Many people strive to fulfill their childhood dreams. You can turn one of them into reality by learning how to make a sword. After all, who among us did not imagine himself a hero of fairy tales or popular films with a chic blade in his hands? Realizing this fantasy is not difficult at all. You just need to collect necessary materials and tools and carve out some of your free time for work.

Do you want to learn how to make a sword with your own hands at home? First, decide for what purposes you need it. If you like to participate in the reconstruction of knightly battles, a wooden blade will suit you. When organizing children's holiday useful crafts from oblong balls. And fans of science fiction will appreciate the shining weapons of the Jedi.

wooden sword

How to make a sword out of wood? To get started, find suitable material and decide on the shape of your future weapon. After that, you can safely get down to business. Cut the board with a hacksaw, setting the product to the required length.

After that, give the workpiece the shape you like and round off all the corners. You should get an arc, the size of which will be approximately three to five millimeters.

In the course of work, please Special attention the direction in which you cut the wood. After all, how to make a sword against the fibers of the material? The answer is elementary - no way. Move along them and make sure that the surface is perfectly smooth, it does not form knots, bumps and any cracks. This condition is the key to a long service life of the product. If you don't do it, the blade will break very quickly.

Comfortable and beautiful

When you are shaping the blade, work on the hilt as well. At this stage, it is determined how comfortable it will be to hold the sword in battle. Note! Under no circumstances should the holder be rounded! It is better to give preference to oval or rectangular.

This is the key to how to make the sword comfortable. Indeed, in practice, you will use the weapon in two combat planes, and the round handle will create unnecessary discomfort in this case and may even cause injury. To make the blade even safer, make sure that there are no sharp or protruding fragments on the handle that, when in contact with the palm, can damage it.

How to do wooden sword original form? To do this, pre-cut with a hacksaw or electric jigsaw the desired contours. Only after that you can proceed to surface treatment using a knife or planer. When you give it the final shape, follow the correct proportions. Make the central part thicker, and the tip thin.

To give the product extra strength, coat it with epoxy. After finishing honing and grinding, apply several layers of it to the surface. The final layer can be diluted with paint. It will give the product completeness and make it more beautiful.

The nuances of work

How to make a wooden sword look like a battle sword? In this case, the use of a guard cut from rubber will help you. If you have little experience in fighting, make it big and round to better protect your hand during a fight. This part is fixed at the bottom of the blade in the place where the handle begins. You can fix it using a wire covered with electrical tape.

At this stage of work, the level of blade balancing is determined. How to make a wooden sword more convenient in this regard? To do this, you will need lead weights that need to be hidden under a layer of winding. It is made using nylon threads, wet leather cords or ordinary fabric. These materials reduce the slip of the palm on the surface to a minimum and add convenience in using the tool.

Now you know how to make a sword out of wood, and you can treat yourself to a new toy at any time. Such a blade is more suitable for adults, and less weighty weapons can bring a lot of joy to children. The process of its creation will be discussed below.

Ball blade

How to make a sword from a ball? To do this, you only need two things: the material itself and a hand pump to pump it up.

Before starting work, you should know that to perform it you need to have manual dexterity and patience. Therefore, if you plan, for example, to make a lot of such tools for a children's holiday, practice twisting them in advance. Also, be prepared for unpleasant incidents when inflatable sticks burst in your hands, because not all of them have a sufficient level of strength and pliability.

Basic Rules

How to make a sword from a ball? Remember the basic requirements for the workflow.

Step-by-step instruction

How to make a sword at home using balls? It's not difficult at all. It will take you about ten minutes to make it. Follow the instructions - and you will definitely succeed.

1. Inflate the balloon with the pump. At the same time, it must be kept large and index fingers. Tie it and bend it about 20 centimeters from the tip.
2. Fold the blank again so that you get a figure that looks like a snake.
3. Find the center of the tube and gently, but firmly, press on all of its parts.
4. Twist the toy a few more times and carefully straighten it. So you will make a comfortable handle for the future blade. The long part of the tube will serve as the point of the sword.

This completes the work on the craft. You can make as many of these toys as you like and arrange a wonderful pirate or knight's party for your baby. Children are guaranteed to be delighted with your crafts.

Turning into Jedi

The cult movie Star Wars has been captivating the minds of its fans around the world with the question of how to make a laser sword. In order for fantasy to become reality and for you to feel the power of a shining Jedi blade in your hands, you need to do a fairly simple job.

First, collect the materials necessary to create weapons. You will need:

Polycarbonate transparent or frosted tube on the tip of the sword;

Rolled polyethylene for light diffusion;

- "Oracal" to reflect the radiance;

Nickel-plated furniture leg to make the handle;

Button-switch;

Strong color diode (approximately three watts of power);

Holder for three batteries;

Resistor.

Work process

How to make a laser sword? First, measure the desired length of the tip and saw off the tube. Then decide on the parameters of the handle and use a jigsaw to shorten furniture leg to the required size.

After that, insert the diode and a roll of polyethylene into the blade of the blade. Separately cut out a circle from the oilcloth and place it in the upper part of the workpiece. In learning how to make a Jedi sword, indispensable assistant will be the material "Oracal", which will act as a reflector. It needs to be fixed inside the craft.

Now make a hole in the handle for the power button. A file will help you with this. Next, connect the resistor, battery holder and switch together and insert them into the handle. Attach a diode to them.

final stage

Wrap the tip of the polycarbonate tube with electrical tape (it will take a couple of rolls) so that it barely fits into the handle. Glue the nut between the layers formed, and make a hole in the handle for the bolt with which the blade will be fixed.

Seal the tube with a cap, screw it to the handle, decorate the latter as your heart desires - and your Jedi blade is ready. You can safely go with him to the war against Darth Vader.

Comments:

Once upon a time, a good sword or dagger was not only an object denoting the status of the owner. The life of its owner often depended on the quality of the blade. Today, edged weapons perform a rather decorative function, but many people want to know how to make a blade.

A handmade sword can become great decoration interior and the pride of its owner.

An easy way to make a sword at home

To make a blade at home, you will need the following tools and materials:

• sheet steel about 5 mm thick;
• Bulgarian;
• drill;
• electric emery.

The contour of the template is traced with a marker on the forging and cut out on the roughing wheel.

The work begins with a sketch of the future sword on paper. After that, the contours of the blade are transferred to the metal, taking into account the processing allowances.

1. According to the applied contour, holes are drilled in the corners with a drill, if the shape of the sword is quite complex. This will make it easier to cut the contour with a grinder. Make holes for attaching the handle.
2. Cut the workpiece along the contour on the metal. In the absence of a grinder, this operation can be performed with a chisel and a hammer.
3. Further processing is carried out on emery or a file: excess metal should be removed, giving the product the shape of a sword, thickened towards the center and thin on the cutting edges. The relief on the blade in the form of valleys or other details is performed with the same tools.
4. The blade is tempered and released. The process is described below, in more complicated way making weapons with their own hands.

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How to forge a blade with your own hands?

To obtain the desired thickness, align the plane of the blade by moving it back and forth in a circle.

Forging means shaping metal product by striking a hot material, which, due to exposure to high temperature, becomes plastic and soft. To make a sword by forging, you will need:

• low-carbon steel (bar or strip);
• hammer;
• anvil and forge.

If you start forging from a bar, then the first step is to forge it into a square or rectangle along the entire length. Then, from this blank, a strip is dispersed, the thickness of which corresponds to the thickness of the intended product, plus the excess that will be removed during further processing.

Care must be taken not to cool the metal too much, since the inevitable bending of it during forging is best straightened before the next heating of the workpiece.

The allowance along the butt is ground together with blockages and leveled off side surface circle.

A distance is retreated from the end of the strip, which will be slightly less than the required length of the handle, given that when this part is thinned, it will lengthen. The workpiece is heated to the red light of the metal and the shank is broken. To do this, at the right distance on the edge of the anvil or on the backing tool, a “step” is formed with the sharp end of the hammer - the shoulders of the blade body. The thinner part is called the shank. Pull the shank onto the cone.

The body of the blade is given the desired contour. Descents from the middle to the edges can be formed on emery or forged by striking at a strictly defined angle from the edges to the center of the strip. The forger's elbow pressed against the body will help to maintain a constant position of the hammer during forging. So the blows will be applied strictly vertically, and the inclination of the striker to the plane of the anvil is controlled by fixing the brush in a certain position. The valleys on the blade are traditionally forged using a template.

Scale particles, remaining on the metal, make its surface uneven, covered with dents of different depths. To remove scale during the forging process, the hammer and anvil are periodically moistened with water.

The bottom of the blade is satinized along the entire length, then the transverse line of the heel is processed.

After final finishing the blade is annealed to eliminate internal stresses: heated to red and left to cool in the furnace. Then proceed to hardening:

1. The blade is heated to a barely noticeable red glow as evenly and slowly as possible. The air flow from the blast must not fall on the product. At the hardening temperature, it is kept for some time, which is calculated by a factor of 0.2 from the heating time.
2. A large volume is needed to quickly cool a heated blade cold water. It is immersed in a container vertically or at an angle completely.
3. The area of ​​the blade is polished to a shine and the blade is again placed in the forge for tempering after hardening. Heating is carried out until the cleaned area acquires a golden color. The sword is cooled in air.

It is difficult to name an invention that would have such a significant impact on the development of our civilization that a sword can boast. It cannot be considered as a banal murder weapon, the sword has always been something more. in different historical periods this weapon was a symbol of status, belonging to a military caste or noble class. The evolution of the sword as a weapon is inextricably linked with the development of metallurgy, materials science, chemistry and mining.

In almost all historical periods, the sword was the weapon of the elite. And the point here is not so much in the status of this weapon, but in its high cost and the complexity of producing high-quality blades. Making a sword that you could trust with your life in battle was not just a laborious process, but a real art. And the blacksmiths involved in this work can be safely compared with virtuoso musicians. Not without reason from ancient times different peoples there are legends about outstanding swords with special properties, made by real blacksmiths.

The price of even an average blade could reach the cost of a small peasant farm. Products of famous masters were even more expensive. It is for this reason that the most common type of edged weapons of the era of Antiquity and the Middle Ages is a spear, but not a sword.

For centuries in different regions world developed metallurgical centers were formed, the products of which were known far beyond their borders. They existed in Europe, the Middle East, India, China and Japan. The work of a blacksmith was revered and very well paid.

In Japan, kaji (this is a blacksmith-gunsmith, "sword master") in the social hierarchy was on the same level as the samurai. Unheard of in this country. Craftsmen, to whom, in theory, blacksmiths should belong, were even lower than peasants in the Japanese table of ranks. Moreover, the samurai sometimes did not hesitate to take on the blacksmith's hammer. To show how respected the work of the gunsmith was in Japan, one fact can be cited. Emperor Gotoba (reigned in the 12th century) declared that the manufacture of a Japanese sword is a job that even princes can do without detracting from their dignity. Gotoba himself was not averse to working near the forge, several blades that he made with his own hands have been preserved.

Today, the media write a lot about the skill of Japanese blacksmiths and the quality of the steel that was used to create the traditional katana. Yes, indeed, the manufacture of a samurai sword required great skill and deep knowledge, but it can be responsibly stated that European blacksmiths were practically in no way inferior to their Japanese counterparts. Although there are legends about the hardness and strength of the katana, the manufacture of a Japanese sword is not fundamentally different from the process of forging European blades.

Man began to use metals for the manufacture of edged weapons as early as the 5th millennium BC. At first it was copper, which was quickly replaced by bronze, a strong alloy of copper with tin or arsenic.

By the way, the last component of bronze is very poisonous and often turned ancient blacksmiths and metallurgists into cripples, which is reflected in the legends. For example, Hephaestus greek god fire and the patron of blacksmithing, was lame; in Slavic myths, blacksmiths are also often depicted as crippled.

The Iron Age began at the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 1st millennium BC. Although, bronze weapons were used for many more hundreds of years. In the XII century BC. e. wrought iron was already used to make weapons and tools in the Caucasus, India and Anatolia. Around the 8th century BC. e. welded iron appeared in Europe rather quickly new technology spread across the continent. The fact is that the number of copper and tin deposits in Europe is relatively small, but iron reserves are significant. In Japan, the Iron Age began only in the 7th century AD.

Making a sword. From ore to crack

For a very long time, the technologies for producing and processing iron remained practically in one place, they could not properly satisfy the ever-growing demand for this metal, so there were few iron products and they were expensive. And the quality of tools and weapons made of this metal was extremely low. Surprisingly, for almost three thousand years, metallurgy has not undergone any fundamental changes.

Before proceeding to the description of the process of manufacturing bladed weapons in antiquity, several definitions related to metallurgy should be given.

Steel is an alloy of iron and other chemical elements primarily with carbon. It defines the basic properties of steel: a large number of carbon in steel provides its high hardness and strength, while reducing the ductility of the metal.

The main method of obtaining iron in the era of Antiquity and in the Middle Ages (until the 13th century) was the raw-blowing process, so named because unheated (“raw”) air was blown into the furnace. The main method of processing the resulting iron and steel was forging. The cheese-making process was very inefficient, most of iron from the ore went along with the slag. In addition, the resulting raw materials were not of high quality, and were very heterogeneous.

Obtaining iron from ore took place in a raw-hearth furnace (raw-hearth furnace or domnitsa), which had a shape resembling a truncated cone, from 1 to 2 meters high and a base diameter of 60-80 cm. Such a furnace was made of refractory bricks or stone, coated with clay on top, which was then burned. A pipe for supplying air led to the furnace, it was pumped with the help of bellows, and in the lower part of the blast furnace there was a hole for removing slag. A large amount of ore, coal and fluxes were loaded into the furnace.

Later, water mills were used to supply air to the furnace. In the 13th century, more advanced ovens appeared - stukofen, and then blauofen (XV century). Their productivity was much higher. A real breakthrough in metallurgy took place only at the beginning of the 16th century, when a conversion process was discovered, during which high-quality steel was obtained from ore.

The fuel for the cheese-making process was charcoal. Coal not used due to the large amount of impurities harmful to iron that it contains. They learned to coke coal only in the 18th century.

Several processes take place in a raw-blast furnace at once: waste rock is separated from ore and leaves in the form of slag, while iron oxides are reduced by reacting with carbon monoxide and carbon. It fuses and forms the so-called kritsa. It contains cast iron. After receiving the chicken, it is broken into small pieces and sorted by hardness, then they work with each fraction separately.

It is today cast iron is the most important product of ferrous metallurgy, it used to be different. It cannot be forged, so in ancient times cast iron was considered a useless waste product (“pig iron”), unsuitable for further use. It significantly reduced the amount of raw materials obtained during the smelting. They tried to use cast iron: in Europe, cannonballs were made from it, and in India, coffins, but the quality of these products left much to be desired.

From iron to steel. sword forging

Iron obtained in a cheese-blast furnace was extremely heterogeneous and poor quality. It took a lot more effort to turn it into a durable and deadly blade. Forging a sword included several processes at once:

• cleaning of iron and steel;
• welding of different layers of steel;
• blade making;
• heat treatment of the product.

After that, the blacksmith had to make a cross, a head, a sword handle, and also make a scabbard for it.

Naturally, at present the cheese-making process is not used in industry for the production of iron and steel. However, by the forces of enthusiasts and lovers of ancient edged weapons, it was recreated to the smallest detail. Today, this sword-making technique is used to create "authentic" historical weapons.

The crack obtained in the furnace consists of low-carbon iron (0-0.3% carbon content), metal with a carbon content of 0.3-0.6% and high-carbon fraction (from 0.6 to 1.6% and above). Iron, in which there is little carbon, is highly ductile, but it is very soft, the higher the carbon content in the metal, the greater its strength and hardness, but at the same time the steel becomes more brittle.

To give the desired properties to the metal, the blacksmith can either saturate the steel with carbon, or burn out its excess. The process of saturation of metal with carbon is called cementation.

The blacksmiths of the past faced a serious problem. If you make a sword from high carbon steel, then it will be strong and keep sharpening well, but at the same time too fragile, a weapon made of low carbon steel will not be able to perform its functions at all. The blade must be both hard and elastic at the same time. This was the key problem that confronted gunsmiths for many hundreds of years.

There is a description of the use of long swords by the Celts by the Roman historian Polybios. According to him, the swords of the barbarians were made of such soft iron that they became blunt and bent after each decisive blow. From time to time, Celtic warriors had to correct their blades with their foot or knee. However, even a very fragile sword posed a great danger to its owner. For example, a broken sword almost cost the life of Richard the Lionheart, the English king and one of the most famous fighters of his time.

In that era, a broken sword meant about the same thing as failed car brakes today.

The first attempt to solve this problem was the creation of the so-called laminated swords, in which soft and hard layers of steel alternated with each other. The blade of such a sword was a multi-layered sandwich, which allowed it to be both durable and elastic at the same time (at the same time, however, the correct heat treatment of the weapon and its hardening played an important role). However, there was one problem with such swords: when sharpening, the surface hard layer the blade was quickly worn down and the sword lost its properties. Laminated blades appeared already among the Celts, according to modern experts, such a sword should have cost ten times more than usual.

Another way to make a strong and flexible blade was surface cementing. The essence of this process was to carburize the surface of a weapon made of a relatively soft metal. The sword was placed in a vessel filled with organic matter(most often it was coal), which was then put into the furnace. Without access to oxygen, organics charred and saturated the metal with carbon, making it stronger. With cemented blades, there was the same problem as with laminated ones: the surface (hard) layer wore off rather quickly, and the blade lost its cutting properties.

More advanced were multi-layered swords made according to the "steel-iron-steel" scheme. It made it possible to create blades of excellent quality: the soft iron of the “core” made the blade flexible and resilient, well dampened vibrations upon impact, and the hard “shell” endowed the sword with excellent cutting properties. It should be noted that the above blade layout is the simplest. In the Middle Ages, blacksmiths-gunsmiths often "built" their products from five or seven "packages" of metal with different characteristics.

Already in the early Middle Ages, large metallurgical centers were formed in Europe, in which a significant amount of steel was smelted and enough weapons were produced. High Quality. Typically, such centers arose near rich deposits of iron ore. In the IX-X centuries, good blades were made in the state of the Franks. Charlemagne even had to issue a decree according to which it was strictly forbidden to sell weapons to the Vikings. The recognized center of European metallurgy was the area where the famous Solingen later arose. They mined iron ore excellent quality. Later, Italian Brescia and Spanish Toledo became recognized blacksmithing centers.

It is curious, but already in the early Middle Ages, the blades of famous gunsmiths were often forged. For example, the swords of the famous master Ulfbrecht (lived in the 9th century) were distinguished by excellent balance and were made of perfectly crafted steel. They were marked with the personal sign of the gunsmith. However, the blacksmith simply could not physically make all the blades that are attributed to him. And the blades themselves are very different in quality. During the late Middle Ages, Solingen craftsmen forged the products of blacksmiths from Passau and Toledo. There were even written complaints of the latter about such "piracy". Later they began to forge the swords of Solingen himself.

The selected strips are heated and then welded into a single block by forging. During this process, it is important to maintain the correct temperature and not burn the workpiece.

After welding, the forging of the blade begins directly, during which its shape is formed, valleys are made, and the shank is made. One of the main stages of forging is the process of compacting the blades, which concentrates the layers of steel and allows the sword to retain its cutting properties longer. At this stage, the geometry of the blade is finally formed, the location of its center of gravity is determined, the thickness of the metal at the base of the sword and at its tip is set.

Medieval blacksmiths, of course, did not have thermometers. Therefore, the required temperature was calculated from the color of the metal glow. To better define this characteristic, in the past forges were usually darkened, which added even more mysticism to the aura of blacksmiths.

Then the heat treatment of the future sword begins. This stage is extremely important, it allows you to change the molecular structure of the steel and achieve the necessary characteristics from the blade. The fact is that forged steel, welded from various pieces, has a rough grain structure and a large amount of stress inside the metal. With the help of normalization, hardening and tempering, the blacksmith must get rid of these shortcomings as much as possible.

Initially, the blade is heated to about 800 degrees, and then hung by the shank so that the metal does not “lead”. This process is called normalization, for different types become this procedure carried out several times. Normalization is followed by a gentle annealing, during which the sword is heated to a brownish-red color and left to cool, wrapped in an insulating material.

After normalizing and annealing, you can proceed to the most important part of the forging process - hardening. During this procedure, the blade is heated to a brown-red color and then rapidly cooled in water or oil. Hardening, as it were, freezes the steel structure obtained during normalization and annealing.

Differentiated hardening. This technique is typical for Japanese masters, it lies in the fact that different zones blades receive different hardening. To achieve this effect, layers of clay of various thicknesses were applied to the blade before hardening.

It is absolutely clear that at any stage of the process described above, the blacksmith can make a mistake that will be fatal for the quality of the future product. In Japan, any blacksmith who valued his name had to ruthlessly break failed blades.

To improve the quality of the future sword, the method of nitration or nitriding was often used, that is, the treatment of steel with compounds containing nitrogen.

The saga of Wieland the blacksmith describes quite a original way nitration, which allowed the master to create a real "super sword". To improve the quality of the product, the blacksmith sawed the sword into sawdust, added it to the dough and fed it to hungry geese. After that, he collected bird droppings and forged sawdust. They made a sword "... so hard and strong that it was difficult to find a second one on earth." Of course it is literary work, but such a method could well take place. Modern "nitrogen" steels have the highest hardness. Many historical sources report that swords were tempered in blood, which endowed them with special qualities. It is likely that such a practice actually took place, and here we are dealing with another method of nitration.

Immediately after hardening, the blade is released again. After the end of the heat treatment process, grinding begins, and it is carried out in several stages. During this process, the sword must be constantly cooled with water. The grinding and polishing of the sword, as well as the installation of a cross, hilt and pommel on it in the Middle Ages was usually done not by a blacksmith, but by a special master - a Schwertfeger.

Naturally, before starting work on the sword, the blacksmith thought through its future design and construction to the smallest detail. Will it be combat or is it intended more for "representative" purposes? How will its future owner mainly fight: on foot or on horseback? Against what armor is it supposed to be used? And, of course, during the manufacture of the sword, the characteristics of the warrior himself were taken into account: his height, arm length, favorite fencing technique.

Damascus steel and damask steel

Anyone who at least once in his life was interested in historical edged weapons knows the phrase "Damascus steel". Even today it fascinates with its touch of mystery, exoticism and masculinity. In fact, Damascus steel is another attempt to resolve the eternal contradiction between the brittleness of steel and the softness of iron. And I must say that this attempt turned out to be one of the most successful.

It is not known who first came up with the idea to combine a large number of layers of soft and hard steel, but this person can be safely called a blacksmithing genius. Although, today historians believe that such technology was independently developed in different regions of the world. Already at the beginning of our era, Damascus steel weapons were made in Europe and China. It was previously believed that this type of steel was invented in the Middle East. However, today it is known for certain that it was invented by European masters. In fact, no evidence has yet been found that Damascus was ever a major weapons manufacturing center.

Wild Damascus was obtained if the original blank was cut in half, the halves were laid on top of each other and forged again. Such an operation was usually carried out several times, constantly doubling the number of metal layers, thereby improving its properties. A simple mathematical calculation shows that a workpiece reforged seven times receives 896 layers of high carbon and low carbon steel.

In the Middle Ages, the so-called twisted Damascus was popular in Europe. During its production, bars from different steels were twisted in a spiral and welded by forging. This process was repeated several times. Usually, the central part of the blade was made of such steel, on which blades of ordinary hard steel were then forged.

Blades made of Damascus steel were so highly valued in medieval Europe that they were often given as gifts to kings.

Bulat or Wutz is steel made in a special way, due to which it has a peculiar internal structure, a characteristic pattern on the surface and the highest characteristics in terms of strength and elasticity. It was made in Iran Central Asia and India. This steel had a high carbon content, close to that of cast iron (about 2%), but at the same time retained the ability to be forged and significantly surpassed cast iron in strength.

There are many legends about this material. For a long time it was believed that the secret of making damask steel was lost, although today many craftsmen claim that they own the secrets of making real wutz. One of the ways to obtain it is based on the partial melting of particles of iron or low-carbon steel in cast iron. Total additives should be 50-70% by weight of cast iron. The result is a melt having a mushy consistency. After cooling and crystallization, damask steel is obtained - a material with a high-carbon matrix, in which low-carbon particles are interspersed.

There is information about other methods of obtaining damask steels in our days, probably, there were several of them in antiquity. Modern methods associated with special methods of forging and heat treatment of metals.

One of the advantages of any sword made of patterned steel, be it Damascus or damask steel, experts call the micro-undulation of its blade. It automatically arises due to the heterogeneity of the layers or fibers of the metal that make up the blade. In fact, the cutting edge of such a weapon is a "microsaw", which significantly increases its combat properties.

There are a lot of myths about Damascus steel. The first of them is connected with the very name of the metal. Today it is known that the city of Damascus had no special relation to the invention and production of this steel, although some historians consider it important. shopping mall where weapons from Damascus were sold. Also, there is still an opinion that Damascus steel was worth its weight in gold and cut armor like paper. This is not true. Blades made of Damascus really perfectly combine hardness and elasticity, but they do not possess any unusual properties.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

The main driving force in the development of metalworking and metallurgy was the manufacture of weapons. Any metal discovered by man was immediately adapted for the production of these tools, discovering and developing new technologies. These studies led to the discovery of iron, and later steel, and the quality of the latter was constantly being improved.

Forging a sword is still quite difficult today. technological process. How can it be made in your workshop and from what materials? And also what you need to know about the manufacture of swords?

They tried to forge the first swords from bronze, but their quality was, to put it mildly, not very good, too soft material was used. The first iron and steel samples were also of poor quality, they had to be leveled after several blows. That is why at first the main weapon was a spear with an ax.

Everything changed with the invention of several new technologies, for example, layer-by-layer welding and forging, which gave a strong and, most importantly, ductile steel strip (harluzhny steel), from which swords were forged. Later, phosphorite grades of metal appeared, the production of this type of weapon became cheaper, and the methods of their manufacture were simplified.

What can be used to forge a sword today? Many experts recommend using the 65G steel grade. This is a spring-spring grade of metal used in the production of springs, shock absorber springs, bearing housings. The brand has a low percentage of carbon in its composition and is supplemented with such alloying elements as nickel, chromium, phosphorus. Such steel has excellent strength indicators, and, most importantly, it is springy, which will not allow the sword to bend under load.

When choosing a material for making a sword, you first need to decide how it will be used. If just like decorative ornament interior, the quality of the metal is not so important. Reenactment battles will require good steel, which will need to be further hardened.

You can also look for elements of springs from cars or tractors, which are made from steel grades 55HGR, 55S2GF and other similar analogues.

For decorative swords, you can simply buy rolled products in the form of a bar or strip at the nearest metal depot. However, when choosing a material, it is worth considering that part of the volume will be lost during forging, which means that the dimensions of the workpiece should be larger.

After acquiring steel, you need to take care of the availability of equipment for its processing.

What do you need to forge a sword

The main problem of processing the workpiece when forging a sword is the availability of equipment corresponding to the dimensions. Samples of such weapons have a length of 1000-1200 millimeters. Therefore, you need to have a hearth that will allow you to heat the metal completely over its entire length.

A forge with the required parameters can be folded with your own hands using refractory bricks. To do this, lay out the oven, for example, with an open top and a long hearth of 1.2-1.4 meters.

You will also need a standard blacksmith set: anvil, tongs, chisel. You will definitely need a handbrake hammer, which is used for all blacksmithing. Metal cutting and grinding can be done with a grinder.

The presence of a mechanical forging hammer greatly simplifies and speeds up forging.

Another important point is the tempering of the sword. Especially if you need to get a durable product. To do this, you will have to look for some kind of dishes along the length of the blade, pouring machine oil or water into it.

When everything is collected necessary equipment, you need to make at least simple drawing, along which further forging and assembly of the sword will be carried out.

When everything is ready, proceed directly to forging.

How to forge a sword

Regardless of what will serve as the initial blank for the future sword (a bar or a strip from a spring), it needs to be heated. The main thing is to observe the temperature limits of steel heating.

The lower limit of ductility of low-carbon steels is 800-850 degrees. Without devices, there are two ways to determine the heating of the material.

• The first is that at a certain heating temperature, steel acquires an appropriate color. At 800-830 degrees - light red and light cherry tones.
• Second - magnetic properties material. They are checked with an ordinary magnet. When steel is heated to 768 degrees or more, it loses its magnetic properties. After cooling, they are restored.

So, the workpiece is heated, how to form it by forging?

• If this is a bar, then it must be forged along the length, making a strip of the desired section out of it.

During forging, a scale layer will form on the metal surface. Part of it will fall off by itself, but the entire surface must be periodically cleaned using a metal brush.

• The descents of the future sword can be formed after forging, using an emery wheel, or they can be forged, forming the approximate shape of the blade.
• At the end of the strip where the handle will be assembled, you need to make a shank. To do this, part of the strip is forged from the ends and planes, forming a cone.
• In the place where the shank connects to the blade, the shoulders of the sword are formed by forging.
• Valleys must be forged along the planes of the blade. They are formed using punches or templates.
• The guard is usually made separately and is not forged together with the sword blade.
• After the end of work, the product is cleaned of scale and stabilized (released). To do this, the blade is heated in the forge to red and left to cool along with the hearth.
• Hardening is done after cooling when the metal is stabilized. The sword must be heated evenly along its entire length, making sure that the supplied air does not fall on the blade. When the metal becomes barely red, it is quickly lowered completely into the water. After that, you need to release the material again. To do this, it is pre-cleaned and heated to golden color. Cooling is carried out already in the open air.

This is the simplest technology of how to forge a sword at home. With practice, it will be possible to make an excellent blade.

It is important to observe the heating temperatures, as well as to properly harden the blade. After overheating the metal, a very fragile product will turn out, and a poorly hardened material will be too soft.

Having finished the forging processes, they make a hail, a handle and a pommel.

Of course, it is possible to make swords without blacksmithing technologies, using locksmith techniques. However, it is the forged product that will be durable and natural.

In primitive conditions it is very difficult to observe the right technology forged sword making good quality. Especially without experience. blacksmithing. It is best to practice initially by forging, for example, short knives or other similar products.

A huge advantage is the availability of mechanized equipment. As an example of making a sword by blacksmithing using a mechanical hammer, you can see the video provided:

Do you have any experience in making long objects and, in particular, swords? Share the methods and techniques of metal processing, take part in the discussion in the comments block.

Battles, warriors - that's what can really attract the attention of little kids, especially guys. They long to be like strong warriors, fight for good and win. The sword is one of the main attributes of real warriors, which is simply indispensable in battle. Every boy in childhood dreams of a cool sword with which he will fight with his "enemies". Today, you have the opportunity to please your son and make him a sword with your own hands. And best of all, do this business with him.

How to make a sword with your own hands?

There are many materials from which a sword can be made, but as we know, some are harder to work with, some are easier. If you want to make a sword for a child, then it is best to make it from wood or paper, as metal will be very heavy.

Eat different forms sword, so first, decide which one you want to make.

All swords are made in much the same way. We need a piece of solid wood.

1. We draw the shape of the sword on the beam and begin to cut it out.

2. When the beam begins to take the shape of a sword, it should be rubbed very well sandpaper. First coarse-grained, then fine-grained.

3 . After grouting, for better preservation, it can be varnished.

Thus, we will get a beautiful and light sword.

You can also make it more attractive if you change the shape a little. We recommend reading -