Tag Archives: blacksmith

Making a 93-layer Damascus Steel Roman Gladius Sword Is Beautiful

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I’ve always rather fancied swords having grown up on kung fu and ninja flicks. This amazing short film shows master bladesmith Tony Swatton of Sword & Stone as he creates an epic sword that any roman soldier would have been glad to have. The sword is a reproduction of a Roman gladius sword. The build uses Damascus steel in a 93-layer technique and has a cool twisted grip.

forging_damascus_steel_sword_1zoom in

What makes director Phil Holland’s video of the build especially impressive is the image quality, as it was shot in 8K resolution using the new RED Weapon 8K camera. Naturally, you can’t hope to watch it in 8K, but it is still glorious in 1080p, and incredible in 4K if your system can handle it.

Making a sword looks like very hard and hot work indeed. I got sweaty just looking at the process. The video is well worth a watch.

[via Gizmodo]

Guy Forges Klingon Bat’leth, Earns Much Honor

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If you are a fan of the Awe Me channel, then you already know that for their series Man at Arms, master swordsmith and renowned propmaster, Tony Swatton, forges cool weapons and then takes them into the field to try them out. This week, Tony has created yet another epic weapon – Worf’s Klingon Bat’leth.

batleth weapon
He had gotten his hands on a cheap Chinese copy of a Klingon Bat’Leth, but he wasn’t happy with it, so he decided to make his own. And it isn’t as simple as cutting a piece of metal into shape and then swinging it at your enemies. This weapon was so sharp that Tony says it “almost cut his head off.” So he put on a chainmail cowl, a welding jacket and a leather apron to protect himself while working with it. Check out the build in the video clip below, and be sure to wait around until about 3:44 in to see it in action.

In the end, it is a thing of beauty and deadly sharp. It’s definitely not a toy. This thing will slice and dice you whether a Klingon is wielding it or not.

[via Geeks Are Sexy]