[Paul Holwell]

Hi guys.
I thought i would post these pics showing some of the construction stages of a Falcata i made for a customer. I was going to post them a while back but i have been a bit busy of late working on a vendel Helmet. Anyway, hope they are of interest to someone

[William P]

my one question, how long is the blade and how heavy is it, ok thats two but meh...

[Nathan Robinson]

I had meant to respond to this topic earlier: thank you for sharing your in-progress shots of this beautiful sword. I really enjoy it when makers are kind enough to give us a glimpse of these sorts of things.

Cheers!

[Philip Melhop]

[Jesse Belsky]

Really beautiful sculptural work on the horse head Paul. It suits the blade and the whole thing has a nice flow. I like the dark incised lines against the bright brass. Can you tell us more about your brass shaping process? Do you use hand files? Power tools? Did you happen to take and progress shots of the sculpting? Very impressive and very lovely.

[Paul Holwell]

Hi Guys.

Thanks Nathan, I hope to share a lot more as i produce more work.
Hi Phil.

Hi jesse.
To answer your questions, sorry to say that i don't have any pics of the shaping process. I will try to describe best i can.
First i mark out the detail for the main features (mouth, eyes, nose and head to neck line) Then i use a small barrel sander in my multi tool to round out the neck to match up with the grip, not going too close to the head to neck line. This i would use a very small rotary cutter to get close to the line and then clean it up with a micro file. For the head i would use the sander again to form the shape and cut the detail in with a number of different cuters. For small sanding and shaping i find the diamond coated bits very good (esp round the eyes)
When i have marked out the patterns i want for the line work, i use a round tip cutter of around 2mm dia which i have ground down to a saucer shape so it looks like a small sprocket. I find this gives a vary sharp, light line. Then i open the lines up a little with a fine tip diamond coated tip, or if i want a very small sharp line, i use a micro file with a ground tip in the shape of a tight V. Pushing this down the lines can give a good clean sharp effect.
When done, i sand out the scratches with fine wet or dry, finish off with solvol autosol chrome polish with fine wire wool. Then use a very dark grey matt enamel in the details and clean of exess with stiff card when dry.
Hope This Helps.

Thanks Paul

[David Wilson]

Beautiful work. But I still prefer your first falcata.

[David Huggins]

Lovely work Paul, and having seen the Vendel helm in progress all I can say is get that one finished and then you can move on to the boar crested helm we have discussed

see you sometime when I arrive home

best
Dave

[Paul Holwell]

Hi Dave,

Guess you would pref the first Falcata Dave. personally i pref your car!!

[Paul Holwell]

Thanks Dave,
Yeah, That would be great. I have been struggling a bit with the crest for the Vendel helm, but i think ive got it now.
It would be good to get my teeth into a new project soon. Will get Bruce to bring it round so you can see how it is going.

Cheers. Paul.

[Tod Glenn]

You drilled the rivet holes post heat treat? Is the tang that soft or did you use a carbide drill?

[Paul Holwell]

Hi Tod,
Yep, The tang was hard to get through, I used up a few carbide bits on those holes. Best to keep the diameters small

[Ikram Zwane]

Hi. I'm new member to this site. I would like to have the beautiful Horsehead Falcata made for me. How do I go about doing it?

Regars,

Ikram.