#large sword

Gone Berserkin'

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Sketchie for @deadshadow666 !

If youre interested in getting a sketchie like this you can do so over on my ko-fi! ☺️

I know anime and games have no idea how to apply scale into their designs. Besides, the bigger it is the more it stands out, right?

Well, trying to make one to wield is a different story. But it can be done!

So, this is it. Zabuzas sword from Naruto. Probably the best arc in the entire show.

Now, it’s 83 inches long and you can use this image to make your own if you want. Follow along with these instructions and give it a go.

You will need; 1 Ucaboard - 4ft is fine. 1 full sheet of insulation foam - 4 feet again, but you will do better with one that’s 8 feet long. 2 5/8 inch dowels (poplar, but I used birch). 2 3/16 inch dowels (poplar). 1 one inch dowel, it needs to be 24 inches long, +3 inches for the blade. Mine will part so it will have some extra steps. Wood Glue. 5 minute epoxy. JigSaw. Palm Sander. 1 chisel. 3/16 inch drillbit & drill. A table saw helps to split the 5/8 inch dowels.

Ready?

This is a bit of jumping around, but if you get one 8ft eucaboard piece you can do this in one cut. I had a 4 foot piece available so I used the 5/8 inch dowels as a joining piece. If you cut it out in one piece you obviously have no need to do that, but this will also give that area a bit more reinforcement.

After you cut it out, you will notice that the Eucaboard is really flimsy and flops around. You don’t want your sword to do that, so we will use those pictured dowels as an example and continue the thought.

This ‘tutorial’ is not about power tool use, just mechanical assembly of a really big sword.

Here is a closeup of those split 5/8 inch dowels. Notice that there are more dowels inside it. Those are the 3/16 dowels. This little piece here is the crux of the construction process. In total, I will be making 36 dowels to dowel the dowels to the board. 

Split your 5/8 inch dowels as evenly as humanly possible. You’re not perfect and neither am I, so close is fine.

Here is a mockup of the positioning I’m using for these. In short, the longer you can make the dowels, the better it would be. The two I’m using were shorter than I needed, so the two will work together. Obviously the space closest to the hilt is where it needs the most support, so I’m using my Birch dowel there. Birch is a hardwood that is very strong. The others are poplar.

You would assume that a majority of the stress would apply against the handle, and you would be sort of correct. The stress at the handle only applies when it’s held. All other times the stress is in the center of the blade. This is why my dowels overlap there.

I used 5 minute epoxy and a few clamps to get them in place. That was more boring to look at than anything so I took no pictures.

Look closely, it’s a mes, yes, but look at the dowels. I have drilled the 3/16 inch holes in there at 3.5 inch intervals. On the larger piece where the Sword hooks into there are 8 holes.

Now, as a note I have only done this one side. Flip it over, do the second side. The holes will guide you so you know where to line up the dowels. That makes it really easy!

Here is a stress test with just one side glued on. It’s much straighter but has a slight bend. Do be careful, you can pop the dowels off with too much stress so lets quickly glue up the second side and dowel it.

After the second side is glued up, prep your dowels while the glue settles. This should only take 15 minutes max with 5 minute epoxy and after that it’ll be real sturdy.

This is my dowel making method. The 3/16 inch dowels are really thin, and easy to cut with a chisel. Just place the chisel in the spot for the length and give the dowel a twist. The twisting action will score the dowel along that mark making it really easy to snap off.

I need 36 of them.

Gerbil pellets.

Glue the holes that were drilled earlier. I cover the hole completely and the wood glue naturally starts to sag into it. This way the hole is covered with glue for MAXIMUM COVERAGE(!!) allowing the dowel to be glued securely in place.

Dat sag.

Home made game of whack-a-mole.

Well, just hammer them into their homes and the hard part is over. Be gentle with the hammering, you might snap these dowels.

And sand. The dowels need to be sanded flush and the surfaces need to be sanded to prepare for the next step.

All in all this took about an hour and a half for me to do. Not bad for such a large project!

Kaitlyn

Sol’s close friend. They frequently spar with each other, finding that there sessions really help when they need to work something out between them. Kaitlyn’s overwhelming amount of victories might have something to do with her unique fighting style with her comically large sword.

Finally got around to working on the reimagining for Kelly! Added that.... skirt thing. Gave her a more butler-y look. This was a good learning experience, because I have a problem with making slim or feminine characters. Lotta fun!

Chibi Commission from GIucose. Character's name is Kalian.