Pattern Welded Sword WIP

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I remember in Kevin Cashens write up "confessions of a bladesmith" he had a flaw in the final blank he was using for the thread and cut a V-shape from where it was (near the tip) and forged the tips of the V in and welded...I am guessing doing that to a finished blank would take a tremendous amount of skill!

What I gathered from that is location of the flaw is everything and you might be able to salvage a good blade out of it (even if its a little shorter). I can't wait to make my own norse style pattern welded sword, I have NEVER heat treated anything that big though so it will be a learning curve...one I think best practiced on cheaper steel with less time put into it ;)

Great work! it's really looking great.
 
Phillip Patton said:
.. usually if you can see a distinct line between layers, that means that there is a flaw there. Sometimes if you catch it early enough in the welding process, you can weld it closed, but if it's in the finished blade, then that means it will end up in the scrap bucket ..
Click to expand...
Lots of thanks for the honest answer Phillip :)
I think I could feel the sadness due to all the loss of time, energy and resources when that sort of things happen :(
All this while we only know the success side of the story without knowing that this sort of problem does happen once in a while behind the scene!
Hope you and all makers could minimize the possibility of this sort of problems from happening to the lowest percentage possible :cool:

mohd
 
Howdy folks,
Well, I've been motivated recently to finish this project. It's mostly what I've been doing the last week, so I've made lot's of progress. Unfortunately, I didn't document all the progress, so you'll have to use you're imagination to see some of it. :-)

Last time I posted (summer of 2011), I had just heat treated the blade. The heat treat went fine. I was little intimidated by the prospect of grinding such a long piece, so I just did a little bit here and there over the last year.

I was reading sword threads on Don Foggs forum, and ran across a great jig for grinding fullers. I decided to implement it. It went well, and that's what provided the aforementioned motivation. I didn't take any pictures of the jig or of using it, so I'll just link to the other thread:

http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=22814

So, the next progress I have to show is after hand sanding the fullers to 120 grit after finishing up at the grinder with 60 grit.

Firere's the sanding blocks I made to sand the fullers. They are both nominally 5" diameter (same as the grinding wheel used) but one has a slightly tighter radius. I used both blocks.


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The blade after sanding the fullers to 120 and given a light etch:

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Now the edges have been ground to their final thickness:

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The edged have been sanded to 220 grit and etched.

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From here on out I used the same techniques that I do with my damascus knives. Which is, I etch for about ten minutes, then sand with the next higher grit, rinse and repeat until it looks good. I finished up with 400 grit, then buffed a little bit, then one final etch, then sanded lightly with 1000 grit paper.

Here's the setup I used to sand the edges. It's just a piece of angle iron with cork glued to it, held in a vise.

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To sand the fullers, I just clamped the blade to the workbench.


Here's a pic of the blade being neutralized after the final etch:

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And some pics of the blade after final sanding:


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Now to the fittings. I had previously posted pictures of the guard and pommel as-forged. Here is the guard slotted for the tang and polished, ready for heat treating:

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The pommel partway shaped and also slotted (now THAT was pain!):

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Lot's more carving to do, but I have to make the shorter guard first. I forged that this morning.

It's the same as the main guard, just smaller. It's a little wider than the pommel:

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Here's a few pics showing the fittings slid on (minus the small guard), and also the final polish:

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Then the blade is covered with tape to protect me. :D

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GREAT work, Sir.......I can appreciate the taped blade. That double-edged 'short sword' I got from you was a challenge to wipe Renaissance Wax off of......only cut myself once! :eek:
 
This thread is awesome!!! I'm kind of glad I found it after most of it was done so I don't have to go through years of anticipation to see how the blade turned out.

Truly an amazing work of art!
 
I just had a look at this thread and have been blown away with the skill and craftsmanship in making this piece, someone is going to be a real lucky and happy guy to own such a piece. Looking forward to seeing it finished. Just awesome!!!
 
Well this is what happens when I disappear from the forums. Something amazing. I need this after my last similar attempt.. which failed. Maybe you have the clue I'm looking for. Well I will now back up and soak it in.
 
Here is the lower guard (or is it upper?) after thermal cycling, annealing, and grinding clean:

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Next I etched it to see the pattern, so I would know where to put the slot for the tang, and layed out the holes for said slot:

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Drilled holes:

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Filed out the webbing with a small round file:

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Then removed more material until it slid all the way up to the line:

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Another mock-up, after cutting the guard to length:

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Now holes are drilled in the guard for the rivets that will attach it to the pommel:

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Then the pommel and guard are slid onto the tang, glued together with super glue, then the holes are drilled into the pommel:

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Thanks everybody for all your comments! I'm grateful that you all are still interested after 3-1/2 years. :eek: I'm looking forward to bringing this project to a speedy conclusion. Sadly, it won't be for sale. The blade is not too straight (or the edge), and I've found a few small inclusions in the steel. It's been great practice though!

I'll be keeping it for myself. If I ever get tired of looking at the flaws, I'll throw it in a nearby river. Then 1000 years from now, some archaeologist will find it and wonder what a migration era sword is doing in a river in NE Indiana. :D

I haven't decided yet what the grip will be. Probably either wire wrapped or leather wrapped.
 
Now I mark 1/16" in from the edge on both sides at the top, like so:

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Then grind to the lines, making the pommel wedge shaped:

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Then I used the belt grinder to round over the edges everywhere except where it butts against the guard, of course. Still at 40 grit here:

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Now I line up the pommel on the guard and mark around it:

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Then grind close to the line. Haven't decided yet if I want to have the guard flush with the pommel or a little proud.

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I've also started working on the wood core for the grip. I'm using ironwood, because it's a heavy wood, and I think it's going to need some extra weight at the hilt end. I'm mortising this one. First step is to grind the ends of the slabs to fit the guard:

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And that's all for today, folks.
 
Next step is to rout the mortise:

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I routed too deep on purpose, so I could remove material with the grinder until the slot is close to the right size:

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Then I mark up the gluing surface and use a sanding board to make it flat. When the marks are gone, and it fit's the tang snugly, I know I'm done:

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Then glue is applied:

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then clamps:

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