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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2019 18:00:36 GMT
Do you remember when a 1,000 year old Viking Age sword was found two years ago in Lesja, Norway? It was found underneath a rock in an amazing state of preservation.
I recently acquired a beautiful pattern welded sword blade from Sinosword that I think would make a wonderful replica of this historic sword from Lesja.
The Inspiration
I have been searching high and low for cast bronze hilt components for this pending build and received some wonderful suggestions from forumites on where to source them. This morning, however, I was reminded of the Lesja find and thought to myself: I can do this. The hilt components would be easy for me to fabricate and the cost would be minimal. Yet, despite being inexpensive and clearly low status, the simple lines and ergonomic design of the Lesja sword speak to me. The Lesja sword is a humble sword, but its owner had to have been proud to own it and devastated to have lost it. There is evidence the blade may have had steel edges originally, but it's inconclusive. Although my pattern welded blade would be more high status, I don't think a simple hilt style would be unusual here. In fact, I think it would be very attractive. Sometimes the most simple design is the most appealing. Also, the Lesja sword is rather hefty much like my sword blade. The finished sword would have roughly the same weight, i.e. 1,200g or nearly 3 pounds.
The Hilt Components The Lesja sword has a Petersen type C guard and a type M lower guard. The type C is an earlier style, so the sword was likely retrofit with a newer lower guard at some point. It was likely an heirloom. The type C is not as easy as it looks to fabricate as it has multiple lines. The type M lower guard is very simple and would give me little trouble. I have considered multiple types of materials from iron, brass, and bronze. All would be fairly easy to source and would be fairly historically accurate, although I am not sure about brass. I recently worked with copper on a previous sword build and had wonderful success with it. It was easy to work with, easy to mill, and easy to polish. I also find it very attractive, especially when it develops a patina. I asked a friend of mine who works with copper exclusively if copper hilt components should give me any trouble when I peen the tang. She cannot foresee any major difficulties, but explained I would need to protect the other components from the heat and work quickly to keep the blade from overheating, which is not easy given how wonderful a conductor copper is. So, I am learning toward fabricating hilt components out of copper. Does anyone have any experience working with copper?
For the handle I was thinking of using African Blackwood. As the original ebony wood, African Blackwood is very hard, very dense, and can achieve a beautiful luster. While there is no evidence of Viking Age swords featuring ebony wood components (none that I know of), I do know that Viking Age peoples loved materials from far away lands. If a Viking Age smith could get his hands on ebony wood, I am certain he would jump at it!
Here is a crude mock-up of what I am considering:
I will welcome any advice or criticism on the design. The original had a four inch long grip. Should I stick with that or go shorter? I am not sure if the lower guard is intended to be incorporated into the palm like other swords from this period. Are the hilts too thick at 3/4" thick? The original was .66" thick, almost 3/4". Should the lower guard be shorter, thinner, more narrow? Also, should my grip be a one piece construction or bookmarked ends?
My Problem: Inexperience I have never peened a tang before. I don't foresee this as a problem, but I don't want to create a major failure here. I have watched several videos on peening and feel reasonably confident that peening is not particularly difficult, but it does look as though catastrophic mistakes can potentially occur. Does anyone have any recommendations here?
Here is an image of the original peen:
I am looking to start this project relatively soon and finish before the summer ends.
Here is a video I found so you can see the Lesja Sword from all angles:
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Jul 7, 2019 23:56:28 GMT
I would take your time peening it when u hammer so u dont accidently hit somewhere else or hit yourself
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Post by Jordan Williams on Jul 8, 2019 21:19:20 GMT
Tbh making the guard and pommel, and grip well are all much much more difficult than peening. Make sure they fit well and then the peen should go well, just be careful as Storm says. Sometimes if there is too much play between the parts the tang can bend under careless strikes.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2019 21:31:54 GMT
Thanks for the advice, gentlemen. I appreciate it. Honestly, fabricating the hilt parts is relatively easy for me. I even enjoy working with copper as it is on the soft side.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2019 16:25:30 GMT
I have sourced all the materials for this build.
I bought a copper bar from an industrial metals distributor online. The bar measured 6" long, 3/4" thick, and 1" wide. The guard on the Lesja find is .66" thick, about 3" long and 1" wide.
I cut the copper bar in half yesterday with a saw and used some WD-40 during the cut on the advice of a friend who works with copper. It definitely helped facilitate a better cut AND all of the copper dust/shavings collected in a pool of grease rather than get airborne.
I intended to use African Blackwood or another form of ebony for the handle, but when I went to my local lumber yard I took a gander at the remnants section. There was an ample supply of walnut crotch, which is not a disease, but a section of a black walnut tree that splits into two trunks making a Y shape. Walnut crotch has a magnificent ripple like effect in the wood.
Here are my hilt components:
The sword blade weighs 2 pounds 5 ounces. The fittings and the wood weigh 1 pound 7 ounces and 3 ounces respectively. This makes for a total weight of 4 pounds even. Obviously, this is going to be a heavy sword. Once I carve slots for the tang in the fittings, the wood, and shape everything up, I reckon I will drop some weight and the finished sword will be under 3 pounds. That's a success if you ask me. I placed the fittings on the sword blade to ascertain the point of balance and the POB was 3-4 inches from the hilt. Despite being rather heavy, that's not too bad!
Here is a question I would like to submit to you all: how should I configure the hilt components? For the grip, bookmarked ends and a one piece construction are easy for me to do. However, if I narrow the tang so that it tapers down to the pommel, a one piece construction grip will be a bit tricky for me at the drill press. If I leave the tang "as is" it will be far easier. Should I taper the tang or leave it be? If I choose bookmarked ends, I could secure the grip onto the tang with epoxy prior to the peen. Can anyone foresee any difficulties with that? Lastly, I have some copper pins. They aren't historic, but it might look rather nice as a compliment to the copper guards.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2019 15:31:23 GMT
Update: I have not worked on this project in many weeks because I encountered a snag. In order to mill the slot for the tang: I REALLY need a drill press. So I am about to change course and order some sword fittings that are pre-fabricated. Therefore, this project is dead. I would like to start again someday, and should I manage to get access to a drill press at some point, I'll work on the fittings and just use a different blade. I have been defeated by technology! Argh!
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Sept 29, 2019 15:54:48 GMT
Possibly send the blade off and have someone complete it or do the work that you cannot? It's a beautiful blade.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2019 17:06:51 GMT
That's a thought, Andy. When in doubt, pay someone else to do it.
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Sept 29, 2019 17:25:40 GMT
A thought on peening...practice on something you can ruin.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2019 18:06:30 GMT
That is also a VERY good thought. My inclination is to offer the job to someone else, but I will finish this if I have to.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2019 20:29:05 GMT
Here is the current state of the copper fittings: The pilot holes I attempted to drill did not align properly: A drill press could sort this out, along with some filing. One really shouldn't begin a project that requires tools one does not have. Still, at least the shape of the fittings is correct. Copper is a nice material to work it. It's relatively soft, but it can overheat quickly.
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Sept 29, 2019 20:49:15 GMT
If you were anywhere close, we could sort this out in 5 min...I have tools... Bah. Consider taking it to a tire/mechanic place that has some tools, offer a few bucks, and I bet you could get it done ASAP
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2019 20:55:00 GMT
I have thought about it. A friend of mine has the tools I need, but you're right about peening. If he's able to take it on, I'll send it to one of our forumites for assembly. Not much work has to be done on it. Funny thing about the guard, although the Lesja sword has a Petersen type C upper guard, it is missing that ridge line going across the middle. This is rather fortunate, because if I had to grind that I think I would have screamed.
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Post by theophilus736 on Oct 1, 2019 19:40:17 GMT
The fuller is much too thin but it is a pretty blade. Sounds like a cool idea.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2019 22:47:33 GMT
The fuller is much too thin but it is a pretty blade. Sounds like a cool idea. I think something I said to them was lost in translation. The fuller needs to be MUCH wider. I think they felt I wanted a deep, narrow fuller. No, I wanted a wide fuller. In any case, it's a pretty sword. If I wanted total historical authenticity, I would ask for an iron blade.
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Post by theophilus736 on Oct 2, 2019 4:48:07 GMT
Well and it would be probably 8 times the cost. Looks wonderful.
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stormmaster
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Post by stormmaster on Oct 3, 2019 1:38:50 GMT
Well and it would be probably 8 times the cost. Looks wonderful. sinoswords did a good job for the price but u gotta remind them exactly what u want multiple times or things just go astray cause of the language barrier, if u wanted a multibar blade that was really historically it would cost like 2k to 3k just for the blade itself from some of the really historical blade makers out there, its really pricey stuff
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2019 2:23:42 GMT
Well and it would be probably 8 times the cost. Looks wonderful. sinoswords did a good job for the price but u gotta remind them exactly what u want multiple times or things just go astray cause of the language barrier, if u wanted a multibar blade that was really historically it would cost like 2k to 3k just for the blade itself from some of the really historical blade makers out there, its really pricey stuff Someday I will be boujie and have the money for a multibar sword and wait the one hundred years to get one because you have 99 commissions in queue, storm!
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stormmaster
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I like viking/migration era swords
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Post by stormmaster on Oct 3, 2019 2:36:50 GMT
alot of makers let u do payment plans and the wait is only like 1-2 years most of the time (outside of like the handful of the really well known ones with wait list in the 5 years to a decade) so if u are willing to be frugal for a bit it is quite doable, lemme know if u want suggestions for high end viking sword smiths
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Post by theophilus736 on Oct 3, 2019 3:22:33 GMT
^ I want suggestions I know a few but you may as well share the love before I have Sinosword make me one of these..
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