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by Benjamin Rial
For centuries the sword has played a prominent role in the creation and
destruction of nations, the rise and fall of leaders and villains, and the
discovery of new lands and peoples. What is it about the sword that captures
our imaginations?
Sword; sweord: swert: swaert: svero: sverd: svard: swerd: zwaard: schwert.
However you spell it, few weapons have as much romance, philosophy,
mystique, legend, and reams upon reams of information devoted to them. Why
is this so? Caliburn (Excaliber), Durendal, Aettartangi, Zulfigar, Curtana,
Honjo Masamune, Seven-Branched Sword, Tizona, Szczerbiec, Bhawani, Caladbolg,
Crocea Mors, Balmung, Joyeuse. Every one of these swords occupies a
prominent place in the minds, hearts, and literature around the world and
this list is just the tip of the iceberg. I happen to believe that the two
main reasons for the sword’s enduring popularity is that above almost all
other weapons, the sword is the most equally balanced with regards to
offence and defence, and that it has been to a greater or lesser degree the
weapon of those most noble or nefarious in nature. The difficulty in its
construction and the quality of the materials necessary dictate a higher
value and therefore limits its availability. Another factor in its lasting
symbolism is that it is designed purely for combat. It has no other uses.
Axes, knives, spears, bows, even the various pole-arms all have secondary
uses outside of combat or were adapted from mundane tools, but the sword has
one very specific use: to kill an opponent in battle. The attention given to
war and conflict guarantees that the items associated with it will be given
tremendous focus. What brings forth thoughts of glory or death, terrible
struggles for land, power, or religious zeal, and righteous victory than a
sword? It is fairly safe to say that no other weapon in history has such a
rich and well-researched history than the sword. Virtually every culture on
this planet has created a sword of one stripe or another at some point in
its history.
Forged by Ben Rial
How does one go about forging a sword? Is it simply a big knife? Not at
all. The forging of a sword is an exciting and challenging task that every
bladesmith should undertake at some point in their career. The challenge of
forging a sword is more than just the greater length, though that does make
the process that much more complicated.
The first consideration when forging a sword blade is the steel. Stick
with simple oil hardening alloys: the 10 series (1050, 1060, 1075, 1095),
5150, 5160, L6, S-1, and S-5. Remember, a sword is NOT a big knife. Knives
are expected to slice and cut. Though they can be used for chopping, they
are never subjected to the kinds of tremendous stresses that a sword is.
Swords are designed to cleave through muscle, bone, armour, cloth and even
smashing against another steel sword or other weapon.
Proper forging of a sword entails maintaining even bevels and even hammer
blows. Warpage becomes a much more significant factor when forging a sword
blade. Rather than 6 or 12 inches you are working with 30, 36, or even 40 or
more inches of blade. Uneven forging of the blade bevels can cause all kinds
of problems later that are much less easily corrected than with a knife.
Watch your technique and make your blows even and equal on all four bevels
of the blade. Start with the tang and forge this as wide and thick as is
practical. A good rule of thumb is to have the tang at least 40% of the
width of the blade. If you are starting with 3/16″ or 1/4″ stock , make sure
that the tang is this full thickness. Just remember that whenever you strike
something the energy travels down the blade and into the tang. This energy
has to be handled in a particular sort of way otherwise the tang will simply
break. So your tang will have to be as large as is practical, with no sharp
corners, and soft.
After completing the tang move onto the blade. Start by profiling the
blade into the shape you intend for it to be when finished. Just make sure
to forge it narrower and shorter than you want because these dimensions will
increase as you work. If you are going to give the blade a distal taper do
this next. One quick note: if you intend to fuller your blade, do not give
it a heavy distal taper. Now fuller the blade if you want to. Work slowly
and start with light blows to get the positioning and dimensions right, then
go back over with heavier blows.
Next you will want to start on the bevels. Work slowly and carefully in 4
to 6 inch sections. Be even and maintain symmetry. Be especially careful
when working around your fullering as one careless blow can ruin hours of
work and may not be easily corrected if at all. Start at the tip and work
towards the tang. Check for straightness frequently and make adjustments as
necessary. Check for twisting and correct this immediately. Left unchecked
heavy twisting becomes extremely difficult to correct. Keep your bevels even
and straight. I recommend austenite forging the blade. This process is very
time-consuming and harder on your arms, but the result is better monitoring
of your work for problems, a denser blade structure, more finely fractured
carbides and refinement, and greater toughness.
After forging the bevels check your sword blade carefully for
straightness, lack of twisting, clean, smooth bevel faces, an even thickness
along the edge, and dimensions just slightly larger than your goal. Anneal
the tang and shoulders of the blade at this time. In my next article I will
discuss the heat-treatment of a sword blade.
Benjamin Rial is the owner and Master
Bladesmith of Forged In Time,
a custom bladesmithing business based in the United States.
This page last edited on
Tuesday, 03 May 2011
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