[Björn Gísli Gylfason]

I recently took great interest in forging and am slowly working my way up in blade sizes. My plan is to try and make as historically accurate pieces as possible with what information I can find. Lenght and most often width is the most easily found dimensions but thickness and taper less so with weights being pretty hard to find.

I've made this bauernwehr that weighs in at 477g

The blade is 7mm thick at the bolster and taper down to 3mm 30mm from the tip

And this quillon dagger that comes in at 611g

Blade is 8mm thick at the shoulder and goes down to 3.5mm 20mm from the tip

If I compare the weight with full size swords they sound super heavy. Am I keeping them too thick or is it ok to have them on the sturdy side as sturdy stabbing weapons?

And where could I find good references on contemporary items weight?

[Chad Arnow]

There are some museum publications that list weight, but many don’t. Same with museum websites. You have to sift and search through. One thing you can do easily, though, is check out our Reviews section, which has 250 reviews in it. The reviews are all of replicas, not originals, but we always list weight and reading the review can help you contextualize that listed weight with what pieces should be.