Hello All,

Several years ago (well in the 60's really) a sword fragment was found in Bamburgh, UK and I learned about it a few years back. Some info on the 7th century find is simple to get with a web search for "Bamburgh Sword".
This is my take on the 12 bar that it may be.
Do keep in mind that the famed Sutton Hoo sword at the British Museum is but a mere eight bar (four on each side).
I do not know of another 12 bar out there made up by a modern smith..nor possibly and ancient one either for that matter.


Here are the six bars of wrought iron for one side and the six bars for the other layed out ready for cold assembly
That center flat sheet is for the core. The twist series is more complex than it appears.

Welded

Preparing the 20 layer twisted cutting edge from 15N20 and 1080

Cutting edge wrapped around the 12 bar core ready for welding

Welded

Me with the billet which will be forged out into a proper sword blade when I get a client interested in it.

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wow! I cant wait to see this progress. I see you mention that the core billets are wrought. are they just bars or iron or are they laminated billets of iron containing iron from different sources?

J.
It was some rather nice wrought iron plate from the 1860's.
In the future I will make pieces like this from bloomery iron/steel I smelt here in the shop.

Ric

I will very much enjoy seeing those Ric.

thank you for sharing.

cheers Jeff

Thanks Ric for taking the time to share these with us!

You have done it again my friend. 12 bar. Wow. Hard enough to keep the lines clena on a 3 bar. Should be fantastic!

Awesome work Ric! I look forward to seeing the finished blade. There must be somebody with both the interest and money?

I would prefer to do the fittings up similar to those found in the recent Staffordshire Hoard with either enamel or stone set in gold. There are other good examples of such work from other hoards as well.

This would be both proper given the time period and rather striking.

Ric

Hello All,
I put together a short video montage of the forging of this composite blade.
There are some new photos not included before as well as some more information and some old blades I saw at the British Museum.

http://www.doorcountyforgeworks.com/Work_in_progress.html

I believe it illustrates the forging process quite well.

Enjoy,
Ric

I am excited about the fact that you made the cutting edge from twisted laminate. It generally outperforms linear in terms of slicing performance in my opinion. (Hard to explain, but the weld zones form high concentrations of hard carbides at boundaries. These end up in the cutting edge when you twist a billet!)

I am wondering if you, or a researcher, assessed the original as having twisted material in its cutting edge?

Hello Jared,
Most of the cutting edges were straight grain, not twisted.

I am not aware of weld zones forming carbides any more so than any other portion of the billet. Where did you locate that information?

Ric

Looks like it'll be a beauty when it's done. How long is it? It looks a bit short.....How will you hilt it? I don't see a tang... Am I just not looking hard enough?

Hello Tim,

The hilt will be settled, along with the final size, when a client shows interest. Presently it is bar waiting to be told what type of sword it will become.
Below the video there on my webpage are two examples of old blades which would benefit from this form of pattern-weld.

Ric