still remembering when he first went over to the states and will doing more and more around the shop till he was easily carrying whole videos on his back..... the good times....
3:48 an easy way to do it is to take some hard clay and use it to take a shape, pull it out, then you can use that to copy the pathway. You can get really intricate patterns fit that way. You can even do the really complicated kind that cannot be fit unless the wood is cut and wedged upon entry in the same manner. Like if you'd have a cross pattern or a club or diamonds (card shapes).
Whatever project you do next, you should do a "1 day" or "1 week" version and then do a full project version. It'd be good to see what you can do under pressure versus what you can do when you're just let loose.
such a hype moment to finally see it finished!!! after all the time you spent in the earlier videos of it, it's so cool to see it fully put together and in beautiful fashion.
Great job as always, watched you for several years now and always enjoy your process and results! Quick safety point...pour your water first, then add your legally unmentioned etchants or oxidizers.
@@cosmicboogerspoon8507 to help prevent accidental splashing of concentrated acid when you pour the water on top of it. If you pour the acid into the water it starts to delute immediately. So anything that splashes out wont be quite as dangerous (still wear ppe of course).
@@cosmicboogerspoon8507 I should have clarified. When adding water to acid you run the risk of flash oxidation, explosive steam release, high fuming and other issues depending on the chemical and concentration used. I grew up in a knife shop around ferric chloride, muriatic acid, sulfuric acid and more. Also vocationally trained in some chemical fields including pool chemistry. Seen what happens first hand when it goes wrong. Quick example with pool stuff is the muriatic acid commonly used to balance water pH in 10% concentration. It is further diluted in the commercial scale chem feed systems I used to service. Had one of my staff helping with pool chems once and she forgot to fill tank with water first. She poured a full gallon of muriatic into the tank and then turned on the hose. The fumes knocked her out for at least 10 min before someone found her and it took her a week to catch her breath normally again. Alec is normally very good about safety and respirators. Took me by surprise to see him haphazardly show poor safety practices with something like that FeCl3.
Yes! Its been a while but im glad you finally finished this. Thank you Alec for powering through and bringing the world this wonderful piece of art. Looking forward to the next project.
That turned out extremely well, especially considering the trials and tribulations. You should be very happy with the results and proud of your efforts.
Glad to see the Shamshir Scimitar finally finished! Quite the journey getting it done! Amazing work as always and I hope your New Year is filled with less stress inducing projects!
How about making a kukri with a 14" blade & a sheath for it. I would also like to see you make a rapier & a left handed dagger to go with it. Everything made out of a beautifully crafted damascus steel.
I’ve been a lover of your videos for a pretty long time and just wanted to tell you that your a great dude and you made me love blacksmithing. You have been a very good teacher and a great mentor.Thanks
I'm sooooo made up that you strove on Alec. Giving up is so easy, I've done it many times, but striving to achieve a final event. That's a beautiful thing. Thanks for showing that "it" can be done... Happy New year
I absolutely love watching you at the lathe and mill all your videos on those pieces of machinery is awe inspiring knowing that a person can succeed and self teach with little help from others really shows the true life of working with your hands again way to go Alec 👍👍
would love to see you make a swiss sabre at some point, its quite a unique piece in my opinion as its essentially a two handed sabre. esspecially the one from the wallace collection is absolutely stunning
Hey Alec, ya know what I really enjoy about your channel is, beyond the fact the you really are a capable craftsman, your an honest and humble craftsman that’s not afraid to record and show to the world all of your mistakes. It makes me feel better about my own work and many mistakes that I make along my path to being a better craftsman.
Great piece as always! Love your videos! Would you be able to do a video on how you would recommend starting out with blacksmithing? (What equipment you might need, easy pieces to begin with, materials you'll need, etc.)
Have been an avid viewer for years. Still can't wrap my head around the sheer beauty of alex's work. The B-roll was pure art. Would love to see a series of RU-vid shorts showing the "B-rolls" for all the big projects
I'd love to see a really over the top damascas federschwert (a blunt long sword used in fencing)! There are some lovely ones out there, but nothing quite as nice as the style you add to swords!
Alec, I have been watching for a while now. I just wanted to state that this was probably one of the biggest projects you have tackled and I can see for a while you have been trying to finish it. I deep down know you could have done so much more with the fitment of the handle and pomelle. Everything else, the blade and the guard are phenomenal without a doubt. I was wondering if it would possible to heat the pomelle and handle and then try to press fit it onto the handle to do the trick with a seamless fit? Keep up the amazing work!
... You might be onto something there. Elizabethan ironwork like at Kensington? Square and hexagonal rods A shiny leaf on every corner. (Gold optional)
Making sheaths for his swords/wepons would be extremely difficoult for him. 1. He does not have the time 2. He does not have the materials 3. He does not have the machines 4. He would need to learn a whole new srt of skill wich is expensive and time consuming. It would be better and more cost efficient if he had someone make it for him in my oppinion. But truth to be told.... It would be trully and utterly amazing if he did make them.
@@jurekovacic1739 I’m sure he can make the time-just look what he did for the jeweling process. All the other things can be aquired, and absolutely should be, as a bladesmith should ensure his works have all the excess stuff to guarantee their safety and longevity.
Nice! Glad to see you persevered: looks awesome! I'd love to see you do some high end old-school woodworking hand tools. Carving knives, planes, chisels, saws, drills etc... But leveraging the power of modern tool steel, with a boatload of that Steele styling. Maybe even another Collab with your Dad for consultation?
If you'd like another Middle Eastern weapon to make, might I suggest the Turkish yatagan. These were historically highly decorated pieces that were often inlayed with gold, silver, and an assortment of precious stones. The handles were also often made from exotic materials such as horn or ivory. Some even had quotes from the Quran in Arabic calligraphy etched or engraved on the blade. I'd love to see you take a swing at this beauty of a blade, especially since you in particular can also utilize your skills as a jeweler on top of your blacksmithing skills.
Have you considered forging a Katar, Chakram, Trishula, or Vajra. They are some of the most unique melee weapons in history, and they all originate from India.
Here's one out of left field for you Alec. Build a pattern welded, black powder rifle. The whole thing, from the ground up. Do it for Captain Lieutenant Sharpe, Alec!
@@BTMadness i dont know, my knowledge about gun laws in uk is not very deep, but given the way they treat knives, i would guess that even thinking of making a gun is illegal.
Whatever you make next I really hope to see more engraving work in the future. It was one of my favorite parts of the older videos and I would love to see you get back to the level you were and hopefully even better
Man this came out incredible. I know your excited that its finally DONE. It's definitely one of a kind. I almost forgot you forged Damascus for the blade, it's been so long lol. I cant wait to see what's next. Keep testing yourself, that's how you get even better. Happy New Year to you, the Crew, and your family. Stay safe buddy.
This project come into its own in such a big way! The blade is a thing of ART, the Pummel and Guard are perfectly balanced with the gold inlay and the shadowed background. The handle colour is exceptional. Great work man!
Great job! Glad to see you make it through. It looks amazing! For the pommel, I don't know if it might be helpful or not, but would it be helpful to cast the interior with wax or something similar? That would allow you to really get a picture of the final form for the wood
Amazing piece! Thanks so much for finishing the project. I would be interested to see you make a weapon of your own design and style, but serves a battle ready purpose. Maybe challenge a few other RU-vidr black smiths to build weapons to fit a particular set of challenges
Very happy to see you finished it. I was hoping you would. I always got the “I’m not quitting till I figure it out!” vibe from you. It really paid off in the end. A good lesson for us all to keep up the hard work even when it sucks. Very nice Alec. We’ll done.
You absolutely need to show the blurry lit forge in the background with chains and tool hanging in the background when you show the final product. These products deserve an epic show off! Great work!
Well... HERE'S TO YOU ALEC.... I revise my comment on one of your previous videos (something about how no projects you tackle beats you - I replied "Except the Shamshir" lol)... With all the tiny intricacies, details, and true 'time served skill and 'craft' of only age old Shamshir Scimitar makers could gleam', for your first, It looks stunning, you've done a beautiful job fella... 👏👏👏👍 😎🇬🇧
I'm doing my current Illustration thesis project on Historical swords with legends behind them, and one of my favorites is the Seven-Branched sword. It would be super interesting to see you try and re-create a sword similar to it!
i just wanna tell you ive been watching your videos for years and it is absolutely insane to see how far you have come, youre one of the best smiths on youtube for sure
Another awesome build!! Can I ask what you were using to buff the wood on the handle? I’ve tried every mop & compound I can think of and it always makes nasty black marks. I am on about stabilised wood, not just ordinary wood. Any tips of buffing normal wood would also be good! Thanks
Alec i love watching your videos and your are a truly passionate craftsman and it shows in your work. I would absolutely LOVE to see you make a Flamberge! i think you could have a ton of tun with it and would be super fun to see how its done.
I was wondering just yesterday what had happened to this project! Looking forward to watch this later today and how you solved all the problems you had!
A lot of content for such a short video. It'd be great to see maybe some Behind The Scenes longer episodes! Miss seeing all the extra hard work that goes into these projects in length. As always though, amazing work!
I was rewatching some of your older builds, as I really do miss your multi part blade builds and was watching your falchion build. I am a huge fan of single blade weapons I think you need to do the falchion's bigger scarier big brother, the Grosse Messer. (Any wrong spellings on that I turn you over to autocorrect) Please please please do another hamon line blade with the Grosse Messer! Please. It's historic. Is beautiful. I think it would be a perfect build.
Hey Alec! Dope sword! Been following and watching your work for about three years now!! I can’t remember if you’ve done one, but would love to see a rapier and Toledo blade! Cheers
Hopefully you had a merry Christmas. Here's to a great new year's ahead of you. Can't wait to see what the future holds for u. Can't wait to see more videos soon. Glad you came back to this build. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge on. Keep making. God bless.
You should make some Polearms like a Partisan or a Fauchard! Lots of different styles, tons of ornamentation, loads of intricate details, I bet you'd really get a kick out of it!
I'd suggest a sidesword, if you haven't made one already. much more versatile than a rapier, meatier, but still with many opportunities for intricacies (especially with the wide variety of guard options). I'd even say a blackened pure steel blade (maybe a harder piece welded onto a softer, more springy body so you can have that difference there?) but with a pattern welded guard and pattern welded ornaments for a scabbard.
