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Post by ninjagrips on May 25, 2024 14:48:36 GMT
Howdy, folks. So, I recently bought a Hanwei Godfred, and I'm looking to do a few things. 1 - Disassemble the sword 2 - Attempt a wire-wrap grip, similar to what Kirk Lee Spencer did here myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=2312&highlight=godfred3 - Straighten its bent blade (bend appears to possibly be beneath the guard or somewhere along the tang, I'm not sure. I have seen an article on SBG that shows different ways to bend a blade, so I'll be looking at those, for sure 4 - Possibly polish out some of the dips/divots along the faces of the edges I have removed the pommel already. Didn't take much brute force to budge. I also removed the braided leather grip material, leaving the bare wooden grip core. I'm looking around this forum for any kind of tutorial describing the best process for removing the rest of the parts. I'm guessing I may have to destroy the wooden grip, as it appears to be glued on, but I'm pretty new to all this, so I don't know if there's a way to pound the guard and grip off without having to destroy the grip. Here's a few pics of the sword before I removed the pommel and leather grip wrap.    imgur.com/a/v7XwpfZDoes anyone have any links to "how-to" videos or articles for general Viking-style sword disassembly? Thanks so much, and hello everyone! |
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Post by mrstabby on May 25, 2024 15:42:15 GMT
Could you maybe show a picture of what you have done so far?
I am not sure those are made to be disassembled, everything is peened and glued, grip is very likely epoxied, so not easy to remove. Why do you need to disassemble it? Is the grip cracked or something? I am pretty sure the wire wrap was done without disassembly
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Post by ninjagrips on May 25, 2024 16:28:39 GMT
Sure, here’s some progress pics.    imgur.com/a/C7JZ4zSPommel is not peened, it’s threaded. Yeah, I think the grip is epoxied. I want to disassemble because I feel like the bend originates under the guard. It’s difficult to tell, and I’m thinking if I can get it disassembled, I’ll have a better idea of where the bend is, and where to bend it back, straight. |
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Post by mrstabby on May 25, 2024 17:14:01 GMT
Try poking the suspected epoxy with a hot nail or something, maybe it's hot glue. My guess would be the bend is between guard and wood grip. If it was on the guard, you'd see it directly at the entry to it. inside the guard is not so likely unless there is a lot of space (to me it looks like it's not enough for that to be the case). So you likely could straighten it all out without removing the grip, but I am guessing, that the grip wasn't under enough tension, making it not rigid enough, and the wood core being glued (EDIT: glued means you can put as much tension on the nut as you want, it will never tighten the upper part, that's what I mean), it would very likely bend again. Best chance chiseling off the core, there is no real disassembly there, just careful brute force... Take measurements before so you can make a new one that fits, but make it a bit longer at least. That's a lot of work though but far likelier to suceed than not re-hilting it.
EDIT2: Be careful with solvents around the sword, some of the "blackened" Windlass swords aren't rust blued but some kind of paint which would be attacked by anything that also can dissolve hardened epoxy (like acetone). You could try on a later non visible spot if it gets dissolved. Packing the grip in some acetone soaked towels will loosen up the epoxy so it's easier to remove, still gonna take some cutting.
EDIT3: looking at the pictures again I'd say the fit on the wood core was subpar, it looks like it does not fit in the holes in guard and pommel fully. IDK if that's normal, but looks off to me.
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Post by ninjagrips on May 25, 2024 20:28:10 GMT
Thanks for the tips!
It doesn't look to me like the grip fits into the guard or the pommel, in any way. Looks to me like everything just butts up against everything else.
I just finished twisting a bunch of different gauges and types of wire.
Didn't have the cojones just yet to chisel the wooden grip core off, but I'm thinking that's what I'm gonna have to do. It definitely looks like it's epoxy that's holding it on.
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Post by mrstabby on May 26, 2024 9:34:34 GMT
Thanks for the tips! It doesn't look to me like the grip fits into the guard or the pommel, in any way. Looks to me like everything just butts up against everything else. I just finished twisting a bunch of different gauges and types of wire. Didn't have the cojones just yet to chisel the wooden grip core off, but I'm thinking that's what I'm gonna have to do. It definitely looks like it's epoxy that's holding it on. Good luck. You could straighten it out and fill every nook and cranny with glue (not a bad idea even after the repair to fill the guard-gap with glue). My guess is, that the glue hardened before they put enough tension on the pommel nut, so there was enough movement to produce a bend - I had that same issue once. You are going to need a bunch of tools to reproduce a grip, it's not as easy as it seems.
Again, good luck. It looks like a savable sword.
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Post by ninjagrips on May 26, 2024 14:11:57 GMT
Oh, I've got a shop, and plenty of tools. I should be fine fashioning a new grip.
I'm no stranger to tools and machines, I'm just not a sword expert.
Thanks again so much for your help, I will come back soon with an update!
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Post by mrstabby on May 26, 2024 19:47:39 GMT
I am staying tuned. Also have some things to put a new grip on but never took the plunge. I have chosen ash wood, might have been a mistake to go for something that hard, I get carpal tunnel just thinking of sawing out one cuboid for the grip since I have neither a band nor table saw  I have found beech or birch plywood work well for knife grip scales, but I am not sure it works for a sword grip since the layers would maybe be weak points? IDK. Since I would wrap it it could be fine, but I want it to be ash, so it's gonna take a while to get the right shaped piece.
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Alan Schiff
Registered
Manufacturers and Vendors
Posts: 469
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Post by Alan Schiff on May 28, 2024 22:15:40 GMT
You can try a heat gun to soften the epoxy under the grip. Put the blade in a vise, heat the grip area, and use the guard to lever the grip up. You should be able to pull it off by hand at that point. If that doesn't work, you'll probably have to destroy the grip. Honestly, though, you might be better off that way, since it looks like the grip isn't very well fitted in any case. Once the wood is gone, the guard should come off fairly easily.
Hope that helps,
Alan
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Post by ninjagrips on May 29, 2024 14:26:24 GMT
Thanks so much, I will give the heat gun idea a try. I can't believe I didn't think of trying that!
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on May 29, 2024 20:54:05 GMT
Do you have any pics of the pommel and how its held on?
I've read it's a nut under the decorative cover. True?
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Post by ninjagrips on May 30, 2024 13:54:07 GMT
Yeah, the pommel is threaded on. There is a bronze-looking cap mounted inside the pommel. Not sure whether epoxy is holding it in the body of the pommel, but I’m willing to bet that is the case. It might be a good, tight press-fit, reinforced with epoxy. Either way, I'm not too concerned with removing that bronze cap. I tried the heat gun method to see if I could melt the epoxy in the grip, and I didn’t have much luck, but it heated the grip enough to where it was relatively easy to chisel it off. I mounted the blade in my vise and did a little straightening. The blade still has a slight bend to it, but I’m afraid to apply too much pressure, I don’t want the blade to snap. Anyway, I sanded off most of the glue from the tang, and the next step is to finish cleaning the excess gunk from the tang and build a new grip. I wonder if I could chop a little length off the threads at the end of the tang and make a slightly shorter grip. Haven’t given it enough thought, yet. Here are the pics. imgur.com/a/8JvXWbx    |
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Post by mrstabby on May 30, 2024 14:24:15 GMT
It would depend on the temper, spring temer is unlikely to snap, but it is the pattern welded version, right? Does not look like much is left, so you did a good job so far. The last few degrees of offset are the worst to correct, I have straightened a few blades and it is scary.
You could try this if a few pimples won't be a dealbreaker, if it's still inside the hang it won't show anyways: Laying something round and hard on the opposite side of the bend (the valley side, not the peak) and giving it a good whack. depending how hard the blade is a normal ball peen hammer might even work if hammer is hardened steel, but a smaller radius is is better.
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Post by mrstabby on May 30, 2024 14:53:51 GMT
It would depend on the temper, spring temer is unlikely to snap, but it is the pattern welded version, right? Does not look like much is left, so you did a good job so far. The last few degrees of offset are the worst to correct, I have straightened a few blades and it is scary.
You could try this if a few pimples won't be a dealbreaker, if it's still inside the hang it won't show anyways: Laying something round and hard on the opposite side of the bend (the valley side, not the peak) and giving it a good whack. depending how hard the blade is a normal ball peen hammer might even work if hammer is hardened steel, but a smaller radius is is better.
So, I have had a Windlass Dagger with a twisted blade and thanks to this I finally got the courage to try (or better I finally remembered I wanted to try it with the tools I have at hand). It is hard, but not super hard, maybe 53HRC, so barely harder than the Windlass at 52HRC. Also small, not a lot of force but very concentrated due to the small radius of the tip. It did not leave much of any visible marks but damn it worked! The bend was like 2mm if you lay it on a flat surface on one side of the edge, and I have almost gotten it out! Definately try this! It does neither need tungsten carbide nor much force, just a lot of repetitions.
EDIT after 10 minutes of hammering: It definately works, but the carbide likely would make it go a lot faster...
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Post by ninjagrips on May 30, 2024 15:23:16 GMT
That's pretty interesting! Thanks for that link.
I do have several ball peen hammers, so I might give it a try, but honestly, I think I might be able to live with the blade as it is now.
I'm at the point where it's kinda difficult to tell where the bend is, and I'm going a little cross-eyed.
Suppose I could hold a straight-edge up to either side. I'll do that next time I go out to the shop.
If I have time today, I'll start on the new wood grip.
EDIT: Yes, I believe it's "pattern-welded" damascus. I have no idea what the steel actually is, though. It is relatively springy, but I don't have a ton of faith in it, honestly. I see it as a nice "carbon/damascus steel" wall-hanger, rather than a tough as nails heavy backyard cutter.
EDIT 2: Went back and inserted the images directly into my posts. Took me a minute to figure out how to do that, but I'm glad I did! I can't stand not having the pictures directly in the posts!
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AndiTheBarvarian
Member
"Lord of the Memes"
Bavarianbarbarian - Semper Semprini
Posts: 10,346
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on May 30, 2024 15:46:51 GMT
I assume it's Damasteel, powder steel from Sweden, the say they use it for the William Marshal.
Other than cheap hand made Damascus it should be relative tough.
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Post by ninjagrips on May 30, 2024 18:04:29 GMT
Thanks so much for that info, that's a bit of a comfort!
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on May 30, 2024 20:29:11 GMT
What is under this brass/bronze cap? A screw? Or did your whole pommel thread to the tang?  |
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Post by ninjagrips on May 30, 2024 21:39:18 GMT
The whole pommel threaded to the tang.
Don't know if there's a separate nut that the bronze cap is covering, or if the pommel body itself has just been tapped, and the bronze cap is just hiding the threads that were cut into the pommel.
If it were me, I'd just drill and tap the pommel, and not add a separate nut. But I'm not a sword maker. I suppose the REAL correct thing to do is peen the dang thing on.
EDIT: The third post in this thread has a shot of the underside of the pommel, where you can see dried glue with the thread pattern in it. If I look down to the bottom under a light, there are some threads at the very bottom that are metal. They appear to be steel, but it's difficult to tell.
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