Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) A little while ago, I started fulfilling a lifelong dream: to make a traditional Viking sword. I started work in early February, and here is the progress: Three of the four core billets, 13 layers of 1084 and 15n20: Edited June 17, 2016 by Ben A. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) 4 bars welded up, drawn out to about 24" x 1/2", and twisted: Edited June 17, 2016 by Ben A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Bars tacked together, and ready for forge welding: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 The edge billet is made up of 25 layers, again 1084 and 15n20: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Here's the edge drawn out long enough to wrap nicely around, next to the welded up core. I left a little extra meat at the tip area to give me more to move around later: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Here's a closeup of the wrapper tip, showing the close fit: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) This is the first time I tried this method. I was thinking that the C-clamps would allow the edge billet to move as I welded, a bit easier than tack welds (with less mig spots to grind off, as well). I put the whole thing into the forge up to the first C-clamp, welded the tip in a contour on the edge of my swage block that fit just right, then welded the edge as far as the heat would allow. I then removed the first C-clamp, and pushed it further into the forge for the next round of forge welding. This continued until the whole thing was welded. I'm happy with the way it turned out. I welded a small piece of mild bar, something like 3/4" square, by 2" long onto the tang area for the sole purpose of being something that I could hammer on while setting the tip weld. Edited June 17, 2016 by Ben A. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Here's a picture of the tip after all the welding was completed. I gave it a rough sanding, and light etch to see if there were any gaps or weld flaws: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Here's the whole sword blank after some exploratory angle grinding: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collin Miller Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Sweet, those welds look solid as heck. I'm excited to see where you take this. “If you trust in yourself. . . believe in your dreams. . . and follow your star. . . you will still get beaten by the people who have spent their time working hard and learning things, the people who weren't so lazy.” ~ Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Detrick Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 You made short work of that! I am looking forward to seeing more of this. “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." -Albert Camus http://www.krakenforge.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emiliano Carrillo Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 This may just be the kick of inspiration I needed to tackle my next multi bar sword! Fantastic work, and clean well matched twists, I like this a lot! The edge wrap looks fantastic also. Apparently not an easy weld to make but a fun one for sure! I Also like how the edge bar is beginning to look, very organic. Any ideas on hilt components or style yet? Are you planning on forging or grinding the fuller? Keep it up this is looking fantastic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evelyn Randve Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 what is your over all length goal? make sure not to ruin our twists Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Colin: thanks! Wes: More to upload, probably tomorrow. Emiliano: I know what you mean, just lurking around here is enough to make me run to my shop! Type X hilt, grindint the fuller to expose the "X"s. Evelyn: Around a 30" blade. After welding it was ~26-28", I don't remember exactly. More to be posted tomorrow... -Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karim Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 idd great welds, what forge are you using ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Impressive work I'm excited to see where it goes from here! -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Very nice indeed! Looking forward to the rest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Pull this off and I smell smoke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Provos Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Nice wrap around weld! Looking forward to more. Niels Provos The Serpent in the Sword Videos - Sword Resource Search Listen to my Activ8te EDM music releases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Karim: I'm using a NC Whisper Momma propane forge on this one. Thanks everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Rough shaping is done. The sword blade is about 30-1/2" long, and the tang is short and stubby. I want to weld a section of wrought iron onto the end of the tang, to make peining easier later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Here is the scarf for forge welding the wrought into the tang: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 And how it looks after welding: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Here it is after rough grinding, and my first fuller grinding ever. I was using a 6" contact wheel, but I think that's too small for this sword. The fuller is narrower than the pattern, at this depth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben A. Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) Here's the sword after re-grinding the fuller with a 10" contact wheel. I cut a slit in a photocopy of the hilt I want to make, so I could push the tang through, and see how the whole thing might look: Edited June 17, 2016 by Ben A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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