Brassfeather Hand Forged Brass Hilt Damascus Sword | 37 Inch Overall | Rune Cut Guard and Oxblood Leather Grip | Norse Collector Gift | RK-1860

The Brassfeather pairs a full length feather pattern Damascus blade with a solid brass hilt. The cross is brass, curved gently toward the point, with a line of Elder Futhark runes cut along its face. The grip is oxblood leather wound over a shaped wooden core and the pommel is a faceted brass cap peened over the tang. It ships in an oxblood scabbard finished with a brass chape.

Feather pattern is the most difficult figure in pattern welding and the one that rewards a close look most. Where a twist pattern gives you whorls and a ladder gives you rungs, a feather gives you a central quill with barbs running away from it at an angle down the entire length of the blade, mirrored perfectly on both sides of the centre line. There is no way to fake it and no way to add it after the fact. It has to be built into the billet before the blade exists. This sword is welded, forged, ground, etched, hardened and fitted in the Czech Republic.

Specifications

How a feather billet is made

Start with a normal layered billet of 1095 and 15N20, welded and drawn out until the layer count is high. Then comes the part that separates feather work from everything else. The bar is split lengthwise down the middle with a chisel or a saw, most of the way through but not all the way, so it opens like a book while still joined at the spine. A wedge or a punch is driven into the split to push the layers apart and force them to bend away from the centre line.

Fold the two halves back together, weld them shut, and the layers that were forced outward now run diagonally away from a seam down the middle. Grind the flat and you cut across those diagonals. The seam becomes the quill and the bent layers become the barbs. Because the two halves came from one bar, the barbs mirror each other exactly across the centre.

The reason it is difficult is that everything can go wrong at once. Split unevenly and the quill wanders. Wedge too hard and the layers tear instead of bending. Weld it back with a scale inclusion and there is a cold shut running down the middle of your blade. Feather billets get discarded far more often than any other pattern, which is why a feather blade of this length costs what it costs.

Brass, leather and the two steels

Brass has been used for sword furniture for as long as swords have had furniture, because it is easy to cast and cut, it is soft enough that it will never mark the blade, and it takes an engraved line beautifully. It is also heavy, which is useful in a pommel that has to counterbalance a thirty inch blade. It will tarnish to a warm gold over time. Most owners leave it and prefer it that way.

The blade is 1095 and 15N20. The nickel bearing 15N20 stays bright in acid and the 1095 goes dark, and that contrast is what makes the feather visible. Both harden together in the same quench, and the finished blade sits at 58 to 60 HRC through the pattern, so it behaves as one homogeneous piece of steel because that is what it is. The grip leather is vegetable tanned hide dyed oxblood through rather than surface coated.

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 rune line on the brass cross is that design, so your inscription is cut there in its place. Brass takes a finer and deeper line than steel, so a longer phrase fits than you might expect. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Brass fittings shift the balance backward compared with steel ones of the same size, so despite the thirty inch blade this sword balances about four inches ahead of the cross and weighs a little under three pounds. It feels controlled rather than heavy at the point. The curved brass cross turns a descending edge aside instead of catching it square, and the faceted pommel tells your palm which way the edge is facing without you having to look.

This is a hand finished collector and display sword. It is not sold as full contact sparring equipment and should not be struck against another blade.

Care

Etched Damascus takes fingerprints badly, so wipe the blade down and keep a light film of mineral oil on it. Neither steel in the billet is stainless. Brass can be left to go gold on its own or brought back with a metal polish, but keep polish off the blade because it will dull the etch. Feed the oxblood leather with a neutral balm once or twice a year and keep it out of direct sun. Do not store the sword in the scabbard for months at a time. Our steel care page covers spotting, oiling and refreshing a tired etch.

Made in the Czech Republic

The work behind this piece happens in a Czech Republic workshop that has kept to the old methods. Steel is forged and heat treated by hand, the grind is taken down by eye rather than by machine, and the handle, fittings and sheath are cut and finished one at a time. Because of that, every piece carries small marks of the hand that made it.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import direct, check each piece when it reaches us, and ship from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse. Engraving is added here in the United States after arrival, so the piece you receive is finished to your order.

A note on handmade variation

This sword is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Feather patterns are the least repeatable of all. The angle of the barbs, how straight the quill runs and how far the feather carries toward the point are decided by how the billet opened that day. The tone of the brass, the depth of the oxblood dye and the hammer texture also vary. The dimensions, the steels and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the feather pattern real Damascus?

Yes. It is forge welded 1095 and 15N20, split and rewelded to create the feather. The pattern goes through the steel.

Why does this cost more than the plain steel swords?

Feather billets take far longer to make and a greater share of them are scrapped before they ever become a blade.

Will the brass tarnish?

Yes, slowly, to a warmer gold tone. Polish reverses it whenever you like.

Does it come sharp?

It arrives with a clean cutting edge. Tell us in your notes if you want it left blunt for display.

Is it suitable for sparring?

No. It is a hand finished collector and display sword and should never be struck against another blade.

How long is the lead time?

One to two weeks of processing, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• One Brassfeather feather pattern Damascus sword in 1095 and 15N20
• One oxblood leather over wood scabbard with a brass chape
• A light protective oil film on the blade
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

More in Damascus swords, arming swords and swords, with pattern welding notes in the guides.