Hello to all.
with a lifelong affection for swords and as a welder/metalworker i want to make my first sword by means of stock-removal out of a good piece of toolsteel i have, this to make a young student who is also a swordfighter very happy.

the blade lenght is about 38 inches (i wish you guys go metric(^_^) and the width will be about 11/2 inch.
my plan is to diamond shape the blade thus without the fuller, attempting to recreate a 15th century hand and a half european longsword intended for cutting as well as stabbing.

here my problem starts as a Novice because it's difficult for me how to choose/determine the right Thickness of my strip of toolsteel at the base( the same thickness the tang will have)
i don't want to end-up with a crowbar or a whip.

any help from people with a lot more knowledge than i have about swords will be greatly appreciated !

Thanks in advance,wishes Luuk Brink.

HI Luuk,

Be careful of tool steel for this application. A sword is a spring and a steel that is suitable for springs will work well for a sword.

It should be easy enough to buy some 8mm x 50mm spring steel strip and use this as a start. Taper the thickness steadily from the guard to around 50mm from the tip, leaving the tip around 3-4mm thick. this will give you a usable blade.

Get it tempered as a spring at a regular heat treating company, but you may get some warpage during the process you will need to correct.

Good luck and happy grinding. It will take a while!

Tod

Thank you for reply and very much appreciated.
now i have a reference point to get the dimensions right and i can start making drawings first.

this toolsteel i have is a new steel called : Toolox 44 and is used for heavy-duty machinery and for bending tools such as crowbars.
it's already heat-treated off manufacturer and tempered to 45HRC ,with a tensile strenght of 1450Mpa.
a toolmaker i know made an impressive crowbar out of this steel.

still i don't know if this steel is all in all not good enough or even excellent to make swords out but the pre-heat treatment sounds really appealing for stock-removal to me.

if you know about this steel i would like to hear your opinion about it and if you disapprove i will not use it.

thanks again for your kind help.
goodday to you, Luuk.

I haven't heard of this steel before, but working with almost any HT steel I think is like grinding your teeth together. at one point as a metal worker yourself you'd know that the temp has to be kept done on the steel while working it so you don't remove any of the HT. all the knives that I've made/modified have been through stock removal process and it feels like it takes hours to remove just a hair of material sometimes. I do a lot of my work with files and other hand tools so a HT chunk of almost any steel is like wrestling a bear to me, and usually leaves a few tools worn out.

my personal approach, would be to work with the steel annealed - and have it HT after the shaping.

secondly, when approaching a sword, there's a particular balance of design. take a look over different styles when you find something that is applicable for both cutting and a little trusting, see what information you can find on its original stats. you can just profile a blade, but distal taper also contributes to a sword performance. a sword without it is almost like a bladed iron bar, not only can you see the difference with a distal taper but you'll also feel it when the sword is in hand.

being this is your first sword, it may be a good idea to attempted to make a reproduction for your first attempt it doesn't have to be spot, on maybe just the same general idea of blade and hilt configuration. attempting to remake an original will give you some insight on a blades harmonic balance, and after you get an understanding of it, you can start to play with designs a little further.

Goodday Mr Wallace.

Yes you are right about Distal taper and i will pay close attention to it, even ask advice of a toolmaker i know and i can use his modern equipment for the hard work, i give it a try.
as for this steel, i don't know yet if i can use it or not, have to get more info first.
according to the manufacturer it may not be reheated above 1094 F,590C after processing.
if it turns out to be too many questions i use a good springsteel instead and have it heat-treated after.

Best Regards,Luuk.