So i am trying to make a sword out of 1/4 inch steel and i have had no success with a hack saw i was wondering if there was an easier solution to cutting it, and its long than a foot
Heat it and cut it with a chisel. Use a band saw, dremel, drill holes in the area you want cut and then grind it clean, temper it to make it softer for cutting, cut it with a torch, score it and try and snap it in a vice, bend it back and forth until it fatigues and breaks, cut it with an explosive shaped charge, slice it with thermite, mind bullets, corrode a line across it with salsa and a DC power source
>>912346
>>912340
the easiest + cheapest way to make rough cuts in metals is to use a 4.5" angle grinder with a cutoff wheel on it (pic related)
don't just buy ONE cutoff wheel, buy a dozen... or two dozen. They come in packs for a reason.
They wear down as you use them, but they don't cost much. and it's still way faster than sawing by hand.
also--wear leather gloves and use full-face protection. the grinding disks can break and fling pieces around at 50,000 mph
>>912340
what power tools do you have access too?
Jig saws are cheap, and so are metal cutting blades for them, if you buy one it might come with a metal cutting blade (fine tooth).
>>912377
angel grinders are useful but are they more expensive than a cheap jigsaw?
metal cutting blades for a jigsaw would be cheaper than cut off wheels for an angel grinder, and less dangerous for a novice. plus OP is making a sword that's "long than a foot". I doubt he knows about tempering, and those cut off wheels create more friction than a hacksaw or jig saw which leads to heat which ruins the temper OP's steel bar already has.
Is your steel annealed?
I would start here, but then you will have to heat treat the steel to get the hardness back
What type of steel are you using?
Different steel will need to be treated differently.
If you decide to cut it without annealing and use a grinder, Then make sure you don't burn the metal. Pic related.
Keep a bucket of water near to cool the steel. If the steel gets too hot as in pic related the temper is lost.
>>912340
That sharp angle at the yang is going to create a stress riser
>>912423
if there's a harbor freight around a angle grinder is about the same price as a jigsaw.
for blades/cutoff wheels i'd go name brand like dewalt/bosch/vermont/ 'made in germany/switzerland/etc'
>Nigga trying to cut shit with a poorfag hacksaw.
>First 20 suggestions include power tools.
Lel
your most likely option OP is to use a cutting disc on a grinder. I would suggest that you look at GOOD eye protection and hearing protection though, those things are pretty harsh.
a good belt sander is also of use.
I will also note, on a different subject, your sword is going to handle like a 3-legged hippo if you use that design you have. 1/4 inch thick is VERY thick for that sort of blade (most were 3/16ths / 4.75mm), and you have absolutely no taper in the blade. I'm guessing its about 42-45mm wide at the cross, by about 68cm long, so intended to be a gladius or early medieval blade style? hard to tell with a photo from a PotatoPhone camera.
But if that is the case, you would be prudent to taper it so at the point where the blade arches in to the point its about 36-38mm. - just enough of a subtle taper in the main body will remove a bit of mass and make it handle less like a brick..
then you'll need to do the distal taper. you're going to have to thin it out from 1/4 inch, down to about 2mm in thickness. Anything less, its going to feel awful
I'm suspecting a fuller is right out. but if you can use a grinder to cut a shallow groove, then its possible to do a narrow fuller just with a dremel drum sander, and a metal tube wrapped with emery paper.
I've attached an image which explains a very simple way to get an even taper in the profile. its designed for the more tapering type XV blades, but can be used on your shape of XI or XIII blade too. Note the bit about curving the shoulders of the tang and blade. that's critical to prevent the blade breaking.
>>912377
Don't forget the respirator.
You really don't want to be breathing in that mix of metal and ceramic.
Thx u all for the help full advice I will take it all into consideration
>>912377
My dad's friend almost died because an angle grinder wheel shattered and flew into his leg. He almost bled out crawling to a phone
>>912485
He almost died because he removed the guard...
>>912424
>What type of steel are you using?
This please, OP.
>>912495
I'm just thinking of one of those ER story shows I sometimes watch, guy wanted to cut a tire in half for some reason, uses an angle grinder with a grinding disc.
Like, what the fuck? You own an angle grinder, but not a reciprocating saw?
Anyways, the disc (predictably) shattered and sent half of it into his skull.
>>912777
>trip 7's
WINNAH
>>912777
Shattering discs are obvioisly dangerous but they don't decapitate you. Wear proper safety gear and shattering disks is a non issue. Sometimes they just shatter, you get spooked, shit happens, take a new disk and continue.
I do have to say that I don't use a guard on a angle grinder. Too difficult to access exactly the spot you need when working on cars... Not maybe smart and especially under the car a bit dangerou
>>912674
Come on? Sword with a hacksaw? Steel type is irrelevant on that level....
>>912340
Blowtorch, hammer, chisel.
>>913061
Alternatively, man up and forge a damn sword instead of faffing about with cutting sheet steel. Also, 1/4 inch? Are you trying to bludgeon someone?
In all seriousness though, from a swordsmith standpoint, you can do almost anything woth handtools that you can do with power tools, you just have to have determination, and a lot of spare tools. Your best bet would be to go back wherever you got the steel and see if they're willing to do the cutting for you, or to turn to a metal working professional. Metals are really not something you want to DIY, unless you have zero regard for life and hearth.
If you do want to follow through with this, make sure you have adequate protective gear, such as kevlar mitts, and at the bare minimum a leather apron. Burns and cuts are fine and dandy, but shards of steel cause harm beyond anything you can think of. Besides that, knock yourself out. Just remember it's easier to take steel away than to put it back.
>>913050
>Come on? Sword with a hacksaw? Steel type is irrelevant on that level....
not really.
I'm a professional swordsmith, and use a hacksaw pretty regularly - usually if I'm cutting from barstock and for some reason dont want to use an anglegrinder, which tends to be a little inaccurate. A 12" hacksaw with a bimetallic 24tpi blade is more than suitable for doing the cuts for a tang on 3/16ths spring steel, for instance.
90% of profiling is done on a linisher, or hot-worked, but hacksaws do have their place.
>>913187
Where do you even get tempered steel for swords? Also I know hrc is the hardness of the sword, is it best higher or lower,,
>>913062
>Alternatively, man up and forge a damn sword instead of faffing about with cutting sheet steel. Also, 1/4 inch? Are you trying to bludgeon someone?
forging doesn't confer any benefits to a sword. In fact, unless they're an experienced smith, they're more likely to do damage to the steel that way. the whole "man up" shit is utter bollocks.
furthermore, 1/4 inch, (sorry, I'm going to be using metric, because fuck the US' cro-magnon-like adherence to that outdated system) or 6.35mm isn't actually particularly thick for a sword. Its quite thick for a sword of the sort of profile OP is making, yes, but a LOT of swords were thicker. Personally, I've handled many langes messers with blades of 7.5mm to 8mm thick, and one with a spine of about 10mm, which have aggressive distal tapers, and so are only 1.1kg in weight.
I've also seen many longswords- particularly hand and a half swords with diamond sections that are way thicker than 6.35mm - Castillon hoard longswords of Oakeshott's type XV are often around 7mm thick at the cross, and taper to about 4mm - they're beefy, stiff blades, but not particularly heavy - 1300-1500g. Even something like this longsword, which has a 10.3mm thick blade at the cross isn't particularly heavy - 1407g.
now that's not to say a lot of swords are thinner - they are. Virtually all type Xa, XII, and XIII's are under 5mm thick at the cross, and taper down to 2mm, sometimes less. Plenty of messers are too. But saying that "1/4 inch = bludgeon" is totally ignorant of the reality of swordsmithing; that what makes a blade a glorified club is the distal taper to the blade, not its initial thickness.
>>913192
you don't.
buying a pre-hardened billet is bloody stupid.
Get it annealed or half-hard. You get good carbon steel bar stock from Aldo Bruno in the US, Furnival steel in the UK, or the likes.
That way you can grind it, you can use forges, punches, you can saw it and even if it starts to go blue in areas, you're not having any trouble with screwing the temper.
Once you've shaped it up, give it a nice surface finish of about 120 grit, and if you don't have the resources to heat-treat it yourself, send of off for commercial heat-treatment and ask them to HT it to about 50HRC. If you're using a higher carbon, like O1 or 1095, ask them t do it to 48HRC, if you're using a lower carbon like 1050, or EN45, you can get away with asking for 52HRC, but I wouldn't go over 50. Just talk to the people before you send it, explain its for swords for re-enactment/HEMA/Whatever, tell them the exact spec of steel you're using (if you dont know what spec it is, throw the steel away, or use it for hilt parts or the likes, its no use for blademaking if you dont know the composition.) and you'll need it HT'd to a relatively low hardness. Ask that it be heat-treated vertically, not in a horizontal kiln, and give dimensions for your blade, so they can confirm they will do that.
(vertical heating and quench minimises warping)
Knives you want 56-58HRC really, but you don't do a sword to the same hardness as a knife, it'll just break under the torque when swung. Common mistake.
And yes, you usually need to do some grinding after heat-treat, but its a messy, tough job. Personally I set up my grinder runing at a lower speed, with a water misting sprayer that keeps the blade cool. Good for hollowgrinds and the likes, but makes a total mess. You really do not want to be doing that hogging out an entire blade.
Pic is another blade that's about 8mm thick, for >>913062
>>913192
Basic summary of steel hardness.
there's about 5 or 6 different hardness scales. the most common are
Vickers Pyramid Hardness
Brinell Hardness
Rockwell A
Rockwell B,
Rockwell C.
(there's also a rockwell D,E and F. but ignore them.)
The one relevant to hardened steel is Rockwell C - (Hardness Rockwell C = HrC) the scales are a measure of an indentation - usually a tiny ball, pyramid, or cone (depending on scale) of industrial diamond, which is pressed down into the material. softer the material, the deeper the indentation, the lower the scale number.
So, 20 HrC is very soft - you could easily use a centre punch and a hammer to make a dent on a bar of steel of 20HrC. A bar that's been heat-treated and hardened for use as a wear-resistant surface that gets stressed might well be 45 HRC. its hard to dent, the same punch will make a smaller dimple, and its tougher to drill. A steel of 60HRC is incredibly hard, your punch will skitter off, or even crack the steel like glass - A blade fresh out the quench is also exceptionally hard, till its put back into a fairly hot kiln to temper and soften a bit - part of why you're careful with fresh-quenched blades. Drop a freshly quenched knife on a concrete floor, chances are you don't have a blade, you have fragments.
So, higher number = harder, but more brittle. generally, you want a raw steel to be in the 20's or 30's while you work it, a knife to be mid-high 50's, a sword to be low 50s or high 40's, and you want a graver, file or punch to be in the 60's.
>>912340
Stock bar from the mill is usually very soft annon. Just an fyi
