First sword, Step 1: Design.

Mike Davis

Mike Davis

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Feb 7, 2006
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I usually make small skinners and chopper/camp knives for friends and family. I am obsessed with pirates, so i figured it was time to make me something. I am probably going to build a forge specifically for this, but wanted to post some pics to get some input before i undergo this.

Blade material options: 5160, 1084, or highly polished damascus( Need to finish power hammer first) 26" length

Handle material/specs: 5"(without any fittings)material undecided... Wire wrap will twisted steel...again unknown.

Fittings: all fittings will be made from damascus, carved.

Plan on doing a through handle tang with a screw threaded into the tang, with a larger threaded hollow to screw a cap into to hide the tang screw....if that makes sense.

I want to do a twisted, carved ricasso as shown in the picture.

I have never done anything like this before, so any tips,ideas, criticism, etc. will be greatly appreciated.
Ok on to my first set of ideas/drawings.

2011-01-25_03-06-53_54cutlasshandle.jpg


Apparently i have to wait for the second pic to upload, so i will post it as soon as its done.

Thanks for looking :-)
Mike Davis
 
Ok here is my overall idea. Looking for about 32"-32 1/2" total length. They were used for chopping style sword play so i am going to try and keep as much of the 1/4" thickness as possible. This one shows a few different tip options, 2 different clip options and one without....

So these are my basic designs. I plan on taking my time with this. I will be contacting Kevin Cashen for heat treat, as he is only a few hours from me. Hopefully he can squeeze me in sometime in his crazy busy schedule. Wanting to do a clay coat heat treat so hopefully i can sneak a hamon out of it:D
Ok here is the pic
Cutlasspic2.jpg



Tell me what ya guys think!

Mike
 
Mike,
Just remember you don't have to heat the whole blade up for forging, I only work 4-6 inches at a time. for straightening just move it back and forth in the forge to heat more.
At least you made the hard choice already, single or double edge.
If you get in trouble with the damascus, give me a call, I make sword length pieces too.
Thanks,
Del

www.ealyknives.com
 
Delbert...you just became my best friend lol! I will shoot you a call after i feed the munchkin lunch and we can discuss that. I am still at the beginning of my hammer build, so i am kind of stuck in mid stride...but that would save me so much time.....
 
GREAT design Mike! Is it the camera angle or does the handle angle downward? Make sure your length is OK if you will be asking Kevin because his pots are only so tall.
 
I like the falchon style.
The real work will be in the handle. If you have never done any of the things you describe for the handle, I suggest you do some trial runs in mild steel.
 
I have done alot of metal carving, but not too much of the twisting. I plan on doing some on some 1018 square stock i have before jumping on the damascus. I am still stuck on what to do with the handle. I was thinking maybe using a 5" block of stabilized box elder i have. As far as the handle, yes it has a slight taper. Might draw it out and carve that also, then i can add the ribs for the wire. As soon as i get to work i will draw up a sketch of the screw/countersink design i am talking about and post it. Guess tonight is a "play" night in the shop :) Gee....that's going to hurt my feelings :D
 
It's official...Delbert Ealy is the man, and he is going to make me a blade out of his super badass damascus! Now i REALLY have to take my time :) Thats a big, beautiful piece of steel to get excited about and screw up. ....Can't help it...am already excited!
 
Ok. Thought about how i want to mount this thing and this is what i came up with.
idufhweruvf-1.jpg


Ok i know this might not be the best way, but i want the tang bolt hidden. If you guys have better suggestions, please feel free to tell me....I am also going to design a scabbard for this...maybe wrapped in a jolly roger :P

That is for another time. As soon as i get the billet from Delbert, i have every intention to get jammin on this. I will post it as a WIP, just dont laugh at me lol.
 
My advice is to ditch the screw in the pommel and hot-peen the end of the tang.
Make the tang a square section and have a corresponding square hole through in the pommel so that some of the tang protrudes through. When you get everything together, drive the pommel into position, heat the part of the tang that comes through and peen it over. you can shape what's left into whatever type of treatment you want.

This is a die-hard traditional method and will hold up better than a screw if you ever get to using it.
 
Do you guys think it would make it look "tacky" if i did an airbrushed scabbard? I plan on doing the steel cap on both ends, but thought it might be cool to airbrush a pirate ship on the scabbard....Probably about 6-10 coats of clear coat and a ton of polishing. I will post a pic of a tattoo that i did,Not to be a cheater or anything.... kinda thinking something like this

483.jpg


Sorry that tattoo is a big WIP also lol, This is only the first session in the ship, have one more to go, but you should get the idea...
 
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No no no... you are doing it wrong. You want something more functional.



Like this...:p
huge-swords.thumbnail.jpg
 
Mike,

You mentioned that you would like a little hamon in the blade. One of the harder things with blades of any length is keeping them straight during H/T. Something you might want to explore is to clamp a piece of steel to each side of the blade. I recently did this on a 28" blade with two 1/2" x 1/2" pieces which not only helped keep it straight but gave me a hamon at the same time. The hamon was not as dramatic as clay coating but there all the same and it helped tremendously in keeping everything straight. (I was using 1084. 5160 probably wouldn't work as well for a hamon.)

Good luck & let us know how things turn out.
 
Gary Mulkey said:
Mike,

You mentioned that you would like a little hamon in the blade. One of the harder things with blades of any length is keeping them straight during H/T. Something you might want to explore is to clamp a piece of steel to each side of the blade. I recently did this on a 28" blade with two 1/2" x 1/2" pieces which not only helped keep it straight but gave me a hamon at the same time. The hamon was not as dramatic as clay coating but there all the same and it helped tremendously in keeping everything straight. (I was using 1084. 5160 probably wouldn't work as well for a hamon.)

Good luck & let us know how things turn out.
Click to expand...

I dont see why you couldnt do this and clay at the same time. What steel he chooses matters too.
 
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