Fixing a fucked sword

[Anonymous No.481112]

So /diy/, I got a sword a few years back, and eventually I got around to unwrapping the nylon cord or whatever around the hilt, and found pic related.

Suggestions for how to fix this? I know shit about blades, but even I know this is not okay. I was thinking just removing the hilt as it currently exists and mounting it on a new one, but I have no idea how to do any of that, or whether it's a good idea or not.

Google turned up links that assumed a level of knowledge I don't actually possess, and my blade terminology is insufficient to better articulate the issue to a search engine.

tl;dr hilt and blade of a sword welded together, didn't realize this when I bought it, how do I fix it.

[Anonymous No.481120]

"fix it"?

well the weld doesnt look great, but are you even supposed to be using this sword for anything? I bet it says "for display purposes only" on it somewhere.

The only thing to fix it would be to re-weld it. But if the metal it's made out of is shit in the first place, there isnt much point.

[Anonymous No.481123]

>>481120
It's apparently stainless steel. I'm not planning on using it, but nonetheless I'd like it to be functional.

[Anonymous No.481126]

OK, before you say "how do you know" - I work as a professional cutler, making swords for a living.

dont even try to "fix" it for use. the welds are a stress raiser meaning it is in no way as strong as a single homogenous peice of steel. if that has an edge, its likely to break if used to cut anything - hell, just torquing it around for a cutting stroke could cause it to snap, sending the part flying - into you, the cat, or someone nearby.

I cant emphasise enough that trying to put this to use is risky as fuck, and liable to cause breakage, if not injury.

the best I could reccommend is that you effectively cut away everything below that weld, and make a new, shorter item with the blade

[Anonymous No.481127]

Nah, it's fucked. Basically you can use a grinder to carefully shape what's left of the blade and make a new tang, which you can attach a handle to. That is, if you want to keep it. I'm betting it's cheap Chinese made shit and you should toss it if you have any self respect.

[Anonymous No.481135]

>>481126
>>481127
What these guys said. If it's a sword, you'll have some blade to work with after you trim off the welded section. Just grind it off straight. It's not like heat is going to ruin this POS's temper. You could make a relatively decent machete out of it.
If you're planning on Billy Badassing with a sword, get a good one. Cold Steel swords are pretty well renowned for being strong carbon blades while still being somewhat affordable.

[Anonymous No.481148]

>>481126
>>dont even try to "fix" it for use. the welds are a stress raiser meaning it is in no way as strong as a single homogenous peice of steel.

This isn't entirely true, but the processes needed to make the weld as strong as the base metal are not something that can be communicated over 4chan. Especially on something that will take lots of stress. *Especially* on an unknown stainless steel alloy.

>>well the weld doesnt look great

This is a vast understatement. That weld is garbage.

The welder didn't give a fuck. The inspector didn't give a fuck. The owner didn't give a fuck. The importer didn't give a fuck and the guy selling the blade didn't give a fuck.

Cut the thing off at the weld and do what you will with the rest. It's probably crap stainless though.

[Anonymous No.481193]

>>481148
>This isn't entirely true, but the processes needed to make the weld as strong as the base metal are not something that can be communicated over 4chan. Especially on something that will take lots of stress. *Especially* on an unknown stainless steel alloy.

The weld is probably nice and strong, but the tensile/ductile strength and subsequent change from one ductile strength to another will cause that section to be weaker than the rest of the sword. Essentially, it will be more brittle there and not take bending and stress very well.

[Anonymous No.481206]

Everyone in this thread so far has been correct, but if you're set on a fix that will make it reasonably safe to swing around and don't intend to put it to hard use, what you should do is put bracing plates over it. Basically, it's a brute force solution, throwing enough metal at the problem to be sure it doesn't break at that spot. The blade is still going to be a piece of shit, obviously, but the breakpoint won't be at the weld.

Get steel plates, at least as thick as the tang is, preferably thicker (if it were me, I'd use 3/8" minimum), and lay them over the sides of the hilt up at least 2.5 inches, preferably more down the blade. Use 1/4" bolts, four on each side of the weld in a rectangle (two close to the weld, ~3/8 inch away, two near the end of the plate, ~3/8 inch from edges) to mount them. Through-holes in the blade/tang, through-holes on one plate, threaded holes on the far side plate.

If you're up to it, you can weld the plates on instead of or in addition to, but it's probably not worth it on crap stainless.

Use Loc-tite on the screws, the kind that doesn't come apart again.

Instead of re-wrapping the handle, you'll probably want to put a gripping texture on the plates since the thickness is going up so much.

[Anonymous No.481219]

>>481193
>The weld is probably nice and strong, but the tensile/ductile strength and subsequent change from one ductile strength to another will cause that section to be weaker than the rest of the sword. Essentially, it will be more brittle there and not take bending and stress very well.

Sure, but your first post talked about strength, not ductility. If welded properly any two pieces of compatible metal can be made as strong as a single piece under a static load. *Dynamic* loads (like the kind you get in swords) are the bane of welding because properties like ductility and uniform hardness are really important.

[Anonymous No.481243]

>>481219
>Sure, but your first post talked about strength, not ductility.

I'm a different anon. This >>481193 was my first post ITT. I was just adding info not already covered.

[Anonymous No.481246]

It's shit steel. Don't waste your time unless it's just going to be a wall hanger.

FYI, last time I was in central America, I bought a machete for $5 US that is about 36" long and the blade is "spring steel". You can chop trees down with the thing. THey make shit to last down there. Most of the blades you see for sale in the USA are total crap unless you buy from ColdSteel and the like.

[Lei No.481247]

It's not the weld that is weak. It is the metal right next to the weld that is.

Unless it's that weld. That weld is terrible and fileld with obvious cavities.

[Anonymous No.481306]

Welding is not the answer. It is going to break it is a piece of crap. But if you want to make it reasonably safe to handle and hit shit with. Put a series of holes in both sides of the weld and rewrap it with spring steel wire.

[Anonymous No.481307]

>>481306
Oh and weave the wire into holes.

[Anonymous No.481313]

>>481206
>Use Loc-tite on the screws, the kind that doesn't come apart again.
You can easily lock the threads by doing a light grinding on on them. There's no need to use proprietary adhesives.

[Anonymous No.481331]

>>481135
>>481246
Cold Steel's budget blades are known specifically for their faulty manufacturing.

Well, that and their promotional videos.

[Anonymous No.481347]

>>481313
I prefer using a good threadlocker, but to each their own. Doesn't have to be Loc-tite, I usually say that as though it were the generic term.

[Anonymous No.481357]

if i was really worried about it id do this. pic

the holes i drew are much bigger then the ones id actually use and if necessary further to the back of the blade

it would add some wight but that's just what i'd do

[Anonymous No.481375]

>>481357

why not just hammer the entire thing back into an ingot and do it right?

[Anonymous No.481381]

>>481357
If the holes are smaller than what's drawn in the picture then the bolt must be very small, too small to raise the blade above "display purposes only" status.

[Anonymous No.481384]

Nah its fucked m8, also if its stainless steel its brittle as fuck and will break if you try cut hard things.
Just leave it or sell it or something, theres really no salvaging it and its not really worth it.

[Anonymous No.481447]

>>481112
It is fine, OP. Just don't use the flat of blade sideways, like a tard, and it'll be fine.

[Anonymous No.481477]

>>481331
>>481246
>>481135
>cold steel

No.

not even once.
Cold steel are well known amongs actual collectors, makers etc for producing utterly shit stuff.
While the heat-treatment is... adequate, shall we say, the rest leaves a lot to be desired. The blades are almost invariably made with insufficient taper in them, making them extremely tip-heavy and unweildy. hilt compontnets are poorly cast, and rarely fit accurately.

They focus their marketing on selling to people who have little idea about what real swords were like, and therefore are ignorant of the deficiences that their money-saving steps cause.

they are, in all, seriously shit stuff for the price.

[Anonymous No.481496]

>>481123
>stainless steel
>functional sword
Pick one.

[Anonymous No.481506]

>>481496
Not this again. I bet there are a bunch of likeminded guys hanging out on /k/ too who'd throw this *opinion* in the ring every time stainless is mentioned in a knife thread, as though it's somehow an unquestioned fact.

I'll let you in on a little secret, shhhh don't tell anyone, homogenous stainless can actually be stronger than the steel used in many — MANY — old swords. Swords that saw actual use, for their intended purpose.

You think there's some legitimacy to the idea that there are no functional stainless steel swords, you're seriously in need of a reality check. Start by considering all the stainless machetes in use in jungles around the world, used with sword-like strokes day in and day out for YEARS, against material much more resilient than human bone.

[Anonymous No.481542]

>>481506
as a general rule, short of Carpenter S7, Sandvik 13C26, or RWL-34, most "stainless" swords - ie, 303C or even a 440A stainless really are not up to the standards needed.


Stainless of those types are what are extensively used because they're cheap, easily machined without wear to the tooling, and does'nt rust easily, meaning they look ok after sitting in a shop for 6 months.

they really are not good blade materials in the slightest.

S7? RWL-34? now those are good stainless alloys. be it a knife, a sword, a bohemian ear-spoon... they'll go great blades. but they're not commonly used at all. As in you can make a list of the people who use it without difficulty. the list of manufacturers using the shittier stainless alloys? that's a long list. and that's why there's a general statement that "stainless swords are shit wallhangers"; because unless you're buying a stainless blade with a 4-figure pricetag and a specific smith's name on it - in which case, the chances are you know what you're shopping for - its almost universally a cheap wallhanger, sold to someone who goes "wow, I want a sword! that costs $40, I'll get that one".

in that context, stainless is shit.

[Anonymous No.481548]

>>481542
In certain cases it is indeed better to use normal steel rather than certain alloys, yet the only reason for this is that normal would function the same way stainless does but costs less...

[Anonymous No.481550]

>>481135
I bet your the same nigger that trips on /k/ and promotes Cold Steel every time a knife or sword thread shows up.

[Anonymous No.481559]

>>481542
While I'm sure you know your steels better than I "really are not up to the standards needed" is a loaded statement. Esp since the same is/was true of a lot of historical swords.

While stainless isn't AS good as you'd like if you look at things from a list of desirable materials properties (I'm certainly not going to argue that the edge is up to what half-decent carbon steel will give you for example) what I'm saying is it can actually be good enough.

Comparing to machete use and performance is quite apt here, since it proves beyond question that stainless can be good enough can get the job done.

You'd be better off (in many ways) with carbon steel? Sure, won't argue.

[Anonymous No.481574]

>>481559
having had my hands on, well, more historical swords than I can really count now, yes, many were substandard to what's expected today.
its one of the really tricky issues of modern swordmaking. If I did what they did, I'd be roundly condemned as a complete idiot. take the sword in this pic. Looks fucking amazing, right?
I can tell you from first-hand study of it, for a modern sword, its fucking terrible. the blade is squint, the centreline wavers all over the place. the cross and pommel both have casting faults in them. there's a whole string of errors in the workmanship, the fit and finish. and yet it was good enough for a prince back then.

in terms of metallurgy, even a cold steel or a windlass sword blows the average medieval steel out of the water in terms of metallurgical quality. the stuff we've got today is orders of magnitude better in terms of consistency.

but, equally, that consistency has raised standards far beyond what was considered acceptable back then. So a stainless blade in 440A, assuming its got a proper tang, may well be passable for the 13th C, in terms of edge holding. but I do not feel it would be acceptable in terms of flexiability or impact resistance, for actual use. in that, a good, plain 1070-1080 series carbon steel still outstrips modern stainless, hands down.

Where stainless excels is not in its use in the hand. it excels in the factory, limiting the amount of wear on tools, limiting the cost of fabrication - making it profitable for the manufacturers, above all else.

so, by "not up to the standards needed", above all else, I mean that its not tough enough to be used to be put to any sort of heavy use, without risking mechanical failure. back then they were a bit less concerned about that. Nowadays, we get a bit jittery at the idea of someone swinging a sword around, only for it to snap off and kill someone. now, its not certain that'd happen, but its a much bigger risk with stainless stuff.