Swords
Combat Blunts: Buhurt, HEMA, SCA & Stage Steel
The LARP world fights mostly with foam and latex — no grinder required. But wrapped around it is a real steel-fighting economy: armored combat leagues…
ForgeBrain
Swords
The blade’s oldest and grandest form: the great historical types and how they worked, what they were made of, and how a modern maker takes a sword from bar stock to finished blade on a 2×72.
17 guides in this section · free to read
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Start where the work is
Every guide on this shelf, with the question closest to your bench first.
SwordsDisplay & Stage Blade Geometry: What Blunt Actually Means
“Blunt” is not one spec — it is three different builds, and mixing them up is how display pieces end up in stage fights they were never engineered for…
SwordsYour First Sword on a 2×72
Every knifemaker’s customers eventually ask, and every knifemaker eventually wonders: could I make a sword? Yes — the 2×72 that grinds your knives grinds…
SwordsThe Gladius & the Ancient Swords
Swords begin as the first weapon designed purely for killing people — every earlier arm descends from a tool. The ancient world worked out most of the…
SwordsGreatswords: Claymore, Zweihander & the Big Ones
The greatswords are where sword mythology runs wildest — the fifty-pound barbarian blade of the movies — and where reality is most impressive: five to…
SwordsJian & Dao: China’s Two Swords
China organized its swords into a duality the rest of the world never quite matched: the jian — straight, double-edged, the scholar-gentleman’s blade…
Everything else in Swords
- LARP, HEMA & Modern Sword Culture
- Rapier & Smallsword: The Civilian Blades
- Rebated Edges & Safe Tips: Grinding the Not-Sharp
- Sabers & Curved Swords: Why the Curve
- Spring Steel vs Mild Steel for Display & Stage Pieces
- Sword Anatomy: A Maker’s Field Guide
- Sword Steels for Modern Makers
- Swords in Pop Culture: LOTR, Anime & the Replica World
- The Katana: History, Construction & the Modern Maker
- The Medieval Longsword: Cut, Thrust & Typology
- Viking Swords & the Ulfberht Mystery
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I machine the parts, hand-assemble, track and test Torus grinders in Sterling, Illinois. Most orders ship in seven to ten business days from time of order.
Nova 2×72 Aluminum Belt Grinder
Current dual-axis platform with a fiber-laser-cut 6061 chassis and single-knob tracking.
Starts at$1,295
Nebula 2×72 Steel Belt Grinder
Current dual-axis platform with a steel chassis, more mass and less vibration.
Starts at$1,295
Torus 2×72 Classic Aluminum Belt Grinder
Prior-design aluminum chassis, 90-degree tilt and 1.5-inch tooling arms.
Starts at$995
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I answer my own email. Tell me what you are building and what the steel is doing, and I will tell you what I would try.