Wheelbright Hand Forged 1095 Carbon Steel Medieval Arming Sword with Brass Wheel Pommel | 38 Inch Overall Length | Pale Leather Grip and Straight Crossguard | Knight Collector Gift | RK-1699

This is a single handed medieval arming sword with a long tapering double edged blade, a shallow fuller running down from the shoulders, a straight brass crossguard and a brass wheel pommel with a decorated rim and a raised central boss. The grip is wrapped in pale leather over a shaped core. It is hand forged from 1095 high carbon steel and finished satin bright, and it is built as a collection and display sword with proper distal taper rather than a parallel sided bar with a point ground on the end.

Distal taper is the detail that separates a sword from a sword shaped object, and it is almost impossible to see in a photograph. The blade is thicker at the shoulders than it is at the tip, and the reduction is gradual along the whole length. A blade of constant thickness with the same profile would weigh far more, balance far worse and feel dead in the hand. Every surviving medieval blade that has been measured shows this taper, sometimes reducing by more than half from base to point. It is also the reason a good sword feels lighter than its actual weight suggests.

Each sword is forged, ground, heat treated, polished and hilted in our Memphis workshop, and the brass is turned, filed and decorated at the bench. It ships with a care card and a bottle of blade oil.

Specifications

Why the pommel is a wheel

The wheel pommel is the single most common pommel form of the European middle ages, running from roughly the eleventh century to the fifteenth, and it survives that long because it solves several problems at once. A disc gives the greatest counterweight mass for the least length behind the hand, so the balance can be pulled back without the sword growing an awkward tail. A flat disc sits comfortably against the heel of the hand and against the wrist, which matters in a half sword grip. And a disc is easy to decorate on both faces and on the rim, which is why so many surviving examples carry arms, inscriptions and inlay.

Ewart Oakeshott, who built the typology that everyone still uses, catalogued the wheel as type I and then subdivided it endlessly, because the difference between a flat disc, a domed one and one with a raised boss changes how it sits against the hand. This one has a raised central boss on both faces with a milled rim, which is a common and well attested form.

Like every properly built sword, the pommel is peened rather than threaded. The tang passes through it and is hammered over into a rivet head that spreads and locks. There is no nut to unscrew itself, and the whole hilt is under compression as a single unit, which is what stops a grip rattling after a hundred handlings.

The steel and the heat treat

The blade is 1095, a plain high carbon steel with just under one percent carbon and almost no alloying. On a long blade that simplicity is a virtue, because it hardens evenly and predictably along thirty one inches of steel, where a complicated alloy can give you a different hardness at the tip than at the shoulders.

It is hardened and then tempered back to 54 to 58 HRC. That is the honest range for a full length sword. Below it the edge deforms too easily, above it the blade becomes brittle and a brittle sword is dangerous rather than merely disappointing, because it fails suddenly and it fails in pieces. Anyone quoting 60 plus on a thirty inch blade is describing something that must never be flexed.

1095 is not stainless. It will rust if left bare and handled and it needs oiling. That is the trade you accept for a steel that forges, hardens and sharpens the way this one does.

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.

On this sword the fuller takes a rune line along its length, which is the historically correct placement for an inscribed blade, and the flat faces of the wheel pommel take a short mark, a date or a monogram very well. Medieval owners put inscriptions on both. Details and lead time are on the engraving page.

Handling and balance

The balance point sits roughly four to five inches ahead of the crossguard. That is the correct place for a single handed arming sword and it is what gives the sword its characteristic feel, present enough at the point to have authority and light enough behind it to change line quickly. The short grip is not a mistake or a cost saving. An arming sword grip is meant to be a single hand long, with the pommel sitting against the heel of the hand and helping to control the point.

This is a hand forged display and collection piece. We do not sell it as a battle ready sparring sword and it must not be used for full contact bouts or edge on edge work against another blade. Swords intended for steel fighting are built to a different specification with blunted rolled edges and defined flex characteristics, and they are tested to it.

Care

Wipe the blade and oil it after handling, every time. Bare 1095 takes a fingerprint and turns it into an etched mark within days in a humid house. Mineral oil, gun oil or a purpose made blade oil on a soft cloth is all it needs. If a rust spot appears, lift it with a rust eraser or fine oiled abrasive worked along the length of the blade, never across it, and re oil afterwards. There is more in steel care.

Feed the pale leather grip with a neutral balm once or twice a year, and expect it to darken with handling, which most owners prefer. Keep it out of direct sun, which will both fade the leather and warm the blade in a way that drives oil off. Polish the brass if you want it bright, or let it patinate to a deeper gold.

Forged in Memphis

This sword is forged in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. It is not lifted from an importer catalogue and rebranded on arrival. We forge the blank, grind the profile taper and the distal taper and the fuller, harden and temper the blade, polish it, make and finish the brass, wrap the grip and peen the pommel here. Current lead time is one to two weeks before it leaves us, and shipping inside the United States is free. It carries a lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

Every sword here is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The fuller is ground by hand, so its width and the point at which it runs out vary a little from blade to blade. The milling on the pommel rim is cut individually. The pale leather takes its dye unevenly across a hide, so one grip will be a shade warmer than another, and all of them darken with use. Brass polishes to a slightly different warmth depending on how it was filed. The length, the steel, the heat treat and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp out of the box?

It arrives with a finished cutting edge rather than a razor hone. Treat it as sharp. If you want it taken further, ask in the order notes and we will hone it before it ships.

Can I use this for HEMA sparring?

No. It is a display and collection sword. Sparring swords are built blunt with specified flex and are tested for that purpose. This one is not sold or built for contact.

Is the grip long enough for two hands?

No, and it is not meant to be. This is an arming sword with a single hand grip. If you want a two hand grip, look at the longsword listings instead.

Is the pommel threaded on?

No. The tang runs through it and is peened over into a rivet head, so the whole hilt is locked under compression with nothing to unscrew.

Does it come with a scabbard?

Not in this listing. It ships with oil and a care card. Scabbards and belts are listed separately.

How long does it take to arrive?

Making time is one to two weeks and United States shipping is free. Custom engraving adds a few days because it is cut after polishing.

What is in the box

• One hand forged 1095 carbon steel arming sword with brass wheel pommel and straight crossguard
• Bottle of blade oil
• Care card covering oiling, rust removal and leather feeding
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

Browse the rest of the arming swords, the longswords and the wider sword range, or read the guides for more on distal taper, pommel types and blade balance.