I am currently in the process of a basement remodel, so I had some cut offs from 2x4s. Here are the various measurements.

If my math is correct, total is roughly 93 inches. Take into account the lost from the kerf of the blade, I should be right around 96 inches or 8ft. 

First things is to remove the round over and "square up" or "joint plane" the edges of the 2x4s

All clean.....

Set the tablesaw to 1/4" inch. Using the smaller lengths of 2x4 I cut them down to 1/4" planks.

Not bad. 

Looking good. Some burn marks, but not too shabby.

On this board I was almost through the length when it got "hung" up. I could not figure out why it wouldn't move forward or backwards. Ended up, a knot came loose and lodge itself in the riviting knife so the board was stuck. Had to set this off to the side since to fix it, I needed to flip the fence of my table saw. But got it broken down none the less.

Now set the fence back to 1/2inches. I ran the larger board through to pull off what will be the blade.

Looks pretty nice.

Anybody need any Pine Veneer. For when you only work with hardwoods but want that cheep look. 

Anybody need any Pine Veneer. For when you only work with hardwoods but want that cheep look. 

I really need to invest in some more dust control. 

Taking the four longest 1/4 planks. I marked the center of one and the transferred those lines across the other planks.

Nice....

Since the kids have gone to bed and I didn't feel like pulling out the chop saw for these board, hand saw to the resecue. 

Laid the shorter pieces in a stagard pattern and with the cut off filled in the gaps. 

Glue time! 

Placing some weight. I knew those 10lbs plate weights I bought many years ago to start working out would come in handy one of these days. 

I'm impressed. 

Pretty decent. 

Created a circle jig for my router. 

Did a test cut with the bit barely cutting into the wood to make sure I had the right measurements. I want to get as much as the wood as possible.

After cutting halfway through one side, I flipped it over so I don't dig into my bench. 

All done. 

Ahh... looks like the hole was centered. Oh well, a quick hit with the sander solved that problem.

Wiped down with some mineral spirits to help remove dust. 

Wiped down with some mineral spirits to help remove dust. 

I've watched various 2x4 challenges on Youtube to figure out what I wanted to do. I came across a video by Geek Wood Shop, where he made two Gladius swords. This is what I decided to make. He linked some templates on the video as well as on the instructables  page so I didn't have to reinvite the sword.

Since I have to work within the confinds of my wood scraps, I ended up having to shorten the blade about 3", I did this my removing parts of the ends where they overlap. It doesn't look too bad. Also noticed my center line wasn't straight all the way through. :(

Took it to the band saw to cut out the template

All done.....

On to the handle. Taking the reaming part of the larger board, I cut a few sections. One for the pommel, handle, and the gaurd. 

On the handle, I trimmed both pieces down and then cut a rabbit on each side.

Whoops, forgot to adjust the Grip-IT....

Tracing the part of the sword where the guard will set.

I tried various ways of cutting out this area. I tried chiseling, but I don't have a very good chisel setup, and I need to sharpen my chisels. So I turned to my dremel with saburtooth fine grit bit. 

Eh.. it will do. 

Glued up the pieces together and let it sit. 

While things are clamped and drying, decided to do some test staining. This is actually acrylic paint that has been watered down into a "stain."

All dried. I think the one of the far left will be the winner.

Doing some testing for the base stain as well. Early American at three different thinned levels. I think the bottom left is the winner here. 

Mixed up the arcylic stain

By your powers combined.... a thined Early American, with washed Dark Blue paint. 

Alright, skipped a step, I trimmed down the three pieces now they are all glued.

Using the bandsaw and my bench sander I shapped the gaurd.

Here is the handle with the design and the transfer lines. 

I don't have a lathe, so I tried using my spindle drum for my drill press. This wasn't working the way I wanted, so ......

... To the bench sander and some time I rounded down the handle. 

Again, used the bench sander to shape the pommel. 

Used a 1/2 drill bit and my chisels to square out a hole for the last part of the tang to sit in.

Doing a dry fit to test that every fits. 

Stained the pommel and guard with Minwax Espresso Stain. The handle is Golden Oak. The two flat pieces are two more test pieces to see if a washed gray acrylic will work for the sword blade. Not sure yet. Will see.

Pure fine sawdust....

...Added in some stain...

... stain colored sawdust! 

Forgot to take pictures, but used the my orbit sander to start shaping the sword and cleaning it up. Unfortuantly the knot in the wood fell out during sanding so now there is a hole iin the sword. Not sure what I'm going to do with that. After using the orbit sander, I used my sanding blocks and worked my way through the grits. Finishing with 320 by hand, and then hitting it with 800 becuase why the hell not. 

Time to stain the blade. Used the same as the handle... "Golden Oak"

Set a stop at the same width on the tablesaw. I could have used my chop-saw, but didn't feel like getting it out. 

While things are drying, started to work on the handle. Took some of the extra planks and ripped them into 1/2in strips. 

Dry fit the design for the handle. Basicly to make the handle sturdy, I did a plywood type of layout. Alternating the direction of grain on each layer.

And the glue-up...

Some clamps

And on the next day.... all glued. Feels pretty sturdy.

Trimming it up.

After some shaping, looks pretty good.

One last sanding....

Glued up the sword gaurd, grip and pommel. Used the stained sawdust mixed in with some 5-min expoy to help fill in some of the gaps where the guard meets the sword. 

Looks pretty good.

Using some 5-min Epoxy Glue, glued the handle. 

Knew these weights would come in handy. 

Stained the shield with a thinned out Early American...

Not Pictured, To make the center color splotch, I mixed some blue, white and black acrylic paint and thinned it out with some water to make a "stain" (see above).  After the stain had dry, it was time to add the Pale symbol on the shield. This was a pain in the ass. Printed the template, used some spray adhesive then using an excto knife to cut out the 'stencil'.

Not bad. After the initial paint, took some goo-be-gone and removed all the spray adhesive and did a light sanding. Then went back over the design with a second coat by hand and cleaned up the edges. 

After going back and forth decided to paint a rim around the edge. Drew a circle about a 1/4" in from the edge and painted it a dark gray. Actually like the results. 

A few coats of spary poly...

...

All done!   

Skyrim Belongs to the NORDS!

For the most part, this is all that is left of the 2X4.