how to make a wooden sword

[Andrew Pitonyak]

My daughter (age 14) asked if we can make a wooden sword. I am a bit confused as to her precise need but I do know that she will be taken it to a school thing and she does work in the props group for plays.

Nobody is looking for authenticity and she also did not have a specific era of interest so they are not attempting to match.

She did point at a type of double edged long sword which is not curved. I suggest that she not attempt a style with a thin / long Cross-Guard, especially if it is made of wood, because I expect it will be what breaks first if dropped or even in transit. I do not think that I will even attempt a scabbard.



Any advice or links that might be of interest?

I have a piece of curly maple that should work well for this.

I will be intentional about not having a fine edge like I do when I make carving knives for soap out of wood; sometimes I teach kids to carve soap and I give them a knife made out of wood to carve the soap. This works well and they are sharp but fragile.

I told my daughter that for a first sword I would want to make a blade that was not curved for the first attempt.

I am guessing that I can use a belt sander; I own a ridgid oscillating belt sander that should work for this. Perhaps I can use a saw or router to remove some of the waste.

maybe I can wrap a part of the Hilt / Grip with rope of some sort, but they might not notice if I simply shape it to be smooth using rasps, files, and sandpaper.

[Jack Frederick]

With it going to school with a child (should she read this please ask her to not be offended by that comment) I would make a round point and hit the sides with a round over bit. I made one for my grandson and made the blade 18” long. He broke the oak and I made one out of hard maple which he also broke, so I am taking a bit of a sword holiday. For the hilt I used paracord wrap. It worked out well and neither he nor his friends were damaged by it. She may be very responsible with it but the 14 yr old boys who get their hands on it are a danger.

[Andrew More]

Obligatory Discworld commentary about swords.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

With it going to school with a child (should she read this please ask her to not be offended by that comment) I would make a round point and hit the sides with a round over bit. I made one for my grandson and made the blade 18” long. He broke the oak and I made one out of hard maple which he also broke, so I am taking a bit of a sword holiday. For the hilt I used paracord wrap. It worked out well and neither he nor his friends were damaged by it. She may be very responsible with it but the 14 yr old boys who get their hands on it are a danger.

For certain she would not be offended by the statement. Not only is dull safer, especially without a scabbard, but it will also hold up better. How large was your round-over? 1/4"? 1/2"?

Always appreciate advise.

[Walter Plummer]

Get a permission signed by the teacher, the principal and the superintendent of the school system stating she is allowed to bring a weapon to school. These are the days we live in.

[Jack Frederick]

I believe I made the blade 5/16-3/8. I rounded it with a 1/4” RO. Walter is onto something here.

[Jim Becker]

Make components including most carving and then assemble them...sword would more or less be tenon based. For a scabbard, a lamination that is then shaped wouldn't be hard at all.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Back when I was a sqirt - we woulf fly our kites on the playground & when they crashed enough times that we couldn't fix them with Scotch tape - we would use the wooden parts and make swords out of them & run around the playground sticking each other with them.

I can only imagine the reaction to that in today's world...

They'd probably call in a SWAT team.

Anyhow - for the OP's project, you're going to want something low weight also.

[Tom Bender]

This is a project for some light weight, straight grained fir. Cross guard in aluminum or hardwood. Grip wrapped in hockey tape.

[Walter Plummer]

For crazy realistic replica weapons check out the you tube channel Epic Workshop. Two brothers in Croatia. Beautiful work.

[John K Jordan]

My daughter (age 14) asked if we can make a wooden sword. ...

When my grandson (9) wanted to make a sword I got out my homemade hot-wire styrofoam cutter. He practiced, cut, filed, sanded, and painted. Would make a good prop and wouldn't do much damage in the wrong hands.

JKJ

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Get a permission signed by the teacher, the principal and the superintendent of the school system stating she is allowed to bring a weapon to school. These are the days we live in.

We homeschool and this is a co-op where they are allowed to bring knives, real swords, and similar to school, I don't need any waivers. When the principal of this particular co-op needs a knife she borrows one from my daughter. The other co-op we use I would need to check first, but that one is strictly things like advanced chemistry, no set building or similar.

I do know someone who is horrified that my 16 year had a knife at our house when we needed to open something. Would have been in trouble at that age of I did not hand one capable of cutting the ropes we used to secure the horses. I guess I was already helping with butchering much younger than my kids are...

When I was in school, one of my friends made a muzzleloading handgun and the teacher wanted to see it so he brought it to school and he showed it to the class. Nobody cared back then.

That said, if this were our local public school, I would be very Leary about sending in a wooden sword (or anything that could be perceived as dangerous). I think some kid got in trouble (not my school district) because there was a toy gun in the background during distance learning because of covid. Police were sent to his home. Do not want to mess around with that.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Lots of good information here, I had not even considered hockey tape. Also, using styrofoam I don't know if long term should be happy with it, but it might actually do the job especially if we get paint it and we would have a really good idea about size feel and so on and if they really need a prop we can probably make a couple of them.

I will look for the YouTube videos of the realistic swords. I'm always surprised at how good their props end up, kind of blows me away.

And come to think of it, I have a good stock of basswood.

[johnny means]

Andrew, thank you for unearthing a wonderful memory for me. I hadn't thought about a sword I made with my son years ago. I've got nothing to offer in the way of advice. I can, though, tell you that, one day, whatever you end up making will go well with two fingers of brandy and an ice cube.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Andrew, thank you for unearthing a wonderful memory for me. I hadn't thought about a sword I made with my son years ago. I've got nothing to offer in the way of advice. I can, though, tell you that, one day, whatever you end up making will go well with two fingers of brandy and an ice cube.

No I'm thinking maybe I need that two fingers of brandy right now