[DesertRose]

My husband is a sword smith who makes swords, daggers and other historical weaponry for reenactors and collectors. So so I know making a blade is not "quite" *That* easy.

You can make a blade using "metal removal" but the best way is learning to use a hammer, a forge/blower and anvil. "Gas or Coalfired forge".....depends on where you live and your codes. My husband prefers using a coalfired forge and this is how he has made his blades for over 50 years. He can use gas, but you learn better "heat"/color control with coal.

After some reading you will find Not all steel alloys are the same. Soft steel alloys may give you a simple blade and good for learning how to hammer a blade from.... but you can't temper it. Carbon steel alloys most knifemakers use would not be suitable for making longer sword blades either.

Whatever you do Don't use a Tool Steel alloy for Any blade though. Too hard and brittle.

Either way, the best blades are hand forged, tempered and then annealed properly. This way you don't have a brittle blade that will snap under use. There has to be some "give" but not tempered too soft where it takes a "set" (stay bent) either. This is especially true for a longer knife blade. Forging a longer short or long bladed sword calls for more expertise.

In all, it is a craft that needs to be kept alive. When my husband first began forging in the mid 1950s, Sword making was a "Dead Art". The Armourer's Art was also dead. (For that matter, Blacksmithing in general was a "dying" art.) There aren't as many commercial knife companies using carbon steel for blades anymore. Stainless Steel blades don't take an edge worth the beans....and most you see sold is cheap, cheap, cheap imported from overseas.

Perform a "search" about knifemaking/blacksmithing. How to make your own forge (my husband made his first one out a steel 55gal oil drum) Anvils can be found. You can still find old farrier's portable forgebox setups....we have rescued and refurbished a couple from being used as "flower pots". Hand cranked blowers (Champion or Buffalo) can still be found too.