Wheelbraid Hand Forged Damascus Arming Sword | 36 Inch Overall Length | Steel Wheel Pommel with Brown Leather Grip and Knotwork Cut Ricasso | Knightly Collector Gift | RK-1920

The Wheelbraid is a knightly arming sword built on a pattern welded Damascus blade, with a straight steel crossguard, a brown leather wrapped grip and a flat steel wheel pommel. A band of cut interlace sits on the flat just above the guard. It ships with a brown leather scabbard fitted with a polished steel throat.

The wheel pommel is one of those pieces of design that arrived and then simply refused to leave. It shows up in the eleventh century, is everywhere by the thirteenth, and is still being fitted to swords four hundred years later. The reason is that it is the cheapest possible way to solve two problems at once: it is a disc, so it is easy to forge and true up, and a disc puts its mass out at the rim where a counterweight is most effective. Ornament could then be added to the flat faces without touching the function, which is why so many surviving wheel pommels carry arms, crosses or inlays. Form followed manufacturing, and then decoration followed form. Forged, ground, heat treated, etched and hilted in the Czech Republic.

A single handed sword of this class is the usual first purchase, and how to buy a first sword covers what matters. Interlace of this kind was the standard decorative language of the period, and the symbols guide covers the patterns that keep coming back. The medieval helmets are the obvious thing to hang beside it.

Specifications

Reading a Damascus blade properly

Most buyers look at Damascus and ask whether the pattern is pretty. The better question is whether it is consistent. On this blade the layers run parallel to the edge for the whole length, tightening slightly as the blade narrows towards the point. That is what correct forging looks like, because as the smith draws the billet out the layers stretch with it. If the pattern suddenly changes direction, doubles back on itself in one spot or vanishes into a smear, that is a sign of a cold shut or a failed weld rather than an artistic flourish.

The other thing worth knowing is that the pattern on a finished sword is a cross section, not a surface. You are looking at the layers cut through by the grinder as it shaped the bevel, which is why the pattern often runs in tighter bands near the edge where more material was removed. Sharpen the sword over the years and the pattern shifts subtly. It cannot wear off, because it goes all the way through.

The steel and the leather

The billet is 1095 high carbon steel welded alternately with 15N20, a nickel alloy. After forging, grinding and heat treatment to 58 to 60 HRC, the blade is etched in acid, which cuts the 1095 faster and leaves the 15N20 standing bright. The result is genuine relief you can feel with a fingertip.

The grip is vegetable tanned leather laid over a shaped hardwood core, wrapped tight and finished so the seam sits along the flat where the hand does not press. Leather over wood is quicker to make than a stacked grip and gives a firmer, less springy feel, which suits a sword that is used with a shield or in one hand. The scabbard is the same leather, wet formed over a wooden liner and fitted with a polished steel throat that protects the mouth from the edge on the draw.

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 the Wheelbraid the flat faces of the wheel pommel are the traditional place for a mark, and we can cut there as well as on the blade. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

This is a single hand sword balanced around four inches ahead of the guard, which is the classic knightly arming sword compromise: enough presence to cut properly, enough control to thrust and recover. It is designed to be used with a shield or a buckler in the other hand, and the straight guard gives you a stable surface to bind against an opposing blade.

Hold it with the index finger behind the guard if you want point control, or wrapped for a heavier cut. The blade arrives sharp. It is not intended for edge on edge contact against another blade or for full contact reenactment or sparring.

Care

An etched Damascus blade needs oil more often than a polished one, because the etch opens the surface. Wipe the whole blade down with a light oil after handling and again before it goes away for any length of time. Feed the leather grip and scabbard with a neutral balm once or twice a year, and never with a silicone dressing, which seals the leather and traps moisture. Keep the sword out of the scabbard for storage. There is more on steel care on the site.

Damascus wants oil more than plain steel does, because the etch that shows the pattern also opens the surface, and caring for a Damascus pattern covers what to use.

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

Each Wheelbraid 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 Damascus pattern is unique to each billet and will differ visibly from the one shown. Vegetable tanned leather is a natural material and darkens at its own rate, so grip and scabbard shade varies. The cut interlace is done freehand, so line weight and spacing shift a little. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from a plain steel arming sword?

Structurally it is the same sword. The difference is the blade, which is pattern welded from two steels rather than ground from one, and that adds several days of forge work and a visible pattern that runs all the way through.

Is it sharp when it arrives?

Yes. Say so in the order notes if you would rather have it finished blunt for wall display.

Can I use it with a shield for reenactment?

Not with a sharp edge. If you want a blunted version for a group, ask before ordering and we will discuss what is possible.

Will the etched pattern fade over time?

No. It is structural, not surface applied. It can dull if the blade is left to oxidise, and a wipe with oil brings the contrast straight back.

Can I have my initials on the pommel?

Yes. The flat faces of a wheel pommel are the traditional spot for exactly that, and there is room for initials, a date or a short rune line.

How long does it take?

One to two weeks to forge and finish, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• One Wheelbraid Damascus arming sword, 36 inches overall
• Brown leather scabbard with a polished steel throat
• Care card with oiling and leather feeding instructions
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in arming swords, Damascus swords and scabbards and sheaths, or read the guides.