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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 3:02:12 GMT
I had to do a bronze casting for sculpture class in college. (We have to take an aesthetics class part of our general education) We only had silicon bronze to use, but I decided to cast a sword anyway. It’s an Egyptian style khopesh with a minimalist dragon engraved on, as well as a line from my favorite song in Arabic, “Mine’s a tale that can’t be told, my freedom I hold dear”, from Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On. Here are its dimensions Hilt length: 5 inches Blade length: 20 inches Sharpened length: 14 inches Weight: 3.5 pounds I have a problem with the weight so I’ll grind it down until it’s less than 3 pounds, and then I’ll add a cherry wood handle, which will be wrapped in black leather. It’s not sharpened yet but I’ll do it with a hammer rather than grinding it. Thoughts? Any concerns about a 3.5 lbs one handed sword? It still has to be polished. When I was waving it around, I felt it was heavy, but definitely imposing. You could probably break bone with that thing, easily, and its not even sharpened. Attachments:
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Dec 11, 2012 9:26:06 GMT
You might need to be Arnie's bigger uncle after a few swings
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Post by Kumdoalan on Dec 11, 2012 11:41:14 GMT
Nice sword work.....but I think your floor needs sanding...LOL
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 13:33:38 GMT
lol that’s not a floor, that’s a table at the studio.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Dec 11, 2012 14:51:11 GMT
awesome
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2012 19:29:19 GMT
I found a way to make it about half a pound lighter. I think that’s good enough.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 18:48:58 GMT
Here’s how it looks like now. The handle isn’t finished. It still has to be sanded, and wrapped. It’s currently a little less than three pounds, but it’s not sharpened yet so there is still more weight to lose. I’ll also thin out the blade a little. I’m also using this thread to take notes on what to do, please forgive me. Notes: -Thin out tang -Fill in gap with walnut -thin out blade -hammer-sharpen blade -reduce weight to 2.5 pounds -Theta Delta Chi overlapped letters - make lines on blade more pronounced? Attachments:
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Post by steelhound on Dec 13, 2012 19:58:49 GMT
Hey Daniel, nice job! You took on a complicated project and I think it turned out great. Kudos for deciding on a sword for sculpture class man. As a word of caution though, I wouldn't recommend swinging this around a lot or trying to cut anything with it. That heavy, sharp end breaking off and flying around could really hurt somebody (yourself included).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 20:16:41 GMT
I’ve already swung it a few times. And I tested the material before I made the khopesh. Silicon bronze is a lot stronger than you think.
I banged the hell out of it, bent it several times, it doesn’t break. It only bends, but barely.
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Post by steelhound on Dec 13, 2012 20:41:21 GMT
Honestly, I don't know anything about silicon bronze, but I do believe it is possible to break it. What shape was the material that you were banging around? Was it in a similar size, thickness, and shape to your blade, along with the 90 degree angle?
I'm just saying Daniel, from your other thread it doesn't sound like you have a whole lot of familiarity with swords in general, let alone the complexities involved with making a durable, usable blade on your first try. And this is a complex blade design. I'm not knocking you, man, but sword making isn't something that you learn overnight.
Maybe some other people with more experience with silicon bronze could chime in, but I would definitely advise against cutting anything with it, and enjoy it as a cool work of art that you made.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 20:50:09 GMT
Yup, that’s the idea. I’m just gonna put it on the wall. My dad used to train with Chinese broadswords (we’re Chinese) and I’ll have him be the judge. I would guess that the dao and the Khopesh are similar since they’re kinda shaped the same.
I researched the point of balance of historical khopesh and it’s where the crescent starts. My POB is exactly at that spot. I’ll have to tinker with it some more to both reduce weight and get the POB just right.
I dont mind your thoughts. I actually appreciate them.
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Post by birdman on Dec 14, 2012 19:08:26 GMT
Nice job - looks great!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2012 22:07:58 GMT
It’s finally done. All I have to do is wrap the handle. It’s 25 inches long, 2.5 pounds. Balance where the crescent starts. My dad who practiced with Chinese broadswords said that it’s definitely beautiful, but he has no idea how to use it. The fishhook barb at the tip keeps hurting him when he tries using Chinese dao technique. He said he never saw a weapon like it before, and it feels more like an axe than a sword. I tested it on boxes and pine wood. It’s not much of a slasher since it’s made of bronze. It chops like nuts though. That tip is wickedly lethal. It’s a weapon, but too beautiful to mess around with. Attachments:
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Dec 24, 2012 2:25:25 GMT
thats pretty sick man. congrats on your first sword
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Post by DavidW on Dec 24, 2012 11:19:01 GMT
Woah, that's a really awesome sword! It looks beautiful...and I can see where your dad is coming from about the dao vs. khopesh. In my dao style, there are times where I bring the dao around the back of my head in the sword form; with the khopesh, the barb would either catch on my head of my back. It also has a high chance of catching on clothing if used like a dao.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2012 22:52:26 GMT
Thanks everyone for all the comments, the tips, and the criticisms. They helped me greatly. I’ll be gone for a while until I have more interesting stuff to share.
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Post by birdman on Dec 26, 2012 4:27:45 GMT
Not really surprising - the khopesh evolved from the earlier "epsilon" axe.
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Post by brotherbanzai on Jan 1, 2013 19:59:25 GMT
Nice job, too bad they wouldn't let you use tin bronze instead of silicon bronze. A bronze sword that size should be around a pound and a half. Silicon bronze is very tough and durable, however, there can be porosity or heat shrink cracks inside which could cause it to break. If you've ground it down a good bit and haven't come across any fine lines or spongy areas, then it is probably good. Potential problem areas would be in the tight angles such as where the curved part starts. Also if you've attemted to flex it side to side, as a person might with a steel blade, and no cracks showed up, there probably aren't any.
Not the ideal material for a bronze blade, but good work.
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Post by Aeliascent [defunct] on Dec 13, 2016 19:39:58 GMT
Nice job, too bad they wouldn't let you use tin bronze instead of silicon bronze. A bronze sword that size should be around a pound and a half. Silicon bronze is very tough and durable, however, there can be porosity or heat shrink cracks inside which could cause it to break. If you've ground it down a good bit and haven't come across any fine lines or spongy areas, then it is probably good. Potential problem areas would be in the tight angles such as where the curved part starts. Also if you've attemted to flex it side to side, as a person might with a steel blade, and no cracks showed up, there probably aren't any. Not the ideal material for a bronze blade, but good work. Sorry to revive an old thread. I'm the OP under a different name. Even Daniel Shays is a pseudonym LOL but yes! I ground up the blade quite a bit and there were no cracks. I use it as a wall hanger. This is how it currently looks: Attachments:
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stormmaster
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I like viking/migration era swords
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Post by stormmaster on Dec 13, 2016 22:03:33 GMT
I like how rough it looks, sometimes its good for a weapon from ancient times to look like a prototype of future weapons and not too sleek
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