[Myrick J. Hethington]

I have always had this dream or fantasy of the ultimate sword but not like Excalibur,or lightsabers LOL But actual swords.Is it art or function?or the middle road taken to the extreme?Maybe to make a the weapon that performs its purpose perfectly weather it be for cutting,thrusting or a broader meaning such as defense,revenge,murder or just to be beautiful???.I ask because I wish to make such weapons someday ....very broad spectrum I know but I figured that I would throw it out there your opinions are very welcome especially those of makers Thanks!!!

[Anders Backlund]

It's going to depend mostly on what you really want to get out of the sword, I think. There's no real "optimal sword" since sword design is inherently contextual.

Theoretically speaking, I assume you'd have to start by deciding what kind of sword you want - that is, what exactly you want it to excel at or what shape, performance and aestetical approach matches your taste and ambition the best, most likely both - then look at what has already been done historically, swords of comparable type, etc, derive from that a design, and if possible perfect that design until the sword reaches optimal performance.

Mind you, such an endevour would require a lot of time and funds, and even then you will probably only end up with the perfect sword for you.