ValentineForge Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 I recently finished this blade for a gentleman that does revolutionary war reenacting. It is a hand forged blade from 1095. (Quenched and tempered). 10" blade and 3/16" finished thickness. Just over a 4" hidden tang. I slotted the tang and welded in a 1/4" carriage bolt for the thread. The gaurd and pommel are solid brass. The gaurd was cut and ground from 3/16" x 3" brass. Annealed about 20 times as I slowly hammered it to shape and all hand filed and hand sanded the shell. The pommel is 1-1/2" hexagonal brass bar stock that I ground to 1-1/4" so I knew it was square. Drilled and tapped to thread on. 45° angles on the end and 16° angles on the handle side and hand sanded to final shape. All the brass was buffed to a nice golden mirror shine. The handle was made from a 1-1/2" square block of birdseye maple. Ground to size, shaped with files, and hand sanded to 400 grit. Topped off with 3 coats of danish tongue oil and hand buffed. I vinager etched the blade for about 18 hours and cleaned it up before final assembly. Everything was epoxy'd as I went. Right down to the final turn of the pommel. Its feels good in the hand and is quite well balanced. Feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 Very nice work. The only critique I have is in three very small details: The handle and the pommel don't line up; you can see in the last two pictures especially how they're out of line by a good 1/8". That really throws off the lines. The handle where it meets the pommel appears to be rounded under slightly. This wouldn't be a problem in itself, but it opens the door to: There's a line of epoxy visible where the handle and the pommel meet. That's disconcerting on a period piece and looks a bit sloppy. The real problem is that the level of fit and finish for the rest of the knife is so good (especially the S-guard and shell) that those three things really stand out. Otherwise, very nice indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineForge Posted February 4, 2020 Author Share Posted February 4, 2020 2 hours ago, JHCC said: There's a line of epoxy visible where the handle and the pommel meet. That's disconcerting on a period piece and looks a bit sloppy. There really is no visible epoxy there. I'm guessing it's some kind of optical illusion in the picture. But I do agree that the pommel is a bit out of sorts with the handle. I dry fit the thing about 200 times before final assembly but when I glued it up the pommel just didn't line up exactly. It either over tightened or under tightened by a half turn. It should have been a 1/16" reveal the entire way around. Not none at the bottom and 1/8" at the top. I'm not entirely sure what happened... but thanks for the feedback!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 4, 2020 Share Posted February 4, 2020 14 minutes ago, ValentineForge said: There really is no visible epoxy there. I'm guessing it's some kind of optical illusion in the picture. Happy to take your word for it! 14 minutes ago, ValentineForge said: thanks for the feedback!! You're welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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