My Hobby

[blacknblue]

My kinda lady. This is why I love writing with you.

All right. This project started life as a military machete. 1090 high carbon steel. I cut off the original plastic grip and started re-shaping the blade to a more sword-like configuration. The cross-section of the steel is somewhat narrow by the usual standards of a short sword, however since I am using U.S. military weapon grade steel, it is plenty strong enough to stand up to any reasonable type of abuse. I can confidently say that at least this sword would easily break anything ever carried in the eighteenth century.



The sword is relatively short, which is in keeping with the period. The cutlass was a short sword used aboard ships for hand to hand combat during boarding attacks. The style of blade varied widely. My blade falls within what I consider an acceptable range. However I intend to fine tune the shaping a bit further before I get done with it. If you notice some black streaks along the edges of the blade and along the outer edge of the bell guard, those are my marks that I put on while measuring out the dimensions for grinding.





The guard was hammered out of a flat piece of sheet metal. The close up below shows the hammer marks where I stroked it into shape on my anvil. The attachment at the rear is also a post where the pommel weights will be attached to adjust the balance.



The grip is going to be replaced. I don't like that kind of wood upon reconsideration. I am considering either red oak or black walnut. But who knows?

A lot of work yet to do, but hopefully it will be presentable when it is done. The sheath is going to be a job. But that is a whole 'nother story.

[Distracted]

Nice. Looks rather more modern than the ones in my husband's collection, but he tends to go more for 17th century rapier reproductions. Most of his have leather or wire wrapped round grips and open baskets, sorta like these.

[blacknblue]

Ah, they are beautiful. But those were weapons for settling disputes between refined gentlemen on the field of honor. The kind of sword I am making was for gutting sea bandits and enemy sailors aboard burning ships. Slightly different conditions.

I am also compelled by my innate honesty to admit that I crave the chopping option. I acknowledge that the point is superior to the edge when it comes to maximizing swift damage. But I want to have the option of a slice or a chop, especially in close quarters. Like my upstairs hallway. Or my front foyer. Or intercepting a burglar who is in the process of climbing in my window.

[Distracted]

What a coincidence. My husband keeps a machete under the mattress in our bedroom just for that purpose.

[blacknblue]

What a coincidence. My husband keeps a machete under the mattress in our bedroom just for that purpose.

Somewhat related to the subject, this is not an exact duplicate but it is a close approximation to what my "cutlass" looked like before I began working on it.

[Alelou]

A machete under the bed? Do you live in a high-crime area?

Ours is from Puerto Rico and we use it for weed-whacking, since we don't have any sugar cane to harvest.

[Lady Rainbow]

Beautiful knives there! Love the cutlass!

I've always been interested in Asian martial arts and weapons...esp. the Japanese katana, nodachi (really LONG version, used mostly by horsemen) and the naginata (halberd). Part of it's my heritage and part of it's genuine interest. I once saw a documentary on the old Japanese swordmakers, doing it the old fashioned way, bending and hammering out the blade to precision. I've got a lot of respect for people who can do that and have a functional weapon.

As for the machete...my paternal grandmother used to carry one around with her. No joke. She nearly took my dad's nose off once with it when he wouldn't come home for dinner.

[Escriba]

Beautiful cutlass (I don't like fire weapons, but I love swords.) And I'm very impressed by your talent, blacknblue. As an official klutz I admire people who can do those kind of things. I can draw, yes, but doing anything else with my hands? No, for people's shake. "Don't touch anything!" was what my mother told me after the vacuum cleaner exploded in my hands, which happened some time after the coffe-maker exploded, which happened years after the pressure cooker exploded, which happened years after I broke my mother's favorite flowerpot (in my defense I'll allege that in this last case I was a child and I was trying to test the gravitational force and the stretching limit of a rubber string. The other situations were just bad luck )

[blacknblue]

Methinks thou dost stretch it slightly ma'am. I can see the flower pot, and I can see a pressure cooker exploding. But how does a coffee pot explode? Even a stove top coffee pot had a spout, does it not? Hence the pressure would escape... wouldn't it?

And wouldn't a vacuum cleaner implode, rather than explode?



BTW, thank you for the compliments to everyone.

[blacknblue]

As for the machete...my paternal grandmother used to carry one around with her. No joke. She nearly took my dad's nose off once with it when he wouldn't come home for dinner.

*philosophical*

There is much to be said for the sculpting potential in a nicely honed machete.

[Distracted]

What a coincidence. My husband keeps a machete under the mattress in our bedroom just for that purpose.

Somewhat related to the subject, this is not an exact duplicate but it is a close approximation to what my "cutlass" looked like before I began working on it.

Yep. That's what's under the bed.

And no, we're really not in a high crime area, but my husband is a cautious man and we have kids in the house so a loaded gun at bedside is out of the question. My husband is of the opinion that short of a firearm nothing is more likely to make a would-be thief piss his pants than a half-naked man with a REALLY big knife charging out of the bedroom while screaming at the top of his lungs. He has fortunately never tested this theory. I'm of the opinion that he just might get shot if he does. My first instinct if I thought a burglar was in the house would be to set off the alarm if it hadn't gone off already, lock my bedroom door, get on the intercom to tell the kids to lock theirs, and wait for the police to get there, since there's an alarm control and an intercom right by my bed, but I'm a coward.

[blacknblue]

What a coincidence. My husband keeps a machete under the mattress in our bedroom just for that purpose.

Somewhat related to the subject, this is not an exact duplicate but it is a close approximation to what my "cutlass" looked like before I began working on it.

Yep. That's what's under the bed.

And no, we're really not in a high crime area, but my husband is a cautious man and we have kids in the house so a loaded gun at bedside is out of the question. My husband is of the opinion that short of a firearm nothing is more likely to make a would-be thief piss his pants than a half-naked man with a REALLY big knife charging out of the bedroom while screaming at the top of his lungs. He has fortunately never tested this theory. I'm of the opinion that he just might get shot if he does. My first instinct if I thought a burglar was in the house would be to set off the alarm if it hadn't gone off already, lock my bedroom door, get on the intercom to tell the kids to lock theirs, and wait for the police to get there, since there's an alarm control and an intercom right by my bed, but I'm a coward.

I beg to differ ma'am. The tactic you describe is not cowardly. It is merely an alternate approach. I would venture to suggest the additional act of announcing over the intercom to the burglars that you have notified the police and that they are on the way, but that is just me.

Of course, I keep a loaded shotgun in the bedroom with the key to my gun cabinet nearby and available at all times. To each their own. I can certainly see your husband's point. Many people have an entirely unreasonable fear of sharp objects.

[blacknblue]

Never mind. There are limits, even for me. Sorry.

[Escriba]

I can see the flower pot, and I can see a pressure cooker exploding. But how does a coffee pot explode? Even a stove top coffee pot had a spout, does it not? Hence the pressure would escape... wouldn't it?

I don't know It was a Moka Express like this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot. I entered into the kitchen to put on my shoes while it was on the stove and suddenly *BAM*! I looked up and saw the upper part of the pot and part of its content (a damp coffe "dough") in the air, near the ceiling. It remained like this for a second (I know it can't be that long, but it looked like it) and then fell down. I tried to covert myself, but the back of my neck burnt (nothing serious, I didn't even go to the doctor.) I remember that my mother got into the kitchen, looked at the mess and asked "What have you done?!" and I, lied down on the ground wincing, thought "What? I did nothing!"

And wouldn't a vacuum cleaner implode, rather than explode?

Well, the dirt bag exploded, but I really don't know...

[Alelou]

Oh man, now I'm wondering just what you're restraining yourself from adding there.

Distracted, your instincts on first waking with a burglar in the house are awesomely thought-out and well-organized. Mine would probably be to piss my pants even if I'm the one with the machete under the bed.

Actually, based on experiences already waking up wondering what the hell that noise was, I would be in denial and figuring it's got to be a bear, a deer, a sleepwalking child, an uncoordinated husband, or the cat.