tested many to destruction. Couldn't find any sword specific tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 This is where I'm at. How would you guys go about a handle, keeping in mind I will be peening the pomel on. I had considered dowel risers wrapped in some braided line wrapped in leather. Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 wooden core with twisted wire wrap(bedded into a layer of epoxy) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 Finally done. Thanks for all the help and the twisted wire wrap suggestion. I never held a sword before making one and now have a great respect for this weapon of war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 OK now for the interrogation: what's the total weight and where is the balance point? The grip looks long was it intended to be a hand and a half? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 Best estimate on the weight is 2.5 - 3 lbs and the balance point is 1.5" forward of the guard. It is intended to be a hand and a half short sword. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 A close-up of the handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 A chopper! Weight forward and it's on the heavy end. Good practice blade. Got a pell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 You'll like using it more if the handle weren't tapered back to the pomel. Looks pretty good. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 I've never heard of a pell until now, but i will deffinatly be making one outdoors this spring. The blade is heavy but is incredibly sharp. All you can feel is the flex when blowing through frozen milk jugs of water. I had planned on making a riser between the upper and lower portions of handle but ultimately went with the strongest and most simple way I could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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