Construction Most blades are forged from a bar of high carbon spring steel before being subjected to the heat treatment that will lend hardness and toughness (in some cases patternwelded steel is used). Most pommels and guards are forged from mild and medium carbon steel, although some items have hilt components of wood or copper. Each blade has the smith's stamp close to the guard as well as on the tang with the owner's name and date of manufacture on the tang. Complex guards with ring-guards, loop-guards etc. are forged in separate components and forge-welded together in the traditional way. This is achieved by heating the parts to be joined until white hot and then hammering them together until the two parts merge to form a solid and sturdy assembly. Guards are seated securely by leaving the opening for the tang slightly smaller than needed and then hammering the guard into its final position. The tang is still wide and sturdy even after entering the pommel to ensure a very sturdy assembly and the grips are made to fit the tang without any space for twisting or movement that will lead to failure during use. Depending on the period and individual swords the tangs are either peened cold or while hot. To ensure that our swords reflect the essence of the originals, none of the blades or components are machined, milled or cast, making each one of them unique. To reduce very thick bars (as used for blades that are thick at the base like rapiers and twohanded swords) a striker uses a large hammer to help draw the stock out. Only real vegetable-oil tanned leather is used for grips or scabbards. Hide glue is used to secure the leather to the grips (in some cases rice glue), while cutler's resin is used to secure grips to the tangs. For both grips and scabbards we make use of a wide variety of woods. Here are just some of the types used:Click here for picture. In the case of the folded japanese blades, a high carbon (1.2% carbon content) steel with low manganese (0.3%) content is used. The carbon content is reduced by repeated folding until it reaches a more traditional 0.7%, although carbon content will vary depending on whether the billet will become edge steel or jacket steel. A low carbon steel is used for the core. Sometimes two billets of varying carbon content are combined to produce a more robust grain. For special swords, steel is made in the smithy by reducing ore. The resulting raw steel is then refined and used for blades and fittings to produce items that are true to the originals. These projects take longer to complete and are more expensive. One traditional configuration for early medieval swords is the wrapping of a steel covering around a softer iron core. Click here for picture. Below are some of the processes that we use in construction. It includes the crafting of a Danish twohanded sword (Type XVIIIe) based on an actual excavated sword: The Smithy Crafting Swords Crafting Swords(2) Grips & Scabbards Making Complex Hilts Koshirae Japanese Blades & Activities Restoration Making steel