I thought you all may enjoy this. Its how reproduction swords are made in a modern factory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru-0GwYGUzY&feature=related

I prefer this one, myself. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTg0Oc0mQy4

Yep, that's Albion. Both Albion and Gus Trim use the CNC method of blade production, and finish them by hand. There's a lot of ignorance shown on the comments in response to these videos, as well as some gems of reasonable thinking. The fact is, the CNC method has proven itself as a valid and reliable method of producing functional blades. To get a forged blade that is superior (in performance) to these blades (if such superiority is even possible), you're going to pay for it.

Appearance is another matter. Some forged blades just look better, admittedly. But some don't, and there's the cost factor again.

Years ago, I had an aversion to blades created with CNC equipment. But, as I owned numerous swords created through the use of modern equipment over the years, I actually grew to prefer the uniformity and tight tolerances found in machine-made blades. Now, I have several handmade pieces which I adore, but I've no qualms with anything CNCed these days. It gives consistancy to a product line (for example, I know my Sovereign or Mercenary will handle identically to others of the type) and its the only way to create an exacting replica of a specific sword in a mass production level. Of course, hand finishing does create individuality for even CNCed pieces, so it cannot be said that a sword is not unique unto itself - even if there are 1000 of the same model floating around. They all the same, yet they all have subtle differences to give them their own character.

I agree that there is a certian nostalgia to having some handmade pieces, but for me, it really does not matter. The replica is either good or bad in my book. I judge a sword on it's individual merits without paying too much attention to 'how it's made'... :)

Hmmmmm. Call me old-fashioned but I like to own something entirely made by a human being, rather than something made by a million dollars of milling machine and just finished off by man......

There's something about seeing the 'soul' in a sword......and like everything with a soul, it has its flaws.

That's been my only real complaint with Albion swords (apart from there prices) Is they list on there site that they are "Hand-made, limited edition museum-quality swords"

They are hand handled after the blade has been cut out from the machine and there hilt components are cast from wax molds...

I do believe they make a better product that way...keeping every blade to exact specifications and close to the original as possible.

-Reece

Well, few of my friends have swords like this and their hilts started to fall apart after so much fighting we do (we are little bit hardcore sometimes :)). I had once one-and-half sword and it has welded pommel to the handle :/ Laziness...
But guess what? Welding broke along with good part of the blade so all i can do is to throw it away :(
Now I am waiting one-and-half sword entirely made by blacksmith, custom made for my hands. With all the custom measurements I made that sword should be +2 :-D
Maybe it wouldnt look all shiny or nice machine-made, but I dont care about looks, I care about functionality. And my experience with mass-made swords are not good...

Well when it comes to swordmaking I think this video here is something you shouldn't miss. And don't forget to watch other parts too!
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Le4Rd7GB5A )

Cheers
Miha

While entertaining and informative, one should remember that the How it's Made format tends towards one serious distortion - time compression. Whether it's swords, socks, or fire trucks, they take thousands of individual processes and dozens or hundreds of hours of skilled, specialized, and/or technical work and condense it into five minutes. This tends to make attaining the finished result look simple to accomplish. Look! Some guy turns on a machine and out comes aircraft engines! It's simply not so straightforward.

With the present example of CNC milling, it is part of a long overall process, and although an important part of it by no means the bulk of work that goes into the total product. It is often also forgotten that someone runs those machines, and this also requires experience and knowledge few of us have. It is a tool, and like any tool requires skill to use effectively.

Hi all,
I think CNC is synonymous with precision.
This is true, but it is less true with swords.
The couplings, in general, if done well, are obtained manually.
I believe that 65% of the time to make a good sword is made of handwork, even when using a CNC.

the hand forged idea seems to add some credit to lower value knives and swords. when really it's just an advertisement device. tons of lower end knife makers (and even the better makers) that mass produce blades have them stamped out of a steel of steel, then ground or CNCed then maybe assembled by hand.

i honestly don't see much difference between a CNC blade and anything traditional. in a way i don't even see CNC as being anything different than the stock removal process to make blades. the human factor is just a little more removed from the process. but it is true that i would value a totally hand made blade hammered and forged all by hand vs a cnc blade - but the cnc blade would probably cost half as much as the forged blade.

Forged, hand held grinding, CNC are all ways to get to getting a sword close to finished dimensions ( blank ) and the final look and quality of finish then depends on hand work in all cases.

If the forged blade blank has many flaws like wandering fullers but still has a lot of material to remove it can be made to look as good as a better and closer to final dimensioned forging that will only need a small amount of material removed to correct the geometry of the sword.

In any case, the final quality of the results will depend on many other factors being well executed like heat treat assuming that good materials where used in the first place.

So, CNC machining is just a quick and cost effective way of getting a precision blank that will need less hand work to finish and obsessing about the methods used is sort of a waste of time.

I too admire and value a high quality forged sword but next to a quality Albion one would be hard pressed to see the differences except maybe for the beauty of pattern welding on some forged swords.

Oh, and forged swords can be made with much more subtle and complex curves, flat bottom fuller etc. that are much harder to do by grinding on fixed diameter belt wheels.

To me, it's not inaccurate for them to call the swords "hand-made". The CNC process allows them to make a blank that is fairly close to the final dimensions and shape. A forging process wouldn't give you a superior blank, and even "back in the day", all of the finishing work was done by grinding as well.

The CNC allows for a faster and more cost effective method to get a reasonably high quality blank. After that, all of the finishing and assembly is still done by hand.

Here's an example. If you bought and scavenged all of the individual parts to make a car, and assembled it yourself, you'd probably say you were the one who made it, by hand. Of course it's understood that you didn't fabricate all of the parts yourself. You did all of the assembly and finishing work, and perhaps some refurbishing. Just as you wouldn't give the construction credit to Toyota or Ford, I don't think it's fair to give all of the sword's assembly credit to the CNC.