Almost forgot (I posted this late last night) the total length is a smidge over 3 feet long; it'll probably be 3 even when I secure the other parts of the hilt down and peen (hammer down) the tip of the tang. First things first though, I need to figure out what went wrong with my grinder. Any thoughts (on either sword or grinder?)
Well, even without a grinder, I bought a piece of square mild stock steel (i.e. it's softer than the steel I used for the blade) to carve the crossguard. I even have a design to make the pommel disc.
ONE thing eludes me right now, though: the ruby. I don't want glass, it might shatter. I don't really want clear red PVC, because that doesn't have the same weight and feel as a real ruby. BUT I certainly can't afford to get a real gemstone.
What about Red Quartz? It'd be hard to shape, but it'd be a real stone, not an imitation.
That could work, hmm... now to find out how expensive it is to get pre-shaped quartz...
Still no luck with the grinder, so I'll be taking it to a repair shop next week. I'm really coming down to the wire on this one, because come fall, I'd be arrested for owning a weapon on a college campus... must finish while it's legal...
FINALLY, I'm going to get this blasted grinder to a repair shop this week! All it took was selling a scimitar and couple throwing stars to have funds...
In the meantime, I was shaping out the tang the really old-fashioned way: Fire, hammer, and anvil. The end result was kind of cool/sloppy, so you can see where I've marked out the grinder's job w/ sharpie.
Also, I took a shot where the sheen of the blade really stands out.
Repair guy has had my grinder for a week now, so he'll be calling in the next couple days... In the meantime, I've got a pileup of blade blanks, crossguards, and various pieces that need shaping or polishing... TOO MUCH TO DO
BUT in the meantime, lots of hand-polishing the blade. I've slowly transitioned from rough grit sandpaper to (currently) a dishwashing scrubber. No seeing warrior mice's faces in it yet, but I'm hoping...
I was looking for fanmade versions of Martin the Warrior's sword and I was ecstatic when I found this page. Do you think that you could create, whenever you're able, a list of tools and steps in which you created the sword? I would be so interested in making one of these for myself. I would be so thankful if you did. I will be watching this post intently from here on. :-) :-)
I used to read these books obsessively when I was younger. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out!
what about sculpting the 'ruby' and using a srong tinted acrylic resin?
as for the guard i would make a to size drawing, then trace the metal, cut out the parts to the best you can, then start shaping it as you see fit... do you know what the actual design is in the center of the guard?
Wow I think this is a great idea! I can't wait to see finished product pictures!
Wow, I thought people had forgotten this existed. Regardless, I've been had at work. Since I'm without a lathe or anything really fancy, I took that piece of square stock and I've been slowly grinding it away to an even crossguard shape. Besides that, the blade/tang portion of the sword are totally done! Gorgeous bits o' work, if I do say so myself... The second I find my camera I'll show the updated pieces.
OH NO! Tragedy just struck!I was doing a test fitting of the newly-shaped guard when the tang snapped!
This means I'll have to make a new sword blade and tang, because welding the shards back together won't ever stand up to anything...
Oh no, terrible news! Hope you get everything to work out ok!
Reply with Quote
