Construction of a Dagorhir Sword

by Magor

Remember, just following the instructions is not enough to guarantee a safe weapon. Each weapon should be tested through a series of impacts getting gradually harder. If the weapon could cause bruises or injury, it is unsafe and should not be used!

Materials:

Most can be found at a local hardware store.

  1. Blue foam camping pad 1/2 inch thick.

    Please note that this should be a good quality camping pad which is closed cell foam. It should be a bit spongy in nature. Do not use the _hard_ blue Styrofoam like ones which are sold in places like Walmart. You can get a good one at most camping stores.

  2. 3/4" internal diameter PVC pipe for the core.
  3. Cloth for cover: grey, black or white is preferred.
  4. Duct tape
  5. Sand paper
  6. Weldswood contact cement. Or other good quality contact cement.

Step 1:

Cut a 32 inch section of PVC pipe and roughen it up with the sand paperso that the glue will stick to it better.

Step 2:

Cut the blue foam into 6 strips: Camping pads are typically 24" x 60"and cutting the sort way across it saves foam.

Step 3:

Read the instructions on the contact cement. Be sure that you place glueon both surfaces to be glued and that you let it dry before sticking theparts together.

  1. place one 4" x 24" strip flat on your work surface and put glue on the face of it.
  2. put glue on 24" of your PVC pipe and place it down the center of the4" x 24" strip.

Step 4:

Glue a 2"x 24" strip down either side of the core. 1/2 inch of this willhang over the edge.

|                |     " |                | ||                |     " |                | ||                |     " |                | ||                |     " |                | ||                |     " |                | ||                |     " |                | ||                |     " |                | ||                ,-----. |                | ||________________\  PVC \|________________| | \     - 2"-     \\ Pipe \\                \|  \_______________\`-_-_-'_\________________\       \                                \|        \________________________________\        |             - 4" -             |

Step 5:

Glue the remaining 2" x 24" strips directly on top of the strips glued instep 4.

|                | |     |                | | ||                | |     |                | | ||                | |     |                | | ||                | |     |                | | ||                | |     |                | | ||                | |     |                | | ||________________| |     |________________| | | \               \ ,-----.\                \| |  \_______________\\  PVC \\________________\ |   \     - 2"-     \\ Pipe \\                \|    \_______________\`-_-_-'_\________________\         \                                \|          \________________________________\

Step 6:

Glue the final 4" x 24" strip on top of the "sandwich".

|  |                               |      | | ||  |                               |      | | ||  |                               |      | | ||  |                               |      | | ||  |                               |      | | ||  |       - 4" -                  |      | | ||  |_______________________________|      | | ||   \                               \     | | ||____\_______________________________\____| | | \               \ ,-----.\                \| |  \_______________\\  PVC \\________________\ |   \     - 2"-     \\ Pipe \\                \|    \_______________\`-_-_-'_\________________\         \                                \|          \________________________________\

Step 7:

Glue an approximately 3x4 piece of foam on the tip of the sword sothat it covers the end of the core. Please note this sword is_NOT_ thrusting legal in Dagorhir!!!! .

|  |                               |      | | ||  |                               |      | | ||  |                               |      | | ||  |                               |      | | ||  |_______________________________|      | | ||  |                               |\     | | ||  |_______________________________| \____| | ||   \                               \     |\| ||____\                               \____| \ | \                                         \ \|  \                                         \ |   \                                         \|    \____                                 ____\         \                                \|          \________________________________\

Step 8:

Securely tape the bottom few inches of the foam to the handle. Two or three layers will be necessary.

|  |                      ._       |      | | ||  |                     /  `._    |      | | ||  |                    /      `._ |      | | ||  |                   /          `|      | | ||  |                  /            .\     | | ||  |        _____----/             ./     | | ||  |-------         /              /-__   | | || /.               /              /.   --_| | ||/  .. .. ... .. ./. . ... .. . ./. .     .\/\|| .           ___/              /      .  .(  ||.       .----  /              /_        .  \ | \      /      /              /  `-._      . \)  \     |     /              /       \      . |   \     |   /              /_        \      .}    \_    \ |              /  -_       |      |      `-.   |             /     \      |   _,-'         `._ \           /       |     /  /            `.\         /        |   /_,-'               \       /         | /-'                \     / `-._     /                 \   /      `-./                  \ /        /                   ) -_  .  /                   |   --__|                   {-__  . }                   |   --__|                   (     ./|                   |     / |                   (    /" |  This drawing not                   |___/ " |   to scale, your                   |     " |  handle should be                   |     " |      longer.                   ,-----. |                   \  PVC \|                    \ Pipe \                     `-----'

Step 9:

Pad the pommel (butt end) by taping a tight fitting tube of foam aroundit and filling the hole with more foam.

                   |     " |                   |     " |                   |     " |                   |     " |                   |     " |                   |     " |                   |_,---._|                 ,-'       `-.                |  .     . .  |                |  .       .  |                |  .     . .  |                |  .       .  |                |   .....  .  |                |  .     `..  |                |   .      .  |                |    `.....'  |                |             |                |   _,---._   |                |,-'  Foam `-.|                /  ,-----.    \                |  \ Foam \___|                |   \      \  |                \    `-----'  /                 `-._     _,-'                     `---'

Step 10:

Sew a cloth cover for the sword by making a tube with one end closed.The cover should be tight fitting. Some people use a stretchy fabric.Tape the cover to the handle to hold it on.

              _______________________________________________             {\                                          `   |             { |                                          :  |             { |                                          :  |             { |            (inside out)                  :  |             { |                                          :  |             { |                                          :  |             {/..........................................'   |             {_______________________________________________|

Step 11:

After finishing your sword, stick it between your mattresses for a night,this helps the glue bond and will make your sword last longer.

Notes:

(by Brendon)

There should be no point on the blade at which the core can be felt. It should not leave bruises, break bones, break noses, or even hurt very much when swung full force. The best test is to give it to a friend and have him/her hit you with it as hard as he can. If it is unsafe, you will know. If it passes the test, it is ready to use.

The sword will need minor repairs every few months of use, and most need to be completely replaced after about two years. How long a weapon will last depends heavily upon how one fights and careful one is.

Dagorhir Battle Game Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 7162
Gaithersburg, MD, 20898
dagorhir@charm.net
Permission granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided author is credited and receives a copy.

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Created Dec 8 1994 by Aaron Rice (jar22@email.byu.edu)
a Timpview High School student
in partnership with the
David O. McKay School of Education
Brigham Young University