Putting a set in very springy steel
I have a sword that came with a warped tip which is bent slightly off to one side. I'm trying to upload the photo but it is too large. My current plan to fix it is to clamp it to a flat and smooth piece of steel and pound it straight with a plastic hammer. But i have heard some horror stories about people doing this to repair tips that are bent because of damage and having them snap clean off. The steel in this section of the blade is very springy. Is it worth the risk? This defect does not affect the function of the blade but i still find it quite annyoing and want it fixed.
I have a similar situation with a sword. Its made of 5160 steel, tempered to around 52 Rockwell. Not sure if yours is similar, but I would leave it alone. I've talked to a metallurgist and a heat treating company about my sword, and I came to the conclusion that it's better off left alone as long as its functional.
How big is the bent portion? If it's not much bigger than 1-2cm (up to approx 1/2 inch) I would just go ahead and attempt bending it back, if it broke I would just file a new point on it. If it's bigger than that (doubt it), contact the maker and find a professional metal working shop. Fire may be required.
attempting to bend spring steel is - a god awful attempt if its already heat treated. you can bend the tip almost back on itself and it will probably spring right back. even if the tip was not heat treated, it takes a lot of effort to move this kind of tool steel. you can attempt to heat the tip and bend it back, but I wouldn't attempt it, although there are smiths that have straighten swords this way without taking out the temper, I think it's pretty hard to do.

the safest thing may be to make up a 3 point application to put in your vise and attempt to straighten it that way.

contact the manufacture and see if they can help you with a possible replacement if it's that bad.
If you snap off the tip of your sword banging on it with a rubber mallet then it belongs in the trash

If you can remove the hilt then you've got a better chance of fixing it. Do you have the capabilities to harden and temper the blade?
Daniel Wallace wrote:
attempting to bend spring steel is - a god awful attempt if its already heat treated. you can bend the tip almost back on itself and it will probably spring right back. even if the tip was not heat treated, it takes a lot of effort to move this kind of tool steel. you can attempt to heat the tip and bend it back, but I wouldn't attempt it, although there are smiths that have straighten swords this way without taking out the temper, I think it's pretty hard to do.

the safest thing may be to make up a 3 point application to put in your vise and attempt to straighten it that way.

contact the manufacture and see if they can help you with a possible replacement if it's that bad.

Manufacturer said these kinds of minor defects and to be expected on hand forged item like these. It doesn't actually have any affect I just find it annoying so i will fix it if I can.
Harry Marinakis wrote:
If you snap off the tip of your sword banging on it with a rubber mallet then it belongs in the trash

If you can remove the hilt then you've got a better chance of fixing it. Do you have the capabilities to harden and temper the blade?
I am aware of a metal treatment facility in my city and a few small blacksmithing clubs.
At what point of the blade the bend actually is?
Luka Borscak wrote:
At what point of the blade the bend actually is?
I'd say about the last 15mm
If the bend is small enough, you might be able to fix it by grinding. Even if it's large, you can fix it by grinding, but you'll lose more blade length, up to 15mm in your case. But you might be able to make a slightly bent tip symmetric and only lose a few mm.
I would recommend that you not try to hammer the warp out with a mallet. The sudden shock could break the steel. Trying to cold counter bend the tip over that short a length would be nerve racking and could still result in a broken tip. I've done it with success but it's not fun-you keep expecting to hear a "ting" at any second. Heating the tip to about 400° first may give a better chance of success without damage to the sword.

I do take exception with the maker's comment that defects of this type are more or less expected in a forged blade. I forge knives and I would never send one out with a warped tip. It should have been corrected before leaving the shop or consigned to the scrap pile..

Doug
last 15 mm, minor, but just like Doug states here, if it's a one off custom - then the quality control the guy has in place should maybe be tightened up a bit.

if it's a manufactured piece - I can see the flaw getting past by quality making (x) copies of anything produces flaws over time if not corrected - but in the end, if you're not happy with it, the company should do something to help you with it. either by replacing or reworking to correct the error themselves.
Quote:
Heating the tip to about 400° first may give a better chance of success without damage to the sword.

Yes, this is what I'd try. Heating a blade too large to fit on your kitchen oven to a precise temperature will be the tricky part. Luckily, only the section that is warped will need to be heated, but if you go too hot you could ruin the temper of the steel, so don't.

If you have a toaster oven your not particularly fond of, you could cut a slot in each end just wide enough to slide the warped section of the blade in, heat it to 400 and let it hold for maybe 30 minutes, then bend it to straight while it is hot.
Daniel Wallace wrote:
last 15 mm, minor, but just like Doug states here, if it's a one off custom - then the quality control the guy has in place should maybe be tightened up a bit.

if it's a manufactured piece - I can see the flaw getting past by quality making (x) copies of anything produces flaws over time if not corrected - but in the end, if you're not happy with it, the company should do something to help you with it. either by replacing or reworking to correct the error themselves.
They (Kult) said they'd replace it only if I paid the shipping cost (to Australia) because defect is so minor. I've had other swords with little defects but this is the first one that is not simple to fix. For this reason I consider it a major defect despite it's minor nature. I'm annoyed that neither Kult or Darksword share this view. I have swords from Legacy Arms, Darksword Amoury and Cold steel but only my Hanwei swords have not required repair out of the box and they're usually the cheapest.

Page 1 of 1

Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum




All contents © Copyright 2003-2006 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Full-featured Version of the forum