Reflections of Renaissance

I probably should have guessed.

I mean … they’re a bunch of hardcore rough-and-tumble guys who like working with metal.

So, when I was at work a few days ago and said I was planning on making a sword … I got a great response.

“Why just make a prop? My brother has a forge.”

“Sure, you can set aside some scrap and we’ll help you cut out a template after hours!”

“You can go over to the other shop this evening to weld it if you want.”

So there it is.

The mockup.

It looks horrible, but hey! It’s just a dry run.

It’s a bunch of junk from the scrap bin, sorta tacked together so I can visualize how I want it to look and feel. None of this is going to be re-used for the actual sword.

Here’s why.

The handle is pretty blocky. It’s made out of solid one-by-a-half material, one piece on either side of the tang, but the weight is about right. It could be just a tad heavier.

For reference, the tang is the part of the blade that extends through the handle. It makes the connection a lot stronger. You can see where I welded the one-by-half on either side of it.

Hey. Don’t look to closely at the welding. It’s a mockup.

The material used for the blade is 14 gauge mild steel. About a third the thickness of a 3/8″ plate. Not strong enough.

For final, I decided to go with 1080 steel.

To quote http://www.theworldmaterial.com,

“ASTM SAE AISI 1080 steel is a high carbon steel with a carbon content of 0.75-0.88%. This … summarizes the 1080 carbon steel chemical composition, physical properties, mechanical properties, heat treatment and applications, etc.”

I have been watching Charles Jones on Youtube recently, and that’s what he used for his plas-cut blades.

Although … my plas-cutter’s cooler than his plas-cutter. (lol)

Here’s a picture I took while it was making my blade template.

Previously, I mentioned that the entire mockup was made with scrap. Anything I could find in the bin.

It just so happened that I found the perfect thing for the basket guard. These things aren’t thrown away very often, So I guess I got pretty lucky!

Inside a MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welder, there’s a spool of coated steel wire that feeds out as you weld. I could go more into it, but that’s not necessary because I didn’t use the wire.

I used the spool.

Notice those nice thick circles around the edges? The empty spool I used wasn’t quite as heavy-duty, but it did the job just fine. If you look closely at the picture of my mockup, you’ll see little studs poking out of the basket guard intermittently, where I cut off the spokes. In this image there are only four spokes on a side, made from plate metal, but mine just had a bunch of wire ones.

Now for a fun little wrap-up to this post: I’ve done a little designing in Blender, trying to figure out what I like and don’t like in a basket guard. The mockup was fine. For a mockup.

But you know me.

I mean … if you do. Some people do.

I can’t go with normal.

It just doesn’t work.

So if I’m going to put a bunch of time and effort into a weapon like this, I want it to be beautifully balanced, both visually and physically, as well as look cool, as well as be pretty.

I haven’t come up with a perfect final design yet, but this is where I’m at in the design process right now.

Let me know in the comments what you think of this look! I’d love pictures as well. If ya’ll like drawing (or modelling) throw some ideas at me! (Also cool ideas from the internet:) )

God bless!

~Reflections of Renaissance/Carter Pierce