Wooden Prop Sword

Intro: Wooden Prop Sword

Irregardless of the type of sword that you build, it may be part of your costume and needs to go where you go. If this is so then you will need a safe alternative.
This sword is made from pine slats , it is not sharp but still looks real from a distance.

You will need a Drum/Belt sander. (quick shaping, hand shaping will take a relatively long time.)
Pine Slats. (local HD sells for $12 for 25)
Spray Paint, Primer, silver, gold
Electrical tape, I used red

The total build not counting the drying time was less than an hour.

STEP 1: Shape the Wood

The Slat chosen was from HD. It is 1.5 inches wide, .25 inches thick and 48 inches long.

shape the slat on a belt sander. This is the quickest way.

STEP 2: Make the Hilt

The hilt is from the same type of slats as the blade.

Cut and glue several pieces together, Clamp the pieces for the best results.

The hilt is three sections of slat material thick with a space in the middle for the blade slat to go through.

Normally I would use a wood glue but time was short.

The hilt is then roughly shaped on the sander.

STEP 3: Make the Pommel

The hand grip and pommel are also a laminated slat. I glued and clamped 3 pieces together then shaped on the sander.

STEP 4: Prime and Paint

Due to imperfections in the wood it is a good idea to fill the holes with a wood filler. Again time was short and I had some drywall filler which worked.

Begin with a rough sand then progress down to a fine grit sanding paper. the smoother the wood the better the finish

I chose to primer the wood with a white primer to show imperfections. These were filled then sanded.

I primed the blade again with a gray primer then used a top coat of metallic silver.Hang to dry.

The bare hilt was sanded smooth then primed and a top coat of metallic gold was applied (not shown).

The pommel was also painted gold.

STEP 5: Assemble

The hilt is slid over the blade to the desired position then the handle is slid over the tang (unfinished lower part) of the blade.

The handle was attached using red electrical tape. I final wrapping of black is needed to give the red diamond pattern of grip colour which is not shown here,

Comments

[pheenix42]

None shall pass!

[Bluejay196]

my god I saw this last September and started building it.... cut to mid June and I still don't have it done :p... but this is such a cool guide and I'm nearly done, except I'm using leather strip for the handle (no clue how it's gonna turn out lol)

[bhscolleen]

Thank you! I need weapons for my Robin Hood costume and I'm not a weapons kind of person so this is perfect!

[deus ex]

cool I never though of integrating the pommel and grip, adds a bit of sexiness to the profile

[regularkid]

make it out of paper

[regularkid]

make it out of paper

[Ecbcat20]

What if we don't have power tools. Any suggestions?

[Random_Canadian]

Sorry for the delay...

There is a large variety of hand tools that will allow you accomplish a convincing build. Roughing can be done with hand saws and carving knives. Shaping can be done with hand planes, chisels and rasps with sanding blocks as a finish step. I hope that this helps.

[eternal-song]

If i wanted to add a fuller in the blade, how would i go about carving that?

[rommelmt]

If you have a router, you can use a v-groove bit to route the fuller into the blade blank. You would probably do this while the blank is still rectangular so you could let the router guide ride on one side of the blank.

[boomshakalacka12]

If you want to make your blade look more metallic you can cover it in metallic plumbers tape. Pros about is are that is fairly cheap and you can sand, grind, or brush the tape just like ordinary metal.

[The Rambler]

Somehow I'm only just finding this. That's a great idea for the tang. I might have to impement that.

[schlypdog]

I sure hope you do make a copy of the Zabuza sword I would love to see what you come up with. To me he is the coolest character in all of Anime. Anyway thanks for this design I am using these plans to put the finishing touches on my William Wallace Costume. One question, did you sharpen the the blade?

[timmycutts]

That sword looks so cool. It's just a shame you can't use it for anything besides a costume prop... I personally find pine to be a nuisance for making swords. Sure it's easier to work with, but it lacks the durability to be worth the effort of making the sword in the first place (what's the point of making a sword that you can't use). I made mine from a piece of meranti, took longer, since it's hardwood, but it's been used quite a bit and hasn't splintered or broken yet (and probably won't).

[Silver Night X99]

Amazingly done, and a nice technique that I intend to copy for my own blades. Any suggestions on how one might make a sheath, or as to how a thinner blade would work?

[Random_Canadian]

I have not tried to make a sheath but a simple belt loop worked for me . A thinner blade tends to be brittle in single ply. I was going to remake in 1/4 inch plywood for strength and a thiner blade

[Silver Night X99]

Hrm. Intriguing. Though, I'll likely stick to this design and just adapt my plans a bit. Is the blade stable enough that one could theoretically Dremel in a few runes?

[curvy77]

very nice. got any more designs?

[Random_Canadian]

I have been playing around with the construction of Zabuza's sword. If I get it right I will post it later.

[curvy77]

carve out a small section in the middle of the pommel and glue or soder in a stone. ( any kind of smooth rounded stone should work) make it look even better.