Making a Wooden Sword

Kevin Alviti is inspired by a day trip to Warwick Castle to carve a medieval-style toy

Wooden sword with ornate hilt on grass

As we get older, memories of our childhood seem to fade a little bit, or they do for me, replaced by others or slipping until something jogs them. I often wonder what our children will remember of their childhood. Will it be the nice memories we try to cultivate, with joyful meals and days out, or the ones where I snapped and lost my temper? One thing I can remember vividly from myown childhood was castles. Lots and lots of castles. I was really into medieval history – well, more to the point I was really into sword fighting with my brother.

And by swords, I mean hazel sticks. We’d play for hours, pretending to be Robin Hood or some other outlaw, and every story we created would end in a sword fight to the death. Well, to the death or until one of us got hit on the hand by the other and went running of f to mum or dad.

The other day it was my nephew’s birthday, so we all went to Warwick Castle. I can still remember going when I was around eight or nine, that feeling of walking in – they’re incredible buildings. Going back now there are so many details I notice. It’s hard to go to a place like that as a craf tsman and not be inspired, but what was lovely was to see all the children completely awestruck by the scale of the castle, especially when we climbed the towers.

Being a tourist attraction there were lots of ‘souvenirs’ for sale, the coolest being a wooden toy sword. They cost more than I was willing to spend, and I managed to convince my boy, Alistair, that I’d make him a much better one when we got home. I honestly couldn’t wait to start making it, such a fun project to equip my knight. I had a sort through the woodpile and found a piece of ash to make the blade and a chunk of sycamore to make the guard. Sycamore is far easier to carve than ash, so I was taking the path of least resistance when I picked it up. I’m sure if I’d found some oak for the blade then this would have been perfect as well.

Things you will need

Materials

  • One length of ash, 730 x 50 x 18mm
  • Sycamore for guard 180 x 50 x 38mm
  • Wood glue
  • Leather glue or superglue
  • Leather for the handle, 18mm strip approximately 450mm long

Tools

  • Planer
  • Tablesaw
  • Bandsaw
Woodworking in workshop with hands on machine
1. My piece of ash was a fairly rough slab about 50mm thick. I roughly cut the one edge freehand, then planed it up on the surfacer. Obviously, this could be done with hand planes if you don’t have the bigger tools. I tried to find a piece where the grain ran relatively straight, but as it was a toy sword I didn’t have to be too fussy
Wood on table saw, workshop setting.
2. With one edge flat, I could rip it down on the tablesaw. I ripped it to just over 18mm and then planed up the other face as well
Hand drawing on wood with curve template.
3. Using a French curve, I marked out the tip of the sword blade
Drawing a circle on wood with a compass.
4. I also marked up the pommel as a 50mm- diameter circle (the pommel is the cap at the end of the sword handle), and marked in where the handle would step inwards
Wood being cut with bandsaw
5. I cut these out on the bandsaw – again I could have used a jigsaw or coping saw, but the bandsaw makes it quite easy
Hands guiding wood through a bandsaw.
6. To cut the section where the handle steps in, I made a few relief cuts to allow the blade in to cut up the length of the handle
Person using woodworking hand plane on workbench.
7. I then roughly shaped the blade. I used a variety of tools for this and although my photo shows a nice Jack plane, I did use my 18v cordless plane as well as my random orbital sander. I didn’t want the edges to go to a point, more of a dull curve. It takes a bit of shaping, but keep making a few passes and looking at it until it feels right
Carpenter shaping wood in a workshop.
8. I think if you’re going to do one thing to make a toy sword look a little more realistic, then adding a ‘fuller’ down the middle of the blade is the way to do it. It was a groove (or double groove) originally to make the sword lighter and stiffer, but for us it just gives that little nod to realism. I marked a double line down the middle then used a No.6, 6mm gouge to make the groove using a two-handed grip
Carving wood with a chisel on workbench.
9. Take care with grain direction when doing something like this. You will have to work both ways on the groove, and with my own piece of wood I had to be careful it didn’t get pulled to one side with the sweep of the grain. Look at the wood and use the tool accordingly. Luckily with ash it’s very easy to see what the grain is doing
Person marking wood with pencil for carving
10. I made myself a little template for the guard on the sword, getting the proportions right before cutting a bigger piece of wood. I ripped down some sycamore to 40mm thick for the guard
Close-up of hand holding cut wood pieces.
11. As the guard needs to notch over the top of the sword blade, I cut the blank for the guard in two on the tablesaw. I centred this by making one cut on a spare bit of the same wood, then flipping it to make sure the blade landed in the same place
Cutting wood with bandsaw in workshop.
12. Using some masking tape, I stuck the two pieces back together. This means when I cut it on the bandsaw I could be sure they were exactly the same, and retape as necessary. Sand them smooth as well and remove any sharp edges
Drawing on wood with a pencil
13. With the guard cut, mark up each half with a notch to slot over the handle section of the sword blade. Shade in the waste so you know which to remove
Cutting wood with a bandsaw in workshop.
14. I used the bandsaw to make a series of cuts for the half-lap joint. Make sure the whole area below where you are cutting is supported by the table of the machine when doing this
Chisel carving wood joint by hand.
15. Use a chisel to remove the waste and then fettle it to fit. It doesn’t have to be super-tight as it’ll be glued on, but obviously the tighter the better
Marking wood measurements with pencil on workbench.
16. With the notches cut and fitted, pull the guard together dry and mark up the final shaping. The guard wants to slope to the tips slightly to make it feel a bit lighter
Handsaw cutting curved wood on workbench
17. Cut these with a coping saw clamped in a vice, only use a bandsaw if the whole cut can be supported
Drawing design on curved wood piece
18. Mark up your design. I went for a fairly simple Celtic knot with a central circle. Anything could work here, and there are plenty of old designs to look at and be influenced by. My circle was marked out twice, once for the middle piece to be left and one outer one for the knot to follow around
Hand carving intricate patterns on wood.
19. Start carving by striking down with the right-shaped gouge that fits the curve. Make a series of strikes with the mallet, moving the chisel each time
Hand carving intricate wood design with chisel
20. With a slightly bigger chisel, follow the inside curve of the knot, slope this cut towards the cut you just made at the centre. This should mean you remove a chip of wood to leave the centre circle proud
Hand carving intricate patterns into wood
21. Then, using a series of gouges, strike out all the edges of the knotwork on the piece, taking care where the knot crosses over other parts to get the right direction
Wood carving with chisel on intricate design
22. Lower the background, inside the roped knot and around it. I used different gouges here, but a small cranked one was ideal for the inside areas. Don’t worry too much about the background being perfectly flat as we’ll wood burn this later
Close-up of intricate wood carving in progress.
23. Where the rope crosses under another piece, lower either side down to give the impression of a flowing shape
Hand carving intricate design with chisel.
24. Shape the central button – use the gouge the other way up. Do this with a rolling, lifting cut, being careful not to cut into the ropework on the other side of the hollow
Wood carving detail with chisel in progress
25. Ease all the edges of the ‘rope’ with a gouge (here a No.3, 12mm) in much the same way. Grain direction has to be thought about though. Either side of the same bit will have to be worked in the opposite direction or the wood is liable to rag and tear
Hand using pyrography tool on wood carving.
26. To make the knot stand out more, I used my pyrography pen to burn a series of dots all over the background of the piece. This would also work well if you burnt in smaller knots too – it takes time, but is surprisingly relaxing. Make sure you have good extraction going
Hand drawing patterns on wood for carving
27. With one side done, mark up the other and repeat the same steps (18-26)
Carving wooden circles with chisel on timber block.
28. Work on the pommel next. Mark out a series of circles, with a larger one in the middle. Make a striking cut here as well but be careful when near the edge as a blow too hard could break the wood or cause it to splinter. Mark around all the circles
Hand carving wood with chisel tool
29. Shape these in much the same way as the circle in the middle of the guard. Using rolling cuts with a gouge the right shape, it’s tricky to keep these clean (especially in ash) and it can be worth just touching them up with sandpaper
Hand guiding wooden flower on bandsaw
30. With one side of the pommel cut, remove the waste with the bandsaw. You’re only going to remove a little triangle between each circle but it’s easier than doing it with a chisel
Hand chiselling wood for woodworking project.
31. With the waste removed, use a gouge to clean these cuts up and make them smooth. Once this is done transfer the lines to the other side and mark out all the circles again, then repeat the process to shape them
Wood rasp tool smoothing a wooden piece
32. Soften the edges of the handle. This will be covered with leather so it doesn’t need to be too smooth, but the sharp edges need to be removed
Applying wood glue to curved wooden pieces
33. Glue the guard to the sword. Make sure the glue is spread over all the mating surfaces
Carving wood with clamps on workbench
34. Clamp up the handle. The mouth pieces on these clamps aren’t too hard so won’t mark the workpiece, but make sure you protect it if necessary. Make sure all the edges are as tight as possible.
Wood carving detail with burning tool
34. Clamp up the handle. The mouth pieces on these clamps aren’t too hard so won’t mark the workpiece, but make sure you protect it if necessary. Make sure all the edges are as tight as possible
Cutting leather strip with craft knife on mat.
35. When the glue had cured, I sanded up all my glue lines, then with my pyrography pen again I burned dots all over the underside of the guard. Otherwise, I found the big white space under the guard too distracting
Wooden sculpture clamped for carving on green cutting mat.
36. Some years ago, I bought a few kilos of leather scraps, initially for making strops for my carving chisels, but it has come in handy for so many projects. I found some leather I liked and cut an 18mm strip using a straightedge and a Stanley knife. If there is one point of this project where you could hurt yourself, this is probably it. Make sure your hand holding the straightedge is above the point you are cutting. I can remember this lesson far too vividly from school, where a pupil pulled the knife down and it slipped of f the ruler and into their hand
Hand polishing wooden sword handle on workbench.
37. Use superglue to stick the leather to the handle. Start by wrapping it around the top and gluing it, then wrap it round at a slight angle, working your way down the handle until you get to the bottom. Glue it at points as you go along. I clamped up the ends of the leather to let the glue go of
Child playing with wooden sword outdoors.
38. Apply your finish of choice. I used tung oil rubbed in with a cotton rag, applying a few coats over a number of days

Further Reading

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