Sword build: forged titanium gladius

HA! Columbus already has way too much named after him, I say! The microstructure should have a gradient: HCP toward the core, becoming harder BCC toward the surface, martensitic alpha prime should be stacked along the edges, the thinnest part. There was no place on the sword flat enough to test for hardness with my machine, but according to experiments the sword is most likely Rc 47 minimum, harder along the edges where it is more thin, possibly into the low 50s.

Much thanks to everyone for your kind words and glee for the bee sword!

Sloth: The little secondary beveled edge is slightly convex, the sides are ground flat, of course. There was no rolling or chipping or warping that resulted. I did also chop a rather hard 2x4 in half, but left it out of the video. Maybe I can post that clip here just for curious bladeforums folks.

The rolls were newspapers, bound and soaked for about 30 minutes. I got the impression that they were good for a cutting test, but they were tougher than I expected!
 
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A round handle can make it tough to get good edge alignment. Plus, the length gives you little ability for much of a draw/slice. It did ok with just chopping.

I see you have rapier pictures open but might I suggest spadroons? Simple to hilt. Single edge, kind of a wedge cross section. 32" of blade, 4" of grip

2naoemf.jpg

357qzbo.jpg


Cheers

GC
 
That straight spadroon. It would be a grand attempt to make a 3-foot blade that thin, not unlike a rapier blade, though not sure about re-creating the wide, shallow fuller work. It could be added to the list: Chokuto, cup-hilt rapier, dao, and straight spadroon.

Regardless, this has been such a sporting audience that it seemed right to inflict you all with the gladius deleted scene. Apologies.

[video=youtube;ZSGgBOzg2MU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSGgBOzg2MU&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
Well done Mecha the gladius turned out really, really nice!!!! :thumbup:

I'm with Rolf, I'd like to see you make a titanium chisa katana!
 
Rolf wears booties.. heheh

Hmmm I might like a katana in this Ti.. we shall talk! When, who knows! Soon sir, soon!

nexus6 out.
 
A chisa katana: So a katana with a blade about 2 feet long? :grumpy: Frankly, I'm afeard of making a real katana, but since faint heart never won fair maiden...
 
Yep!^ With a nice curved blade.
And, a Ninja-to wud be so cool. Really.
 
This should go up as thread of the year: entertaining, informative and a great finished product. Great work!
 
A fairly detailed general introduction to titanium metallurgy. Thanks for posting that, Mete. It helps illustrate what I'm trying to do with this alloy: Make real swords.

A "real" sword, one that's balanced well, fast and strong, and that you KNOW won't fail on you, is an exciting thing to own. They feel personal, powerful, and there's really nothing quite like it. Just as important, they're fun, generating their own choppin' practice sessions, so you automatically get familiar with your real sword!

Thanks to all for a successful sword-build thread!
 
I'm impressed!
 
That's a hell'va sword, young man, but I'm sorry, I was in stitches watching the video, I can't help it. But, with that aside, a great achievement!
 
BTW, now that you know some of the Ti metallurgy . Back in college in ancient times the thesis of one of the guys was "superplasticity of Ti alloys " That's when metal acts like pulling taffy ! Like taking 1" and pulling it out to 10 " . It was done by heating an alloy right at the alfa/beta transition point .It was fascinating to watch for sure .
 
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