Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 6, 2018 16:25:53 GMT
One of my current sword projects is to turn a Hanwei Tinker longsword blade (sharp) into a short sword/long dagger.
I've been wanting a cruciform dagger with significant cutting power and a blade with a wide base tapering to a fine point, but was hard pressed to find any production weapon which really suited. So, I endeavored to make my own.
I plan to log my progress on this thread.
The components:
- x1 Hanwei Tinker longsword bare blade - sharp
- x1 Hanwei Tinker longsword stock guard
- x1 Hanwei Tinker bastard sword stock pommel (disk)
- x1 wood for grip core (salvaged axe handle from a project axe I made as a teen)
- leather and dye for grip cover and risers
- assorted tools and sundries
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
Posts: 2,625
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 6, 2018 21:49:10 GMT
I guess I should have checked them with a magnet, but I assumed the Hanwei Tinker stock fittings would be stainless or mild steel. It would seem they are pot metal. I found this out after two failed attempts at acid etching the guard and pommel. Hopefully, I can figure out something to give them a bit of character.
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Post by MOK on Jun 6, 2018 22:07:44 GMT
Huh. That's weird - the original fittings on my H/T longsword (pommel, guard, locket and chape) are all stainless steel.
PS. They did resist my cursory attempt at etching admirably, though! I'm planning to fancify them with some file work, instead, in case I find a suitable project blade to put them on.
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stormmaster
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I like viking/migration era swords
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Post by stormmaster on Jun 6, 2018 22:11:43 GMT
Mine have always been stainless steel tho one time I had a pommel that was mild
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christain
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It's the steel on the inside that counts.
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Post by christain on Jun 7, 2018 0:30:27 GMT
Guards and pommels on my H/T's are stainless and flawless...and tough as hell.
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 7, 2018 18:16:19 GMT
I'll grant that these fittings might be stainless steel, but if so they're a different formulation than I have worked with before. My attempts at etching didn't take, but at least I got rid of that awful mirror polish. Maybe I'll go the file work rout and do a geometric pattern.
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
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Post by Ifrit on Jun 7, 2018 19:51:46 GMT
I would love to see how this turns out. Sounds like it would be a great short sword
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
Posts: 2,625
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 8, 2018 17:01:25 GMT
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
Posts: 2,625
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 8, 2018 17:05:46 GMT
The etching didn't work correctly, but I tried again and left the guard and pommel in until they at least looked interesting.
My next steps are to finish profiling the tip and do the leather grip wrap.
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
Posts: 3,284
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Post by Ifrit on Jun 8, 2018 18:37:43 GMT
Thats awesome dude. One of the coolest short swords I have ever seen. How does it feel in the hand>?
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 8, 2018 19:42:08 GMT
Thats awesome dude. One of the coolest short swords I have ever seen. How does it feel in the hand>? It feels really good. It's pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. It has good blade presence, but is still very agile. Center of gravity is 2 inches/5 cm in front of the guard. Since the blade is essentially the forte of the old longsword blade it has some real meat to it, and the new point has been ground out of the midrib, so it's pretty robust in the thrust. One of the things which made the H/T longsword blade such a good candidate for this mod was its short fuller. The final blade length is looking like a bout 17.5 inches/44.5 cm. The fuller ends at about 11 inches/28 cm, and that leaves 6.5 inches/16.5 cm of flattened diamond cross-section past it.
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Ifrit
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More edgy than a double edge sword
Posts: 3,284
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Post by Ifrit on Jun 8, 2018 21:30:37 GMT
This is one brave move. I don't think I would have the heart to cut down a tinker longsword, but man did it pay off
What did you do with the excess steel?
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 8, 2018 21:38:55 GMT
This is one brave move. I don't think I would have the heart to cut down a tinker longsword, but man did it pay off What did you do with the excess steel? It destined to become a poignard, or similar dagger-y thing.
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Ifrit
Member
More edgy than a double edge sword
Posts: 3,284
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Post by Ifrit on Jun 8, 2018 21:39:57 GMT
This idea is genius. You turn one sword into two... I wanna try this now
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jun 8, 2018 21:57:00 GMT
Really nice medieval gladius! Do you consider such a project with the EMSHS? Its broad blade base could be used for a cinquedea or a XIV gladius.
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
Posts: 2,625
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 8, 2018 23:20:10 GMT
Really nice medieval gladius! Do you consider such a project with the EMSHS? Its broad blade base could be used for a cinquedea or a XIV gladius. The base of the EMSHS doesn't look any wider than the longsword, and the fuller is much longer. If you kept the tip end and cut a new tang out of the blade, you would be necessarily have a narrower blade base and your new tang would have fuller running down the length. I'm at a loss for how you could keep the tang and original blade base and cut down the blade substantially without having a fuller run down to the tip, and that would be weird.
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jun 8, 2018 23:33:14 GMT
I don't have the longsword so I don't know but the EMSHS is one of my broadest blades at the guard. To make a tip in the fullered section you must thin the tip part to the fuller thickness of course. This was only a quick idea inspired by your cool work.
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stormmaster
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I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Jun 9, 2018 22:42:12 GMT
nice project dude, great use of everything and waste nothing
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 14, 2018 18:48:44 GMT
Update: - I finished re-profiling the tip, and did a lot of the work by hand (which was labor intensive and fingertip bruising). - I wrapped the grip (wood core, cord wrap, leather risers, leather wrap with cord compression, black leather dye). My next steps are to finish shaping the ends where the meet the guard and pommel, and then wax and buff. These pictures aren't very high resolution, and they make the grip look lumpy and ill-defined. Hopefully the lines of it will stand out better after it's waxed and polished. The guard was too loosely fitting for my taste, so I hammered some slivers of copper into the gaps to tighten it up. Timeline-wise, I should be finishing up with this sword about the same time as the arrival of the final piece for my East/West greatsword project.
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Zen_Hydra
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Born with a heart full of neutrality
Posts: 2,625
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Post by Zen_Hydra on Jun 15, 2018 20:27:23 GMT
Update: 15-JUN-2018 Hilt assembled and hot peened Next steps are to come up with final designs for blade etching, tape-off and paint-on resists, etch and clean up. After that I'll need to finish the edge re-profiling, polishing, and sharpening
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