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How to Make a Sword
I have often been asked how to make a sword, or get into the film industry as a swordmaker or other specialist.
Please note that I am not in a position to take on apprentices, and may never be, so please do not ask. Apprenticing today is very difficult, but most especially in the older crafts. Most swordsmiths and armourers today are largely self-taught, through necessity, as there is no “industry” as such and no training system. If you can even find someone willing to take on an apprentice, you will need to convince them that you are in it for the long haul; they are running a business not just a course.
Anyone can make a sword; but to do it well and make a living at it, takes years of practise, dedication and enthusiasm for the art and process (not just the finished product), and the willingness to make many mistakes and learn lessons from them. There is both a craft aspect, in the creation of the sword, and an academic one, in learning about the forms of swords from different cultures, their use in combat, and cultural contexts. This is a huge field, worthy of a lifetime of study, and one website is too small a place to do more than touch on the subject. Most of what I have learned has been from others, far better qualified than myself in their fields of expertise, so the best thing is to learn from them. As well as metal trades people working today, books are the main source of information to learn the techniques and avoid some of the pitfalls, so what follows are a few starters.
As far as getting into the film industry – work hard, know your stuff, and be in the right place at the right time to get lucky.
Peter Lyon
http://www.swords.co.nz/
Sword and knife making:
David Boye, Step-by-Step Knifemaking, Rodale Press, 1977.
Jim Hrisoulas, The Complete Bladesmith, Paladin Press, 1987.
Jim Hrisoulas, The Master Bladesmith, Paladin Press, 1991.
Jim Hrisoulas, The Pattern-Welded Blade, Paladin Press, 1994.
Leon and Hiroko Kapp, and Yoshindo Yoshihara, The Craft of the Japanese Sword, Kodansha International, 1987.
Sid Latham, Knives and Knifemakers, MacMillan, 1973.
Sword and Military Histories:
Claude Blair, European Armour, Batsford, 1958.
Stephen Bull, An Historical Guide to Arms and Armour, Studio Editions, 1991.
Michael D. Coe et al, Swords and Hilt Weapons, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989.
Peter Connolly, Greece and Rome at War, Greenhill Books, 1998.
J. Cowgill et al, Knives and Scabbards: medieval finds from excavations in London, HMSO, 1987.
David Edge and John Miles Paddock, Arms & Armour of the Medieval Knight, Bison Books, 1988.
H. R. Ellis Davidson, The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England, The Boydell Press, 1962.
George C. Neumann, Swords & Blades of the American Revolution, Promontory Press, 1973.
Ewart Oakeshott, Records of the Medieval Sword, The Boydell Press, 1991.
Ewart Oakeshott, The Archaeology of Weapons, Lutterworth Press, 1960.
Ewart Oakeshott, The Sword in the Age of Chivalry, The Boydell Press, 1997.
Ian Peirce, Swords of the Viking Age, The Boydell Press, 2002.
Matthias Pfaffenbichler, Medieval Craftsmen: Armourers, British Museum Press, 1992.
Brian R. Price, Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction, Paladin Press, 2000.
Johannes Schobel, Princely Arms and Armour, Barrie & Jenkins, 1975.
Bruno Thomas et al, Arms and Armour, Thames and Hudson, 1964.
Gerald Weland, A Collector’s Guide to Swords, Daggers and Cutlasses, New Burlington Books, 1991.
John M. Yumoto, The Samurai Sword, Charles E. Tuttle, 1958.
This page is reproduced here by kind permission of Peter and Helen Lyon- Lyonesse Armoury, New Zealand.
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