[Luka Borscak]

Thanks David, good site...
I just had an idea, not sure how good it is... Would it be doable to take thin plates of "damascus", heat them and hammer them and weld them in the fuller of an already done blade? I think the plates would have to be very thin and I'm not sure is it possible... I think if it could be done it would look really nice and even be similar construction to some later viking age blades with monosteel core and layer of damascus more for cosmetic than function...

[David Huggins]

Hi Luka,

Not sure how 'doable' your idea would be,one for the Smiths on the Forum. If its a cosmetic effect your after, you could consider acid etching a monosteel blade for a similar PW effect. Construct an acid bath, say a length of rain gutter pipe cut to size and capped at both ends, cover your blade in wax,etch a pattern aproximate to PW, place blade in an apropiate acid, remove and remove excess wax, never seen it done and its purely hypothesis on my behalf..but it might give the cosmetic effect your after and passable from a slight distance.

best
Dave

[Artis Aboltins]

[Luka Borscak]

This si quite nice. I will talk about both possibilities with my local smith tomorrow and we'll see what he thinks would be the best way to achieve what I need.

[Lee O'Hagan]

The site David linked too has the UK seller i enquired with,
£600.00 for a billett to make a viking sword,
nice people and the price is the price,so,
looks beautifull steel though,
Luka,
keep your eye out for the odd retired pattern welded gun barrell,you might get lucky,
workable ones would go for enough for you to trade,damaged ones wont be missed if flattened into a billett,

[Boris R.]

[Harry J. Fletcher]

Hello Luka,

Yes, it happens to all of us who study and fall in love with swords. The irony is that pattern welding was dropped when better steel was more easily obtained although the earlier blades continued in use. As in many things I think it is the labor of love that goes into a pattern weld blade which gives it such appeal.

I read about the process of making these blades and though knowing in my mind that better blades where available I too wanted a pattern welded blade for the beauty and work that went into making the blade. The blade I had in mind was made of rods of cast iron and rod of homogenous steel twisted about one another hammered then folded and heat hammered into a blade shape. Finally another rod of good hard steel was bent into a V shape for the edge and point and hammer welded onto the blade.

I inititially purchased a Hanwei Godfred which was likened to one but really was not and after much soul searching about the expense of having a real one made by a top smith I gave up the idea. If you can't live without a Pattern Welded Blade, be prepared to spend at least a minimum $3,000 to $5,000 and up for a good smith to make one for you. Also, it will be mainly for display unless you are Daddy Warbucks so go ahead if you must.

Bon Chance!

Harry

[Luka Borscak]