Cliphawk Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Renaissance Short Sword | 31 Inch Overall with 24.5 Inch Blade | Collector Display Gift | RK-1419

The Cliphawk is a hand forged renaissance short sword of the type Italian sources call a storta and German ones a messer, a broad single edged blade under two feet with a clipped point and a knuckle bow. This was the most common sword in Europe for most of the sixteenth century and almost nobody has heard of it, because the swords that survive in museums and get photographed are the expensive ones. A storta was a tool. It was carried by tradesmen, watchmen, sailors and soldiers, it was cheap because it used less steel than a full length sword, and it was legal to wear in cities where a long blade was not. Sumptuary and weapons ordinances across Italy and Germany repeatedly permit a short sword while restricting a long one, and the type flourished in that gap.

This one is forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee. The blade is 1095 high carbon steel, hardened and tempered, forged broad, ground with a long fuller and a clipped point with a sharpened false edge, then mirror polished. The hilt is polished steel with down curved quillons finishing in ball finials and a knuckle bow closing the front of the hand. The grip is bound in twisted wire under a faceted wheel pommel. It ships with the fitted black leather scabbard shown, mounted with a polished steel throat and chape.

Specifications

What a clipped point and a false edge are for

Look at the last six inches of this blade. The back, which has run straight and thick from the guard, suddenly angles down towards the tip, and that angled section is sharpened. The angled cut is the clip and the sharpened part of it is the false edge, sometimes called the back edge. Together they solve a problem that every broad single edged blade has.

The problem is the thrust. A single edged blade carries a thick unsharpened spine, so its natural tip sits high, well above the centreline of the arm. Thrust with it and the point pushes off line. Cutting the back away near the tip drops the point back down to the middle of the blade, so a thrust travels straight along the line of the forearm and lands where you are looking. That single modification turns a cutting blade into one that also thrusts, and it is why clipped points appear on everything from bowie knives to naval cutlasses.

Sharpening the clip gives you the second benefit. A false edge lets you cut on the return stroke. A conventional cut is delivered with the true edge and then the blade has to be recovered before the next one, but a sharpened back edge means the recovery itself can be an attack, coming back on a rising line from below. The German and Italian short sword traditions both build sequences around exactly this, and the reason those manuals look strange to modern readers is that they assume a blade with two working edges arranged asymmetrically.

Grinding a clip correctly is fiddly. The false edge has to be brought down through a spine that is thickest at exactly the point where you are removing it, and the two grinds have to meet cleanly at the tip without leaving a weak spot. It is one of the better tests of whether a blade was ground by someone paying attention.

Why 1095 high carbon steel and not stainless

Stainless owes its rust resistance to chromium, and chromium is precisely why it makes a poor blade for a sword. It ties carbon into coarse hard carbides through the metal, and each one is a place a crack can begin in a blade that flexes or takes an impact across the flat. Stainless swords are therefore either soft, in which case they take a permanent bend, or hardened, in which case they can break.

1095 is iron with just under one percent carbon and very little else in it. It hardens through, tempers to a figure you can predict, and at 54 to 58 HRC gives a broad short blade a durable edge with plenty of toughness left over. It will rust if you neglect it, which is the honest cost, and the remedy is a wipe and a film of oil. See Damascus versus stainless for more.

The wire grip and the wheel pommel

The grip is bound in twisted steel wire. On a cutting sword this matters more than it does on a rapier, because a real cut torques the blade in the hand and a smooth grip lets it rotate, which throws the edge out of alignment. A ridged wire surface holds the sword square through the cut without needing a tight fist, and it does not soften with sweat or stretch with age the way leather does.

The pommel is a faceted wheel rather than a sphere. Flat faces on a pommel do two useful things: they stop the sword rolling when it is put down, and they give the heel of the hand something to bear against when the grip is held far back for maximum reach on a cut. On a short sword the pommel is also proportionally more important as a counterweight, because there is less blade out front to balance against, which is why it looks large for the length of the sword.

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. The Cliphawk is plain and the broad flat above the fuller takes lettering well. The faceted pommel is the other option, and its flat faces are natural panels for a short mark or a date. See the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Wipe the blade after handling and keep a thin film of mineral or camellia oil on it. Fingerprints on a mirror polish are mildly acidic and will etch permanent marks within a week or two. Work a little oil into the grooves of the wire wrap with a cloth as well, since they hold moisture. Do not store the sword inside the scabbard for months at a time. The routine is on the steel care page.

The blade arrives sharp on both the true edge and the false edge. When you refresh them, remember they are ground at different angles and treat them separately, following the existing bevel on each rather than trying to blend them. Work the clip carefully, because it is easy to round the point while turning the corner between the two grinds. See sharpening with a whetstone.

Forged in Memphis

Made in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and rebadged. We forge the blade, grind the fuller, cut the clip and the false edge, bend and file the quillons, wind the wire, cut the pommel facets and build the scabbard around this blade. A short sword is not a quick sword to make. The clip and false edge take as long as the whole of a plain tapered blade, and getting the two grinds to meet cleanly at the tip is the part that separates a good one from an ordinary one. Stock pieces ship in a few days. Made to order is two to four weeks, plus a little for engraving.

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 angle of the clip, the exact width of the false edge, the curve of the quillons and the pitch of the wire winding are all set by hand, and the polish reads differently under different light. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the back edge sharp too

Yes. The clipped section at the tip carries a sharpened false edge. The rest of the spine is left thick and blunt, which is what gives the blade its strength.

Is this a sword or a large knife

A sword, and a historically common one. Twenty four and a half inches of blade on a knuckle bow hilt is a short sword by any reasonable definition, and the sources of the period treat the type as a sword rather than a knife.

Can I cut with it

Yes, within reason. It is a properly hardened and tempered blade and light target cutting on bottles or a rolled mat is well within its design. It is not intended for edge on edge sparring with another steel blade.

Can I have runes engraved on it

Yes. Use the rune converter on this page for Elder Futhark or select your own design in the engraving option, and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the pommel.

What is the difference between this and a cutlass

The blade. A cutlass is curved through its length with the belly doing the cutting. This is straight with a clipped tip, which cuts on a different line and thrusts far better. The hilts are similar because both are short swords carried where space is tight.

How long does shipping take

Free shipping in the United States. In stock pieces ship within a few days. Made to order takes two to four weeks in the shop, and engraved work a few days more.

What is in the box

• Cliphawk hand forged 1095 high carbon steel renaissance short sword
• Fitted black leather scabbard with polished steel throat and chape
• Care card covering oiling, polish upkeep and wire grip 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 short swords, the messers, the cutlasses and the full sword range, or read the guides.