Gladius Hilt

[Will Wilcox 207]

I'm thinking about forging a gladius. It seems to be one of the more esoteric of swords out there, so it makes it that much more interesting. 

 

I'll be going for a Mainz style. What I'm more concerned with is the hilt. I want to keep it historical in construction.

 

Here's what I'm thinking.

 

 

Now, from blade to pommel, I'm thinking about using a strip of silver, piece of ebony, another strip of silver, and a large rounded piece of ebony again, down into a bronze spacer. I'm thinking about using either bone or rosewood for the grip, cant decide. Then a second bronze spacer before the pommel, ebony and silver again for the large round pommel, then a small silver peen block. 

 

Here's some color to help visualize what I'm thinking. 

 

 

I'm mostly just curious to see what you guys think. Do the color schemes work? Construction seem historical enough? Bone or rosewood, or something else, for the handle?

 

Just looking for input, I guess. 

 

Thanks. 

 

[parsha 5]

I think the construction looks historical enough. I suggest rosewood for the hilt and instead of the two strips of silver on the front guard use a wide silver band with some embossed motifs.

[Alan Longmire 1,796]

I vote bone or antler.  Looks good! 

[Will Wilcox 207]

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. 

 

Parsha, I wish I could engrave the silver, but I am really not that good at it. 

 

Alan, I am kind of leaning in the direction of using bone for the grip, just need to find a piece that is solid enough to allow me to carve the grooves.

 

Edited November 14 by Will Wilcox
Grammar

[Will Wilcox 207]

Even if I decide against using bone for the grip, I am planning on taking a few of the larger bones from deer this hunting season, and going through the process of cleaning them. 

 

Anyone have experience with cleaning bones? I know a bit about it. Using hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach to whiten them, cleaning out the marrow and spongy bone, etc. but any advice would be welcome. 

 

Wish my uncle was around. He was a taxidermist and he had a big tub of dermestid beetles. 

 

[Ron Benson 57]

32 minutes ago, Will Wilcox said:

 

 

Wish my uncle was around. He was a taxidermist and he had a big tub of dermestid beetles. 

 

You can buy them on Amazon...

[Will Wilcox 207]

Ron, I guess more or less what I was saying was I wouldn't mind using beetles so long as I dont have to actually own beetles lol

[Rob Toneguzzo 249]

Looks good Will.  Like your drawings.
+ 1 on not wanting to own beetles.

[Will Wilcox 207]

Got the gladius forged yesterday, came out with a 21 inch blade, a bit longer then planned, but I'm rolling with it. I spent part of today cleaning it up. Its bulky yet, still needs lots of clean up before HT, but I'm really hoping I have enough tang for this long hilt. Currently have 7.5 inches, was trying for 8 inches or more. The tang is pretty narrow, but I might be able to squeeze another inch of length out of it. Time will tell if its needed, I guess. 

 

I'll probably end up going with a single piece of silver on the "guard" before the ebony, just to save length. 

 

[Zeb Camper 630]

Cool!

[Rob Toneguzzo 249]

Nice work Will

[Will Wilcox 207]

Thanks guys!

[Will Wilcox 207]

Well I started messing around with a chunk of deer femur today. I got a few pieces from a friend of mine who is a butcher, only one of them was really useful to me. Took a few hours to clean up the remaining bits and the marrow, but i think it looks good. This piece has too much curve to be useful for the gladius handle, but I'll be getting more soon, hopefully i can get a fairly straight piece. 

 

I'm waiting on this piece to dry out right now so I can fully degrease and whiten. 

 

I think the curve in this piece is just about perfect for a future bowie! 

 

The marrow cavity is pretty large, it will probably need wooden shims and tons of epoxy to accept a tang, I think it will work though. 

 

 

[Will Wilcox 207]

Anyone know a good method for sanding the pommel to shape? It's basically going to be an ebony sphere, with flat spots where the spacer and peen block sit. A wood lathe would be ideal, but I dont have a wood lathe, nor do I know anyone who does. 

 

I suppose i could just freehand it, but it would be really hard to sand a perfect sphere by hand. 

 

Once the sphere is made, it will be cut in half for the silver spacer, if I still choose to go that route. 

 

Just looking for input. 

 

 

Edited November 25 by Will Wilcox
Spelling

[Alex Middleton 260]

If you can temporarily glue a dowel or screw of some sort into the hole in the pommel that sits/screws onto the tang, you can then chuck it up in your drill press and bring it to shape while it's spinning.  Same idea as a lathe, just harder to use and much less convenient.

[Will Wilcox 207]

Hmm...  that's a good idea, Alex. With ebony being as hard and tough as it is, it will probably be a PITA, but I think that would work better then trying to freehand it on the grinder. 

 

Maybe I could use the same method, but chuck it up in a hand drill and spin it on the slack of the grinder belt? Ideas, ideas. 

 

Thanks, Alex. 

[Alan Longmire 1,796]

11 minutes ago, Will Wilcox said:

chuck it up in a hand drill and spin it on the slack of the grinder belt?

 

I'd try that.  Most of these weren't truly spherical anyway, more of a squashed oval with the longer axis in the plane of the blade but perpendicular to it. 

[Will Wilcox 207]

Interesting. It will probably turn out that way due to being somewhat spherical, then having a flat spacer placed in between the two halves. 

 

Really makes you wonder how they made these things 2000 years ago, doesnt it? That's one of my favorite things about trying to recreate ancient work like this .

[Will Wilcox 207]

And were ready to heat treat! Bevels are 95% in and machine ground to 220 grit. The edge is pretty consistent in thickness and the central rib where the bevels meet is fairly straight. 

 

This is a very complex grind. The constantly changing width of the sword really makes it tricky, but I'm happy with how it turned out. 

 

I left the tip with a very small flat spot, just because I'm worried about quenching this thing if it was all the way to a very keen tip. The "shoulders" were it breaks down into the angle towards the tip aren't perfect, so some post HT profiling is needed anyways. 

 

I have a good feeling about this one. 

 

Crappy cell phone pics, sorry!

 

 

 

Edited November 25 by Will Wilcox

[Rob Toneguzzo 249]

Hi Will,

looks great. Best of luck on the heat treat mate.

[Alan Longmire 1,796]

Good luck with the quench!

[Will Wilcox 207]

Thanks guys! I'm going to need it 

[Will Wilcox 207]

Had to make a new quench tank for this baby, and future swords as well. The ammo can just wont cut it for this one! 

 

Couldn't find a piece of pipe large enough, and I didn't want to pay shipping costs, so I just got some 2 inch angle iron, made a box, and TIG welded them together. Then welded that box tube to a piece of plate I had laying around, and added some carry handles. Tomorrow will tell if its water tight (I'm confident in the welds, it's not the first water tight container I've made. Cant see any light inside the tube.) After testing it for leaks, I'm going to prime and paint it, just the outside obviously, to prevent rust. 

 

Simple trigonometry says that I have 2.82 inches from corner to corner, which is wider then any sword I can think of trying to make.

 

The tank is 36 inches long. Should be plenty for the swords I plan on doing.

 

Not the prettiest welds I've ever made, but they're solid .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 26 by Will Wilcox

[Chris Christenberry 64]

............................and the two posts welded to the sides are what, handles?

Edited November 27 by Chris Christenberry

[Will Wilcox 207]

Yeah, like I said, just carry handles. Having it full of oil, it would be a bit cumbersome to carry just holding onto the tube.