Yesterday I came good on a promise to my son Ewan to make him a wooden sword. So here is my handy work ;)

Wood = Vic Ash hardwood (19mm thick)
Tools used = Hand Saw, Router, Hand Plane and some sand paper. (Belt Sander would have been perfect for this job, on the wish list)
Overall Length = 61cm
Blade Length = 45cm
Grip = 14cm
Blade Width = 5.5cm
Hilt = 14cm

All in all I was pretty happy with the result and my son Ewan (age 5 ½) loves it and we had a great time together in the process.

Ok after this I got the urge to make a sword for myself lol. I was attempting to make a type XIII, I think I have come close but I know the taper isn’t quite right but ill get it better next time ;)

Wood = Vic Ash Hard wood(19mm thick)
Tools used = Hand Saw, Router, Hand Plane and some sand paper.
Overall Length = 105cm
Blade Length = 80cm
Grip = 23cm
Blade Width = 5.5cm
Hilt = 20.5cm

I just need to sort out the pommels and there done ;)

Sorry photos are from my iPhone.

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Very nice work but I would round the corners on the point(s) a little more and especially on the longer sword for more safety if you plan on using these as waster.

I would also recommend using boiled linseed oil to finish after using 1200 grit sand paper for a nice smooth finish.

Wipe on a thick coat of linseed oil, let it soak in for an hour and then wipe off all the excess oil.

Repeat once a day for a week.
Repeat once a week for a month.
Repeat occasionally to freshen the finish.

This will bring out the beauty of the wood grain and protect the wood.

You don't want to let a heavy coat of oil dry into a surface coating but rather have the oil and finish be part of the surface layer of wood.

After each application and wipe you can actually handle the swords and they won't feel sticky and it actually helps to hand rub the wood to get a nice satin finish.

Here's a Rudis I made couple of months or so ago. Blade/grip etc. is one piece of beech, fittings are iroko. I finished this in several coats of danish oil (the first one cut with turps to let it really soak in). It's my first time at making one of these, call it an experiment....

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Another experiment - a year or so ago, I thought I would have a go at making a bokken, from a nicely figured piece of antique mahogany (not intending to use it - I don't do oriental martial arts - just for something pretty to pick up and play with...and a test of my woodworking!). I didn't own one to copy from, so I did it entirely by eye from pics on the internet. The tsuba is a quatrefoil in african red padauk. I had the chance later in the year to compare it with a real one, and it was almost identical in size, curvature and balance - luck guesses all 'round!

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Thanks guys ;)

@ Jean, im off to the hardware today in my lunchbreak for some more sand paper & linseed oil, also going to price some belt sanders ;) thanks for the tips. Also going to buy a new finer chisel so i can better finish the end of the fuller.

@ Julian, great work love the grip detail.

And made these for a costume:





... I kinda got enthusiastic? Sorry!

Some serious skills demonstrated here. Nice work. :cool:

I designed these in such a way so as that they can be mass-produced, still have some custom options, and cost around $9.00 a pop.
They are (that is, I can make more dependant on demand) made for the group/s I'm in. If you break one (which would require you to snap it over ones knee as hard as you can) they're easily replaceable.

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5-ply, 43cm long overall, 10-11cm grip, three part modular design, stained and given a coat of boiled linseed for colour.

The finished products ;)

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I made a ginunting out of purpleheart.

Full shot:


It's 26" long.


From the tip ("wittik"). The wood has a deep maroon color from years of oiling. This is only for sayaw / non-impact practice.


From the butt ("punyo"):


In hand: