45-70nut Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 Ok I must admit I was a little slow to get the stock removal jabs, I had that coming. Now I am taking it as a challenge. Ill try to keep updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 What jabs? All blades are stock removal or they're not finished. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted April 13, 2019 Author Share Posted April 13, 2019 Ahh, I really felt kinda guilty grinding a sword from 1/4" bar stock so this is a personal challange. I figure hammering in the bevels along with a fuller will be quite a challenge. And this go around I will have a much better grasp on the heat treating process for a sword. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Ah, the only reason to feel guilty is if you misrepresent your work. Practicing new or different skills is a joy and life without challenge is just processing food and air. Why bother? "Dum Vivimus Vivamus!" "While I live let me LIVE!" Enjoy the ride. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Actually it's the distal taper that is usually skimped on in 100% stock removal---either grinding or milling! And Frosty I'll see your "Glory Road" and raise you "RATS"! Paw Paw Wilson was a big RAH fan---why I wear an Aloha shirt with Lederhosen Fridays, weather permitting, at Quad State Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 40 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: I wear an Aloha shirt with Lederhosen Fridays, weather permitting, at Quad State makes ya easier to find that way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 There are always the hats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 TANSTAAFL On 4/13/2019 at 9:47 PM, JHCC said: There are always the hats. I'm thinking a hat with a birch limb and toe tag marked rejected. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Hey I get regular offers for my hat at the fleamarkets and in public...I think the most fun was a fellow who had been imbibing a bit and wanted to fight me for it---I told him I would arm wrestle him---and by the way I'd been smithing for over 32 years... He decided that Digression was the bitter phart of Velour... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Sounds like fuzzy logic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Sheek thinker for sure. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
45-70nut Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 Ok, this turned into a semi forged project. I have a form with a blade length of 30", 39" oal. Distal taper ground in with no bevels. I still need to forge in the fuller, but am wondering if I should go thinner as previously suggested. My question is there any advantage to going thinner vs thicker other than weight. I always thought midevil weapons would have been heavy for true battle weapons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Well for around 1000 years the weight of a typical battle sword was around 2.5 pounds. I've had folks tell me they were up to 40 pounds; I guess they have never tried to swing one at that weight! A lot of replicas are way too heavy because people "thought" rather than researched. Alec Steele has a youtube video where he is examining museum pieces and gushing about how LIGHT they were---what I've been saying for decades... Pretty much the same thing with medieval/renaissance armour; people tell me that it was so heavy they had to use cranes to get on a horse; funny it was about 40+ pounds lighter than a friend of mine in Special Forces, Nam, was expected to carry on foot and fight with... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 people tend to get caught up in the Everybody knows type of information, same in my day job as electrician, so many DIY people mess it up because they knew it was done this way.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavpilot2k Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 I'll echo what Mr. Powers has said. Most "real" swords were under 3 lb, with 3 lb being an unusually large specimen. Even things like falchions, which are considered chopping blades were still in the 2-2.5 lb range. You can't go by modern replicas because most were built with the assumtion of their having been heavy. Anybody who ever made a heavy sword obviously never had to wield one for any length of time in battle. Remember, other than those made for ceremonial purposes, swords were battlefield weapons meant to be used for extended periods. They had to be practical and usable. Same with armor. Aside from parade armor and some heavier examples of tournament armor (which was never meant to be used on the actual battlefield), a full suit of 15th-16th century battlefield plate armor was usually only 40-50 lb, with some outliers up to 55 or 60. Remember too that swords were not made to cut through armor. They don't do that - never could, so they don't need to be heavy enough for that. Accuracy and speed with a sword is infinitely more useful than impact force. And battle axes were also far thinner and lighter than most people, movies, and fantasy portray too. Think along the lines of hatchet head weight on a longer handle, NOT chopping axe weight. But I digress... (Sorry, you just happened to touch on a topic on which I could speak for days...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 *We* could talk for days; there were "can openers" but very specialized weapons used by specialized people---like modern snipers. Some people also get mislead by "Bearing Swords" hugely over sized versions that were only used in Parades or displayed to show the Might or Right of the crown or an office of the crown. But Hollywood is to blame for a lot of common misconceptions----Remember "The 13th Warrior" when they showed AB's character as not being able to pick up and swing a sword that WOULD have weighed about as much as a 2 liter bottle of soda? Then had him grind off the only hardenable part to make it into a style not used for centuries later? (Using a grindstone not used for centuries later too.) Or in "Pirates of the Caribbean" when they are making a big fuss about "folded steel"---when the cooks knives may have been folded steel (shear steel) as well? We inherited a lot of this from the Victorians and what I call "Wish Fulfillment" documentation. Reading the original sources and you hear of folks vaulting into the saddle in full armour or even swimming a moat in maille. The easiest way to identify whether an ax was used for chopping wood or for chopping people is that the wood cutting axes generally were heavier. Most soldiers in early medieval armies were peasant levies armed with spear. Swords and armour were a mark of Nobility who trained for warfare as a major part of their life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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