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StarnesRowan

40 Cal
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Hey guys I am looking to dile in a little more on my reenacting persona. The majority of millita from my area where mounted an as a result carried "curde sabers and hangers" made by the local blacksmith and gunsmiths. has anyone ever made one of these and if so how did you make the gaurd (that is what is giving me the most problems.
 
Hey guys I am looking to dile in a little more on my reenacting persona. The majority of millita from my area where mounted an as a result carried "curde sabers and hangers" made by the local blacksmith and gunsmiths. has anyone ever made one of these and if so how did you make the gaurd (that is what is giving me the most problems.

Are you making the guard out of Iron/steel or thick brass plate? What time period are you doing?

Gus
 
OK, first some simple Iron/Steel Guards:

One of the simpler ones to make, though it would take some time drilling/cutting out and filing the open spaces in the guard:
"H" marked Cavalry Sabre – Works – The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (history.org)

Similar:
The Charleston Museum | News and Events » The Swamp Fox Revealed: Francis Marion-Related Objects in the Charleston Museum

Again, see how this style was popular?
"Potter" Light Dragoon Saber – Works – The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (history.org)

Though the following Iron/Steel guard was originally "gilded" or plated in brass or gold, it is perhaps the simplest style to emulate:

83570.jpg (1999×1129) (horsesoldier.com)
1638352884846.png

Brass Hilts:

One of the easiest to make and could be done in brass as it is below, or Iron/Steel.

1638352368298.png






More time consuming cutting out the slots, but not that difficult of a guard to make from sheet brass.
Sabre with Slotted "D" Guard – Works – The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (history.org)

Another slotted guard below made from sheet brass:

1638352236016.png


Gus
 
Hey guys I am looking to dile in a little more on my reenacting persona. The majority of millita from my area where mounted an as a result carried "curde sabers and hangers" made by the local blacksmith and gunsmiths. has anyone ever made one of these and if so how did you make the gaurd (that is what is giving me the most problems.

Exactly what are the problems you refer to?

Gus
 
I'm not an expert on swords but I do own a few and what little I know is steel/iron knuckle and handguards are not uncommon mainly on English swords. The French tended to use more brass for that purpose. The sword I carry the most is a Colichemarde short dress sword. It's light and nimble and carries nicely, it has a brass knuckle guard.
 
I bought a separate sword blade at Friendship in the late 70's, that had never been mounted. It was double edged and sort of a flat topped curve on both sides. However, it was too short to be a crusader sword and it was heavily pitted all over the surface. Now since it was only $ 8.00, I couldn't resist, even if it was not hardened/tempered, though I later learned it was. I figured I could make a crude American AWI cutlass out of it and wear it with my Continental Marine Sergeant Impression. Had to wait a couple/few years until I returned to the Shop at Quantico to do it, as I didn't want to try making it in my spare bedroom "shop" at home.

Long story short, when I returned to Quantico, I got involved with the C.S. Marine Corps reenactors, so the sword blade waited another year or so until I was promoted to Sergeant of C.S. Marines. Since Sergeants sometimes carried cutlasses and a pistol on watch, it was time to dig out the blade and see what I could do with it.

Well, that blade could only realistically make a "local/possibly blacksmith made" cutlass, because of the blade shape. So I decided to make it into sort of like a home made, American War of 1812 cutlass, especially as I could not grind out all of the deepest pitting. I decided to use 3/16" brass plate for the guard, as there was a left over piece of it in the shop the machinists didn't need. I figured out how to make the pattern by using ratio's of blade and grip lengths from pictures and from some measurements I took of original swords, for a "D" guard pattern grip.

I decided to use white Oak for the grip and rough formed that first to fit my hand and in a similar manner to the grips of War of 1812 sword grips. I drilled pilot holes in the grip from both ends of a diameter a bit thinner than the thickness of the tang. I heated the rear of the tang with an oxy/acetylene torch while holding the front part of the tang in a large vise to act as a heat sink. I only heated about half the rear of the tang at first and burned the tang that far into the grip when it was hot. (Later on I learned it would have been better to burn the tang into the grip BEFORE I finish formed it.) Since I was careful when I held the grip and forced it down over the tang as far as it would go, the hole went in the center where I wanted it to go. So with additional heats and burning, I had a good tight fit of the wood grip to the tang.

That helped me in part to design how long the grip should be when I included how far I wanted the guard to go above the top of the blade and into a "D" shape that would fit the grip and clearance for my hand.

I deliberately left the pattern long in the rear, as I was not sure how to figure the length through all the curved and fairly straight side around the grip. I had marked the center line for the front hole through which the blade passed. BEFORE I began bending the plate, I drilled and carefully filed out that hole to probably a much tighter fit than many original swords I had seen.

Once the hole was a good fit on the tang, I heated the brass with an oxy/acetylene torch to anneal it and let it cool overnight before beginning bending it to the "D" shape in a vise and by hammer blows of a large brass hammer, a huge ball pein hammer and or a good size one hand maul I had purchased used to drive in my tent stakes. I was surprised that with care, I did not ding up the metal too bad. I decided not to file/polish the few hammer marks out, as that probably would not have been done on a home made cutlass.

As I got the bend close to correct, I put the grip on with it and could mark where the rear hole for the tang had to go. This was where I was REALLY glad I had left the rear of the Guard overly long, as I held the rear of the grip in the vise to drill/file out the rear hole in the guard.

Though many crude swords and cutlasses did not have one, I decided to make a thick leather oval washer that went between the blade and the front of the guard. I made a few paper patterns till I got the shape I wanted, then cut it out of some 8-9 oz leather I had. I cut the hole in it to clear the tang and fitted it to the front of the tang. Then I dyed it black and oiled it, before I assembled the grip.

I annealed the rear of the tang one more time and cut it a bit too long so it would stick out from the rear of the guard a bit. Then I assembled the leather washer, guard and grip and cut the tang so it would stick out about 3/16" inch from the rear of the guard. I peened that done all over the outside of the guard to hold everything in place. Then I went outside to hack at some brush and small trees and the grip stayed tight, so that ended the work.

I was going to make the scabbard, but I ran across a separate and original 1840's European (probably German) Artillery short sword scabbard that fit it beautifully and wasn't too expensive. I found that could be fit inside a repro Enfield Bayonet Frog, as I had seen pictures of cutlasses worn that way in some original daguerreotypes.

I wore that sword in my C.S. Marine Sergeant's impression for a couple of years until I formed a new C.S. Infantry unit and had to have an Officer's Sword. I could not hold onto the cutlass as money was too tight for that, so I sold it as a "Fake Repro" cutlass and the guy who bought it understood that was what it was. However, about six months later I saw it again in a Civil War Shop owned by another guy I knew. I asked to look at it and he had it labeled as an original C.S. Cutlass. I told him the Cutlass was a fake repro and he didn't believe me until I told him I had made it and to whom I had sold it as a fake repro.

Then there is the story about how I made my own M1850 Officer's sword from an original late 19th century, but post-Civil War blade I found. It was the true combat size and temper, but it had never been mounted. I used mostly original parts to make the sword and scabbard whole, though I made and sewed the leather grip wrap and leather part of the scabbard myself.

Gus
 
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