Sam Salvati Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 (edited) Picked up the bare leafblade that Rick Barrett had on his website for the longest time (that no one snagged up!). It's 8670M, which is sort of kinda similar to L6 (i think). Rick said it is polished up to 400, still blue from HT in the salts. Sat down tonight to start planning out what I want to do with it. Busted out some tractor printer paper I got from a good friend and traced out the blade and though some different things out. Using some cool techniques I am barely scratching the surface of, in a very basic way, I laid out the guard design I thought might work cool with the blade. It will be a double ring sort of thing, with straight bars that are upset at the ends. I just put a wheel pommel on there for simplicity sake, I might change it I might not I might do some cool things to the wheel to make it not so plain, not sure yet. Blade is a diamond cross section, with a short fuller inset into a sort of hex cross section at the base of the blade. Edited August 18, 2009 by Sam Salvati Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah M Legel Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Although the picture is pretty far away from the hilt portion, I have to say that at first, I thought the blade was already fitted and by "WIP" you meant "needs polished" or something! That hilt looks like it belongs there, to me--very elegant! Now, if you stick an outer guard on there (like this, this, or this), then I may just have to fly out to NY and steal it from you when it's finished . Can't wait to see the progress on this one! ~Noah Karate ObsessionWasteland LeatherworkThe Wasteland Crow Project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Sexstone Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Sam, Just got the hammer all set up set up and and ready to run and you buy a forged blade? what gives? just had to bust you balls about this as a preAshokan test run. LOL ... So are you working out a design that you are going to forge? dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Noah, I was trying to figure out the logistics of adding side rings like that, but decided against it. Maybe next time Dick, yeah hehe just something to practice some hilting I have never done before, it's a GREAT blade too just could not resist getting a sword Rick made. I got the design for the guard all worked out, different than the picture but roughly similar. Pictures tomorrow, camera batteries are dead now. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah M Legel Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 Hmmm...weld it on? Haha, that's alright, it will be awesome regardless! I thought you said pictures would be here today--I demand pictures! Karate ObsessionWasteland LeatherworkThe Wasteland Crow Project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 No no welding that is cheating Here is pictures! Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Smith Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 very nice Sam. Now how sturdy will the curly parts of the guard be in comparison to the rest of the guard? Or is it merely for show? John W Smithwww.smith-forge.orgFire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky. But Crom is your god, Crom and he lives in the earth. Once, giants lived in the Earth, Conan. And in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered. And the Earth shook. Fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters, but in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield. We who found it are just men. Not gods. Not giants. Just men. The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Conan. You must learn its discipline. For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts.[Points to sword]This you can trust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 Very sturdy, the base of the tapers is about 5/16ths round tapering from there. They aren't really the stop all, but they will keep your fingers intact should another blade slide down and your finger is tucked over the guard. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah M Legel Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Well, I'm not big on curls, but that looks pretty darn nifty! How are you thinking of finishing it? I think it would look awesome blued, personally. Karate ObsessionWasteland LeatherworkThe Wasteland Crow Project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 i think that looks way spiffy Sam i think you did a great job so far .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Sexstone Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Sam nice idea and well done..... cool.... is it getting whiteworked ? are you bringing it to Ashokan? Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Stagmer Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Looks good sam. If you want to lose the look of the quillins being offset you can give them a slight bend to either side. Kind of like a katzbalger. I like your take on this guard. If you want a fancy turned pommel for any projects drop me a line I can always put one in a box. "ART SHOULD HURT" www.BaltimoreKnife.com BKS' Facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 thanks everyone Dick, by whiteworked do you mean polished? I think what I will do is get the blade and guard and pommel sandblasted and then etch them with ferric. I wish my only scotch brite belt hadn't broken, I think the blade would have looked great with a scotch brite finish against the etched hilt parts. I wish I knew someone close with a tumbler also, would liek to give that a try also. Matt, when I first fitted it up I had them bent out at an angle, seemed very bulky and awkward. I did also have them bent out horizontally and that looked fantastic, the blade is short though only like 32 1/2" so that zweihander style didn't look right, but I thought it fit best when they were bent up close to the blade slightly overlapping. I'll keep that in mind, I haven't been able to think up anything else other than a wheel for now. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Sexstone Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Sam, by white working I mean cleaned up with a file so the "white " metal is showing as opposed to the "black" finish of forging.... white working was used mostly in kitchen stuff or anything else that was "refined" back in the day... I wasn't thinking of polished as much as a draw file finish ..... there is a real good book by Donald Streeter with some beautiful whiteworked hardware tutorials.... not sword oriented but some nice forging and whiteworking... you have probably seen the book.... If you haven't I'll bring it to ashokan with me for you to see... Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Please do, I would love to see I think my old teacher in VT had a copy. I will try and see how much I can drawfile, doing the curls will be tricky. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Norris Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Sam, What about soaking in vinegar to lose the scale and then hot blued? I think it would be a shame to file the guard when you have done such a skillful job forging it to shape. Having the guard forged to shape so well just seems more impressive to me then it would if you make it look machined. ~Bruce~ “All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible.” Kahlil Gibran "It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them." - Alfred Adler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jipp Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 looks great sam.. cant wait to see her finished chris. i could complain but who would listen. chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Thanks guys! Bruce, well put, I polished the guard but left a bit of scale here and there, I am still thinking I might blue it along with the pommel. The contrast with the polished blade will be good as opposed to a semi polished guard with some black scale splotches against a polished blade. Got the pommel done, went with a simple bean shape (flattened disc). I'll snag some better pictures in the sun tomorrow. I polished the blue from the salts off the blade also and there is a beautiful surface texture underneath. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Helmes Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 you did a really nice job forging that guard out....you can always see the blacksmiths in the forum good work http://www.jeffhelmes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Bondurant Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Sam, Great Project. I just tried to send you a message via the PM function and could not. You need to check your mailbox and see if its full, dump some mail, or figure out why its not functioning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Bryan, I am all set on this end my box is almost empty? Jeff, thanks, it's got it's flaws though.......... Mounted everything all tight, I need suggestions for what to wrap the handle with? Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Chalifoux Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 (edited) Looking at the sword, my vote goes for a leather wrap with either oxblood or green dye...but this is just my inexperienced 2 cents . Looks awesome either way! -AJ Edited September 4, 2009 by AJ Chalifoux Facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted September 5, 2009 Author Share Posted September 5, 2009 Thanks AJ, I don't have much in the way of leather working stuff sadly, probably end up with some black parachord. Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Delfosse Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 please nooooooooooo it would be a shame to put paracord on a so nice sword.... instead of paracord, you can find , at least, big leather lace to use... my 2 €cents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Norris Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Sam, Paracord... Please. Please. Please. No! Do you have any baling wire? You could take a long piece, about 20 feet or so, and use Cold Blue on it. Then, fold it in half, chuck one end into your hand drill and clamp the other in a bench vise and run the drill on low speed until it is all twisted up as evenly as it will get. Next, take the twisted wire and wrap the handle with it. Fasten the ends by drilling holes and glueing the wire into the hole. The hole you start with is easy, the one you end with is a royal pain to get in there and still keep everything tight. When wrapping the wire onto the handle you can clamp the loose end into the bench vise and use the weight of your body to put tension on the wire as you wrap it around the handle. Last of all soak the whole handle with a penetrating glue, such as cyanoacrylate or a very thin epoxy, to make extra sure the wire doesn't move later on. The glue will do double duty and help protect the wire from moisture and rust on the lower surfaces where it is not exposed to wear. This will make an attractive, durable, handle that matches the style of your sword much, much better than paracord. Also, it is not too expensive even if you do not have all of the materials laying around already. ~Bruce~ “All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible.” Kahlil Gibran "It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them." - Alfred Adler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now