The Sword I made ...

[preachtheWORD]

Several years ago, I got it in my head that I needed to make a sword. (In case the barbarians attack and we run out of bullets!) My dad (maker_of_fire) worked with me.

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We started out a leaf spring from a big truck. In the pictures you can still see the hole in the middle, which we left so people would believe what it was made from. It was quite a challenge to straighten out the leaf spring. We tried several methods. What finally worked the best was this: I hammered it with a 9lb sledge while dad held it on top of a big stump. After about a day of this we got it straightened out.

I did not hammer it to make the blade. This was done totally by stock removal using a disk grinder. This was a ridiculously slow process because we did not want to overheat the piece and lose the temper of the steel. It took several days of grinding to get what you see in the pictures. I did not put an especially sharp edge on it for the sake of saftey. A 37 inch, 9 pound sword with a razor edge sounds pretty dangerous to me!

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We used an acetylene torch to trim down the tang. The handle is extremely dry locust wood, held in with brass pins and wrapped in leather. I shaped the handle for a two-hand grip, which is necessary with a sword this size. The pommel is a brass knob, which was actually a ball from a horse hame.

The resulting sword would be rather large and heavy for practical use in battle, unless you were a rather large and heavy barbarian. (I am large and heavy and I am not sure I could swing that thing throughout a protracted battle!) It makes a good showpiece, even though I have not kept it oiled as I should - you can see the tarnish in places. But it was a fun project and my first attempt at bladesmithing. I hope you enjoy it and are inspired to try something.

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[Justin Case]

Hassan CHOP !

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But seriously, Thats cool, You could chop somebody's head off with that thing !

[your_comforting_company]

Really cool PTW! Maybe you guys can make some neat tomahawks and machetes, and stuff like that too! I had to show this to my oldest son. He loves swords and such and now he wants a sword like that lol! Nice work!

[rwc1969]

That is pretty sweet. If I had one of those none of the farmer's melons would be safe.

[preachtheWORD]

That is pretty sweet. If I had one of those none of the farmer's melons would be safe.

Believe me, it was very hard to resist the urge to whack stuff with it! I guess my urge not to destroy all the hard work I put into it overrode my urge to chop with it.

It has actually come in handy a few times as a sermon illustration. Hebrews 4:12 says "For the word of God is quick (i.e., living), and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

[tsitenha]

Actually well done, sturdy to use and a joy to hold

[Camp10]

Well done! That has a very tough look to it and you cant do much better than leaf spring for a sword. Thanks for sharing.

[hunter63]

Very cool, man, can you imagine 20/30 thousand guys per side hacking away at each other? Toss in arrows, spears, axe's.........

[panch0]

Wow! That is awesome and great work. I still hate Grinding 6+" blades. That looks like alot of work. Very cool.

[rebel]

Nice job! What's next, a plow shear (Isaiah 2:4)?

[p moore]

Outstanding looking work! I don't know if I could resist the urge to wack something with that one.

Paul