First Sword Ever - need some instruction/hints please.

Col Defender

Col Defender

Joined
Nov 11, 2011
Messages
1,398


I have never made a sword but a great friend and customer has asked me if I could/would make him one like this. The sketch is rough and hasty but shows the general idea. (The spine will need more of a curve than I sketched) I usually work with 1084 and even have a 4' piece of 1/8" x 4"wide on hand. My intention would be to send it out for heat treating because of its length. Would 1084 work and is 1/8" stock OK or must I get it thicker? (The customer is more interested in slicing capability than chopping). If 1084 is just not a good idea, what steel would you guys recommend? Since I will be sending it out for HT I suppose I could grind it from most any reasonably priced steel. Any other tips or advice?

This will be a two handed sword.
 
And if I want to put a 1/2" Fuller the length of the blade up close to the spine, how would I do that? (I have made well over 100 knives but none with a Fuller)

I should also have mentioned that this will be made by stock reduction, not forging.
 
A 30" blade of .125 stock seems like it'd be really whippy...Perhaps start with something thicker and give it some distal taper? Maybe I'm wrong, i've never made a sword either.
 
hi, i am not a sword guy, but 1/8" seems very thin. i would go 3/16 and add in some distal taper toward the point.. i have done fullers on a milling machine, but it only works on knives with a straight spine. you could use a scraper for the fuller like the japanese guys did, but it will take some time.
 
I'd go 1/4" thick and taper it. You can grind the fuller with a small wheel on the grinder too. It would be tough to put a fuller on a 1/8" steel blade.
 
1/8" is too thin. 3/16" - 1/4" will work better.

Most of my short swords (25" overall) are made with 1/4" stock.

1084 should be fine.

You could grind the fuller in with a small wheel. Works pretty well.
 
That looks rather falchion like to me. From what limited data I've found, historical examples were not blade heavy choppers. While I don't remember seeing a thickness near the ricasso, I have seen reported thicknesses at the widest point of the blade to be around 1.7mm-1.8mm (between 1/16th and 5/64th of an inch) for a blade near your dimensions. This is with distal taper, but how much I don't know. Also this is a generalization since there are multiple types through the ages and regions. I am not an experienced knife or sword maker and cannot offer expert advice as to what you should make it out of nor the dimensions. I only offer a little info that you can go from if you wish to research further. Several of the historical sword info forums have some info worth looking into, if indeed the falchion is the desired inspiration. With all of that said, if I were to make such, I would probably use something like 80crv2 or 5160 between 1/8th and 3/16th of an inch. The BC machete that I've beat the crap out of stuff with for years is certainly not 1/8th inch and it's not flimsy at all, although it does not have a 30" blade. Grosse Messer were thicker though I think and one could see that style in your rough drawing as well, however they certainly weren't 1/4" thick.
 
https://www.facebook.com/weapons.world.official/videos/293728477709080/

This video is the "inspiration" for this whole idea. Note that it is a two handed sword and the handle is insanely long.

Sorry, I tried to put the video on here directly but failed. All is not lost though - if anyone is interested the link takes you to a website and if you scroll down just a bit there is a 23 second video. It shows a guy with the sword slicing through pig carcasses with ease.
 
Last edited:
A lot depends on what the owner will do with the sword.

If he is taking it camping and chopping down saplings and branches, it should be 1/4" stock.

If he is using it as a sword for combat or mat cutting, 3/16" would be good.

If he is going to kill zombies, 1/8" is fine, and you can probably skip the HT.



I would use 3/16" stock, and do a full convex grind, or a flat grind with a convex edge. There should be a 50% distal taper, with the thickness 3" from the tip being about half the ricasso thickness (3/32" near the tip).
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
A lot depends on what the owner will do with the sword.

If he is taking it camping and chopping down saplings and branches, it should be 1/4" stock.

If he is using it as a sword for combat or mat cutting, 3/16" would be good.

If he is going to kill zombies, 1/8" is fine, and you can probably skip the HT.



I would use 3/16" stock, and do a full convex grind, or a flat grind with a convex edge. There should be a 50% distal taper, with the thickness 3" from the tip being about half the ricasso thickness (3/32" near the tip).
Click to expand...

...scribbles into notebook
 
This video gives detailed measurements on a cutlass from the 1800s: https://youtu.be/gxuB8uIiEY0?t=4m51s (it will start at the important part)
Matt Easton is an expert in both sword history and use, so he has a lot of videos that are useful to those of us who make or plan to make swords.

Chris
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
A lot depends on what the owner will do with the sword.

If he is taking it camping and chopping down saplings and branches, it should be 1/4" stock.

If he is using it as a sword for combat or mat cutting, 3/16" would be good.

If he is going to kill zombies, 1/8" is fine, and you can probably skip the HT.



I would use 3/16" stock, and do a full convex grind, or a flat grind with a convex edge. There should be a 50% distal taper, with the thickness 3" from the tip being about half the ricasso thickness (3/32" near the tip).
Click to expand...

Thank you Stacy and everyone else. With a little more research I found out the sword in the video is a Cold Steel, Chinese War Sword, Model 88CWS. Blade length is 23 1/4" and a handle 14 1/2" long. Made from 7/32 stock 1060 Carbon. And it is very expensive at least by my standards. (Not sure I am supposed to state the price on the forum but anyone who cares to look it up can find out easily.)
 
On swords, this may be a little off topic but hopefully not too far...

So much effort is put into maintaining the largest tang possible in hidden tang bowies and the like. How do swords with through handle tangs get away with such relatively small ones? I mean they're tiny. Even on preserved period examples or on users that get beat on in reenactments or the like they all seem awfully small. I never see anything like the large tapered and radiused shoulder that gets hidden into a knife guard. They all seem to go from a 2" wide blade to a 1/2" wide tang without hardly any radius or taper.

I understand how it makes making the handle easier I just don't understand how it's sufficient for something that's supposed to do what a real sword is supposed to do.
 
Spalted said:
its OK , zombies are already dead
Click to expand...

Its even better than that ... Zombies aren't real.

I can't believe the serous discussions I have heard about zombies and what is the best way to kill one. It is about as silly as "Who would win in a fight, Ironman or Superman?"


My daughter is a ICU cardiac nurse, and a few years back, the CDC held massive drills on Zombie Apocalypse where the nurses and other staff put on stage make-up and dressed as zombies and went to the bus stations, public malls, etc.. They set up tables with emergency preparedness info, info on flu and pneumonia shots, and how to make an emergency kit. All wore shirts saying, "If you are prepared for zombies, you are prepared for anything." IIRC, they gave out bumper stickers with the same phrase. Cute as this was, it has to make you think about the lengths one must go to to get the public's attention about serious matters.
 
When I die, I want you to bury me on this hill, underneath that shade tree, with this hang glider... That way when zombie times comes, I'll be able to attack from above
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top