This is a Roman gladius sword that I made back in 2008. It is one of my best works to date due to its toughness, practicality, and successful design.
I used a thick metal slab for the sword's body and three different kinds of wood for the handle. I decided to use different kinds of wood because different parts of a handle undergo different levels of stress and some of them require more toughness to perform well, while others need to be light as no not encumber the user. The hilt (and the user hand) is protected from incoming blows by a fixed metal guard made from the same metal as the blade. All the wooden parts were tightly fixed to the blade using screws, most of which were later concealed with plaster and painted over.
I am not completely sure about the alloy that I used for this one; since I got it in a scrapyard and I lack the knowledge to recognize different metals by sight only. I suspect however that contains great amounts of iron because of its heavy weight. In this sense it differs from a real Roman gladius. Roman swords used to be heavy I have read, but I can assure you their weight doesn't come close to mine. It is so tough and heavy that I cannot think of anything that if struck, would make me concerned about the sword's ability to keep its shape and integrity.
The sword's body goes all the way down the hilt until the pommel. And it even takes the shape of the guard and hilt for maximum stability. It is sharp, but not too sharp, only sharp enough. This is a weapon for hacking and chopping rather than cutting. It feels to the user very much like a sword-shaped axe.
I used a thick metal slab for the sword's body and three different kinds of wood for the handle. I decided to use different kinds of wood because different parts of a handle undergo different levels of stress and some of them require more toughness to perform well, while others need to be light as no not encumber the user. The hilt (and the user hand) is protected from incoming blows by a fixed metal guard made from the same metal as the blade. All the wooden parts were tightly fixed to the blade using screws, most of which were later concealed with plaster and painted over.
I am not completely sure about the alloy that I used for this one; since I got it in a scrapyard and I lack the knowledge to recognize different metals by sight only. I suspect however that contains great amounts of iron because of its heavy weight. In this sense it differs from a real Roman gladius. Roman swords used to be heavy I have read, but I can assure you their weight doesn't come close to mine. It is so tough and heavy that I cannot think of anything that if struck, would make me concerned about the sword's ability to keep its shape and integrity.
The sword's body goes all the way down the hilt until the pommel. And it even takes the shape of the guard and hilt for maximum stability. It is sharp, but not too sharp, only sharp enough. This is a weapon for hacking and chopping rather than cutting. It feels to the user very much like a sword-shaped axe.