"Rhiannon" Celtic Leaf Blade

I was asked by the customer who ordered this piece to document the process of making it for him.  The customer wanted the blade to be leaf shaped and to incorporate an Owl, a Raven and a Hawk, representing the birds of Rhiannon.  In the initial desine I also incorporated her name in runes on the scabbard. Once we had agreed on the desine I started the forging process.

once the blade is forged I grind of the scale and grind and file it to its final shape.

here it is after grinding and filing

now it is time to fit a gripp and form the wax models for the fittings.

once i have the gripp fitted to the tang and sanded and filed to rough shape I draw what i want the carving to look like on in pencil and then in pen.

Once I have this done I clamp the gripp in a plastic vice held in a table vice, and cut the pen lines in with a palm chisel,  I then carve away the backround and begin rounding out the carving.

Once I have the carving done I fit the hilt all together to see how it works this is where I work out a presision fit on the wax.  After this I will sprew the wax and cast it into bronze using a centrifuge.

I desided to darken the maple on this piece to give it an ancient look.

I harden the blade by bringing it to 1500 degrees ferenheit in my long forge and then quenching in a light oil. after it is cool to the touch I put it in an electric kiln wich is heated to 450 degrees for an hour let it cool and then put it back in the electric kiln for another hour to temper any austenite that might have been converted into martensite in the first tempering.

now it is ready be mounted and have a scabbard made for it.