Sword Making Guide.

Making the Hilt.

There are three different ways to make the hilt. The choice of method will depend on the design of the sword to a certain degree but all three are possible.

Method 1 - The Foam Sandwich.

This is the method I use. It is exactly the same as the method used to make the blade. Three pieces of foam are cut out and a slot is cut in the centre one before they are glued together to form a sandwich. (If you are clever you can cut the centre piece 12 mm smaller than is actually needed and then cut it in half rather than cutting a strip out the middle.) Cut the foam so that the place where the hilt joins the blade is accurate but leave excess foam all round the other edges (Fig. 15).

Once the foam is glued in place mark out the design of the hilt (Fig. 16).

Carefully cut out the design of the hilt. You should now have a sword that looks like the one below (Fig. 17).

To make the hilt thicker than the blade you can use three thicknesses if 12 mm foam rather than one thickness of 12 mm and two thicknesses of 6 mm.

Method 2 - The Large Block.

With this method the entire hilt is made from a single piece of thick foam (25 mm). Take a block of foam that is large enough to cut the entire hilt from (The hilt is made completely separately from the rest of the sword)(Fig. 18).

Hark out the hilt as shown below (Fig. 19).

Once the hilt has been made it is cut in half as shown below (Fig. 20).

A channel is cut in each half to take the former where it has been cut. The 2 pieces are then glued together on either side of the former to make the hilt. You should now have a sword that looks like the one below (Fig. 21).

Method 3 - The Single Sheet.

This method is not suitable for making the design of hilt used on this sword but it quite useful for making the hilts on oriental swords which tend to have small hilts.

A single piece of foam (usually 12 mm) is cut out in the shape of the hilt. A hole is punched in the centre of this and it is slid over the end of the former to make the hilt.

This method can only be used if the former hasn't been weighted.

Return to Sword Making Guide Index.

Back to Cutting the Edge.

Forward to Making the Pommel.