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 Need A 1:6 Scale Blade ? Do It Yourself !
Your dilemna , you have a really nice custom figure in the works , and that figure needs a knife , or a sword , or some type of edged weapon , and you just can't find ANYTHING that fits the vision you had in your mind's eye . The solution is actually a simple one . . . make it yourself . Then , you discover a NEW dilemna . . . you've NEVER done anything like this before and are just not sure how to start such a project , or even what to use . Hopefully this tutorial will give you the information and answers you seek . Swords, knives , daggers , spears , axes and all the other myriad edged weapons are actually quite simple to create and are limited only by your imagination . Take swords and knives for example ; they consist of three parts , 1. The Blade , 2 . The Hilt , and 3 . The Handguard . Your choice of design and material for each of these parts will have a great effect on the look and dynamics of your blade , and with clever and resourceful use of materials you can achieve spectacular results with a minimum of effort . For the main topic of this tutorial , I will be addressing the use of metal to construct a miniature scale blade , chiefly due to the realistic look and durability offered by utilizing its use . I must however , issue a word of caution ! When creating miniature swords and knives from metal , you are in actuality creating a dangerous weapon that can be sharp and can inflict wounds - whether in the construction or in final form , so be sure to use the proper tools , the proper safety wear and exercise caution when working !! Metal , however , is not the only material you can use , and certain types of weapons ; for example a Jedi Knight's light sabre might actually be more effectively achieved by using plastic , the key here is to not limit yourself to any particular medium in the initial concept and design , once you know what you are after , then you can begin to make the decisions on what to use to best achieve that design . Let's begin , shall we ?   To start , let's look at two very simply constructed fighting knives , the Bowie I created for Bad Amy and the Arkansas Toothpick created for Copperhead Penny . Both are minimally constructed , and both use a variety of materials that are easy to come by and easy to work with . While neither possess sharp edges , both have very sharp points that can puncture flesh , so " Think Safety " !  A Bowie For Bad Amy
As an introduction to scale sword making , let's first look at the amazingly simple bowie knife executed for Bad Amy . This is really the craft at it's simplest and anyone could do it . The knife started out as a scalpel , originally one of my father's from his days as a science teacher . I eventually inherited it when I began pursuing art seriously , using it as a sculpting tool . After 40 years of service , it was beginning to show signs of wear and was retired from service only to be resurrected when I decided to give Bad Amy a big honkin' knife . In its original form , the scalpel measured about 6 inches in length , with a concave and contoured finger grip just behind the blade , and this segment of it was perfect for my needs . I used a dremel to grind down the surface of the blade to smooth it out and remove the bits and pieces of a variety of sculpting resins that had accumulated over the years . I then used a fine grade sanding paper to polish off the surface . A carbide cylindrical grinding bit was used to make the curved top at the point of the blade and Yes, Virginia , I wore safety goggles to protect my eyes from metal debris and sparks that flew off the steel blade during the grinding process . Metal cutters were used to separate the " knife " from the rest of the scalpel's handle , and a dremel and grinding bit was used to round and shape the butt of the knife . The handguard of the bowie was cut from sheet brass , I should have used a heavier guage brass , but this was what I had on hand at the time . Needle nose pliers were used to bend the finger guard and then the edges of the brass were sanded to take off any burrs and to dull the edges . I used an engraving bit to cut the center blade slot thru the brass and then merely slipped the handguard over the blade and seated it against the body of the handle . It's a tight fit and did not require any gluing . To make the hand grip on the hilt of the bowie , I used the plastic cover from a coaxial cable . The cable cover was too narrow to just slip over the hilt , so I inserted my needle nose pliers into the plastic sleeve and heated it with a hair dryer until it became pliable enough to stretch out by opening the pliers . It was then slipped over the hilt . Again , the fit was tight enough not to require glue . This knife is the simplest of designs , the blade and handle being one solid piece . It works just because of the hands on Bad Amy , which required a wide hilt in order to fit securely in her hands . A Toothpick for Penny  A slightly more complex fighting knife design was called for when I chose to arm Copperhead Penny with an Arkansas Toothpick . The pick consists of four pieces : the blade , hand guard , hilt and butt cap . The blade is aluminum , handguard and butt cap are brass , and the hilt is basswood . The design , again , is straightforward and simple , and is based off reference examples found on the internet . This knife is a partial tang construction , in that the blade is fitted into the wooden hilt by way of a pin that's just a bit over 1/4 of an inch long , an extension of the main body of the blade . To create the blade for this knife , the basic shape was cut from a heavy guage sheet of aluminum . The triangular shape was smoothed out with the dremel moto tool . A note , concerning the diamond shaped body of the toothpick , to achieve this I merely used the dremel to grind down the aluminum with the bit of the dremel angled down from the center . The blade was then sanded and smoothed and then polished . The hand guard was created in the same manner as previously executed for Bad Amy's bowie , the only difference being that the center slot is a round hole that slips up and over the tang rather than sliding down and over the blade . Again , I probably should have used a heavier guage brass for the hand guard but this was what I had on hand . Basswood was used to make the hilt/handle of the toothpick and was shaped by sanding with the dremel tool . The dremel was also used to drill into the top end of the handle but due to the thinness of the butt end I used a pin vise hand drill to cut the hole for the butt cap. A resin based craft glue was used to cement the blade and butt cap to the handle To make the brass butt cap , I cut the head off of a brass screw , as well as the screw tip and used the dremel to grind down the brass to form the pin that would serve to anchor the butt cap once it was inserted into the hole drilled into the butt of the handle .  Once you are comfortable with the basics of custom 1:6 scale edged weapons , it's not much of a leap to go for a bit more intricacy with a more elaborate design , case in point , Estra La's hand and a half or bastard sword . The design is really just as simple as the knives but we add a bit more details that make it look much more impressive .  When I began work on Estra's bastard sword I started out quite simply , cutting the blade from heavy guage sheet aluminum in the shape illustrated . The tang of the blade would serve as the hilt . At this point I really was not sure how I wanted to handle the cross guard , the only clear idea I had in mind was that I wanted it to be large . The problem in creating a massive cross guard was that I would not be able to do so in the same fashion as I had created the cross guards for my fighting knives , and this was due to the crossguard for the hand and a half being wider than it was thicker . My solution , and really the keypoint feature on pulling this entire custom sword together was using a common household washer .  The washer was serendipity at its most pristine , and I can not explain how I came up with the idea , it simply sprang into mind . Struck by the muse I reckon . By carefully bending the washer , and folding it in half like a tiny metal taco shell , using hammer and pliers I had solved several design issues for the creation of this blade . The hole in the center of the washer allowed me to slip it up and over the tang to serve as a seat for the blade , the semi circular sides gave me ample room to decorate , and the taco shell shape meant I had a place to slip in the cross guards at the sides of the blade .The washer turned out to be the key feature of this sword , and just by altering the shape or material , utilizing the taco shell shape as your base , a whole variety of sword cross guards can be achieved . The cross guard itself was easy to make and consists of two pieces , the left and right flanges . To make them I used aluminum armature wire that I hammered flat and then bent with pliers to give it that gentle arc . I cut them to length and then shaped them with grinding bits with the dremel tool . Once I checked the fit and length of them on the sword , I used crafter's resin based glue to cement them in place which was also usd to cement the washer into place over the blade .  The cross guard , the blade seat and the hilt are really important features of your custom sword , since these areas are where you can add a great deal of detail , quite simply , and make your weapon distinctive . The blade also is a place where you have a lot of options for detailing but since I have not yet done any blade engraving or etching , we'll have to cover that at a later date . When you look at the hilt of Estra La's Hand and a Half sword you probably would not think it started out as simply a long rectangular shaped extension of the blade . Nor do you want to look at it and see it as a " hard and fast " rule concerning the construction of a sword hilt . How you choose to detail it and the materials to use are quite diverse and can range from beads and spacers to wire and ribbon . Most of these considerations can only be addressed by you as an individual customizer , this is illustrated merely to inspire and provide a glimpse into the creative process that was going on in my twisted little mind during the creation of this sword . Again , serendipity and chance often plays as much a part of this process as careful thought and design . A Note about the butt cap/needle chuck : this was chance , not design . As I mentioned previously , my father used to teach science , and he had metal dissecting pins that I eventually inherited and used in my sculpting work . These dissecting needles were very much like X-acto blades in that they had a locking chuck that could be screwed on to replace and/or tighten the needles . As things go , size-wise the chuck was perfect as a butt cap and being a screw top it was a simple matter to twist it onto the soft aluminum . As a chuck it had a hole at the tip to allow the replacement of needles and I just cut the end off of a jewelry bar clasp and glued that into the end of the chuck . The decorative brad used on the cross guard /blade seat is one of those common decorative brads found in the scrap booking aisle of your local craft store and cut in half and glued onto the washer .  I cut a thin strip of leather to wrap the tang of the sword and to add additional details and to cover exposed / raw edges I used individual O-rings/jewelry chain links and leftover gem bangles from Estra's chain mail bikini after I popped out the gemstones . Beads or spacers could have just as easily been used , just an example of the various possibilities and options available to you .  The Blade This is actually the first thing finished on this particular project , but here I'm covering it last , mainly because that's just the way it worked out . The blade is a heavy guage aluminum , cut to shape and then filed and ground to shape with hand files , the dremel and sand paper . The beveled cutting edge of the sword was done with the dremel tool and the center blood groove was carved out by hand using jewelry riffling files . Once the major carving and grinding was completed , the blade was sanded smooth and then polished . The nicks and gouges in the blade were accidents during production , where a file slipped or the dremel kicked back , not what I would call a big problem since they actually give a used and well worn look to the blade .  Next in our little sword making tutorial is a step up from the basics where we start to do a bit more hammering and bending and really expand the envelope concerning custom 1:6 scale sword making techniques . This can be very helpful if you need a cutlass for your pirate or a rapier for your musketeer , or merely need to add a basket hilt to your ever expanding line of custom blades . The sword used for this demonstration is the sword I created for my planned John Carter of Mars custom action figure .  George Lucas really hit on something when he created the trademark weapon of the Jedi Knight , the iconic Lightsaber ! As individual as the Jedi who builds it during training , this nifty Star Wars weapon is always a joy to create and design and the only limits are your imagination . Coming in a future installment of 1:6th Bladework I'll cover the various methods for creating your own OOAK Lightsaber for your Jedi Master or Dark Lord of the Sith , Stay tuned ! | Let's Paint ! | PaintinKini2 | Steve Zodiac Shockini Custom | Sword Making | Swordmaking1 | Swordmaking2 | WarhorsePreview | Simple Masks | EasyVelcro_fro | Cool Girl Wrist Conversion | samurai_saddle | DX Disaster | Fix It! 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