I had an SLO die several years ago, (not under risky practices), and I kept some of the hilt parts in the hopes of doing an SLO project of my own.

I don't have much money to spend, so I was considering going to my local hardware store and picking up one of the steel bars there and grinding a sword blank out of it to fit the crossguard that I have on hand.

I would like the steel to end up being more durable than the mild, bendable steel that I would buy it as. Is there any safe, affordable way to harden the steel after I grind the blank out? :\
Any educated methods or ideas are appreciated!

Well, I don't know about tempering the sucker after getting it (unless you have an easy way to uniformly bring it up 1000+ degrees laying around the house), but you might consider spring steel, or a leaf spring from a car. Not exactly pretty or easy to use, but they're supposedly quite tough. See here, first website out of the chute searching Google for "Leaf Spring"+"Sword": http://www.livesteelarmor.com/how/warsword.html

I once had a desire to do exactly as the site says, but buying a sword is a heck of a lot less time-consuming and saves an awful lot of work. Maybe someone with experience can tell you how well a leaf spring sword would handle. I would think it would depend greatly on the particular spring used, as to how stiff it would be or how well it would cut. Something to think about anyway...

If you go the spring seel route, I would recomend doing a bit of research into metalurgy, specifically how various types of steel are designaed. Some pretty good introductory articles around the place. Most sword makers seem to prefer a steel designated as 5160 ( I believe here in the antipodes it is refered to as 'sup-9' but that is recieved wisdom, havent checked it out) though 1065 is also popular I believe, though my layman's understanding is that it is not as tough. a google search on 1065 + steel will probably give you a good starting point

Hello Nathan,
good for a steel swords is 5160. You can not temper the blade yourself. In all cases the advise. It is very difficult for a blade to remain straight after hardening if it is vertical. Many technical measures are used. Horizontally at 850-880 ° C that is safe bends. Making the blade straight after hardening is wrong, you risk of cracks in steel. I do not know whether the words used are well translated into English. send it to a heat treating facility to have it properly hardened and tempered.
Regards

Thanks for the replies! I was kind of expecting that I couldn't temper mild steel but thought it was worth asking.

I'm thinking I might still go the mild steel route, making an SLO, or possibly buying some aluminum and making a light contact stage combat sword. Not durable enough for heavy beating, but cheap and durable enough for light contact.

At least in theory.

I'll keep everyone here posted and will try to take pictures of the progress when I decide what to do.

If you are just going for light contact, I would actually recomend a wooden waster over something made of aluminium

If you want to make something with metal it might be worth looking up maraging steels. Many modern (sports) fencing swords are made with it and I know that Lancasters Armourie uses some variation thereof. But it doesn't hold an edge as it is intended to be relatively soft and flexible, so a training weapon rather than a cutting weapon. It may also be expensive as it's often used in aerospace components.

[quote="Nathan Gilleland"]Thanks for the replies! I was kind of expecting that I couldn't temper mild steel but thought it was worth asking.

I'm thinking I might still go the mild steel route, making an SLO, or possibly buying some aluminum and making a light contact stage combat sword. Not durable enough for heavy beating, but cheap and durable enough for light contact.

Hi Nathan

Take a look at this dvd:
http://www.livelyknives.com/knifemakingvideo.htm

It might get you hooked as well as answer some questions. The use regular backyard (country backyard) stuff.

A steel bar will cost less than an equivalent sized bar of aluminum. The prices for simple tool steels are low. Something like 1050, 1060, or 1075 will suit your needs quite well, and depending on the blade size can be had for under $30, under $20 if the blade is thin, and you will probably still have enough left over to make a nice dagger as well.

5160 is also a good steel for sword blades, but not all 5160 is hardenable, as there is a lot of re-melted 5160. if you are going that route make sure it is listed as 5160H. (H for guaranteed hardenability)

A sword blade is difficult to heat treat properly without the right sized equipment, sent it to a heat treater or ask a swordmaker to harden it for you. If you can find a reputable one, it will come back straight as well as hardened and tempered.

One bit of advice I give to anyone trying to make a blade. buy known steel, do not guess at it. Blade making is difficult enough, why go through all the wasted time, effort, fuel, and materials trying to guess how to heat treat it properly. Know what you are working with will greatly speed up your learning.

Good luck with your project, but be warned, blade making can become addictive.

Ken Nelson
Iron Wolf Forge

Another option might be to take the blade off of an inexpensive Hanwei practical. These pop up from time to time in the $50 to $75 range and would be a decent quality canidate for conversion into a sword project of your own with a full, durable tang, proper heat-treat, as well as being fairly inexpensive. Also, I think Albion still has some Del Tin blades for pretty inexpensive ($100 range?).

You would spend far less going this route than trying to create a blade yourself - unless your ultimate goal is just to create a unique blade form or learn more about metallurgy/smithing.

Good luck with your endeavors whatever route you go!