Thread: My second blade: brightnail

When I started this blade, I didn't know what to make. I first cut a piece off to the point, since –imho- square points are rather boring. After I did that, I was unsure on how to proceed. Then, the name ‘brightnail’ popped into my head.

You won’t recognize it if you haven’t read Tad Williams’s fantasy novel: Memory, thorn, and sorrow (4000 or so pages). Brightnail was a special sword. The point of the razor made me think of it for some reason, and I made the razor in the image of what brightnail would have looked like in my mind’s eye, had it been a razor. As soon as I did that, the shape of the razor emerged almost on its own.

I wanted the razor to look agressive, alien, and with a mind of its own. I think I succeeded. The scales were made from olive wood and the pointy ends match the blade. The end spacer was made from bone, and the third pin goes through a round piece of bone to rest the razor.

The edge is 2.25" long, and the blade is 7/8+ wide. The spine is too thin though, so I made a brass shim for honing to bring the angle to 15 degree.
EDIT: I forgot to add: the steel is Mike Blue Damascus. The stock was a scrap that Mike played with earlier. This is where I 'cheated' a bit: there was already a primary grind so I only had to refine it and even it out and then make a razor out of it.

It's not yet honed in these pics, so the bevel looks dirty. At this stage I just removed the nail polish that was used during the etch.