Forging the "Serpent in The Blade" Viking Sword
Welcome to the initiation of a new major project - the crafting of a Viking sword! In this inaugural episode, I take you through the intricate process of forging the blade. The design showcases a damascus "serpent" winding along a central core forged from 1040 steel, complemented by cutting edges crafted from twist damascus. Despite encountering a few more challenges than anticipated, the outcome has left me thoroughly thrilled.
Stay tuned for the next episode where we'll bring this Viking sword to its final, polished glory!
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0:00 Project Introduction
1:44 The Serpent
4:17 The Core
6:21 Core and Serpent Assembly
9:54 The Cutting Edge
13:40 Final Forge Weld
15:20 Tang
16:21 Fixing the Tip
18:23 Heat Treating
19:16 Result
For years now I’d watched this channel and Alec Steele for bladesmithing content. Alec Steele made the economic decision to turn away from that kind of content after making such beautiful knives, swords, axes and others. At least I still have this. Watching someone grow into their skills is just fascinating to me.
There are still plenty of others making this content as well: Will Stelter is still at it, Green Beetle, Tyrell Knifeworks, JP Bladeworks, Walter Sorrels, Kyle Royer etc. if you want more content like this.
@@cleanixx5343 i subscribe to those channels. I stick by what I said. The two I enjoyed watching the most. It wasn’t meant as anything disrespectful of those actual ABS certified Masters and others.
@@sambaggins2798 Oh I get that. I still watch Alec routinely for his shenanigans and personality, I didn’t want to insinuate you were disrespectful, just thought you might not be aware of the other creators and wanted more content in that direction
@@cleanixx5343 I appreciate that. Thank you.
I get it completely. I watch a lot of channels, but Alec, Will, Blackbeard, and Random Hands are the best for out of the box, find designs. Jimmy Diresta does some cool stuff when he’s making blades, but it’s not his primary focus.
This is going to be epic! I've only done one like this one time and I did the interrupted twisted core so it looked like a serpent. Your method should produce a much more exaggerated design. Can't wait!
Thank you!! I hope it does come out epic 😁
Thanks for sharing your failures and mistakes. It's very valuable
Glad you think so!
*Amazing project! Thank you for sharing this with us! 💪👍*
I have watched A LOT of blacksmithing, but I've never seen this before! Absolutely fascinating
Complimenti, veramente un sacco di stima. Coraggio di fare quello che ti piace,di essere uno youtuber in italia e di esserti messo a parlare in inglese per internazionalizzarti. In più complimenti per le produzioni,vere opere d' arte,e per l' ingegno nel costruirti attrezzi invidiabili. Tutti i migliori auguri per il tuo canale!
I love that you showed the mistakes. They help to learn it better.
Interesting way of pulling off the forge weld on the core. Well done 💪🏻
Firstly, dude, what a monumental feat of ambitious engineering. Well done for even daring, let alone executing! It seems almost architectural in scope. And secondly, among so many other things, what superb control of the power hammer, especially with tapering. Thank you for the inspiring spectacle, Sir!
That's a masterpiece made by an expert craftman. Love that sword
Amazing sword so far, can't wait to see it completed. Thanks for showing us your problems, it shows even the masters have problems sometimes
So much work and time! I’m glad you never stopped and kept ‘forging’ ahead! Take care, your art is amazing!
I love how this is turning out, after persevering through the challenges. Those stacks are so neat!
Impressive work, starting with figuring out how to get the pattern in the first place, and of course sticking with the project in spite of all the issues. Thanks for sharing!
It's always nice to see a craftsman try to honor Jörmungandr, the world serpent.
I gave been watching knife making videos for 20+ years, but don't remember seeing anyone clean their pieces for pattern welding like that. It looks so simple and efficient; I will definitely try that method and compare it to using a 2x72 belt sander.
Thank you for also showing problemsolving. Nice to learn what to do when forging doesnt go as planed 👍
You’re a madman and your work is amazing!
What a piece..💯💥
You're super skilled, but even so, it's really nice to see how you frequently showcase failures. It shows that you're not skilled because you're some kind of freak god, but because you fail and persevere.
Awesome. Your skills are mind-boggling. Thanks for sharing.
Increible pasiencia y abilidad
Totally awesome to see the trials and tribulations of you working threw the pattern your the best because you never give yp
Love that book - and choice of inspiration!
You never disappoint. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished. I liked your narration.
Thank you very much!
Magneficent ser.
I love when you show the fails ... I get to learn along with you ..
Nice! I've heard that blade smiths don't make mistakes, just shorter blades. ⚔
Very true! 😆
This is amazing! I've been wanting to forge a multi-bar twist viking sword for a long time
Beautiful work! Always a pleasure watching your videos, thanks for sharing!
I enjoyed every minute of this! Watching all the stages was awesome, even with the blips, you are so talented, the way you closed the cut tip, just brilliant!! I love this channel!!
I have seen this done many years ago on KZhead. What's interesting is the difference in how the serpent was made. The core and serpent were straight when welded together. Then outside of the core was cut much like he did here. Then the smith flattened both side which pushed the steel in the middle into the serpent shape. Nice to see another smiths take on how to do it.
Yes! I've seen that too, very cool. I bet that's more like it would have been made back in the days!
Impressive work. I applaud your skills and efforts.
Epic save!! Really enjoyed this one and look forward to seeing how it turns out!
wow that looks great
So you're the best drummer on KZhead and a master blacksmith! You're a talented man!
Good job mister well done
Fantastic! Can't wait to see it finished!
I cant wait for part to! Love to look at this work... crazy... no words my mouth was the half video like: 😮
I LOVE your work already ... wt.... THIS is NEXT LEVEL ! WOW !!!
7:08 use flap discs on the angle grinder for this, it's wayyyy easier and smoother
Dude, you are on a other Level 🔥
a good way to increase the chances of success of forge welds is dunking th billet into quenching oil first. this way the oil makes it into all the nooks and hinders oxygen from getting in and forming an oxite layer wich could mess up the forge weld and cause delamination later.
Nice job as usual. Looking forward to the finished project. Beautiful!
Quel beau travail merci
wow u really honour man , you not hide your failed , but tell us and fix it , GOOD CRAFTMAN , im your new sub ,
When twisting I've found a cutting torch with a rosehead tip to give better and more uniform results
This was really cool the way you adapted your creation in process 👍🏻
That is going to look spectacular. I'm particularly looking forward to the handle. You do them so well. It's still got a decent length even with the loss that tip.
Wow man that was quite the challenge! Really looking forward to watching the rest of the episodes.
A Two Hand Norse Great Sword with a Seax Blade Tip.
Wow, you took this one to an 11! Fascinating sword.
Another great video from our favorite Iberian smith
That's going to be a awesome blade
Красава, хорошая задумка, много труда, куда без ошибок! респект за старания и фантазию, палец вверх!
Giovanotto it's relaxing watching your videos 👍🙋
Amazing craftsmanship! Subscribed 🎉
Dope AF sword, Black Beard Projects!
This is going to be exciting and I can't wait to see how it goes thanks for sharing this six stars brother
U always manage to surprise me with something & this isn't any different. Awesome build as always
You are a great knife and sword smith. Can't wait to see the next video of the serpentine blade.
First time I checked out your channel, nice work, sir! I appreciate that you're showing us the problem-solving process. It is different for every art. Thank you for sharing your time and skill.
Thank you for watching!
Super cool seeing how you handled your forge welding issues, I probably would have given up after the second problem.
Hi 👋 there, my friend?!! Hmm, I'm in love with this one 😍 incredible work. Don't give up man 🙏 you can do it 💪
Love this project! If I were a blacksmith, I'd forge a Viking sword with some Japanese elements mixed in. The blade would be Norse but the hilt would have a mix of Japanese and Norse traits. I got the idea after watching the movie Muay Thai warrior, where the protagonist gives his comrade a sword he made. That sword had a Japanese blade but a Thai hilt.
What a cool idea! Thank you!
Awesome project! Love it!
That is looking great! I tried a serpent in a dagger for the KZhead fantasy blade challenge last year. It didn't work out so well. I'll try again once I finish some things. Setbacks happen. I like the way you overcame them. Can't wait to see how this progresses!
Reminds me of Serpent's Breath.
I think I remember hearing on forged in fire that there is a way to know what metal your getting and carbon content by the sparks that come off a grinder. I could be entirely wrong or not remembering right 😅
thank you for showing us your failure. there is no growing without falling! it's part of the process and very humble of you to include it in your vid! i can only imagine how many hours you had into the project when it happened. i appreciate your attitude at that part of the video and the fact that you kept up with the positivity!
👎👎
Off all my subs this is probably the one at nr 1. I do not hesitate to click when there is a new video. Great video and job as always BlackBeard!! 👍
Thank you so much! ❤️
Brilliant work 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Can’t wait to see the finished product 😄
After watching your work. It makes me want to watch conan the barbarian
Unfortunate about the tip not welding, near the end of the video, but there are several scenes that look like the steel is too cold in sections to forge weld properly (the tip being one of those places). Good job saving the piece!
Nice project!
your work is amazing, as always! about the tip, i have a question: why didn't you make one billet of the cutting edge material, long enough to both sides, and solded with the core? i think it would prevent that problem
Good work !😊
Thanks ,good works😅
A friend of mine forged a Sutton Hoo Viking Sword. And had the same problem! He said he called the smith that forged the one for the Museum. The smith said he had the same problem too! And fixed it by forging a fish mouth. So don't fill bad!!! My friend's name is Kim Thomas from Ohio.
Nice job!
It looks great so far and you did a wonderful job making it as well!!!! It might have been just the lighing and or camera but it sure didn't look hot enough to quench it I enjoyed your video so I gave it a Thumbs Up
For a second I thought niels provos posted a new serpent in the sword video.
Good work and very useful that you show your mistakes. In my opinion, you should use U- shaped catting edge billet
BB great work as always 😁👍🥃
Damn this editing is sharp.
well done!
Amazing 😍
Thanks for another great video!🇦🇺👴🏻
уважение и чест ....уникален си ....найдобрия
I love your content brother
Nice job as always 😎😎😎👍👍👍
Do you ever occasionally think to yourself "Man, if civilization ever collapses, I'm set!" 😂
🤣🤣
Nice work 👌🏻😎
That looks beautiful I fear the v tip didn't look hot enough for the weld
A snake head pommel would be an interesting choice.
Nice
My lady even said that the quench temp wasn’t hot enough to hammer the steel You didn’t have any lights on during that time either so the color tells the story
Since I'm completely clueless on all things metal... Was there a reason you didn't wrap a single billet around the core, and instead chose to wrap two billets that met at the tip?
You could make it into Trident 😊 🔱 she still looks gorgeous ❤😊
Nice work man, the serpent turned out great. What made you choose to make the serpent out of three seperate sections of steel though? Was it just to achieve the neat, tapered termination of the serpent? I've made one serpent sword myself and I'm currently working on two more, although I'm removing sections of the core billets to achieve the serpent pattern. There's an amazing video on youtube by Jesus Hernandez on the making of the Vehmaa sword (the one you referenced from "Swords of the Viking Age") which is well worth a watch, the man is a genius.