How the Swords are made

I get a lot of questions about how the swords I give to our young men are made.  A few months ago I decided to make a sword, start to finish, for my friend and comrade Jimmy Snuka.  I photographed all the steps for those of you who are interested and inquired about the process.

But before I do, I need to thank some people who helped me out ... whether they realized it or not.  As you look through the pictures you will understand better:

Thanks to my father, who spent endless hours teaching me how to work with wood as I grew up and more recently advised me when I had questions with current projects working on the wood-core scabbards.

Thanks to David Benson who set me on the right path with the leatherwork for the scabbards.

Thanks to Randy Allen of Professional Dental Arts who made for me the cast metal endcaps on the scabbards, in the tradition of "lost-wax" casting.

And last, but not least, thanks to my wife, Vikki, who not only financed every single sword I ever made, but allowed me the time necessary to build them with never questioning a moment spent away from her and the family while I did it.  None of this would have ever happened without her support.

And now, the swords:

The finished products and their proud owners.

The swords come pre-made from Asia.  Out of the box they were pretty cool to any young man.  And I was happy with them straight out of the box.  

Before and After

The original plan was to paint the hilt gold to be similar to the Sword of Laban.  (For the background story, click here.)  But longer I looked at them I thought of ways to improve them.  And so it began.

The following is step by step how I specifically made Jimmy's sword and in general the same way I made all the other swords.

First I disassembled the hilt from the blade, used a Dremel and hand file to remove the burrs from the blade and to remove the sharp edge for safety reasons.  Then hours and hours of buffing and polishing to remove the thousands of scratches on the matte-finished blade.  By the time I started on Jimmy's blade I had gotten a pretty good technique down and his only took ten hours to prep the blade.

Once the blade is prepared I usually move onto the hilt since the young men do not get a scabbard from me right away.  They have to earn the scabbard just as they did the sword.  However, for Jimmy, I immediately started his scabbard by taking three pieces of poplar wood, cutting out the shape of the blade in one of them and sandwiching it between the other two, gluing and clamping them together.  Once the glue dried, then I shaped the scabbard to the desired shape.

Now that the wood-core is ready to go, I prepared it for the leather work by first placing leather "risers" on the core to be underneath the outer leather covering to give the final scabbard some character.  It also provided a place to seat the medallion.

After the risers are cemented down with superglue, the veneering leather is placed with a single sheet, but cemented down with contact cement in many stages.  First the area the medallion goes on is done and allowed hours to dry so that I can pull the leather tight.  Then the immediate area around the medallion is done and allowed to dry for a number of hours.  After that, the entire front side is cemented down and dried.  The leather must be carefully worked around the risers so they stand out.  Then the sides, and finally the outer half of the back side.  The glueing phase takes a couple of days to finish up.

After the contact cement fully dries, hundreds of holes are placed along the length of the two remaining flaps so that they can be hand sewn.  This is done more for look than anything.  The flaps could be cemented down, but the stitching looks really cool.  It takes a lot more time to do it that way, but I think it is worth it.  It takes two or three hours to make all the holes and stitch it up the way I want.  

Once the leather is finalized, it needs an end cap called a "chape."  I simply do not have the equipment to forge or cast the metalwork, but I am lucky enough to know someone who does.  The chapes are first made out of wax and then cast with metal.  Each scabbard will get its own chape and each chape is handmade.  

With the scabbard nearly finished I gold leaf the hilts and the chape.  The gold leafing only takes five minutes with the gold in solution.  It must dry overnight and then sealed with five or six layers of sealer so that the gold hilt can be handled.  That takes another afternoon to finish, but definitely worth it.

The hilt is re-assembled with the polished blade, the chape and medallion are affixed with epoxy and then it is done.

The one on the left is my sword with the old Duty to God medallion that is no longer used.  I searched out and found 10 others that I will give to the boys who earn their scabbards.  The one on the right is Jimmy's sword and I will use similar medallions when the DtG medallions run out.

So, total hours spent on Jimmy's sword ... probably about 30, spread out over a couple of weeks.

All the boys in this picture have earned their swords.  Now they have to earn their scabbards.

When I started working with the young men in our ward I fully expected to be in the with the deacons for ten years.  Never once did I think I would get to work again with these same young men.  Words cannot express my joy in knowing that I get to work with them as priests: more mature, more seasoned in the priesthood, and within striking distance of the mission.  

It is my honor and privilege to be associated with such fine young men.  I am humbled to my core at the opportunity to "finish" what the Lord let me "start" with them.  I never aspired to have it work out this way, but I'm not going to shrink from the opportunity either.  I have a deep respect and admiration for each of these young men, but lack the ability to verbalize my emotions to them.  Hopefully action will speak for me.

And Jimmy ...  thanks for being there with me.

With that in mind, good night.