Boneclasp Hand Forged 1095 Steel Skull Sword | 32 Inch Overall | Blackened Skull Guard and Chevron Etched Blade with Black Leather Scabbard | Fantasy Display Gift | RK-1939

The Boneclasp is a short fantasy sword built around a cast skull that sits where the guard would normally be, with a pair of heavy quillons sweeping down and out from behind the jaw like horns. The whole hilt is finished in a dark blackened tone, the grip is wrapped black over a shaped core, and a ball pommel closes the end. The blade is bright and broad with a band of chevron braid etched down the flat near the ricasso, and the sword ships with a black leather scabbard carrying two wide belt straps.

Sculpted hilts are older than the fantasy genre by several centuries. European hunting swords and court swords of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries routinely carried cast beast heads, grotesques and figures on the pommel and quillon block, made by exactly the same lost wax process used here. A carved hilt was how a cutler showed what his shop could do, and it is the one part of a sword where a maker could work as a sculptor rather than a smith. This one is forged and assembled in Memphis, Tennessee.

Specifications

How a sculpted guard is made

A skull like this one cannot be forged. Forging moves metal in broad strokes and it is the wrong process for undercuts, eye sockets and teeth. What you do instead is carve the shape in wax at full size, build a heat proof shell around the wax, melt the wax out and pour metal into the void it leaves. That is investment casting, or lost wax, and it is the oldest precision metalforming process we have. There are cast bronze figures from the Indus valley made this way more than four thousand years ago.

The reason it matters here is that casting is what makes the down swept quillons possible. Look at where they leave the skull. They spring from behind the jaw, curve outward and then hook back toward the blade, and there is no way to draw that shape out of a bar under a hammer without leaving a weak point at the root. Cast as one piece with the skull, the quillons and the block behind them are a single body of metal with no join to fail.

Be clear about what those quillons are for on this sword. They are a sculptural feature. On a historical hunting sword a down swept quillon would catch a boar’s tusk or an opposing blade, but a cast decorative guard should not be trusted to take that kind of shock, and we would rather say so than let anyone find out the hard way. The skull is there because it looks the way it looks.

1095 high carbon steel and the blackened finish

The blade is 1095, hardened and tempered into the 54 to 58 HRC band and ground flat with a secondary bevel. At 24 inches it is short enough to be stiff and long enough to look like a real weapon on a wall or in a photograph. It is finished satin so the etched chevron panel reads clearly against it.

The dark tone on the skull, the quillons and the pommel is a blackened oxide finish rather than paint. That is worth knowing because a painted casting chips at every high point and reveals bright metal underneath, while an oxide finish wears gradually and evenly. Over time the raised parts of the skull, the brow and the cheekbones, will start to lighten from handling. That is normal, and on a piece like this it usually improves the look because it puts highlights exactly where a sculptor would have put them.

This is not officially licensed merchandise for any film, game or franchise, and it is not a replica of any specific fictional weapon. It is our own design.

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, so a rune line on the blade takes the place of the chevron braid panel. The leather of the scabbard is a good second surface if you want to keep the blade as it is. See the engraving page.

Handling and display

The balance point sits close in, about three inches ahead of the guard, because there is a lot of cast metal at the hilt. That makes the sword feel much lighter than its weight suggests and it hangs well on a horizontal mount without the point drooping.

Be honest about what this is. It is a hand forged blade with a genuine heat treat, sold for collecting, display, costume and photography. It is not sold as a battle ready sparring weapon, it is not built for contact work against another person or another blade, and the cast guard in particular is not designed to absorb impact. Hang it, photograph it, wear it as part of a costume, and cut nothing harder than a water bottle on a stand.

Care

Keep a light film of mineral oil on the bright part of the blade and wipe it after handling. Bare 1095 spots from skin salt faster than most people expect, and the etched panel will hold moisture in its cut lines if the blade is put away damp.

The blackened castings need very little. Wipe them with a dry cloth and do not use abrasive polish on them, because an oxide finish is thin and polishing takes it straight off. If you want to slow the wear on the high points, a trace of oil on a cloth wiped over the skull does the job. Feed the scabbard leather twice a year with a neutral balm and keep it out of direct sun. Full guidance is on our steel care page.

Forged in Memphis

The blade is forged, ground, hardened, tempered and etched in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. The hilt castings are finished, blackened and fitted here, the tang is peened here, and the scabbard is cut, formed and stitched in the same building. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue with our label on the box.

Allow one to two weeks of processing before dispatch. Shipping inside the United States is free. Every piece 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

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. Each casting is cleaned up and blackened by hand, so the depth of the dark tone across the skull and the exact crispness of the teeth and sockets vary from one to the next. The etched chevron panel differs slightly in weight and the leather of the scabbard has its own grain. The dimensions, the steel, the heat treat and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this from a film or a game?

No. It is our own design and it is not licensed by, endorsed by or associated with any franchise. Anyone selling you a sword as official merchandise should be able to name the licence.

Is it display only or is the blade real?

The blade is genuinely forged and heat treated 1095 steel, so it is a real blade. It is still sold as a display and collector piece, because the cast guard is not built to take impact.

Does it arrive sharp?

It ships with a working edge by default. A great many buyers ask for it blunt because it lives on a wall, so say the word in the order notes and there is no extra charge.

Will the black finish chip?

It is an oxide finish rather than paint, so it wears rather than chipping. The raised parts of the skull will brighten slowly with handling.

Can I wear the scabbard?

Yes. Two wide leather straps are set into the scabbard body, so it will take a belt or a baldric directly, which suits costume use.

How long is the wait?

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

What is in the box

• One Boneclasp skull sword with a 1095 high carbon steel blade
• One fitted black leather scabbard with two wide belt straps
• A protective film of oil on the blade for transit
• Care notes for high carbon steel, blackened castings and leather
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

More in this vein: fantasy and movie swords, short swords, swords and sword stands and displays. Background reading lives in the guides.