[Kaylee]

teee...

this is gonna sound wierd, but there's a sword design that I'd like to have made for a project. I'd prefer the "real thing" but if costs dictate, a "prop-grade" would suffice.

Does anyone here know of a good someone to talk to, and what to expect pricewise? I figure easy the price of a good rifle even without getting into all kinds of fancy-dancy metal folding tricks, right? Is there anyone out there who can just slice out the blade/tang from sheet steel/aluminum for not too much, and let me finish the rest?

Style.. think bastard child of a katana and a rapier. It looks a heck of a lot more elegant than it sounds, trust me. :)

-K

[Gordon Fink]

Go here …

http://swordforum.com

… if you haven’t already.

~G. Fink

[gun-fucious]

swords are not cut out of sheet stock
they are forged from bar stock

http://www.dfoggknives.com/sword.htm
http://www.bugei.com/forging.html
http://www.thehaca.com/spotlight/Sword2000.htm

Uncle Bill might be able to get a kami to execute your design:
http://www.himalayan-imports.com/sword.html

this one is pretty sweet:
http://www.andale.com/stores/sf_itemHome.jsp?foo=bar&sid=95360&cid=7402588&lid=49335113&mode=1

[CWL]

It is possible to have someone cut a sword blank for you out of a piece of truck leaf spring that you can then finish yourself.

[krept]

Sure, swords can be made via stock removal just like any other knife. The key is to find wide enough stock to accomodate the curve that you want. I'm pretty sure at places like Admiral Steel (http://www.admiralsteel.com/products/blades.html) and Texas Knife Supply (http://texasknife.com/store/s-pages/TKS_KnifemakingSteel.htm#D2###) offer any length you would be looking for. Width is the tricky part...

I think there are also places that will cut the outline for you using a high pressure water jet or laser... this way, you can get the stock, trace an outline or give them a CAD file of your design, maybe simply a template and have the stock cut and ready to be ground.

Hook up with a custom knife/swordmaker and have them grind the bevels for you, heat treat it, sharpen, etc. and you should be good to go. Not sure how much of the work you are willing to put into it... finishing, handle material, sheath, etc... but the more you are willing to do at each step the more you will save in the end.

(edit... a lot of the price will depend on the steel that you want to use, here i'm assuming that you want to use one of the ubersteels... tougher steels will be harder to work with every step of the way. Otherwise, the best bet would be just to approach a custom knifemaker that forges and ask them... what you could do is cut an outline out of a piece of cardboard and ask for a quote)

[El Tejon]

Kaylee, don't know what you want to use them for, but I've used wooden training swords from these guys for my boxing club for a while:

Sei Do Kai
44 Inkerman Street
Guelph Ontario
Canada N1H 3C5

kataylor@ejmas.com
http://adk.supplies.netfirms.com/index.html (http://sdk.supplies.netfirms.com/index.html)

They make western stuff as well. I have no experience with those. Their jian (straight sword) and dao (saber) are outstanding. They can custom make spears. Do not know about your design though.

Good people to work with.

[Lane Mullins]

Try Rob Criswell. He makes excellent working Katanas out of modern materials; tool steel, g-10, stainless, and the like. His prices are hard to believe when you see how well made his product is. I met him at the Blade Show and he was a grade A fellow.

Rob Criswell
1-541-412-7805

[Kaylee]

wow! thanks for the information everyone! Cool!

Hrmm.. well my needs in the short term are for a prop for a photo/video project. Thus I was thinking the laser-cut thingie even in aluminum would work, though if the price is comparable one of them himalyan forgings might be cool. Heck, if I *have* to I can make the thing up in wood, break out the krylon, and fix it in Photoshop. Always better to make it right in front of the camera though. :)

Still.. my first choice would be something I can keep and play with when the project's done with... something that could be sharpened up and actually be a halfway decent sword when all is said and done. Looking at the Admiral steel site, I see they do laser cutting... what kind of steel should I ask about? One of the high-carbon spring steels?


thanks again!! :D

-K

[krept]

Bladeforums (http://bladeforums.com/features/faqsteel.shtml) has a great FAQ regarding steel choices...

Getting a proper heat treat will probably be more important than the actual steel as long as you use some of those mentioned in the link above... it really depends on how much you want to spend on the project. High carbon steels WILL stain a lot faster (think uncoated P7M8 slide) so they are high maintenance in that respect...

A lot of the custom makers using stock removal technique are working with S30V. Maybe something like D2 or 52100 or O1 or 154CM or... ?

IMO it's really hard to go wrong with any of those... even the fairly common 440C wouldn't be too shabby.

I'm really interested in how this turns out! You might want to buy two blanks 'just in case' something happens with the first one (screwed up grind, warping during the heat treat, etc)... if the first one comes out great, you could always sell the other for what you have invested in it... sounds like an awesome project.

cheers

[JShirley]

Kaylee,

Himalayan Imports will make very useable weapons close to your specs. (Usually a little more bulletproof than you might have asked.) Very reasonably, but you will be looking at delays for shipping proto to them and receiving back.

John

[4v50 Gary]

Melvin @ Conner Prarie makes damascus steel and has made a sword. He hand forges gun barrels too. If you want, I'll drop them a note and see if he's willing to make another sword.

[LawDog]

Kaylee, are you planning on doing any cutting with it, any steel-to-steel use? Or will it be display/shadow-fighting?

If for display/shadow-fighting, any machine shop should be able to rough out a blank for you out of whatever material you desire.

If it's actual cutting you're after, then you would need to go to one of the specialists.

I'd prefer the "real thing"

That's going to be interesting, to say the least. Rapiers look like rapiers because they're designed to be primarily a one-handed thrusting weapon. Katanas, on the other paw, are primarily designed to be a slashing blade, utilising the power of both hands at once, and their design reflects that.

Are you looking for a sword that can used to both cut and thrust?

LawDog

[MrAcheson]

I'm guessing its a katana-like blade with more complex hilt on it. In which case you could probably look for large renaissance sabers and get something approximate quick. I'd also like to suggest John Lundermo of www.odinblades.com. He is a stand up guy with excellent sword-making skills at a budget many can afford.