A brief intro to info on my art, Swords

[Michael_Blacksmith]

Fellow Rebels, I was asked in my intro thread to share some of my work, and I think the Pub would be a fitting place to do just that! 

 

I have been studying blacksmithing in general for about 7-8 years, and about 4 years ago I took the plunge and opened up my own shop and decided to focus on making pattern welded steel, and the art from of working with swords. I have travels to museums and got to handle and document original swords, and have spend countless hours studying what makes a sword a sword verses a sword like object. 

 

If there is interest for me to geek out and really dive into it but I think for starters it would be nice to show the eye candy and take things from there. (Not to mention I forgot to grab my charger and am almost out of charge on the laptop!

 

Without further delay!

Here is a dagger I put together

 

Here is an Italian Cinquedea

 

And of course, who doesn't like a group shot!

 

Pattern welding, ya I do that

 

Pattern welded inlay, yup, do that too!

 

I'll post a few more in a bit!

[Michael_Blacksmith]

Now, when you are a swordsmith sometimes you are asked to makes spears as well. Here are two that I think turned out excellent!

 

 

 

And sometimes there are fun pieces with all the right curves in all the right places and the proportions just fit

 

Sometimes big swords are nice

 

Sometimes bigger swords are nicer

 

Sometime you need them side by side to really get a sense!

 

Of course, viking swords are really my passion

 

I don't want to overwhelm and post all the pictures that I have of all the things I've made, but I did want to share my "work" and what I do to support myself and keep the bills paid. I don't take commissions, and all of the pieces here have found homes so no sales pitch. Like I mentioned above if the crowd would like me to geek out and get into more info and details I would be happy to do so. All of my work is forged, and worked by me at my shop. I haven't done any casting of any of the parts, everything is unique and original to how I was feeling and what I was thinking that day

 

Feel free to do a search on facebook for Michael's Smithy if you would like to connect with me other there!

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Dude, this is absolutely friggin' awesome. You made the switch and this is your full time job, being a smithy? I can't begin to tell you how incredible that sounds to do. Definitely geek out, this will probably be my favorite thread ever if you do.

[Elastigirl]

Wow, these are so amazingly beautiful! What a fantastic job.

[candi]

Wow. Beautiful pieces of work. Excellent job

[Wolverine]

WOW. You are amazingly talented!  I know where I'm going if I ever need a sword...

[KAllen]

Wow!!!

 

You ever thought about SciFi or Fantasy swords???  bat'letHs & mek'letHs would be cool!!!

[geegeemcgee]

Awesome!! Very very cool, my friend! 

[Red1263]

HACHI MACHI!! Those swords are AWESOME! How much does it take for you to make these swords? do you take requests? Can you make Battle-ready fantasy swords? GAHH!! My mind is trying not to explode!

[shortstuff]

Wow!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I think you have just become the official Armorer of the Rebellion!

[Michael_Blacksmith]

Thanks for all the feedback! 

CoreyD, Yes I made the switch over to doing this full time as my "job" and have been running after it since then!

 

Hey Red1263, I have no idea how long it takes for me to make a sword... Time doesn't exist in my universe and I don't have a single clock in the shop. If the mojo is flowing and I get in the groove I can usually turn one out in about a month more or less, however I utilize salt baths for my heat treating and I have to batch multiple pieces to make it worth the energy consumption it takes to get them up to temperature. What are salt baths? Good question, they are essentially a mix of neutralized salt that are heated in a tube to a desired temperature, in my case around 1550F and the blade is soaked in the salt to come up to temperature for quenching. Think of it as my own personal volcano! Here is a shot of a spear getting up to temp, note the awesome heart shape that is formed where the steel hasn't quite got hot enough yet.

 

 

So let's geek out. Battle-ready, tactical, sharp, these are terms that are often used when the subject of swords comes up, which are extremely redundant! When you walk into a "mall sword shop" I can almost guarantee that they don't have a single sword, but they do have many sword-like-objects. Asking for a battle-ready or tactical sword is essentially like going into a computer store and asking for a computer that functions, or asking a car dealer if they have a car that has a motor in it. The sword at its core is a functional tool, but it is more then that. It is an extension of the warriors body and equally as important their mind. When the sword was used in period the warriors didn't think in term of "Ohhh, I have to do this, and I have to do that" adrenaline and training would take over and the sword moved fluidly in accordance with the warrior. When you handle a sword from the bronze age the weight might surprise you, but then you study the cross section and weight distribution and it starts to make sense that this was a weapon who's primary use would be trusting. You look at the culture and type of warfare that existed during that time and we see groups of people fighting in groups with large shields so it all starts to make sense. Then we fast forward to the Renaissance and the rapier, also meant from trusting, but in a different context. The blade is long and slender, the fighting style and use of the weapon was much more personalized, the use of shields was replaced with either a small buckler or a knife. When you hold a rapier out in front of you and move your hand to any other position the tip will stay exactly where it was aimed. There was a purpose for this, you want you point to stay on your target, and you want the blade to act as a lever used to deflect the opponents blade. When the time is right a single thrust will deliver the point to exactly where it needs to go. To have a rapier who's point wanders or moves with your every movement would disconnect the user from the weapon. As a swordsman you aren't thinking about "where is my point" and if you do you are not in the fight. Likewise when we take a look a later medieval swords that had stiff diamond cross sections we have a very similarly balanced weapon. 

 

Going further back we take a look at viking swords, and early medieval swords which had a different purpose, to cut and slice, but also to block and protect when needed. The first thing to note is that and edge on edge contact was very bad, and still is. This will result in nicks no matter how well the steel was heat treated, blocking and redirecting of an opponents blade was best accomplished using the flat of the sword, or better yet with foot work and the use of a shield. Remember, swords don't fight swords, people fight people. 

 

So the dynamics of the sword are extremely important to note. There are several nodes in the grip, as well as in the blade, and swords need to be thought of as flexible, moving pieces of steel rather then hard heavy crowbars. In the instance of viking and early medieval swords when you hold them in your hand, slap the pommel. What will happen, if the sword has proper mass distribution, taper, edge, balance, is there will be a spot somewhere close to the guard where the sword doesn't vibrate, and there is a similar point in the blade, usually I found to be around 22" more or less forward of the guard. There is referred to as the sweet spot, and then you make a strike with this part of the blade you will transfer the maximum amount of energy in the most controlled way. Another point to not is the pivot point which is determined by holding the blade at the guard and swinging it back and forth, and once again there will be a spot on the blade that is stationary. If you are really good, you can line up the pivot point with the forward node of the blade  

 

Holy rambling batman! Time to punch out and do some work but I'd be happy to answer more questions and I'll add a bit more in another post

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I'm pesonally very familiar with the vibrational nodes.  I studied them in engineering school.  Baseball bats have them too and that's the node you want to hit the ball on to get maximum distance. The reason bats are shaped the way they are is to put both nodes on the barrel so that you have an increased chance of hitting on or close to one of them, incresaing the power transfer. This also puts them close together, which makes the section between more powerful to hit off of, as the closer the nodes are, the less vibration in the area between them the better power transfer in that area.

 

For swords, you have one node toward the end of the blade for the purposes you said, transferring the momentum to the target. The other is close to the guard. The closer it is to the guard, from what I understand, the better it would be for thrusting combat as it would offer more control of the sort your talked about.  For short swords and rapiers, isn't it commonly in the guard or handle for the thrusting swords? The further it is, the better for a swinging type weapon it is as the end of the blade will carry more momentum.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Do you take commissions?  I have a fantasy series I've wanted to write for a while with a particular sword as the McGuffin, I've always wanted to get that sword made so I'd have something to look at while I write.

[Spider-Dan]

Epic work! Can you give any tips to someone looking to try this for the first time? I have it on my Epic Quest list to forge my own sword. 

[IslandGirl_Becks]

Stunning! I'm a hobby blacksmith, but what I do is mostly camp tools. Your art what I aspire to! 

What's your favorite steel to work with?

[Michael_Blacksmith]

Vibrational nodes don't actually have any influence on handling, it is more of how energy is transferred in the sword when it comes into some form of contact with another object. The node closest to the guard should in theory line up with where the most stable part of your grip on the sword is located. I am not as familiar with vibrational nodes on small swords and rapiers as I am with early and middle medieval era swords so I can't comment too much on that, although I would imagine that they still have a node in the grip, however point control and balance becomes essential since that is where the action is!

 

TankTimus, shoot me a PM with some more info, I don't take commissions but always looking to help and inspire other artists.

 

dmccarthy, Do you have any experience with forging? Jumping into the task of forging a sword for the first time can be a bit overwhelming as a first forging project. I can however offer more then advice, I offer classes so if you wanted to work one on one to complete an Epic Quest, I would be happy to offer my shop and knowledge.

 

Buckthetide, Hurray for another blacksmith! Speaking of tools I just picked up an old DoAll bandsaw and am trying to figure out how to convert it to 220V from 440V. Electricity scares me, if I can't hit it with a hammer to fix it I get confused. For mono-steel blades L6 is my favorite in terms of end result. I can get a crazy thin edge and reduce a lot of weight and still have excellent edge retention. In terms of to forge, W2 is wonderful! Last fall I started smelting my own steel and that is ridiculously beautiful to forge So soft and easy to move, has a gorgeous grain pattern, and best of all I start with dust and finish with a blade. Really can't top that!

[Mordechaj]

Very nice eye for the detail!

 

Would you care to divulge your heat treatment? (except for the sat bath temp that you said above)

[Michael_Blacksmith]

Absolutely! 

 

So after I am done forging a blade I will heat it back up to a very dull red, just after it turns non-magnetic, and let it slowly cool to room temperature. This step is repeated 3 times. Afterwards there is heavy scale removal and preliminary shaping of the blade. At this stage the blade most likely has warped from the release of stress in the steel, and is mostly in it's final shape and proportions. So once again into the forge at the same low red heat and with very light and fast tapping on the anvil the blade is straightened and the grain structure is refined. You can actually see pockets of dark spots in the steel that "suck" heat away faster, these are areas that have larger grain structures and by cooling the metal faster, since it is in contact with the anvil face, you slow break those areas down so that you have a homogenous grain size throughout. Once the blade is heating and cooling in a very consistent manner, and is straight, I will give it one more soak to dull red and air cool.

 

Now I do my final grinding and clean up, and the blade is ready for hardening.

 

I fire up my salt pots, and I hang the blade in the bath for 3 cycles. Assuming I am dealing with L6, I soak the blade for 2 minutes at 1600, cool to black heat, then 2 minutes at 1550, cool to black heat, then 2 minutes at 1450 cool to room temp. and check for straightness. Now I fire the salts back up to 1525, and soak the blade for 10 minutes. Once the time is up I quickly draw the blade from the high temp salts, and quench into low temp salts which are idling at around 325. After several seconds I swish the blade back and forth (edge to spine) and after 15 seconds or so I pull the blade and once again check for straightness. Before the blade drops down bellow 200 degrees and martensite has fully formed in the steel the blade is still soft and can gently be adjusted if it has pulled one way or another. Once the blade is at room temperature I do my temper cycles which are composed of 3 one hour soaks in low temp salt.

 

And that is about how I do my heat treat!

[Lark]

D-A-M-N! As a history, martial arts and fitness nerd, I've always wondered what it'd be like to become a smithy. It attracts me in several ways:

 

1) When I make/fix something with my own two hands, I always feel like a boss. Heck, I remember feeling a surge of pride right after fixing my cousin's bike chain.

 

2) I like the ability to make a creative pattern on the sword (a coat of arms or maybe an inscription in Cyrillic) is also awesome.

 

3) Blacksmiths have huge and well-developed arms and delts because of what they do.

 

4) Smithies can always arrange for a test cutting exercise!

[littlemiss_g]

**drools**

Sent from my GT-S5360 using Tapatalk 2

[Warwolf]

DUDE! These look awesome, INSANE detail! I'd love to see more!

[Spider-Dan]

Yeah, this would be my first time. I know it is ambitious, but I have a good friend who does ren fair stuff who wants to build a forge anyways. He has done basic armoring, and wants to level up into weapons.

[Rooks]

Just cause I'm finally catching up on this thread, have you done any what we would deem "Eastern" blades?  Like a katana, wakizashi, etc?  I've always been curious to know how with a curved blade like that a smith would figure out the weight balancing.  

[KAllen]

Have you done or thought about doing fantasy or Sci-Fi blades?  Making a legit bat'letH or mek'letH would be totally cool.  W/ the etching you did, a Sword of Kahless would be well into the higher realms of awesomness!!!