[This is a very condensed extract from – “The Textbook of Theatrical Combat ©“. All rights reserved]
For both costume and combat swords, rust and stress are the main villains. Both are always present, and both must be looked to at every opportunity. Maintaining the temper of the steel is a vital long-term goal.
- Refrain from grabbing the blade with an ungloved hand. Not only will this prevent cuts and scrapes, but our hands have oils which contain many salts. Salts attract airborne water vapor; water creates rust.
- Oil from time to time with a light weight machine oil or WD-4O (or heavy grease or car wax for long term storage).
- Never leave weapons lying on grass; never stick the tip into the ground.
- When rust is spotted, remove it. Use a dull emery cloth or fine steel wool.
- If makeup or stage blood gets on the weapon, remove it as soon as possible. Don’t put it away for the night with the idea of cleaning it in the morning. You’ll have a very deep rust hole by then.
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. 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.
- 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).
- 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 entire time that a blade is ringing, that unrelieved stress – the vibration – is working to loosen the pommel. It also means that the stress vibrations are opening up micro-fractures within the blade itself. Some day those micro-fractures can get large enough to create a weakness in the blade, and finally the blade breaks.
Lastly, remember that all metals expand and contract according to ambient temperature. When it contracts, it can take pressure off of the pommel, allowing it to loosen with use. 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.] 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.
Do you have other questions? Need specifics? Feel free to ask!