Shards OF Narsil

Smiling Demon

Sr Member
I have a cheap knock-off Narsil and I am looking at cutting/breaking it to make the Shards of Narsil.
My question is has anyone ever done this before and how did you go about doing it?
How hard os 440 steel to break? I was going to maybe score it on both sides with my dremel and then put it in my vice and snap it off. I would like to make all the pieces.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kenny
 
Breaking it shouldn't be a problem... heck, I've a friend who's joked quite a bit about taking one of her various Implements of Destruction to a UC Narsil to do that very thing.

While I don't know about the one you have, wallhangers like that tend to made from a stainless steel that is heat treated to be relatively hard, and hence brittle. It will most likely be a devil to cut, but easy to break.

The trick is, you're not likely to get the same break pattern as in the movie, but rather a simple snap in two.

SO.. what I'd do in your place is dissassemble the sword, and go over the area you want to cut with a propane torch (or heck, stick it in a forge if you have one.. though I'm assuming not). Do this in low light, you want to be able to see the metal changing color.

When it gets an even dull red, you can stop heating it. This will take some time with a torch, but will eventually happen. Of course, have some good way of holding or securing the blade so the heat doesn't burn you (or carry up the blade and burn something else). You may want to do just one small area at a time.

Next.. just leave it to air-cool. It'll take a while.

Since the metal has cooled slowly, it will now be relatively soft and MUCH easier to cut. (It will also ding easier, so if for some reason you want the edges hard again, you'll have to re-heat it and then cool it quickly by dunking it in water or oil to cool).

This will discolor the blade, so you'll likely need to repolish it after this. That, or enjoy the pretty purple-rainbow-gray colors and say it was the heat of Sauron's embodiment that helped destroy Narsil. ;)
Hope this helps. :)
 
Just a thought, but waterjet cutting, or wire EDM cutting the blade would both be
good ways to get accurately shaped pieces to match what was shown on-screen.

If you just break the blade, the pieces wouldn't match exactly to the film, but
with either method above, the cutting would follow the path specified by the
programmer, and then you could have it almost screen-accurate.

It isn't that expensive, and the cut edges also come out smooth - almost polished,
so all you'd have to do is polish the edge, and you'd be done. No heat is applied
to the metal either, so there'd be no discoloration to polish out afterwards.

http://www.emachineshop.com/machines-kerf/...jet-cutting.htm

http://www.emachineshop.com/machines-kerf/wire-edm.htm

Hope this may help.

JS :D
 
I think I like your idea better. :)

Originally posted by JSAuctionService@Apr 7 2006, 07:57 AM
Just a thought, but waterjet cutting, or wire EDM cutting the blade would both be
good ways to get accurately shaped pieces to match what was shown on-screen.

If you just break the blade, the pieces wouldn't match exactly to the film, but
with either method above, the cutting would follow the path specified by the
programmer, and then you could have it almost screen-accurate.

It isn't that expensive, and the cut edges also come out smooth - almost polished,
so all you'd have to do is polish the edge, and you'd be done.  No heat is applied
to the metal either, so there'd be no discoloration to polish out afterwards.

http://www.emachineshop.com/machines-kerf/...jet-cutting.htm

http://www.emachineshop.com/machines-kerf/wire-edm.htm

Hope this may help.

JS  :D
[snapback]1221678[/snapback]​
 
Take it to a machine shop. Mark where you want it cut and explain what you want done. It may cost money, but they have the tools to do it right. If you mess it up, there's no fixing it. :(
 
Originally posted by dropshipbob@Apr 7 2006, 09:48 AM
  If you mess it up, there's no fixing it. :(
[snapback]1221803[/snapback]​

You are correct.

I only paid $30 for it but I don't want to screw it up either.

Any other ideas. I thought using a metal cutting band saw but I am still trying to figure it out.

Kenny
 
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