Arming sword wip

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

Today was mostly spent filing the crossguard. Will sand away the majority of the file marks tomorrow and brass it.

 

Then I think I should begin on the grip parts

[Joshua States 2,566]

Looking good Bjorn.

[Francis Gastellu 273]

Very nice progress, and I'm loving this thread!

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

Well, got the guard brassed

 

Then after filing a little bit more on the tang to get the pommel closer to it's right place I cut down some ziricote for the grip and here is where it will deviate from the original.

 

The guy already owns a rondel dagger from me and wanted the grip to be in the same style. That is fluted in two parts with a brass spacer. That will also warrant some slightly different ferrules to better fit that look.

 

 

Good thing with shorter pieces is that drilling and filing the slots is easier but on the other hand they have to fit much closer to prevent any wiggle and of course mate to that many more surfaces.

 

And got it mostly roughed in on the belt grinder though I still need to thin it down some more and decide wether I will undercut the ends of the wood for the ferrules to sit into

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

Filed down each end so the ferrules should sit semi flush with the flutes but we'll see how that turns out

 

 

Cut down strips of brass and shaped them so that they are a tight fit on the narrower end of the recesses with the thinking I'll then stretch them out into a more conical shape

 

I'm really enjoying silver brazing if anyone hadn't noticed 

 

 

And as they sit right now after very slight stretching

 

 

Then decided it might be a good idea to get the flutes started to better figure out how I'll be blending the ferrules into the whole look

 

 

Guide lines are done without any measurements as the idea is to get that medieval non perfect perfection but having them still helps a lot

 

 

High tech filing station and I really have to have a word with whoever is supposed to keep things clean and organized in the workshop.

 

I feel it's easiest to get the lines started with a round file and then switch over to the square one to get them deeper and narrower

 

And then I realized I could just as well do the rounding over in the comfort of the living room 

 

 

It's coming along slowly but surely

 

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

Got all the parts fitted together 

 

 

the ferrules feel a bit plain but I'll think about what I'll do with them while I get the leather on the scabbard

 

One interesting thing is just how small and short the grip is even though it is a few millimeters longer than the original. I can't grip it securely right now as all the parts are loose but it feels like it's made to finger the guard. Holding it that way feels natural and the shapes of the guard make it very comfortable

[Brian Dougherty 1,422]

Dang this is looking good.  Did you do the brassing by heating it and going after it with a brass brush?  It looks very consistent.

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

1 hour ago, Brian Dougherty said:

Dang this is looking good.  Did you do the brassing by heating it and going after it with a brass brush?  It looks very consistent.

 

yes, heat and a brass wire wheel on the cordless drill. Doing a couple of passes to make sure everything gets covered does make it consisten but right now it has a bit of a rattle can look that isn't very pleasing to my eyes so before everything gets peened I'll going over the brassed pieces with a mix of heat, brass brush, oil and steel wool until it gets an acceptable finish.

 

For the next project like this I would like to do a proper gilding though as nothing really has exactly the shine like gold

[Doug Lester 409]

It's really coming along.  Anxious to see the completed project.

 

Doug

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

This is getting so close to being finished but still so many small things left 

 

Today I covered the scabbard with leather

 

 

after soaking it for about 20 minutes I clamp it and stretch it around the core to see where to trim and punch stitch holes

 

 

Leather is still such a weird material for me but getting a little better at estimating how much it shrinks when it dries

 

 

Here it is just stitched up and you can see the bulge at the threads

 

Yesterday I stole a bone from one of my dogs as I needed it to make a tool. One of the marvelous things about forums is all the old knowledge laying around and after seeing Peter Johnsons thread about scabbards and tools I just had to try out making a burnisher with teeth to make the lines along the edges. It works perfectly but Bessi wants his bone back

 

 

Stitching after burnishing and stretching the leather out. I've started to use this baseball stitch a lot as it is historical and in my eyes the most aesthetically pleasing. Stitch line ended up a bit off centre but at least it is straight

 

 

And the tooling is simple and made to match the sheath of the dagger he already has

 

 

I want to leave the blade in the scabbard for a couple of days while it dries to lessen any chance of warping so I'll probably do the chape next

[Alan Longmire 3,884]

Looking great!  Poor Bessi, though.... 

[Joshua States 2,566]

I am loving this WIP. Great work Bjorn.

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

Didn't get much done yesterday.

 

Made a template for the chape and cut it out of brass, folded it and silver brazed it.

 

For the ball I turned one end to slide snugly into the cone and then chucked it into the cordless drill to shape the ball on the belt grinder.

 

Planning to do similar filework on it as the quillons of the crossguard.

 

It is a very simple way to make chapes but oh how much I would like to get some casting equipment to make proper fancy things

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

Yesterday was long but rewarding 

 

Finished filing the ball of the chape

 

 

Then a few hours of final sanding and sharpening the blade. 

 

It was getting late but realized just how little there was left so decided to keep going and peened the guard onto the blade

 

I have never liked the idea of using the compression from the grip and pommel to hold everything tight as wood is natural and soft.

 

Oh and my vise in a vise setup to hold the blade 

 

 

 

Peening 

 

 

Then low tech stropping setup that actually works great for long blades

 

And assembled!

 

And got unusually dry and cloudy weather today to get petter pictures of it. That doesn't improve my photography though

 

 

it ended up 60 grams heavier than the original and a centimeter longer but I am still overall quite happy with it

[Alan Longmire 3,884]

As you should be, it's beautiful!

[Doug Webster 116]

Excellent!  I'm amazed you accomplished this in a mere fortnight.

[Bjorn Gylfason 622]

18 minutes ago, Doug Webster said:

Excellent!  I'm amazed you accomplished this in a mere fortnight.

 

It goes relatively fast when working with singular purpose but still roughly 150-160 hours in it 

[Brian Dougherty 1,422]

1 hour ago, Bjorn Gylfason said:

 

It goes relatively fast when working with singular purpose but still roughly 150-160 hours in it 

That's actually quite impressive.  I don't think I could have done that in 10 times as many hours.

[Francis Gastellu 273]

What a great thread this has been to follow! Thank you so much for taking us with you on the journey. It's a beautiful sword, very well done, sir.

[peter fontenla 100]

Beautiful and didactic work, thanks for sharing!

[Joshua States 2,566]

A truly wonderful project. Thanks for the process photos.

[Kevin Colwell 171]

this is a really lovely creation. I have enjoyed watching it. Great work!