My first attempt at a sword

AK Knives said:
looking cool. What hapened to that propane bottle in the back ground of the picture?
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If your referring to the bottle that looks like it went through a fire it did. That's actually the forge I used for this huge blade. It will heat up about 7" of steel at a time. This is the first time I have used it since I burnt my shop and barn down 3 years ago. That forge was in the shop at the time of the fire and I thought it was trash until I tried it Saturday and it still worked better than my other forges.

BTW I just hardened this blade. It got one little kink in it but I removed it before the blade totally hardened. I've got a few more minutes to let the oven cool off and then I'll run my first temper cycle. All and all I'm really happy this blade turned out like it did. :D Now if I just don't screw it up before I get it finished off.
 
Man a shop fire would suck, did home insurance pay for damage or do you have to add the shop to the insurance? I bet that was a bad day!

You have it hardened your home free, It would of looked like a cork screw if I tried one that big.
 
That's just a monster, man! Glad your back is feeling better with some support, don't overdo it. We know how you get though. :D
 
ddavelarsen said:
That's just a monster, man! Glad your back is feeling better with some support, don't overdo it. We know how you get though. :D
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Dave, Its a good thing I didn't get that 36" deep Even Heat oven. When I first started this blade I was thinking "one time thing". I can feel myself coming down with sword lust. :D I just took another look at the photo of the blade cooling off. First thing that came to mind was stretch limo. As for the back if it wasn't for the back support I'd be dead in the water. I got my "man bra" on while I sit here writing this. We are getting another taste of winter this morning but there saying its going to warm up before the day is over. Not sure if I'll make much progress today unless it warms up a few degrees.
 
Ray,
Most of your big ones would qualify as a short sword to me... But this one screams for the title "Sword"! What kind of handle treatment you thinking of? Full or partial D-guard? Swept S-guard? Baskethilt? Or more of a cutlass treatment? :D
Are ya bringing it to the OKCA show??? Would love to see it win at least one of their awards!
Now - take care of that back first!
 
joeshredd said:
Ray,
Most of your big ones would qualify as a short sword to me... But this one screams for the title "Sword"! What kind of handle treatment you thinking of? Full or partial D-guard? Swept S-guard? Baskethilt? Or more of a cutlass treatment? :D
Are ya bringing it to the OKCA show??? Would love to see it win at least one of their awards!
Now - take care of that back first!
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Joe, Here's a picture of the Long Range Fighter. This is the knife that got me thinking sword. Basically my first thought was to do the fitting and handle the same as this one but now I'm not 100% sure what direction to take it. D guard did enter my mind. If I can stand to be in the shop for any length of time today my plan is to grind a full lenght false edge and then get the first hand rub done today. I'm always apprehensive when I grind these long false edges for fear of screwing things up. If I can accomplish that the door will be open wider on what I'm going to do next. I don't like planing to far ahead. There are no drawings I have to keep in mind. Its just coming out of my head like everything else I do.

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Awesome Ray, I'm sure glad to see you're up and at 'em, and that this blade is coming together.

Hope the clip comes out right!
 
I went back to look at the picture of it cooling off too; man, that is something else. I bet you're psyched and can't stop thinking what's next. I can't remember whether you said how long it is. Maybe next photo you can find a common object to put in the pic with it for scale. When you're grinding a long false edge, do you use some support at the grinder, like a tool rest? Just curious - it seems every time I try to use a rest it just gets in the way, but I've never tried grinding something that long. Maybe it would be a good thing. Anyway, I hope it warms up and your back starts feeling better soon. Take care Ray, and thanks for the inspiration.
 
As soon as I made it to the shop I headed for the the oven to inspect the blade. After looking at it with rested eyes I saw one more kink I needed to remove so I ran one more heat treat cycle and slowly worked out the one kink but the tip was looking a little off so back in the oven again. Past experience was going through my mind at the time. Thoughts like the easiest way to straighten a tip is to break it off and thats what I did. It does fit in the oven easier now but I have no need for a long slotted screw driver. I figure a little grinder enhancement can fix this problem. It should still be a shorter short sword but at this point I'll settle for just a big ass knife. :D I hope. One of these days I'll get smart enough to do all the picture taking and then share what I did instead of doing it live. While heat treating I was able to finish up this knife except for another coat or two of finish on the handle. Its got a W-2 blade that might be a little less than a foot long. I did a leather and brass spacer and its got a curly maple handle. The piece of maple was a piece that Stacy sent me that he had got out of Bill Moran's shop. Thanks again Stacy!

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Beautiful! But really, I'm still waiting to see the big one. :D Meanwhile, this has a really nice temper line, and I like the bright finish. That leather and brass thing really works too, I might borrow that idea some time. I'm glad you're feeling better. The weather must have picked up too. It's 60 degrees here today but by the weekend we'll be back to reality with the mid 30s. Still not too bad. Keep the pictures coming Ray! :thumbup:
 
You make me sick, man i'm about to give up.
Your work is one of the best , no kiding
vern
 
Seriously cool project Ray .

I classify a sword as l anything with a blade longer than my forearm from the tip of the index finger to the crook of the elbow...

Not sure how anybody else does it...

That is definitely a short sword.

Funny how a lot of dynamics change as the blade extends into sword range.

A little wobble to a 4" knife is barely noticeable...to a sword...a little wobble is a blaring flaw.

Shane
 
Looks pretty nice, Ray. Ya know I like the big blades. ;) In fact, maybe I'd prefer it even bigger, but this one is still enough to stir a response when I saw the pictures.

If you're thinking about doing another one, I'd like to suggest getting some inspiration from the messers depicted in some of Hans Talhoffer's fechtbucher. They kinda resemble your style, and are real weapons from the 1450's. Here's one example:

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If this piques your interest, there are 9 pictures like this in his fechtbuch of 1459. You can download a .pdf of his entire book here: http://www.paravoid.se/hema/manuscripts_german.html (scroll down to the one labeled Fight Earnestly) It's full of illustrations of all kinds of downright strange weapons, too.
 
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