Swords

Swords

Here at swords we have a massive range of swords, knives, daggers and armor as well as other medieval weapons of old such as crossbows and axes for you to choose from as you can see from the variety of different sword types available on the left hand navigation.

Swords have been around for thousands of years and as with anything that has lasted that long there is a great variety of designs to choose from. Some of the main contributors to such a variety of sword designs are technology and geographical location as well as who was making the sword and how the swords were to be used.

Since swords have been around for so long technology has probably had the most impact on sword designs over the centuries. This can range from the materials the sword smith used to make the sword which was determined from the mining technology of the time as well as the ability to smelt and mix various metals to make a reliable sword from.

Swords went from being made with copper around 3300 BC to bronze around 1700 BC which was a readily available commodity and easy to work though not very strong compared to the other metals which were follow. Yet at this time the technology to smelt other metals did not exist seeing as the knowledge of how to make a fire hot enough had not been discovered either.

After the bronze age swords came swords made of iron. These swords were a bit stronger though the smelting techniques and knowledge of mixing metals still did not exist to make them a major advantage over the bronze swords as far as overall strength was concerned, as the early iron swords were known to bend a fair bit. One of the major advantages was the availability of iron, combined with the ease of manufacture and swords became more affordable and wide spread as armies could now be out fitted with swords for combat during times of war.

By the 5th century BC steel swords became the weapon of choice as the smelting and knowledge of how to create the stronger material by adding charcoal during the smelting process spread. As with the previous techniques and methods it would be a while before the quenching and tempering process would become common place. It should be pointed out that the above phases were not consistent across the whole world as some techniques and materials were used for hundreds of years in some places before being introduced into other continents.

Swords were the main weapon used by a lot of armies in history and the smelting and smithing techniques were not readily shared in general as a superior sword design or metal that the sword was made from had a bearing on the strength of an army. The Roman army and the Gladius is a perfect example of this in action.

For further clarification, 5160 spring steel is more durable than 1085 or 1095 high carbon steel, but does not hold an edge for quite as long. 1095 high carbon steel is tougher and more durable than 440C stainless steel, but will rust much more easily. Most stainless steel is more brittle than both 5160 and 1095 carbon steel, but is still very useful due to its resistance to rust and corrosion.

Note that modern "Damascus steel" is not the same as the true Damascus steel used during the Middle Ages. Modern pattern welded steel is highly decorative as well as durable, if welded in certain ways with proper steel, and is often used in custom knife and sword crafting.

Typically the blade smithing process begins with the forging of the blade itself, followed by the crafting of the handle out of wood, bone, antler, micarta, or any number of other possible materials. The handle is then affixed to the blade using various techniques that depend on the type of blade and the preference of the smith. In some cases, the sword's furniture; the guard, the grip, the pommel, are removable and can be disassembled and refitted if major work needs to be done on the blade.

The culture of the time as well as the location where the sword was made had a large bearing on the designs of various types of swords in history. Added to this different types of swords were designed for specific purposes meeting the needs of the users in the region at that time in history such as long swords, rapiers, gladius, sabers and cavalry swords.

There are hundreds of types of swords and many had a variety of modifications made to them as forging and materials changed as well as improvements to the original design. Many of these became well known sword types in their own right while others became obsolete as better sword designs were favored by the swordsman in that region or time in history.

We hope you find such a great deal, that you will look for all of your future swords at swords blades. With that said, have a look around our sword site and I hope you find exactly what you are looking for at a great price.

Michael