The Ultimate Prop Weapon

This Halloween I was on a tighter budget, I tossed this costume together for about 20$. The focus of this instructable is the weapon. I did a few sketches and came up with what I think is the ultimate slasher movie type weapon! I made it a bit oversized for dramatic effect!

Step 1: Sketch and Cut

On 1/4" poplar, I roughed out my design, I used a scroll saw to cut two blade sides out of 1/8" MDF and scales/ handle out of 1/4" alder.

Step 2: Glue, Clamp and Sand

I used high strength wood glue to adhere the wood parts together, clamping them in place. After the piece cured I cut and sanded the profile smooth and marked a center line for the blade. I then sanded and filed the slope into the blade, rounded the handle and formed the rear spike. I added notches and wear marks in the blade to give it that heavily used and custom made look.

Step 3: Prep and Paint

I used some body filler to touch up some gaps in the blade area, I then taped off the handle area, primed and painted the blade areas. I used a combination of crumpled news paper and sponge brush to achieve the random rust pattern on the blade. I then mixed different colors of red and layered them on the different areas of the weapon. I then stained the handle, added the brass pins and wrapped the handle with aged leather. I fixed the leather in place with high heat hot glue.

Step 4: Final Thoughts

I'm really happy with the way this turned out, super creepy and really inexpensive. I have entered this project in to a few contests, if you enjoy my work please vote! thank you for looking!