Knotflame Hand Forged Damascus Flamberge Sword with Knotwork Cut Guard | 38 Inch Overall and 31 Inch Blade | Flame Blade and Black Grip and Steel Tipped Scabbard | Collector Gift | RK-2130

The Knotflame is a flame bladed sword in forge welded Damascus. Both edges run in a matched series of deep waves from the shoulder to the point, and the pattern welded grain rolls with them so the layering follows every curve instead of running past it in straight lines. The crossguard is a flat polished bar with a Celtic knotwork panel cut into one arm, the grip is black leather over a wooden core, and the pommel is a steel wheel peened over the tang. It ships in a dark brown leather scabbard fitted with a polished steel chape at the tip.

The interesting thing about this sword is not that the blade is wavy. It is that the blade is wavy and pattern welded at the same time, which is a considerably harder problem than either one on its own. This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the wave symmetry, the peen and the scabbard fit, and ships it from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse.

If this is your first sword, how to buy a first sword covers what actually matters. Knotwork carried meaning as often as it was pure decoration, and our note on Norse symbols works through the recurring shapes. Thrusting blades with the same kind of hilt sit in the rapiers.

Specifications

Why a waved Damascus blade is difficult

On a plain steel blade you can cut a wave in with a grinder, because the steel is the same all the way through and it does not matter how much you take off in any one place. On a pattern welded blade that approach fails. The layers in a Damascus billet lie in sheets, and how much you grind away decides which sheets are exposed at the surface. Grind unevenly and the pattern changes character from one wave to the next, going tight in one hollow and washed out in the next.

The way around it is to move the steel rather than remove it. The waves are forged into the blade so the layers deform and follow the curve, and only then is the profile cleaned up. That is why the grain on this blade bends round each hollow instead of being cut across by it, and it is the single detail worth looking for when you are judging a piece like this. If the pattern runs straight past a wave, the wave was ground on afterwards.

The knotwork panel on the guard is cut into polished steel deliberately left clear of pattern. Interlace has to be readable to work, and a Celtic knot drawn over Damascus grain turns into visual noise.

The steel and the fittings

The blade is forge welded from 1095 high carbon steel and 15N20 nickel steel, folded and drawn to a fine layer count, forged to shape, hardened and tempered to 58 to 60 HRC. The two steels take an acid etch at different rates, which is what makes the layering visible. The pattern is structural and runs through the full thickness, so sharpening will not remove it.

The guard, the wheel pommel and the scabbard chape are polished steel rather than brass, which keeps the whole sword in one tonal family and lets the Damascus be the only texture on it. The chape at the scabbard tip is a working fitting, not decoration. A leather scabbard takes its wear at the point where the tip of the blade sits, and a metal chape is what stops the leather being cut through from the inside over years of drawing and sheathing.

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, the leather or the wood. 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 where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it, so a chosen mark on the guard takes the place of the knotwork panel. The scabbard face and the pommel are the alternatives if you want the knotwork kept. See the engraving page for depth and placement.

Handling and balance

At thirty eight inches overall this is a long single handed sword, and the steel wheel pommel is what makes that work. Set behind the hand as a solid disc, it pulls the balance back so the blade does not lead. Grip it with the pommel resting against the heel of the palm and the sword sits in line with the forearm rather than dragging the point down.

This is a hand finished collector and display piece. It is not sold as sparring equipment and no full contact claim is made for it. It is a striking sword on a wall bracket, because the waves catch light differently along their length and the blade never looks flat.

Care

Etched Damascus is very slightly textured and holds moisture more readily than a plain polish, so oil it and mean it. Wipe the blade after handling, dry it and leave a thin film of mineral oil on the steel, working the cloth into each hollow rather than skating over the tops of the waves. That is where rust starts on a blade like this. Get oil into the cut knotwork on the guard too. Do not store the sword sealed inside the scabbard in a damp room. Feed the leather with balm once or twice a year. Our steel care guide covers the rest.

Damascus wants oil more than plain steel does, because the etch that shows the pattern also opens the surface, and caring for a Damascus pattern covers what to use.

Made in the Czech Republic

This sword is made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Every piece is opened, checked and photographed before it is listed, then shipped from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Processing runs one to two weeks, which is honest for a pattern welded blade that has to be forged to a matched wave. US shipping is free, returns are accepted within seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

A note on handmade variation

This sword is made by hand, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Every Damascus billet moves differently, so the grain on your blade belongs only to it, and because the waves are forged by eye their exact depth and spacing shift a little from sword to sword. The knotwork panel is cut by hand and varies a hair in line weight. The leather takes its own tone. The length, the steel, the heat treat and the build stay the same. The character does not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the wave forged in or ground on

Forged in. You can tell because the Damascus grain bends around each hollow rather than being cut straight across by it. A ground wave leaves the pattern running past the curve untouched.

Is the Damascus genuine

Yes. Forge welded 1095 and 15N20, with the pattern running through the full thickness of the blade. Sharpening will not remove it.

How sharp is it on arrival

It arrives with a working edge, not a razor edge, which is the correct finish for a display and collector sword of this length.

How would I sharpen a wavy edge

With a round or teardrop stone or rod that follows each curve, working the waves one at a time. A flat bench stone will only touch the crests and will flatten them.

What is the metal tip on the scabbard for

It is a chape. It stops the point of the blade wearing through the leather from the inside, which is what eventually kills an unprotected scabbard.

How long is the wait

One to two weeks of processing, then free US shipping. Tracking goes out the day it leaves Memphis.

What is in the box

• One Knotflame Damascus flamberge sword
• Fitted dark brown leather scabbard with steel chape
• Protective oil film on the blade for transit
• Care sheet for Damascus steel and leather
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

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