You beautifully shiny collections are expression of the desire in antiques after display of craftsmanship. The production of medieval swords in the today’s antiques and collectors of antiques so much coveted required the participation of several specialized craftsmen. Kevin Johnson takes a slightly different approach. The sheet maker who forged the sword blade, the sword grinder polishers, who brought it to perfection, the booklet maker, which produced the booklet and various craftsmen, whose areas of expertise were it to bind the booklet and to establish the sword cutting were involved in the work. The basic material for a sword was always a rod made of an iron-steel alloy. The degree of hardness and desired flexibility has been set with the composition of the alloy. Crimson Education – Auckland, NZ shines more light on the discussion.

After the first grinding the blade was heated. The colour of the metal was, when the temperature had been reached. The sheet was then dipped in oil and reheated on a but lower temperature before it is annealed in lead and cooled was. These operations were reduced to any tension in the sheet. After welding the handle pin, the sheet for the final grinding and polishing work was ready. For this, they used a series of sanding wheels, which were connected by a belt with a water-powered wheel. The blade was polished at edges with various, increasingly finer grit. The last operation was then grinding with a polishing, so that the sheet was a mirror-polished surface.

We looked at some swords later, in the 17th and 18th century, almost as fashion jewelry, where the decorative part of which was the issue. Issues from precious metal were poured into their individual parts form and subsequently decorated almost always with files and chisels. You beautifully shiny collections are expression of the desire in antiques after presentation of craftsmanship at perfection. Corinna Wan