October 7, 20187 yr 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.
October 7, 20187 yr Very nice job grinding the bevels. Congrats on your success with the heat treatment cycle.
October 8, 20187 yr 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.
October 8, 20187 yr Author 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.
October 8, 20187 yr Author 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?
October 8, 20187 yr 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.
October 10, 20187 yr 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....
October 13, 20187 yr Author 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?
October 14, 20187 yr 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.
October 15, 20187 yr 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?
October 20, 20187 yr Author 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.
October 20, 20187 yr Author 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.
November 17, 20187 yr Author 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?
January 19, 20197 yr Author 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.
January 19, 20197 yr 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?
January 19, 20197 yr Author 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.
January 19, 20197 yr A chopper! Weight forward and it's on the heavy end. Good practice blade. Got a pell?
January 19, 20197 yr You'll like using it more if the handle weren't tapered back to the pomel. Looks pretty good. Frosty The Lucky.
January 19, 20197 yr Author 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.
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