Sword build: forged titanium [s]fauasart[/s] giant razor blade on a stick

[Mecha]

Presented for your enjoyment, the making of a forged titanium alloy fauasart, to be used in armored medieval European martial arts competition.

The fauasart is an unusual European weapon, sort of a blend of a sword and polearm. The goal for this one is a blade around 3 feet in length with a 3 foot handle, with the overall length approaching 7 feet. The edge and tip will be blunted in accordance with the rules of the competition for which it's intended to be used.

This blade begins with a huge bar of round stock titanium alloy, a nice dirty 6al4v. This bar is 1" diameter, 3 feet long, and weighs 4 lbs 10.6 oz. It will lose quite a bit of weight during the grinding process. This alloy is stiff but flexible, and very resistant to taking a set, cracking or breaking. After forging and processing, the hardness should be around mid HRc 40s for a tough blade.

Here is the bar stock next to one of my normally-sized sword blades, which are usually around 28-32" oal, give or take a few inches:

This project will reveal what a big forged ti blade is like in realistic edged weapon trials between armored combatants - advantages or disadvantages, impact, and control! The blade's future owner, [Classified], is a champion European arms duelist who's been competing for over 30 years, and he's sure to put this blade to the test. Stay tuned...

 

[JParanee]

Tuned in

 

[DocJD]

So , if yours was sharp for war , do you think it could cut most of way thru a guy in chainmail , as in the picture ? (At HRC 40)

 

[evltcat]

Subscribed!
What a cool project Mecha! Hadn't even heard of this design.

Can't wait to see what you come up with!!!!

 

[Lapedog]

I’m excited to see where this one goes.

I wonder if hitting a steel sword with a titanium sword would ever cause the two blades to stick, like a bare titanium lock nar hitting a steel tang.

Not stick like adhere (so I’m not saying you couldn’t
pull them apart) but maybe the blades couldn’t slide down eachother due to galling?

I am in no way saying that is the case, just curious as if it would happen or not.

 

[Mecha]

So , if yours was sharp for war , do you think it could cut most of way thru a guy in chainmail , as in the picture ? (At HRC 40)

Been thinking about this question. I think that some historical chainmail could be cut like that by some swords used by some people. I believe that through time there was a wide variance in all three of those variables. This one, all I know for sure is that it could pierce the mail and that it would certainly be felt.

There is of course good reason that the blades for these competitions have to be blunted and have a rounded tip. The fellow this blade is being made for wears titanium alloy body armor in competition, including welded ring chainmail.

I’m excited to see where this one goes.

I wonder if hitting a steel sword with a titanium sword would ever cause the two blades to stick, like a bare titanium lock nar hitting a steel tang.

Not stick like adhere (so I’m not saying you couldn’t
pull them apart) but maybe the blades couldn’t slide down eachother due to galling?

I am in no way saying that is the case, just curious as if it would happen or not.

Me too Lapedog! In my very limited experience, the ti and steel just damage the hell out of each other's edges.

 

[Mecha]

Change of plans: the brawny trip hammer couldn't handle the Power of Titanium©®™ and broke its ram head spring. A replacement spring has to be custom made, and it could be two months before the hammer is back in action. A new flat bar of titanium alloy will be rush ordered and hand-hammered into the fauasart. It should be good, but will be more plain and lack some of the more formed-fit sculpted goodness of a piece forged from round bar stock, and will be a bit less rigid and will have less of a dramatic distal taper which does affect how it acts in-hand and under duress, but the nuances felt will be subtle.

Broken spring on the 140+/- year old hammer:

The billet, now 4 feet long and still 1/2" thick, when the hammer broke the spring:

 

[DocJD]

Should be fixed under warranty ! I'm betting that custom spring ain't cheap .

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Lookin' good so far brother, sorry to hear about your trip hammer. At least I'm subscribed new so I won't miss anything.

 

[Mecha]

Lookin' good so far brother, sorry to hear about your trip hammer. At least I'm subscribed new so I won't miss anything.

It isn't my hammer, that's the bad part. It belongs to a gent who lets me use it for especially big billets. The good part is the spring is pretty inexpensive at $150, but it takes some time for delivery after ordering.

This is the problem with a real-time WIP: Broken equipment, which sometimes includes the smith!

 

[mete]

Very interesting !
Brings to mind two things. Jesus Hernandez made a Japanese sword designed for foot soldiers to reach up and cut a man on horseback. Long handle and long blade.
Unfortunately the video of making this is no longer available. The second is the butcher's splitting cleaver with it's long handle and long heavy blade used to split animals like sheep. Titanium

 

[Armadew]

Yeessssssssssssss. Subscribed!

 

[Mecha]

UPDATE: As part of this thread, I'll attempt to make a titanium alloy spring for the trip hammer's ram assembly, which if successful, should never break. It will take some very careful free-hand judging of spring pressure, and the rate at which it gets more stiff as it's compressed! Of course the hammer head is able to be adjusted somewhat to help tune in the new spring.

 

[WValtakis]

Careful with that Sam... the high speed/low drag, tactical power hammer crowd is a bloodthirsty bunch .

On a serious note, it'll be interesting to see if you can get a heavy enough spring rate in a size that will fit the application .
~Chip

 

[Mecha]

Careful with that Sam... the high speed/low drag, tactical power hammer crowd is a bloodthirsty bunch .

On a serious note, it'll be interesting to see if you can get a heavy enough spring rate in a size that will fit the application .
~Chip

I think it can be done. The spring stiffness can even be adjusted with heat.

 

[WValtakis]

If anyone can make it work, you can

~Chip

 

[mete]

I think this calls for a Ti-Ni based alloy Shape Memory Alloy for the spring ! Stop thinking in the past tense !

 

[Mecha]

Aaaand we're back.

The flat bar idea has been tossed, and the original round stock ti bar will still be forged into the fausart. First though, the new hammer spring must be made.

Broken spring. Look at the interesting way it cracked:

Enter big titanium round bar #2, the one for the spring! I hope it's long enough and large enough diameter. Only one way to find out!*

*Other than math, but here at Mad Science Forge we avoid using evil math.

 

[Charlie_K]

Mecha, at first you had my curiosity, now you have my attention. I know titanium can be used in making a sword, but I've never encountered anyone who believes it to be a good metal for such use because it can never be as hard as steel.

 

[Mecha]

WIP update:

After completely heyoka'ing myself with a real-time wip for this blade build, the trip hammer's broken spring shut down the fauasart forging. There's no way I can forge that huge blade without some serious mechanical hammer power.

Making a ti alloy spring for the trip hammer would work, but as it turns out I don't really have the proper equipment to quite get the spring made within specs. More importantly, I looked on the internet for a similar ti alloy spring, and turns out it's full of motorcycle springs for a really good price that are exactly like what I wanted to make. .-\

None of that matters now. Time is almost up to get a ti whoopin' stick made for the competition, and the mystery client gave me a polearm pattern that, with a nice crossguard, I think is even better:

Giant razor blade thing on a stick. Looks to be more of a guard's weapon than something one would carry into field battle. Something to pin down your foe like a bug. I like it.

After a lot of hand forging with the resurrected Meteor, this one is getting close to grinder time.

I'm gonna have to screw with the design a bit, as the finished blade's points must have a radius at least the size of a dime, and the edges must be as blunt as a dime.