Today, I finished on making my own katana, while I still know how, I will show you how to MAKE your own sword.
WARNING: there are quite the risks of burning yourself doing this, I would recemmend that if you are a kid, you have an adult next to you.
And also, a note for the professional blacksmiths/swordsmiths: Please don't correct as (Ex: no you dont do that you first gotta do all this!) kind of stuff, if you want that professional swordsmith stuff, make your own. This is for people who probably know nothing about making swords, or just getting into the hobby.
First, you should consider what steel you are using:
Stainless - good for display, but nothing more, any blade longer than 15 inches is terrible if made out of this steel, but it is cheap.
Carbon Steel - if you want a ready-to-duel sword, this is the steel you should use, or better steel, although, steel like this will take alot of maintenence to keep from rust.
Damascus Steel - best steel you could use, but processing the steel is impossible if you are even the slightest bit impatient, the steel is expensive too, but if you can, use this steel.
To start here is what you need:
A forge (Cut a steel drum in half, then put wood and charcoal in there, and you got a basic forge which will do the job)
A hammer (Use a hammer, not your fingers! use only a steel hammer, to avoid the hammer melting)
A steel to be used as an anvil (any piece of metal with a high melting point will work, tungsten metal, for example)
Desired Steel (this is the steel you will turn into a sword)
Wood (or anything that could be used for the handle)
more wood (for the pommel, which goes on the end of the sword)
Cutting tools (to cut the wood into desired shape)
Step 1:
start up your fire, heat up the steel to a glowing red color!
Step 2:
on one end, hammer it into a long and (Somewhat) narrow handle, this is the tang of the sword, which is what goes inside the handle and is welded into the pommel or screwed into the handle, the thicker the better, but don't make it too bulky or your sword wont look all that cool!
Step 3:
Make the blade longer, to do this, heat up the blade, then at an angle on your anvil, hammer 3 times, move the blade about a centimeter, hammer 3 times, repeat until your blade is as long as you want.
Step 4:
Your blade is probably a little bent from that hammering, so lets heat it up, and flatten it with your hammer.
Step 5:
This step can be done two ways, if you have a really good saw, then cut the point at the end of your sword out, or heat the end up, and hammer it into shape, do not fully sharpen the point, because it will just keep falling off when try to heat it up, we will sharpen it later.
Step 6:
work on making the side symmetrical, if you don't, your sword wont look nice when it is done.
dont make it sharp while doing this, same reason as before.
Step 7:
Now, heat the ENTIRE blade up in the forge, until it is red hot keep an eye on it (Turn OFF the TV) and make sure it is being heated nice and even. once it is red hot, put it in water, do this a couple times, repeat only this time turn down the fire slowly (The sword could shatter if you do it quickly) let it cool by air, now during this, wait about 30 minutes, after that, time to polish the blade, sharpen it!
Step 8:
Start with a belt grinder, and sharpen the blade, smooth out the entire blade. especially smooth out the tang, then move down to files, then 100-grit sandpaper to finish it up.
Step 9:
Time to make a guard! cut out the piece of wood and carve it into shape, then drill a slit for the tang to fit in, hammer the guard in (Guard will work better if made of steel) the tang.
Step 10:
make a handle out of the wood, drill out the slit for the tang, and put it on the tang, now, you can use a metal pommel and weld the end of the tang, or heat it up and hammer it down so it wont fall out.
after all that, you have an awesome sword! anything wrong on here, tell me! and possibly even post a picture of your sword if you actually make one!
Ohhh now I'm tempted to make a tutorial on making a wall mount for these swords!
WARNING: there are quite the risks of burning yourself doing this, I would recemmend that if you are a kid, you have an adult next to you.
And also, a note for the professional blacksmiths/swordsmiths: Please don't correct as (Ex: no you dont do that you first gotta do all this!) kind of stuff, if you want that professional swordsmith stuff, make your own. This is for people who probably know nothing about making swords, or just getting into the hobby.
First, you should consider what steel you are using:
Stainless - good for display, but nothing more, any blade longer than 15 inches is terrible if made out of this steel, but it is cheap.
Carbon Steel - if you want a ready-to-duel sword, this is the steel you should use, or better steel, although, steel like this will take alot of maintenence to keep from rust.
Damascus Steel - best steel you could use, but processing the steel is impossible if you are even the slightest bit impatient, the steel is expensive too, but if you can, use this steel.
To start here is what you need:
A forge (Cut a steel drum in half, then put wood and charcoal in there, and you got a basic forge which will do the job)
A hammer (Use a hammer, not your fingers! use only a steel hammer, to avoid the hammer melting)
A steel to be used as an anvil (any piece of metal with a high melting point will work, tungsten metal, for example)
Desired Steel (this is the steel you will turn into a sword)
Wood (or anything that could be used for the handle)
more wood (for the pommel, which goes on the end of the sword)
Cutting tools (to cut the wood into desired shape)
Step 1:
start up your fire, heat up the steel to a glowing red color!
Step 2:
on one end, hammer it into a long and (Somewhat) narrow handle, this is the tang of the sword, which is what goes inside the handle and is welded into the pommel or screwed into the handle, the thicker the better, but don't make it too bulky or your sword wont look all that cool!
Step 3:
Make the blade longer, to do this, heat up the blade, then at an angle on your anvil, hammer 3 times, move the blade about a centimeter, hammer 3 times, repeat until your blade is as long as you want.
Step 4:
Your blade is probably a little bent from that hammering, so lets heat it up, and flatten it with your hammer.
Step 5:
This step can be done two ways, if you have a really good saw, then cut the point at the end of your sword out, or heat the end up, and hammer it into shape, do not fully sharpen the point, because it will just keep falling off when try to heat it up, we will sharpen it later.
Step 6:
work on making the side symmetrical, if you don't, your sword wont look nice when it is done.
dont make it sharp while doing this, same reason as before.
Step 7:
Now, heat the ENTIRE blade up in the forge, until it is red hot keep an eye on it (Turn OFF the TV) and make sure it is being heated nice and even. once it is red hot, put it in water, do this a couple times, repeat only this time turn down the fire slowly (The sword could shatter if you do it quickly) let it cool by air, now during this, wait about 30 minutes, after that, time to polish the blade, sharpen it!
Step 8:
Start with a belt grinder, and sharpen the blade, smooth out the entire blade. especially smooth out the tang, then move down to files, then 100-grit sandpaper to finish it up.
Step 9:
Time to make a guard! cut out the piece of wood and carve it into shape, then drill a slit for the tang to fit in, hammer the guard in (Guard will work better if made of steel) the tang.
Step 10:
make a handle out of the wood, drill out the slit for the tang, and put it on the tang, now, you can use a metal pommel and weld the end of the tang, or heat it up and hammer it down so it wont fall out.
after all that, you have an awesome sword! anything wrong on here, tell me! and possibly even post a picture of your sword if you actually make one!
Ohhh now I'm tempted to make a tutorial on making a wall mount for these swords!