[David R. Glier]

This is my shot at upgrading the infamous $50 Windlass "Viking Sword". And if I do say so myself, I think it's coming along fairly well.



I still have shaping to do, as you can see from the sharpie lines scrawled all over the blade and the pommel, and the lower guard needs to be rounded and softened so I won't tear my palm out the first time I try transitioning to the handshake grip.



A few questions for my edification and my concience.
First, has anyone *ever* seen a gaddhjalt with a compound pommel? That's been nagging me, but I'm not about to change it now.

Second, might anyone have suggestions for properly sharpening an unsharpened sword? That means re-shaping the entire primary bevel, I know. Preserving the finish is not a concern, as I can bring it back up to beter than it is now. I've done this before with an angle grinder, a flapper wheel, a wet rag and a lot of time and patience, but I'm always afraid of slipping. I've done it on daggers with a file, but on a hardened blade of THIS size, I think my files would rather kill themselves before letting me do that to them. There's got to be a nice, nifty solution you blademakers use, right?
...well, it was worth asking, anyway.

Third, what kind of antiquing do you think would look best?


Enjoy!

[David Lindberg]

Typically, the nifty trick is a belt grinder, or something of that sort. I have sharpened a sword of very similar proportions with a file, though, and it has very nice geometry now, but I did scar the blade in a few places.

Take it carefully, and you should do fine with a file.

Also, some of the best antiquing done comes from burying the item in the ground for a few months. I intent to try this in a while. I will let everyone know what happens in a year or so.

[Jean Thibodeau]

Oh, for shapping the tang a dremel with cutting wheel and a very steady hand, maybe leaving 1/8" to file away and making sure to not cause a stress riser by having the tang and blade meet at 90 degrees. ( Always good to have a rounded corner there: Just in case you were not aware of this, I assume you were )

Might not try to completely reshape the primary bevel but would create a secondary bevel with a blended to the main bevel convex edge. File or loose belt on a belt grinder being VERY careful to not overheat the blade. A thick leather safety apron might be a good idea if the blade get away from you, safety glasses also.

Gloves although useful for safety reasons are a problem if you want to avoid overheating the blade, with bare hands you WILL stop before that can happen. Also cooling the blade with water as soon as it gets hot would be useful.

[David R. Glier]

Well, I wound up completely re-doing the primary bevel, and it cuts like a demon! I know firsthand.
The armor gods demand blood!

I wound up doing what I thought I'd do -setting the angle grinder in the vise with a flapper wheel facing up, and using the whole affair like I would a sharpening stone. Then, when the edge was fully formed, I worked it over a 12" carbide stone to refine it, and an arkansas stone to hone it. It's now the sharpest sword I own.
Working in a meat plant you grow up around knives, and if I do say so myself, I do pretty damn good work.


I'm now prepping the hilt components for electro-etching. I'm thinking of "INNOMINIDEI" and "DEVSVULT", but I'm having trouble coming up with other appropriately early christian phrases suitable for puting on a sword hilt. \
Help?

[G. Scott H.]

[David R. Glier]

For some reason I was no longer seeing the preview picture that led to the link in my original post, so I've edited that out and stuck in the picture directly.
I've also taken a few more pictures since then.





The Windlass Viking Sword is no longer recognizable as such.
The hilt components have been finished, the pommel is etched, the blade has been re-ground and is now wickedly sharp, and the upper and lower guards are firmly wedged and peaned into place (respectively).
I would have attatched the pommel to the lower guard today, but the space I cut out from the bottom of the pommel wasn't large enough to fit over the peaned tang, so I'll have to enlarge it.

The etching did not go as I planned. While electo etching works admirably well, and it *is* relatively easy to work with, the paint I used didn't work well as a resist. Almost everywhere that wasn't covered in tape, blisters developed in the paint and metal was eaten away. As the pommel was almost a mirror when I started, you can immagine this was somewhat distressing.
*sigh* It's a good thing I had planned on antiquing this thing.

[G. Scott H.]

Very cool. Every time I look at a new Atlanta Cutlery catalog, I look at this sword and, while tempted by the price, I've always figured there must be something horribly wrong with it, since the price is so low. Aside from the cheap looking brass hilt parts and plastic grip, however, it actually looks pretty solid. Like you, I've been interested in it just for the blade. Now that I've read of your progress, and seen the pics of the tang (a big previous concern), I may just have to grab one of these. As soon as I finish mutilating...errr...I mean....modifying one of my WS Shrewsbury swords (the one I metioned shortening the blade on some time ago), one of these would make a great next project, though not as fancy as yours. Nice work.

[Kirk Lee Spencer]

Hi David...

Now that is some fine work

I have always enjoyed taking very inexpensive swords and making them look like the originals. It is encouraging to see others doing the same. You've done a great job... can't wait to see what it looks like finished.

I'm currently working on a MRL Irish sword I bought for $70 from the clearance bin.

Keep up the good work

ks

[David R. Glier]

Thanks so much, Kirk!
You were the one who planted this bug in my ear in the first place, with those fantastic upgrades of yours.


Scott -I'd reccomend it.

[Jean Thibodeau]

David;

Great job regrinding the primary bevels: You obviously have the skill, my suggestion about doing an apple seed type secondary bevel was mostly because not everyone has the skill or the tools to keep grind lines clean, and it was the more conservative approach.

I have one of these also, nice to know what the tang looks like as I have never taken mine apart to find out.

Also nice that the heat treat of the blade makes giving it a good edge worth the effort.

I hope the MRL windlass stuff I have back ordered is similar in quality: The Anelace dagger ( Almost a short sword ) and the Medieval chopper.

I see you also have the Deltin Venetian Twohander: Makes the other one look tiny.

I have one also. Did you make the guard and pommel or did you buy them from somewhere like the Albion Moat sale ?

[David R. Glier]

Thanks!
As I said, I used an angle grinder clamped in a vise: not a particularly elegant way of doing things, but effective and certainly cheaper than buying a belt-grinder. I suppose I ought to take a few pictures of that setup just so we all have a few more ideas to kick around. Believe it or not, keeping the bevels in line was the easy part. Sanding evenly, *that* was harder.

The guard and pommel... for the two-hander or the viking sword? You shifted subjects on me without a clutch.
The Del Tin came as it appears. I do intend to clean up the rough castings on the guard and re-touch the blade ... someday.

The hardware on the viking sword I made myself. The upper and lower guard were pieces cut from 1/2" plate (reciprocating saws have their uses!), drilled and ground. I tried to keep in mind all those reviews of norse swords that said the lower guard was too sharp on the palms, so it's quite well-rounded.
The pommel was a little trickier. I started with a rough triangle of 5/8" plate, and drilled through the lower guard and into the pommel with a 1/4" drill (so they'd accept a 1/4" rod ). Then I drilled through the pommel slab perpendicular to the end of those holes, inserted the rods, and welded shut the holes I had just drilled --welding the 1/4" pins firmly into the center of the pommel.
There might be a better way --and if one of our pros happens into this thread, I'd love to hear about it-- but that was my solution to the problem of getting pins on the bottom of the pommel without resorting to a tap and die.

Honestly, I *should* have bought albion fittings. I never intended to let this turn into as big a project as it has. (famousl last words, I know.) I thought that if I planned it carefully enough, and had all my bases covered, I'd be able to get all the fittings cut and drilled to the right size the first time, in one shot. I came pretty darn close, but I guess I'm just not good enough to pull that off yet. And from there, it kept growing. You know how it goes.

[Jean Thibodeau]

OOOOOPS, you're right I did change gears ! I meant for the Viking and you answered the question.

I was just thinking that for the less skilled or ill-equipped, Albion has sword fittings available at dirt cheap prices on their moat sale page. ( At least last time I looked. )

In any case really nice ! Maybe you could buy a few dozen of these swords and rework and resell them for 10X the price