Blade of Woe

weo said:
my thoughts exactly....(I've been feeling these last few posts have been a little bait-'n-switch;))

But yeah, not to neglect these, they do look really nice. Can we get close-ups of the huginn and muninn?
Click to expand...
I finished shaping the second handle/guard junction with only an hour to spare before the Post Office would close, so I just snapped a quick photo before closing the box.
I'll take some better photos as soon as they come back from Paul and I do a bit more clean-up.
I will return to the blade of woe, it was too easy to get distracted when I started to like how these "scrap pieces" were turning out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: weo
Lol! Yes, the blade of woe is already showing its cursed properties! It starts with procrastination, then the general malaise sets it! Just wait for the feelings of impending doom!
 
A.McPherson said:
Lol! Yes, the blade of woe is already showing its cursed properties! It starts with procrastination, then the general malaise sets it! Just wait for the feelings of impending doom!
Click to expand...
You guys got me feeling guilty, so I roughly finished profiling today (what a pain).
I can't wait to thin down the blade part. The thing is still so heavy it feel silly.
 
Some progress on the blade of woe.
I completed the crudest of profiling and did some preliminary shaping of the handle which will eventually have a leather wrap.
The handle is a full 0.75" thick at the front of the handle, but slightly thinner and with facets cut in the back.
The blade section has been thinned quite a bit, but is still 0.4" thick nearer to the handle and 0.3" at the tip.
The 18" x3" x 0.75" piece of rectangular stock weighed 12 lbs, and it is down to 3.2 lbs now, but still pretty heavy.
Next I will trace out the steps and engraving features on the front and back of the handle as well as the ridges along the spine, then try to carve all that in.
After that I will put in some more distal taper and then grind the bevels. I may skeletonize the handle.
zYmZ9cB.jpg
 
As a knife it is totally not my style, but I think it is cool because it is from that game :)
 
Nice! Thanks for the progress pics. That looks like it's going to be fun to grind those bevels...
 
It's Halloween! I had to make a bit more progress.
I ground most of the bevels (still very rough and only at 36 grit). I think I can see how to file out some material and leave the ridges (dropping the spine down a little where that happens).
It is finally getting a lot lighter.
I also need to do some deep engraving of the ornamental patterns.
zkxACpJ.jpg
 
Kids: Make me the knife from Skyrim..!
Dad: OK. (Hmmm. I could buy one from BudK for about $29.99...)
[Orders 3" x .750" stock and a gross of handsaw blades and files.]
Dad: Got this!
Kids: Yay!

:confused:

Wow on your fortitude. I need a solid dose of that. Props! :thumbsup:
 
SharpByCoop said:
Kids: Make me the knife from Skyrim..!
Dad: OK. (Hmmm. I could buy one from BudK for about $29.99...)
[Orders 3" x .750" stock and a gross of handsaw blades and files.]
Dad: Got this!
Kids: Yay!

:confused:

Wow on your fortitude. I need a solid dose of that. Props! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
That's remarkably accurate!
Woe is me...
 
A bit more progress.
Going into this I thought the ridges along the spine would be difficult, useless and decorative.
They turned out to be easy to put in with files (although this using my fingers as a file guide thing is wearing kind of thin).
In the video game image the ridges just lie along the bevel, but the way I put them in resulted in pretty wicked serrations, with convex sections between each one.
My biggest struggle was the engraving. The pattern at the back of the handle is flat grooves, while the triangular stuff at the front is more rounded.
I learned a few things:
1) engraving is for the birds
2) the Dremel brand engraving tips are junk
3) did I mention, engraving is for the birds
I plan to blacken everything and lightly polish the high areas. The holes for the gems are drilled.
I might struggle with cleaning up the engraving some more, or I might claim that if it looks too good it wouldn't be authentic, and it will be blackened anyway...
I'm tempted to drill a bunch of holes in the handle and send it off for heat treat.
I plan to grind the bevels and clean up the shape of the protruding handle parts after heat treat.
7amqmVl.jpg
 
I'm not sure about the current weight. I'll weigh it again after I skeletonize the handle. It will lose some more when I grind the main bevel. It's a lot lighter than when I started, but I don't think it will ever pick up the nice balance of those Bagwell style blades...

ETA: I weighed it in its current form. 837g, or about 28 oz, already well below 2 lbs, down from the 12 lb initial block.
 
Last edited:
I got it back from HT after a USPS delay.
Finishing grinding the bevels went well, top and bottom.
Both are quite sharp and I got two cuts and one poke which is about par for handling something this shape.
The serrations along the spine are quite wicked.
The bluing to darken the blade was reluctant to take, but eventually did after some persistence.
The "burgundy" leather strap I ordered was too brown, so I ordered some red which arrived quickly.
All I know about leather work is Paul Long's phone number, but I got it wrapped OK.
The wrap was too pristine and bright red, so I mixed a trace amount of dry black pigment into some leather conditioner and applied a few coats somewhat unevenly.
It did the trick as it looks much darker and weathered like the images in the game.
Enough talk, here is the finished Blade of Woe.
bnhUfjs.jpg

PBOU7aK.jpg

eABpIcK.jpg

Rg4VlLn.jpg

6nlPGyy.jpg
 
Very impressive effort!
How heavy did it end up? I guess most of the weight is in the handle, so it shouldn't feel too bad
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top