Just finished this piece, only needs to be sharpened.
I have always been interested in the Hunting swords or Cuttoes which were carried by many during the revolutionary war.
So I decided to attempt it. This is the result of a couple of weekends of work.
The blade is 1084 forged on coal. it is 18 1/2" x 3/16" x 1 1/4" with a 5 1/2" false edge. Overall length including the handle is 24" exactly. Draw filed by hand, sanded to 220 grit, normalized twice and quenched in preheated canola oil. I heat treated it in the oven for 2 hours.
it has an Elk antler handle with iron end cap with iron nut and silver end cap. I threaded the tang and the tapped the nut, the silver is soldered on.
The guard is one piece cut out of a 3/16" mild steel plate and then forged and and filed to finish with scallop lines cut in with files.
I cleaned all of the metal with acetone then applied cold blue and rubbed it back to the patina I wanted.
This is definitely the largest blade I have done and it was a lot of work but over all I am very pleased with the end result.
Todd
