Swordmaking!

[Journeyman]

I would like to make myself a sword to be used exclusively for ritual purposes. I have been looking around on the web, but I find myself coming up with hundreds of ways to either make one out of foamcore or by heating and hammering metal.
I guess I'm somewhere in between. I live in an apartment and don't have a garage or workroom. I'll be using only hand tools (file, hacksaw, etc.), though I may have access to an electric grinder.

Specifically, I'd like the following info from anyone who may be in a position to help :

1.) Metal - What kind of metal? Can I get it from Home Depot or a hardware store?
2.) Saw - What kind of saw/blades for a hacksaw?
3.) File - What kind?

I'm probably leaving out a bunch of stuff, but that's exactly why I am requesting info! :D

BB,
jm

[Ryhla]

I know of someone years ago went out to a junk yard and bought an old leaf spring from an International pickup. The took a grinder a blow torch and formed thier own 2 handed swords. Not sure what else they used, but with some experimenting, they came up with some decent swords that way. From what I remember them telling me, a sword can be made into different lengths depending on the spring. It wasn't hard to do since the spring made the sword sorta prefabricated. As for the hilt and pommel, this person really didn't fill me in on that. But I've always wanted to try using his method.

[BloodCrow]

If you want to make a fairly decent sword, i would suggest that you deffinitely get the grinder, and about 5 or 6 grinding, not "cutting" blades. you also need to get a piece of steel, low or medium carbon, that is about a 1/4 " thick, and that it is straight on both sides, this way all you really have to do is sharpen the sides, and cut the point, for wich you will need only one cutting blade, Metabo blades are superior to most grinder blades. and they last alot longer, after you get the rough edge done with the grinder blades, you can file the edge to perfection. i would suggest wrapping the handle, with a nylon or rayon cord, its hard to do it otherwise. if you dont get new steel you may have to take the rust of with a grinder, wich is easy to do.

Oh, and as far as files, a coarse file, and a fine file will do just fine.

[Journeyman]

Thanks very much, BloodCrow! Sounds like instructions even I can follow!

Much appreciated.

[BloodCrow]

no problem, glad i could help!

[Journeyman]

BloodCrow, could I get some clarification?

1.) When you say "you will need only one cutting blade," do you mean that I can get a cutting blade for a grinder? Or were you talking about a hacksaw?

2.) As regards the grinder, were you referring to a bench grinder or hand grinder?

3.) Will I need a vise?

Working on my shopping list.

Thanks again!

[BloodCrow]

no prob, sorry for the inclarity. You will need a vice, and as far as the grinder, a hand grinder will work just fine, and what i meant by cutting blade was a cutting blade for the grinder, there are grinding blades and then their are cutting blades. Grinding blades are the kind you will need for making the edges of the sword, cutting blades are the kind you will need to form the point of the sword.

[Journeyman]

Thanks again, BloodCrow. It seems that I come up with a new question every time I leave the board. It probably would have helped you had I put down all of my questions at once in an organised fashion.

That being said...

I have one more question! :ahhhh:

Do you recommend also cutting some metal away from the area I'll be wrapping the material (I'm thinking of a leather dog leash) around for a handle? Or do think I should just wrap the leather around the metal with the metal being the same width as the blade part.

Or put more simply - should I cut metal away from the handle area? :D

[BloodCrow]

Hmm, well thats really a matter of how wide your metal is, if your metal is any more than an inch then i would cut that area down to about inch wide. make sure that you leave about 2 or 3 inches from the handle unedged, in other words leave that area the way it is, because of 2 reasons (a it will make the sword stronger) (b it will help in case you slip or something, that way you wont cut your hand,) let me know if you have any other questions, i dont mind.

[Journeyman]

BloodCrow, you are a Goddess-send!

Uh, did I forget to ask about the guard? I guess I did.
Have any recommendations?

[BloodCrow]

Handguards, well this isnt my strong point, but i will tell you how i did it when i made my sword, first, i took some excess steel, about 6 inches long, and cut it in half, long ways, (using the cutting blade of the grinder) so that each one was 6 inches long by half the width of the steel(im guessing about an inch, or an inch and a 1/4) then, i put them together in a vice, and drilled a hole through the middle of them, after that i also drilled the same size hole through the sword where i wanted the handguard to be, then one piece would go on one side, and the other on the other side, I would suggest using 1/4 20 size drill bits/bolts/nuts for this, then take them and line them up (each piece on one side of the sword,align the holes and put the bolt through, and put the nut on, and you're good to go!) let me know how it works out!

[Journeyman]

Thanks once again, BloodCrow - for your patience as much as for the great information!

[BloodCrow]

Not a problem, im glad i could help ya out. Btw, im very interested to hear how it worked out!

[stalkingwolf]

if you are going to use it just for ceremonial you might consider
using a piece if aluminum bar stock. much easier to work and
lighter to use. depending on the length you want there are
several steel options, form stakes are one. as for hand guard
and hilt materials brass,and aluminum also make nice guards and pommels. nice hilts can be had from most any wood, leather,
and my favorite horn. they can also be had from various knife
supply companies. it really comes down to what you want and
how much you want to spend. I have a friend who is one of the
premier bladesmiths in the country, his run from about 200 up
to what ever you want. some day i will have one of his. that is
one of the nice things about making your own, you can do it a little at a time if necessary and have exactly what you want.

[Armitage]

I've read somewhere (I'll repost if I can find the link again) about using Fimo as the handguard and such, on premade but handle-less blades. It'd work well if you're using it for decoration or ritual, and the only problems I could see would come into play only if you were actually killing things with it. 8O

[Blademaster]

The best Site for you type of sword making is www.tournamentproductions.org/documents/warsword.html I have used it for several swords and bave found it to be flexable in design

[Greywood]

As someone that does this for a living,a couple of points. One, unless you're skilled in heat treating, please don't use any of the blades made this way for steel on steel contact. Yes, I know they're ceremonial, but the temptation does strike some people. The method being described is commonly called the "Stock removal method" of blademaking. Just grab a hunk of steel and grind away everything that doesn't look like a knife or sword. Now, I'm assuming that what you want is a real sword, and not a wall hanger or demo model. (otherwise you wouldn't go through all of this effort) That means tempering and heat treating your blade. Without it, all you have is a hunk of metal that is shaped like sword. When bent it will stay bent and will chip or break. I suggest the book "The Complete Bladesmith" by Jim Hrisolous. Very easy to read, and indispensible for the fledgling blademaker. Also, while a charcoal grill makes a good coal forge (with adjustments) do not use cooking charcoal for blademaking! It doesn't get hot enough, and imparts too much carbon into the steel.you can make a very useful forge out of a single soft fire brick, and make some wonderful blades with it. I've made several out of coil springs and railroad spikes. Also, seek ye the tome "The $50 dollar knife shop" for those with limited space and budget. Like me! Just my 2 cents (adjusted for inflation)

[Cobalt Cobra]

Also, while a charcoal grill makes a good coal forge (with adjustments) do not use cooking charcoal for blademaking! It doesn't get hot enough, and imparts too much carbon into the steel.you can make a very useful forge out of a single soft fire brick, and make some wonderful blades with it.

^_^ Woot! I had been toying with the idea of using my grill as a forge for a while, and I'm glad to find that it would in fact, work. :D

[Greywood]

yeah, if you add a layer of refractory cement down, and add a blower and tuyuer, you can use a regular round grill as a forge.

[Twig]

Greywood, would you happen to work for Windlass Steelcraft? Or do you do custom works?

Peace,
Twig
(Who just happens to be in the market for a ritual dagger) ;)

[Greywood]

No, I couldn't work for Windlass, since they're located in India of all the gosh darn places. But I've heard they do good work. I'm self employed, and currently making smaller size blades and athames. (Note this is not an advertisment) I'll be making large blades next year when I get my new home and shop set up. I trained at Randall made knives (if that matters) I like making big knives, bowies, hunters, and of course, swords and axes. Right now I'm working with Railroad spikes and coil springs as stock. Later, when I build my forge (propane only, coal sucks) I plan to work in Damascus steel.