Petalward Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Side Sword | 41 Inch Overall with 34 Inch Blade | Dark Leather Scabbard and Polished Steel Throat | Fencing Collector Gift | RK-1407

The Petalward is a hand forged side sword built around a shell basket, the guard form that sits halfway between the open swept hilt of the early renaissance and the closed cup of the Spanish schools that came after it. Instead of a cage of thin bars, the hand is enclosed by broad ribs of steel laid over one another like the petals of a bud, each one engraved with an interlaced knotwork band, backed by a fitted oxblood leather lining. Guards of this construction were built in northern Italy and Spain from the middle of the sixteenth century, and the leather lining was not a luxury. It stopped the hand rattling against bare steel and, more usefully, it deadened the ring of a blade skidding across the guard so the fencer could hear what was happening around him.

This one is forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee. The blade is 1095 high carbon steel, hardened, tempered and ground with a long central fuller and a spear point, then brought to a mirror polish. The pommel is a steel disc engraved with a Vegvisir, the Icelandic stave compass, and the quillon curves down and away from the hand on the inside face. It ships with the fitted dark leather scabbard shown, mounted with a polished steel throat.

Specifications

Why a shell basket instead of open bars

A swept hilt made of thin bars is light and it lets air and sight through, but it has a weakness that every fencing master of the period complained about. A narrow point can be threaded between the bars. Against a rapier with a fine tip, and particularly against a thrust delivered along the flat, the hand behind an open cage is not as safe as it looks. The obvious fix is to fill the gaps, and the shell basket is the elegant version of that fix.

Broad ribs cover far more area than round bars of the same weight, because a rib is wide in the plane that matters and thin in the plane that does not. Overlap them slightly, as they are overlapped here, and the openings that remain are too small and too oblique to admit a point. You keep most of the lightness of an open hilt and you close nearly all of the gaps. The leather backing does the last of the work by filling the shallow spaces behind the ribs so nothing can wedge in from underneath.

There is a handling consequence too. All that steel out at the guard sits ahead of the hand, which would normally push the balance forward and make the sword sluggish. The heavy disc pommel behind the hand cancels it. The two masses work against each other across the grip, so the sword pivots around a point very close to the fingers. That is why a well built basket sword feels quicker than its weight suggests.

Why 1095 high carbon steel and not stainless

Chromium is what makes stainless stainless, and chromium is also what makes it a poor sword steel. It ties up carbon in coarse carbides that sit in the steel like grit in concrete, and in a blade three feet long those inclusions are where fractures begin. Manufacturers work around it by leaving stainless swords soft, which is why they take a set and stay bent, or by hardening them and accepting that they can snap.

1095 has almost nothing in it but iron and carbon. That simplicity is the point. It hardens evenly right through a thick section, it tempers to a predictable figure, and at 54 to 58 HRC it holds a keen edge while retaining the spring a long blade needs. It rusts if you ignore it. A wipe and a film of oil is the entire cost of owning it. The full argument is laid out in Damascus versus stainless.

The grip, the leather and the Vegvisir pommel

Under the oxblood leather is a shaped wooden core, waisted so the hand finds the same position every time without looking. Wood is still the right material for a sword grip four hundred years after it was the only material available, because it is light, it takes a shape that steel cannot be made to take cheaply, and it does not conduct cold into the palm. It does need respecting. Keep the sword out of long damp storage and away from direct heat, since both will shrink a core and slacken the leather over it. There is more detail in wooden handle care.

The pommel disc carries an engraved Vegvisir. The stave is Icelandic rather than Viking age in origin, first recorded in a nineteenth century manuscript, and it was written down as a charm against losing your way in bad weather. We cut it here because it suits a disc pommel, not because we are claiming a tenth century provenance for it. If you would rather have something else on that face, it is the natural panel for a rune line or your own design.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On the Petalward that applies to both the knotwork on the shell ribs and the Vegvisir on the pommel, so tell us which of the two you want replaced. Examples are on the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Mirror polish shows everything, which is the price of looking like this. Fingerprints are acidic enough to etch faint marks into a polished surface within a few days, so wipe the blade down after you handle it and keep a thin film of mineral or camellia oil on the steel. Pay attention to the inside faces of the shell ribs as well, since they trap dust and are awkward to reach later. Store the sword out of the scabbard for long periods. The routine is on the steel care page.

The edge arrives sharp enough to work with. To refresh it, use a whetstone and follow the bevel already ground on the blade rather than trying to establish a new angle. Long light passes along the whole edge, both sides evenly, then a strop. See sharpening with a whetstone.

Forged in Memphis

This sword is made in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and relabelled. The blade is forged and ground in house, each shell rib is cut, dished, engraved and fitted by hand, the leather lining is skived and set behind the ribs, and the scabbard is built around the blade it will hold. That is slow work, particularly the basket. In stock pieces ship within a few days. If we are building one to order, expect three to five weeks, more if you have asked for engraving. Those are honest numbers rather than optimistic ones.

A note on handmade variation

This piece is hand forged. It is not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The knotwork is cut by hand and its depth and rhythm vary, the oxblood leather takes dye differently from hide to hide, the overlap of the shell ribs shifts a fraction of an inch, and the polish reads differently depending on how the light falls on it. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and that is what you are paying a forge for rather than a factory.

Frequently asked questions

Is the shell guard one piece or several

Several. Each rib is worked separately, engraved, then fitted and joined so the ribs overlap. That is why the guard has depth to it rather than looking pressed out of a single sheet.

Is the sword sharp when it arrives

Yes, it comes with a working edge. It is not taken to a razor finish, because a razor edge on a sword blade rolls or chips as soon as it meets anything solid.

Can I use it for cutting practice or sparring

Light cutting on bottles or a rolled mat is within what this blade is built for. Edge on edge sparring against another steel sword is not, and we do not recommend it with any of our pieces.

Can the Vegvisir be replaced with runes or my own design

Yes. Use the rune converter for Elder Futhark or select your own design in the engraving option, and tell us whether you want it on the pommel, the shell or the blade. Your engraving replaces the existing one on that surface.

What is the difference between this and a cup hilt rapier

A cup hilt is a single unbroken bowl and it goes with a long narrow thrusting blade. This is a shell basket, made of overlapping ribs, on a broader shorter blade that still cuts. The basket is a step on the way to the cup rather than a version of it.

How long does shipping take

Free shipping in the United States. In stock pieces leave within a few days. Made to order takes three to five weeks in the shop because of the basket work, and engraving adds a little more.

What is in the box

• Petalward hand forged 1095 high carbon steel side sword
• Fitted dark leather scabbard with polished steel throat
• Care card covering oiling, polish upkeep and leather care
• Elder Futhark rune engraving or your own Viking design if selected at checkout
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the rest of the rapiers, the short swords, the arming swords and the full sword range, or read the guides.