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Don Rac

Don Rac

Joined
Oct 3, 2001
Messages
1,191
Has anyone made a sword around 20" long the hard way, with a file and your own manpower? If so, how long did it take? Or am I the only one crazy enough to try and waste a good year of my life trying this out?:confused: :p
 
Don,
You are not crazy. Just mildly retarded.:D That would be a joke... okay fine, I thought it was funny as all hell. Aaaaanyways to the point at hand. That is still one hell of a task you are attempting. IMHO. Filing a knife is enough of a pain in my ass, I'd never try a sword. But hey, no matter how much effort or sweat is ever required in your work, so long as you enjoy what you are doing. However, I would highly recommend this grand invention, knifemakers like to call it a "grinder" or even more fun I think, a "forge".:D Just pokin' fun. Why? Because I am an idiot. :eek:

-Jason
 
If you have the time and patience, why not? There's not a soul here that wouldn't respect an effort like that. I bet you'd keep that sword a loooong time! :D I think I'd avoid tough to work materials though.

Dave
 
I made a sword before I made a knife. Didn't have any suitable equipment. It took over a year and quite frankly looked like hell even compared to MY work!:eek: :eek: If I were to try it again I would build a forge at least. Why I didn't break it when I heat treated it I have no idea. God looks after fools and children. I heat treated it in a trench full of charcoal and quenched it in the creek.
 
There is another way. Don Fogg uses scrapers (they have a proper Japanese name which I forget) to shave the steel off sword blades. I'd suggest you check his site. It's well worth a visit by anyone interested in knifemaking anyway, and holds a treasure trove of information on traditional bladesmithing methods.

http://www.dfoggknives.com/
 
The scraper is called a sen, and can be made from a triangular file. It does work faster than a conventional file, and keeps things very flat.
 
Hey thanks for the reply guys! Yep after a whole nights rest I looked at that bar of 5160 and wondered, "what the hell was I thinking!?" I'll start with a file.....but if I get frustrated I'll move onto a grinder.:) That scraper DOES look like it can help me out too.
 
Don, pick up a bar of L6 from Admiral Steel and the right files, ie. coarse cut aggressive files and you'll be amazed how fast the files eat the steel. Admiral's L6 is annealed and cuts and grinds easier than anything I've ever used and when heat treated right it makes the toughest blades out there.
 
For some reason I remember someone here posting a pic of a real big double edge blade they had draw filed. It was awesome, had a really neat bevel to it that flared out towards the tip. I think it was one of the Jones brothers. Anyone else see it? Anyway, its possible, and you might have some mighty impressive arms when you get done too :D
 
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