Silkmoon Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Persian Shamshir | 38 Inch Overall with 32 Inch Blade | Collector Display Gift | RK-1395

The Silkmoon is a Persian sword of the shamshir type, thirty eight inches of narrow blade curved so evenly that it reads as a single crescent from guard to point. Persia produced this shape in enormous numbers from the Safavid period onward and exported it in every direction, which is why versions of it turn up in Ottoman Turkey, Mughal India, the Caucasus and eventually in European light cavalry patterns. The famous Persian blades were made of wootz, a crucible steel imported from southern India that carried a watered surface pattern, and a good part of the sword trade of the entire region ran on it for four hundred years.

This one is forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee in 1095 high carbon steel, hardened, tempered and taken to a mirror polish. The hilt is walnut riveted in brass, with drooping brass quillons and the hooked pommel finished in a brass ball. It ships in a dark leather scabbard carrying three brass mounts, with a care card, and shipping inside the United States is free.

Specifications

Why the scabbard carries three mounts

Look at the scabbard in the photograph and you will count three pieces of brass on it: a throat at the mouth, a band about a third of the way down, and a chape at the tip. That is not decoration spaced out for balance. It is a suspension system, and it explains how a sword like this was carried.

European swords hang vertically from a single point at the belt, point down. A shamshir cannot, because the blade is a section of a circle and a vertically hung scabbard would put the mouth in the wrong place for the draw. Persian and Ottoman practice was to hang the sword nearly horizontally, edge downward, from two suspension rings mounted on the throat and the mid band, with the hilt carried well forward on the left hip. The chape at the bottom takes the wear where the scabbard drags and finishes the tip.

Hung that way, the arc of the scabbard matches the arc of the draw, and the arc of the draw matches the arc of the first cut. A rider could take the sword out and be cutting in one movement without ever squaring the blade up. The three mounts are what make that geometry possible, and they are the reason the same arrangement shows up on Ottoman kilij scabbards, Indian talwar scabbards and eventually on European cavalry sabres, which borrowed it wholesale.

Why 1095 high carbon steel and not stainless

1095 is a plain carbon steel with just under one percent carbon and no significant alloying. It hardens fully and evenly through a slim blade like this, its fine grain lets an edge come to a genuine apex, and tempered to 54 to 58 HRC it keeps enough spring to flex under load and come back straight.

Stainless gets its corrosion resistance from chromium, which locks carbon into hard carbides. That is a reasonable bargain in a short kitchen blade and a poor one in thirty two inches of narrow sword, where those carbides make chipping and cracking more likely. The trade with 1095 is that it will rust if you neglect it, which is a maintenance question and a small one. We set the comparison out properly on Damascus versus stainless.

The walnut grip

The grip is walnut in two scales, riveted through a full width tang in brass. Walnut is lighter than rosewood and slightly softer, which suits a shamshir well: the sword already carries all the mass it needs out in the blade, and a lighter grip keeps the reach forward where the design wants it.

Walnut also does something rosewood does not, which is that it takes and holds the shape of a hand over years of use. The scales are cut slim and slightly waisted, and the brass ball at the end of the hook sits against the heel of the hand as a positive stop. Between the hook and the waist you end up holding the sword with almost no grip pressure at all, which is exactly the point. Walnut is more open grained than rosewood and benefits from a wipe of oil two or three times a year rather than one or two, particularly if the sword is displayed anywhere with dry heating. There is a routine 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. Persian smiths put their inscriptions in a cartouche near the guard, following the curve, and a line of runes laid the same way suits this blade better than anything set square to it. See the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Wipe the blade with a dry cloth after every handling and keep a thin film of light oil on the steel. A mirror polish on carbon steel records fingerprints as permanent grey shadows within a fortnight, and on a narrow blade like this the whole surface is in view at once so any mark is obvious. Once a month with an oiled rag will hold a displayed sword indefinitely. Keep it out of the scabbard for storage, because leather retains moisture and tanning residue against steel. The routine is on steel care.

To sharpen, follow the arc across the stone in exactly the direction the edge travels in a cut. Work three or four inches at a time and keep the angle constant. Because the curve on a shamshir is even, every section of the edge should get the same number of passes, which makes it one of the easier sword profiles to sharpen well. Finish on a fine stone and strop it. 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 nothing is a finished blank bought in and rebadged. The steel is cut, forged, curved on the anvil, ground, hardened, tempered, polished and hilted by us, and the scabbard is built, covered and mounted in the same building. Fitting three brass mounts to a curved scabbard is slow work, which is part of why the lead time is what it is. A sword on the rack ships in two to three business days. Made to order or engraved, allow two to three weeks. You will be told which before you pay.

A note on handmade variation

This Persian 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. Walnut varies in figure and colour from board to board, brass takes its own patina, leather grain is never twice the same and the radius of the curve moves a fraction between blades because it is set by hand under a hammer. The dimensions, the steel and the build are identical every time. The character is not, and that is what you are paying a smith for.

Frequently asked questions

Does it arrive sharp?

Yes, with a working edge rather than a razor. That is the right condition for a sword this long. Ask in the order notes and we will take it further before shipping.

Can it be hung on the wall in its scabbard?

It can, and it looks well that way, but do not store the blade inside the leather long term. Display the sword drawn on a mount and hang the scabbard beside it if you want both on show.

What is the difference between a Persian shamshir and an Arabian saif?

A shamshir is narrow and evenly curved with no widening at all. A saif of the common type has a fuller belly and often flares toward the point. The shamshir slices, the saif chops as well as slices.

Can I use it for cutting practice?

Mats and bottles, yes. It is not a sparring sword, it must never be used against another blade and it should be kept away from hard targets.

Will mine look like the photograph?

Close but not identical. Walnut grain, brass tone and leather all vary between pieces. The steel, the size and the build do not.

How long does shipping take?

Free inside the United States. Two to three business days for a stock sword, two to three weeks if it is made to order or engraved.

What is in the box

• Silkmoon hand forged 1095 high carbon steel Persian shamshir
• Dark leather scabbard with brass throat, mid band and chape
• Care card with oiling and storage instructions
• Certificate of hand forging
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the other scimitars, the whole swords range, the sabres and the scabbards and sheaths, or read the guides.