Swordsmithing

Swordsmithing is what you start doing AFTER you have learned all the rest of blacksmithing, including a lot about non-ferrous metalworking. If swordwmithing was likened to a 4 year college course, The first

3.8 years would be as I described above and the last .2 years would be all you'd ge on swordsmithing. Then you'd be good enough to go to a swordsmith's shop and ask for a job sweeping up.

I guess what I'm telling you is that swordsmithing will take a lot of time to learn and a lot of dedication on your part.

I just googled "swordsmith" and got 61,400 hits.

You may want to start at anvilfire.com for some good blacksmithing info.

Here's where I suggest you start: New folks should visit the ABANA website so they can look up their closest affiliate (chapter). Personally, I am happy to answer a new person whenever I can help, but let me say this again: The VERY BEST way to get questions about blacksmithing answered is to get into a group that does what you want to do. There are over 60 "clubs" around the USA and Canada organized primarily to educate folks about blacksmithing. ABANA, the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America at

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has a list of the whereabouts of most of them. These clubs have various meeting schedules and conferences. The members range from "never lit a fire" to real professionals. Many have education programs. All of them welcome and look forward to meeting new members. Many of the members have been upgrading their equipment and therefore have things to sell, trade, etc.. Many of the groups also have newsletters containing "how-to" articles. For instance, our group, The Guild of Metalsmiths, has an index of about 750 how-to articles from our newsletter! Some other countries have similar organizations. So, to the folks who are new to blacksmithing: Find your closest ABANA affiliate, check out their website if they have one, and join the group. Get to a few meetings and introduce yourself. Tell folks about your interests and go from there.

Finally, when you post a message with a question in it: Tell us in general where you live like "west central Wisconsin" (me). Who knows--- you may live a mile from me or some other person who can help.

Pete Stanaitis

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BigHammerBoy wrote:

Reply to
spaco
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I've not met a smith (who wasn't a bladesmith) who knew anything about swords. No matter how well you can forge weld, you also need to know enough about their history and use to understand how to shape and balance it so that someone can actually swing it. Nor are there just "swords" - there are dozens of local traditions, all with their own style of use and shape.

If you haven't already read Hrisoulas, Kapp and a bunch of other books, you haven't been looking.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

"BigHammerBoy" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutcrafting.com:

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Reply to
Cothian
  • snip *

I've also been using swords, allthough not since I was four. My interests lie in blade/swordsmithing too. I do believe though that the point is that you need to learn how metal reacts under heat and hammer before you attempt to make a sword. Bladesmithing is the pinnacle of the smithy trade and to get there takes years of practice. I expect the first 50 blades I make will be complete flops in one area or another. Ie, the temper is not right, or it is too hard and brittle, or too soft... this kind of thing...

As for the use of the swords you wish to make, it would be wise to research on google or whatever the specific methods involved in making that particular style of sword. Some swords are folded over and over such as the Samurai swords (whereas katana are not as far as my history of ninjas go).

A good search on google for Damascus Swords and Daggers will yield a few nice results. I had a bunch of these bookmarked but lost them all in a recent PC crash so I can't point you in any more specific direction, my apologies.

Good luck :)

Reply to
Niko Holm

Hrisoulas used to participate in this group. Last post I see on Google was about five years ago, but pretty sure he lurked here later than that. I once received an email reply from him because he thought I was

*the* Bill Bagwell. (A somewhat well known knife maker.)
Reply to
William Bagwell

Then you already know everything and there is nothing else that anyone can teach you.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

BigHammerBoy explained:

and hunt for them.

Reply to
dgrup

Hello all, I'm new around here and I've been interested in smithing for a long time, however, I've never been able to find any information on the web about smithing, and my budget is currently nill for going out and finding books, or paying for a college corse in smithing. So I'd like to ask for some advice and direction, specifically about swordsmithing, as its a hobby I've been interested in for a long time. I know its not an incredably useful talent, but its what I'd like to smith all the same.

Reply to
BigHammerBoy

Well, I agree with Spaco, the best thing to do is to find some other smiths in your area. In addition to ABANA, you might try some local Rennaisance Fair/Society for Creative Anacronism groups, as they sometimes have blacksmiths around. If you're lucky, there might be a blacksmithing business somewhere in your vacinity. Or maybe a knifemaker. If so, give them a call and ask for a tour.

Just a thought, maybe you could start out making knives before moving on to swords? You can make a perfectly acceptable knifes out of old leaf springs. I think if you start out and make a few "good enough" knifes, then you can gradually progress to a "perfect" sword. That way you're learning as you go along, and you keep your expenses a little lower as you start.

You're going to have a very hard time doing it if you don't even have enough money for a library card, though. (Unless library cards are very expensive where you live).

You're going to need to buy a few hammers, an old anvil or railroad rail, or at least a hunk of iron you can pound on, a few files, coal/propane, etc... You can pull it off on a budget, but you're going to have to spend something.

Good luck!

Reply to
jpolaski

Is this your full cup grasshopper?

Reply to
bigegg

If you cannot afford a library card... ( WTF is with that, all I have ever needed to get a library card is ID that said I lived in the library's area).

Perhaps the next question is along the lines of "What color rocks work best as hammers?" or some such.

Talk about trying to do it the hard way.

If you want to find information about the stuff, you'll have to get a bit more specific in your websearches. Wanna build Japanese? Traditional methodology? Modern? Do you want to build European? Some other ethnicity? Theres lots of good info out there and probably twice as much bad, if not more. Setting up shop ain't gonna be cheap, either.

Best book that I have personally read on Japanese swordsmithing techniques was The Craft of The Japanese Sword

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Covers in good detail the entire process of the current state of the traditional art, including the mining and refining of the ore, the smelting process, the traditional forge, and the many other tradesmen that worked on the sword after the smith got done with his small part in making a complete sword. It also covers such things as the politics and restrictions facing Japanese swordsmiths and how they effectively kept a stranglehold on the ability of new smiths to come onto the scene and make a living, regardless of talent. But that's an aside to the info there.

Lot's of luck! Look's like you'll need it all.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Reply to
Trevor Jones

In responce to spaco's suggestion, my location is Canada, Bc, surrey. And thanks for the advice spaco :D.

Reply to
BigHammerBoy

In response to Andy Dingley, Like I said, I don't have the budget to go out looking for books on amazon or barns and noble, nor can I even afford a bloody membership for the library, -_-

As for the use of a sword, pal I've been training with the katana since I was 4 years old. I know how to use a sword, I know what to use it for, but I don't know how to craft them. Its a subject I've been interested in, but found little information on. I can certainly google swordsmithing, and get a crap load of hits, but nothing I've found has actually told me how to make a sword, what materials to use, how specifically I should fold the steel or w/e else is entailed.

Thanks for the book refferences though, maybe when I have some cash I'll go out and hunt for them.

Reply to
BigHammerBoy

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somewhere there is a forum specifically for swords.

You should start with some basic smithing and knife making first.

I th> In responce to spaco's suggestion, my location is Canada, Bc, surrey. And

Reply to
r payne

Reply to
doug roberts

Thank you all for your comments, direction, and critasism. Doug Roberts? If you could send me an email with a little more information, it would be appericiated. my full email is snipped-for-privacy@fastmail.fm, a phone number would be appericiated as well, so I could give you a call, maybe ask a few more questions.

Reply to
BigHammerBoy

Thank you all for your comments, direction, and critasism. Doug Roberts? If you could send me an email with a little more information, it would be appericiated. my full email is snipped-for-privacy@fastmail.fm, a phone number would be appericiated as well, so I could give you a call, maybe ask a few more questions.

Reply to
BigHammerBoy

How to make a sword...

Method 1) stock removal. Go the the spring shop and get some steel. Grind away everything that doesn't look like a sword. Go back to the spring shop and have them run the sword through a heat treatment cycle.

Method 2) the Traditional method. Sift beach sand with a lodestone to seperate the black grains. When you have about twenty pounds of black sand, go to the smelter and reduce it into a raw iron bloom. (see 'Iron from Stone 101' for details) Start folding the iron billet while adding carbon from finely ground charcoal or rice straw rubbed across the heated surface. Do this for a while, usually ten to twenty folds. Draw the billet out into a sword. Allow to cool and send to the shaping bench for final shaping by stock removal. After the final profile is set, mix up the mask clay and apply to the blade spine and flanks, leaving the edge exposed. Heat to quench temperature and quench in water to harden. Polish the finished blade and assemble.

Tools needed: forge, hammers, anvils, grinders, a couple hundred pounds of coal or a big natural gas line, a thousand hours of hand labor in very hot conditions.

Nothing to it...

Charly

Reply to
Charly the Bastard

Method 1) stock removal. Go to the spring shop and get some steel. Grind away everything that doesn't look like a sword. Go back to the spring shop and have them run the sword through a heat treatment cycle.

Method 2) the Traditional method. Sift beach sand with a lodestone to separate the black grains. When you have about twenty pounds of black sand, go to the smelter and reduce it into a raw iron bloom. (See 'Iron from Stone 101' for details) Start folding the iron billet while adding carbon from finely ground charcoal or rice straw rubbed across the heated surface. Do this for a while, usually ten to twenty folds. Draw the billet out into a sword. Allow to cool and send to the shaping bench for final shaping by stock removal. After the final profile is set, mix up the mask clay and apply to the blade spine and flanks, leaving the edge exposed. Heat to quench temperature and quench in water to harden. Polish the finished blade and assemble.

Tools needed: forge, hammers, anvils, grinders, a couple hundred pounds of coal or a big natural gas line, a thousand hours of hand labor in very hot conditions.

Nothing to it...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, I never knew it was that simple to make swords. What on earth have I been waiting for? LOL

Rodney

Reply to
Drakon1

Sword making 101 Quick and dirty stock removal =B7Buy a particulate mask, leather gloves hearing protection and eye protection so that your lungs, fingers, ears and eyes function the same when you are done =B7Get a leaf spring from a car or truck auto wrecker =B7Spring it straight =B7Borrow a grinder and lots of stones =B7Grind it to the out side profile of the sword making sure you don't cause the metal to start changing colors (removes temper) =B7Draw lines down the center and sides to act as guides for grinding =B7Grind the bevels making sure you don't cause the metal to start changing colors or cause uneven stock removal =B7Decide on the edge profile =B7Hand hone to sharp =B7Mount the bolster =B7Drill, mount. shape and rivet the handle =B7Wrap the handle with cord or wire for better grip

Understand the whole process will take many hours of hard work. See what other people are doing. If you are serous about it The Complete Bladesmith by Jim Hrisoulas ISBN 0873644301 is an excellent resource last I heard they don't charge you to sit in libraries. If you local library doesn't carry a copy sweet talk your librarian most of them are amazingly helpful people but they need to be asked. Sit down take lots of paper and make notes. Barring that get a friend with library a membership to borrow it for you. Make sure the library gets it back because I might need it next time. Here are some websites to get you started

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Reply to
wrenchpuller

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