Kevin on Swordmaking
Jun 11, 2008 22:37:37 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2008 22:37:37 GMT
A little qoute from Kevin Cashen on the transition from knifemaking to swordmaking.
Aside from a few points on working the metal and heat treatment, abandon everything you have used in knife design, a sword is not just a big knife. Very few knifemakers make the successful transition to swords because they believe that all they have to do is make a bigger knife, a sword is an entirely different beast altogether. Knifemakers wanting to make Excalibur is as ridiculous as an automaker wanting to make Noah's ark as the ultimate car. Recreating swords with a photo alone will only get you a sword shaped object, handle as many old pieces as you can. This is especially important if form following proper function is important to you, since despite what many mall ninjas will tell you there is no possible way for us to reconstruct form for real function of such a tool today without ending up on death row, and a whole lot of bad karma, and even then unarmed opponents will still only tell you half the story. So our best opportunity to understand these things is to meticulously study blades that were made when such activity was not just possible but a way of life.
One of the first things you will find is that the longer the blade the lighter it will have to be, you will be amazed at how much thinner and lighter real swords were than you may believe. For certain styles I have advised guys new to grinding them that they should grind, grind and grind until they think they have ruined the sword by going too thin... and then grind some more!
Ignore everything you ever got from Hollywood or even "educational" T.V. as far as information, since it is virtually all junk with no basis in reality.
Don't buy any of the garbage about secrets "super" steels in old swords that we cannot make today, if modern steels don't work on a sword it is because you chose the wrong steel for the application or most likely you are using techniques developed 1000 years ago on a 21st century alloy. Using today’s steels with today’s methods one can make a sword that would have been worth a Kings ransom in those days, but we really have to practical application for it today:(.
You will also be told that swords above 54HRC are useless due to brittleness, this is leftover medieval thinking from when the only way to gain toughness was to lower the hardness and sacrifice strength, and then tests done on old swords confirmed this range so it has to be correct... doesn't it? Today we understand and use alloying to improve levels in both areas, this is not to say that you want to treat a sword like a skinning knife and go for very high hardness since for the most part swords are cleavers not slicers and impact toughness must always be one of the chief concerns.
Keep things straight at all times. A blade over 24" will want to turn into a snake at every opportunity, don't give it more. When forging work things evenly and keep it straight and more importantly when grinding remove metal as evenly and straight as possible! It should go without saying that in heat treatment you MUST heat and cool as evenly as possible.
Learn the art of tapering- both distal and profile. It is the only way you are going to be able to control centers of gravity and mass that is essential in a proper sword. And- no! There are no set recipes for this, each individual user will have his own desired feel in a blade to match his techniques, you will only have general considerations to the overall use and then the fine tuning begins (e.g. the balance of a small sword versus a saber).
One of the first things you will find is that the longer the blade the lighter it will have to be, you will be amazed at how much thinner and lighter real swords were than you may believe. For certain styles I have advised guys new to grinding them that they should grind, grind and grind until they think they have ruined the sword by going too thin... and then grind some more!
Ignore everything you ever got from Hollywood or even "educational" T.V. as far as information, since it is virtually all junk with no basis in reality.
Don't buy any of the garbage about secrets "super" steels in old swords that we cannot make today, if modern steels don't work on a sword it is because you chose the wrong steel for the application or most likely you are using techniques developed 1000 years ago on a 21st century alloy. Using today’s steels with today’s methods one can make a sword that would have been worth a Kings ransom in those days, but we really have to practical application for it today:(.
You will also be told that swords above 54HRC are useless due to brittleness, this is leftover medieval thinking from when the only way to gain toughness was to lower the hardness and sacrifice strength, and then tests done on old swords confirmed this range so it has to be correct... doesn't it? Today we understand and use alloying to improve levels in both areas, this is not to say that you want to treat a sword like a skinning knife and go for very high hardness since for the most part swords are cleavers not slicers and impact toughness must always be one of the chief concerns.
Keep things straight at all times. A blade over 24" will want to turn into a snake at every opportunity, don't give it more. When forging work things evenly and keep it straight and more importantly when grinding remove metal as evenly and straight as possible! It should go without saying that in heat treatment you MUST heat and cool as evenly as possible.
Learn the art of tapering- both distal and profile. It is the only way you are going to be able to control centers of gravity and mass that is essential in a proper sword. And- no! There are no set recipes for this, each individual user will have his own desired feel in a blade to match his techniques, you will only have general considerations to the overall use and then the fine tuning begins (e.g. the balance of a small sword versus a saber).