Mainz sword transformation

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Hello,

I'm working in a Mainz sword.

The first thing i have do is to buy one of the thousands of bad swords that we can find at internet. I have choose that:



I think it's an old deepeeka model, but i'm not sure. I will use the blade, and the leather covered wood scabbard.

My intention is to make something like this:



So, the first think was to get off all the metalic pieces of the scabbard.

I will cut the "ricasso", so the blade lenght will be shorter. So, the first thing i have made is to calculate the lenght of the scabbard and cut the excess.

The second think is to made a metalic "skin" for the frontal part of the scabbard. As you can see in the picture, only one face of the scabbard was covered. Generally, those plates were copper alloys tined, with a silver appearence and very thin.

I have used a brass foil of 0,2 mm gauge. I have tined it carefully, to avoid the aparition of ridges. I have used a tin solder paste.

Then, i have put it over the scabbard and made some pressure to get the foil to take the form. It's easy, because the thin gauge and because the metal has been soften with the heat need for the tining.

TO BE CONTINUED, with pictures...

[Matthew Amt]

Definitely looking forward to what you can do with that! I am sure you will do a fabulous job as always.

What you started with is old AH3311, and I really hate it. Several people have bought the silly thing without asking me first, and I end up trying to improve it. The scabbard is the worst part, because the brass is heavy and very solidly brazed together--it took me 2 evenings to get the first one apart! You end up with a couple re-usable pieces and too much twisted scrap... Then peel off the crappy leather (of course), sand down the wood, etc., etc.

Well, better you than me, Cesar! Sounds like it's already better than anything I ended up with!

Vale,

Matthew

[Marcus Mummius]

I look forward to this as I'm planning to do exactly the same thing soon

Vale,
Jef

[Magnus]

This should be interesting. What'd you use to cut the steel blade?

[jvrjenivs]

Sounds like another great tutorial! Isn't such a pompeii blade to narrow to get a Mainz out of it. Anyway, I've the same blade somewhere here from my early days of re-enactment, so maybe I soon also will have a mainz pattern gladius But first I'm going to finish my cingulum. Anyway, thanks for another How-to!

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Some Mainz blades are of that width, as you can see in Miks book. When we think in a Mainz gladius, we often think in the width model (as the deepeeka last models). But probably the Mainz blades are the ones with more variation, contrasting with the repetitive pompei ones.

I have choosen that model because is very cheap (60 euro), and because its boring to me to made the scabard :oops: .

For cut the blade i will use an industrial band saw... Yes, i have a friend that let me use the saw he uses at work. Probably you can use a grinder, or a disc saw.

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

In that diagram, you can see how i will cut the ricasso. The blade is near 60 cm, and with the cuting, it will have a lenght of 44 cm.

The red lines are where i will cut. In that way, the blade will have more tang, and i'll can cut some of the "mouse tail" original tang.

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Hello,

As i have said, the first thing is to take off all the original metalic frame. From these, i only have used the v shaped final of the guttering, and two ribbed bands. All the rest was unusuable.

I have cut too the lenght of the wooden part of the scabbard, as the blad will be shorter than the original.

Then, i have made two tinned brass plates of 0,3 mm gauge, that will cover the frontal part of the sheath. Roman use two plates, one rectangular for the body and one triangular for the chape.

This is the rectangualr ones:

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Then we made the gutters, cuting two long rectangles of brass and giving them the shape with a channels block:



Next step is to made the opus interrasile pieces. One for the chape and one for the locket.

I have used a jewelers saw, to cut the metal giving it the intrincate design.

The chape:



Now, superposed to the tined plate:

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

The locket or mouth piece is made from a rectangular piece wide enough to let be soldered to itself at the back at the piece. The frontal face is decorated with opus interrasile and reinforced wit 2 or 3 ridges made embossed.

Then, an oval plate is soldered at the top with an opening for the blade.

This is the piece:



Another view:



Now, a preliminar assembly of what we have by the moment:

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

A detail of the mouth:


Of, course it need a lot of polishing!
And something similar,



Tomorrow, a little more...

[Marcus Mummius]

Nice work!

I plan to use a jeweller's saw too, though I think the Romans would probably have used chisels to do this kind of work. I wonder how it's possibe to do such fine work, some of the originals are so elaborate and detailed!

A question:

Did the top plate always wrap around the top of the scabbard or could it be held on by the guttering too (so inserted in the guttering like the rest of the plates)?

Vale,

[jvrjenivs]

I wonder how it's possibe to do such fine work, some of the originals are so elaborate and detailed!

Euhm, I also was thinking about that, and I think that one thing we've to take into account is that small (children) hands often can do much more detailed small piece work then bigger hands. Also, when you've learned the craft from your daddy during your childhood, I think you would be able to handle the chisels very accurately and precise.

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Marcus Mummius:

All the pieces i know are wraped around. Is the way to make strong all the pieces and avoid the "opening" of the guttering.

I think, too, the openwork was made with chisels. In adition to the reasons you have said, i think in how dificult were in roman times to make a jeweller's saw blade.

[PhilusEstilius]

I have to agree Cesar the idea of the wrap around does give more strength to the scabbard by holding the guttering, there are two very good examples of this with the Fulham and the sword of Tiberius. Infact the sword of Tiberius has all of it's decoration pieces going around the guttering from top to bottom of it's scabbard.