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Post by cearball on Mar 5, 2019 17:05:23 GMT
So I have a windlass Falchion that is a consistent 3.8 mm along the spine & it is a thin wedge cross section.
I want to try to give it some distal taper so have considered using an accusharp from halfway along the spine to strip metal to create an edge. Then using an xtra xtra coarse DMT stone to grind the edge down.
I would like to try & improve handling & lighten the blade a little.
However the more I think on this the more I think the effect may be so minimal as to not be worth doing from a time/effort view.
Any thoughts?
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Post by cearball on Mar 5, 2019 17:06:17 GMT
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Post by MOK on Mar 5, 2019 17:26:46 GMT
Don't use accusharps. They only work on blades within a fairly narrow range of thicknesses and edge angles, and they're messy enough that I wouldn't recommend them for anything but touching up ultracheap disposable tool knives in a hurry, anyway. Get a few good, large files and learn drawfiling. A standard 12" set of three (flat, round and half-round) should have you covered for under $20€. There's not much to it - you just hold the file in two hands and draw it sideways towards you, very much as if it was a spokeshave. The rest just takes focus, patience and sweat. For clean-up, a series of sandpapers in increasingly fine grit, backed with a slightly yielding pad or block (rubber or cork blocks seem to work for me). I usually start at around 40 grit, then 80, 120, 200, 400 and so on until you reach the desired level of polish. Or along those lines: the exact grits don't really matter and honestly depend mostly on what I happen to have at hand, just as long as you keep the succession gradual (too large jumps cause far more work) and make sure to reach an even finish with each grit before moving on to the next. Again, focus, patience and sweat. You could go for powertools, like an angle grinder and a slack belt sander, but they're a lot more expensive and much easier to screw up with. If you end up doing this a lot they might well be a worthwhile investment, but for learning and one-off projects I would seriously recommend hand tools. PS. Plus, with files (or grinders) you can add actual distal taper instead of just a back edge!
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Mar 5, 2019 17:38:32 GMT
No AccuSharp. A file is a good tool. A good alternative is sandpaper w/oil starting with 80 or 100 grit. You will need a flat surface. I would prefer to draw the blade over the paper, but there are those who would prefer a sanding block and a stationary blade.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2019 18:04:29 GMT
Check out my thread in this forum on the sword of Arwen. I give some details on how I grinded a distal taper.
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Post by cearball on Mar 5, 2019 18:42:43 GMT
Any thoughts on if it would even be worth it in terms of better handling ?
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Post by markus313 on Mar 5, 2019 19:10:41 GMT
Honestly, no. A falchion is no infantry saber Also the stock is a bit thin to begin with.
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Post by MOK on Mar 5, 2019 19:30:48 GMT
Under 4mm at the guard is too thin, indeed, but I think taking it down to about 2mm around the "sweet spot", like on many historical blades, would still help - you can't make it remotely perfect, but you can make it better. Or you could sell it and buy something that's better to begin with, instead. Just gotta decide before you start customizing it.
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Post by elbrittania39 on Mar 5, 2019 19:33:29 GMT
Maybe try pinging Jordan Williams on this. I know he's added distal tapers to budget priced sabers before.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Mar 5, 2019 23:15:15 GMT
Angle grinder I would make the spine triangular, no need for a sharp edge, maybe around 60° angle. I did this on a knife blade I made and it makes it look a little nicer and take some weight out. Identify where the point of percussion is, and then after that point I would grind the blade to effectively a diamond section up until the back edge starts. If it doesn't have a back edge, give it one of those too. Honestly, at the thin stock point you're starting at I would just do the grinding on the spine and false edge. You could also grind the back edge level, so it is less wide as you go up the blade. It won't effect cutting that much, but might make it quite a lot more nimble in terms of just moving the point around. That though would be way more dramatic than distal taper.
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Post by cearball on Mar 6, 2019 1:38:39 GMT
Under 4mm at the guard is too thin, indeed, but I think taking it down to about 2mm around the "sweet spot", like on many historical blades, would still help - you can't make it remotely perfect, but you can make it better. Or you could sell it and buy something that's better to begin with, instead. Just gotta decide before you start customizing it. The width of the blade starts at about 52 mm & only gets wider so it is quite rigid. www.etsy.com/uk/listing/549159890/made-to-order-m3d-gunther-10This is what I would buy if money wasn't an issue for me. I have too many swords so unless one breaks I won't be buying more for quite awhile. Interesting at its thickest point it is 5mm & apparently a few historical examples were to.I did have a link/article with an example but can't find it.
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Post by cearball on Mar 6, 2019 1:40:32 GMT
Thanks everyone for their input.
Right so I don't want to buy power tools so draw filing sounds in my budget.
Any ideas how long something like this would take by hand?
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Mar 6, 2019 1:59:37 GMT
I don’t think anyone can come close to estimating the time as we all work differently. Here’s a rough idea though. To sharpen a sword blade from scratch using an AccuSharp, then going to sandpaper would take about two weeks for me. I now have a Work Sharp KO and with my last sword a Windlass M1840 NCO and did it in probably 5 hours. However during those 5 hours I took time out to chow down, and then it was siesta time. The M1860 before that took longer but I did in one Sunday. That tool was a gift from heaven. Hehe
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Post by L Driggers (fallen) on Mar 6, 2019 5:51:39 GMT
Falchion weren't thin blades, the one's I make start at 6mm at the base and go down to 1mm near the tip. At 3.8mm your sword is thin. It can be did, but it won't be easy to add distal taper to an already tempter blade by hand. If you've ever did something like this you have a good chance of messing it up real bad.
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Post by cearball on Mar 8, 2019 20:49:24 GMT
Hmmmmm
Maybe I will just abandon the idea for now.
At best I will draw file the spine down maybe.
Thanks for the suggestions.
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