Heya folks... Got a rather oddball question kicking around in my head.
Some time ago, the landlady bought a short sword. I know exactly
*NOTHING* of who she got it from, or any details about it beyond the fact that it has some barely legible etching/engraving/something on it that indicates it was intended to be a reproduction of Bilbo/Frodo Baggins' sword "Sting" from Lord of the Rings. I suspect it's probably a product of the Franklin Mint or similar organization. Maybe the same outfits that put out things like Excalibur, the sword Rutger Hauer carried in Ladyhawke, Conan's sword, and similar fantasy/fanstasy-inspired display pieces.Their house burned to the ground a couple years ago, and this piece was one of the few recognizable bits of salvage, and is now in my posession. The heat was intense enough, and/or the position was right so that it "sagged" a bit sometime during the fire, putting a bit of a bend (not huge, but definitely noticable) across the flat of the blade about 3 inches in front of the hilt, taking the point out of alignment with the pommel - probably 2-3 inches off the plane that it's supposed to be on.
Now, I *KNOW* that this thing is never again (without more effort than it could possibly be worth) going to be the practically chrome-plated, shiny wall-hanger that it once was, but that's not a big deal.
Once I ground an actual edge onto it (sparks say it's SOME kind of steel, but I don't have the know-how to read them and properly decide just what kind), I found that I like it *A LOT* for the same uses you'd put a machete to. It's got a nice balance, decent heft without being too heavy, etc. But the bend in the blade makes it awkward to work with, to say nothing of making it rather difficult to accurate place repeated blows such as needed when trying to hack down a small sapling or chop a notch in the edge of a board.
I've tried relatively gentle pressure (I'm afraid of snapping it off - like I said, I've discovered I like it quite a bit) to straighten it, but no go - It's "springy", and returns to the bent shape as soon as the pressure is released.
I assume the only way I'm going to straighten this blade without snapping it off is going to involve some fairly serious heat, and possibly a hammer, then a re-temper, no?
That being the case, what would you folks recommend? I'm not particularly worried about cosmetics - The blade is fairly severely flame-marked, somewhat scaled, and rather discolored - It seems about half a miracle to me that the wooden hilt is mostly intact - It cracked lengthwise, but aside from a dime-sized place near the quillons (such as they are...) that scorched, it's otherwise intact, including at least part of the paint. If/when I can get the bend out of it, it's going to see use as a machete.
So, knowing what you now know (which is everything *I* know) about this blade, how would you suggest going about the task of straightening and retempering it? Like I said, the cosmetics are irrelevant - I don't care if the blade comes out 27 shades of black, chrome-shiney, or anything in between, as long as it comes out intact, straight, and with a decent enough temper on it that I'm not going to shatter it the first time I catch a rock or a fencepost, and it'll hold a reasonably decent edge.
All ideas welcome...