Routine Care and Rust Prevention
For both costume and combat swords, corrosion and accumulated damage are the principal enemies. Both require regular attention. A stage sword is not merely a prop; it is also a piece of safety equipment. As its condition declines, so does the safety of everyone on stage.
Between productions, remove all weapons from leather sheaths. Leather absorbs and retains moisture, and prolonged storage in a sheath can corrode the blade while also damaging the leather. Clean and protect the blade before storing it in a dry location.
Avoid handling the blade with an ungloved hand. This helps prevent cuts and scrapes, but it also protects the steel. Perspiration and natural skin oils leave salts and other residue upon the blade, encouraging corrosion. A neglected fingerprint can eventually leave a permanent mark in the steel.
After handling or using the sword, wipe the blade with a clean, dry cloth. Apply a light coating of machine oil or another suitable rust-preventive oil as needed. During a normal production, oiling every few weeks may be sufficient, but weapons used frequently in rehearsal should be inspected and treated more often. For long-term storage, a protective coating of heavy grease or paste wax may be used.
Never leave a weapon lying on grass or stick its point into the ground. Grass, soil, and outdoor surfaces expose the steel to moisture, grit, and corrosive material.
When rust appears, remove it promptly. Light surface rust can usually be treated with very fine steel wool or fine emery cloth used carefully with oil. Begin with the mildest abrasive that will do the job; unnecessarily aggressive abrasion can damage the finish and remove sound metal.
If makeup or stage blood gets on the weapon, clean it off as soon as possible. Many theatrical products contain water, salts, sugars, dyes, or other ingredients that can attack the steel. Do not put the weapon away for the night intending to clean it in the morning.
TEMPER – is that combination of strength, flexibility, and “springiness” which is built into the steel, and will vary from blade to blade, often on purpose. Temper is a balance: too stiff a blade is also too brittle and can shatter. Too soft a blade will gouge easily. A simple way to think of temper is to imagine a coiled spring — firm enough to hold shape, flexible enough to absorb force.
Temper is lost by stressing the blade and also by excessive heating and cooling of the blade, so for long-term care of the weapon practice the following:
- avoid storing thin-bladed swords with the tips resting on the floor. Constant downward pressure can slowly warp the blade
- keep weapons away from extremes of temperature.
- never allow power machinery to build-up heat on the blade (so use a hand-file to bring down burrs and nicks). Heat can permanently alter the crystal structure of the steel and ruin the temper.
- always disassemble a sword when repairs to any part are necessary.
- unless you have experience in cutlery tempering, never attempt to weld or braze a fight-grade sword blade.
STRESS: All weapons can break. It is unfortunate but true. Even a broadsword can snap in half in the middle of a fight and it will give no warning before it happens. That is because swords are constantly under a great deal of stress, and sometimes adding just a little bit more can be the little bit that causes it to break. Where does stress come from? Either internally or externally.
Internal stress comes from simply building the sword.
Swords are made of several parts, all held together by tightening the pommel down. In order for a sword to ring when struck, the pommel must be tightened down quite a bit, but therein lies a quandary. Ringing steel is just the aural manifestation of unrelieved stress, a vibration within the blade – the more you hear, the more you have. If the ringing isn’t there, it means that the stress, the vibration, has been converted to heat very quickly, usually by being absorbed into a wooden handle. And that might actually prolong the life of the sword.
The ringing has nothing to do with the fight-worthiness of the sword. I can build a sword out of non-tempered aluminum and have it ring like a bell. I can also make a powerful steel sword that doesn’t ring at all.
The The entire time that a blade is ringing, that unrelieved stress — the vibration — is working to loosen the pommel. Pommel-loosening can also occur for a quieter reason: all metals expand and contract with changes in temperature. As the metal cools and contracts, it can relieve pressure on the threaded tang, allowing the pommel to back off slightly during use. Because both of these processes are subtle and often silent, the pommel should be checked and tightened routinely so the sword remains safely assembled.
Those same vibrations that loosen the pommel are also opening up micro-fractures within the blade itself. Over time, those micro-fractures can grow large enough to create a structural weakness, and eventually the blade can fail. Tightening the pommel does not prevent that; it simply prevents the fittings from loosening. So tighten the pommel as much as you need, but listen to the sword as well. Ring, no ring – doesn’t matter. But a change in the sound could mean that your sword has begun to loosen.
External stress is the banging of swords when in use. Naturally you need to use the swords, but always make sure that the actors are well grounded in good stage combat basics. All fights should be choreographed by an experienced stage combat instructor. (Not necessarily a fencing instructor. The techniques of competitive fencing are unsafe for both actors and swords. Fencing is built on fast, tip-driven strikes made to score points — the opposite of controlled, shared storytelling.)
No actor should ever be in the position of having to make a block in order to save her or his life. Discipline and control have no substitute.
If a sword must touch another sword, even if only once, or must be dropped at any time, only a fight-grade blade must be used. If the sword is merely going to be drawn and flourished, a costume grade blade may be used. And for stage managers, props personnel, and fight directors: checking pommels and fittings before each rehearsal and performance is one of the simplest and most effective safety measures you can take.
Do you have other questions? Need specifics? Feel free to ask!