Emberledge Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Scimitar Sword | 37 Inch Overall with 31 Inch Blade | Collector Display Gift | RK-1388

The Emberledge is a full sized scimitar sword, thirty seven inches overall, with a deep even curve, a broad cutting belly and a long fuller running from the guard out along the upper third of the blade. That fuller is the detail most people misread. It is not a blood groove, a term invented by Victorian romantics and kept alive by film, and it has nothing to do with suction or with letting anything out of anything. It is a structural feature, and it does the same job as the web of an I beam.

This one is forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee. The blade is 1095 high carbon steel, hardened, tempered and taken to a mirror polish. The hilt is a dark hardwood grip pinned with brass between a brass cross guard and a domed brass pommel cap. It ships in a hand tooled leather scabbard, with a care card, and shipping inside the United States is free.

Specifications

What the fuller does

Take a flat steel bar and try to bend it. It resists bending across its width and folds easily across its thickness. Almost all of that resistance comes from the material furthest from the centre line, because the further material sits from the axis you are bending around, the harder it works. The steel in the middle contributes very little.

A fuller removes that middle steel. Forging a groove down each face of a blade takes out mass from the region that was doing the least structural work, leaving the spine and the edge, which are doing the most. The result is a blade that keeps nearly all its stiffness while losing real weight, and losing it from the part of the sword furthest from the hand, which improves the balance twice over. On a curved cutting sword like this one that matters, because the whole design fights a tendency to become slow at the tip.

There is a second effect that only shows up in a hand forged blade. Fullering is done hot, with a shaped tool driven along the blade, and it moves steel rather than cutting it away. Pushing the metal out of the groove lengthens and widens the blade at the same time, which is why a smith fullers before final grinding rather than after. The line you can see running along this blade was hammered in, not milled out.

Why 1095 high carbon steel and not stainless

1095 has just under one percent carbon and essentially no alloying elements. It is the oldest and plainest recipe for a hard cutting edge and it is still the right one for a sword. It hardens fully through a blade of this section, the fine grain lets an edge come to a true apex, and tempered back to 54 to 58 HRC it keeps enough spring to survive a mistake.

Stainless gets its rust resistance from chromium, and chromium at those levels forms hard carbides that make a long blade prone to chipping and to cracking under load. It is a fine trade in a kitchen knife and a bad one in a thirty one inch blade. The price of 1095 is that it rusts if neglected, which is a matter of a rag and a bottle of oil. We go through the comparison properly on Damascus versus stainless.

The hardwood grip and brass furniture

The grip is a pair of dark hardwood scales pinned through the full width tang with brass, so there is no hollow handle and nothing bonded that can let go. The scales are shaped with a slight waist so the hand finds its position without looking, and the brass pins are peened flush rather than screwed in, which means there is no fastener to back out over the years.

The cross guard is solid brass with short straight quillons, and the pommel is a domed brass cap over the butt of the tang. Brass was the traditional choice for sword furniture across the Near East and India because it casts into complex shapes at low temperature, will not rust against a leather scabbard, and stays visually warm against dark wood. It is softer than steel, so the guard on this sword is there to finish the hilt and to stop a hand sliding forward, not to catch another blade. Hardwood wants a wipe of oil once or twice a year if the sword hangs in a dry room, and the routine is on wooden handle care.

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 this sword the fuller itself makes an obvious channel for a line of runes, which is a treatment that works particularly well on a mirror finish. See the engraving page for sizes and limits.

Care and sharpening

A mirror polish is the least forgiving finish there is on carbon steel, because every mark shows. Wipe the blade with a clean dry cloth after handling and keep a thin film of light oil on it. A fingerprint left on this surface will etch into a dull grey ghost within a week or two, and while that can be polished out it is easier not to let it happen. Oil monthly if the sword lives indoors, more often if it hangs anywhere that gets damp. Full details on steel care.

The sword ships with a working edge. To maintain it, follow the curve on the stone rather than trying to hold the blade flat, work three or four inches at a time, keep the angle steady and sweep along the arc so no section gets more attention than another. Finish fine and strop. Step by step on sharpening with a whetstone.

Forged in Memphis

This sword is made in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. There is nothing here drop shipped from an importer catalogue and no bought in blanks with a badge added. We cut and forge the steel, grind and fuller it, heat treat and temper it, polish it, fit the brass and the wood, and cut and tool the scabbard, all in the same building. Because of that we can give you an honest lead time instead of a marketing one. A sword on the rack ships in two to three business days. A sword made to order or carrying engraving takes two to three weeks. You will know which before you pay.

A note on handmade variation

This scimitar sword is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The hardwood grain, the tone of the brass, the exact depth and run of the fuller, the way the polish lies on the curve and the hand cut tooling on the scabbard will all differ a little, because each piece is worked by hand from natural materials. Dimensions, steel and build are the same every time. The character is not, and that is what you are buying.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp?

It ships with a real working edge rather than a razor edge, which is what suits a sword this size. If you want it keener, say so in the order notes and we will take it further before it leaves.

Is the fuller a blood groove?

No. That name is a Victorian invention. The fuller is a structural groove that takes weight out of the middle of the blade while keeping the stiffness, and it improves the balance as a side effect.

Can I spar with it?

No. It is a sharp, properly hardened sword, not a blunt trainer. It will handle mat and bottle cutting, but it should never be brought edge to edge with another blade or used against hard targets.

What is the difference between this and a sabre?

A sabre is usually narrower, more lightly curved and built with the point in mind as well as the edge. This is a scimitar, wider through the belly and curved harder, and it is a cutting sword first and last.

Can I have a name engraved on it?

Yes. Use the rune converter for Elder Futhark or choose your own design in the engraving option, and tell us blade or handle. Allow an extra week on top of the normal lead time.

How long does shipping take?

Free within the United States. Stock swords leave in two to three business days. Made to order or engraved swords are two to three weeks before dispatch.

What is in the box

• Emberledge hand forged 1095 high carbon steel scimitar sword
• Hand tooled leather scabbard
• Care card with oiling and storage instructions
• Certificate of hand forging
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

Browse the other scimitars, the full swords range, the sabres and the falchions, or read the guides.