How do I Make a Sword?The following text is taken from the Sword Forum Magazine Online posting area. Please feel free to go there, and ask questions about anything yourself. This particular article was written by Michael "Tinker" Pearce and first posted on the forum on or about 15 March 1999. The text is used by written permission and is copyrighted by Michael "Tinker" Pearce and Sword Forum Magazine Online.
There are no secrets in making my swords, and I am committed to sharing my knowledge with anyone that can put up with me long enough to learn. I'll describe making a typical European Medieval sword. I start with a bar of 5160 spring steel, and draw out the rough shape of the blade with a marking pen. The tang is typically 3/4 inches wide at the base of the blade and tapers to around 1/2 inch wide at the tip. I cut the shape out with a metal cutting band saw, then drill a small hole in the tang so the heat treater can hang the sword vertically in the heat treating oven, which produces less distortion in the steel than heating the blade flat.
When a number of blades are cut out, I take them to heat treat. The steel is hardened and Marquenched (a similar process that Randal and Howard talk about using salt baths- the heat treater that I use uses a special oil rather than the salt bath- safer and more environmentally friendly). This produces a very uniform grain structure and a high quality hardening that produces a stronger blade. The blade is then oven-tempered to a hardness of Rc58-60.
When I get the blade back, the shape is refined on a Wilton Square Wheel 2x72" belt grinder, then the edges are established on the same machine. If the blade is to be fullered, this is done on the Wilton's small or medium contact wheel, grinding first at 50 grit, then at 240 grit. All heavy grinding is done on Carborundum Ceramic Medalist abrasives that cut the hardened steel very cleanly and coolly.
Once this is done, the first grind lines are marked and the blade is clamped to a special work-bench, and the edge bevels are ground with a 7 inch hand-held angle grinder with soft abrasive discs (Medalistagain). Throughout the grinding operation the blade is repeatedly cooled in water to prevent it getting hot enough to affect the temper of the steel. After the edge bevels are ground, They are cleaned upon the Wilton with 50 grit and then 240 grit belts, the edges of the tang are rounded off and the shoulders of the blade are squared off if needed.
The blade is then tempered again, this time with a small, hot flame on an oxy-propane torch. First the tang is drawn to a spring temper (Rc45-48,) then the temper at the center of the blade is drawn to this temper, about 1/2 inch at a time, alternating sides to prevent warpage. Care is taken so heat does not bleed out to the edges of the sword remain which remain at Rc58-60. The end result is a strong, flexible blade with excellent edge retention.
The blade is then polished length-wise with Black Stainless rouge on a 14 inch sisal buffing wheel removing the 240 grit marks and produce a bright finish. The Guard and pommel are then sawn out, either from brass or steel usually. The guard is sometimes partially forged to shape then ground and polished. A slot for the tang of the blade is drilled/milled in the guard and hand fitted with a Fordom tool and files. Sometimes the face of the guard will be slotted for the shoulders of the blade about 1/16 to 3/32 inches deep. The guard is then soldered to the blade with a low temperature silver solder (Safe-Flo) that won't damage the temper of the blade. The joint is cleaned up with a small Scotchbrite wheel mounted on the foredom tool.
The pommel is slotted for 3/4 to 7/8 of it's length approx. 1/2 inch wide. The tang is rounded and filed until the pommel fits tightly. With the pommel in place I then use a 1/8 inch (sometimes 3/32 inch) cobalt bit in the drill press to drill through the pommel and the tang for a pin to retain the pommel. Wood is selected, cut to size and drilled through for the tang- I try to get a tight fit. I typically use very dense woods with a closed grain structure for handles- 65lbs per cubic foot and up. The handle is then mounted on a scrap piece of steel and shaped on the Wilton grinder to fit the hand and sword properly. When the handle is finished, a leather washer may be contact cemented to the wood handle to allow the wood to expand or contract slightly without cracking- this often depends on the type of wood, or sometimes just gut instinct about the specific piece of wood. The wood is then epoxied over the tang, the pommel is filled with epoxy and force fitted, then pinned. The pin is trimmed to length and riveted, then the excess is ground away and the face of the pommel re-polished. All excess epoxy is wiped away and the handle, blade and furniture are polished, first on the sisal wheel again, then on a stitched flannel wheel with Green chrome Rouge for the final polish.
The scabbard is made, (according to the instructions for a single seam scabbard in JPH's "The Complete Bladesmith") the blade is sharpened and marked with my maker's mark on one face and the serial number on the other near the guard. These are engraved with a carbide burr mounted in the Foredom tool.
The sword is now finished. Factors that are taken into account in the design are the distribution of mass, overall weight and correct balance. These factors, when properly done, allow for the blade to be harmonically balanced so that it doesn't transmit shock into the user's hand when a blow is struck, no matter how the blow lands.