My guess is that you wouldn't move the whetstone over the sword, you'd move the sword over the whetstone, allowing you much more control over the angle and pressure. In fact, googling for whetstone and sword brings up images and videos of people sharpening swords by hand; I can't imagine the technique has changed very much!
With a grindstone I suspect you're absolutely right, but I don't see how you could move a big sword over a little whetstone and maintain control - you'd have to clamp or wedge the whetstone against something, or else hold the whetstone between your feet/knees and move the sword with your hands, and that seems like a supremely awkward position for maintaining a steady angle and pressure. I could be wrong, that's just my instinct.
All the videos I found were katanas, which I don't trust to be the same as a viking sword/arming sword type weapon. I will search some more, though. Thanks!
I'm afraid one problem you're going to run into is that most re-enactors and re-creators, like me, do indeed do routine maintenance on their swords, but not to sharpen them. We're trying to recreate combat as closely as possible without hurting each other, so what we we do after each combat is take a file and remove any notches that might have got into the blade, so it can't even draw the slightest scratch on our opponents is drawn across bare skin. This is (I would guess) a very different thing from trying to get it sharp! One other thing to check with experts is the extent to which swords in your period are meant to be sharp. I've heard arguments that some of the heavier ones were blunt, at least near the "handle end". I am no expert, so this may well be non-urban myth, but it's an assumption to be checked
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Great point about the rust prevention. I've heard the same about some swords being blunt, but there's still a significant range between razor-sharp and so blunt it might as well be a club; presumably a sword still had an edge of some kind, and that edge had to be kept in good repair.
How long is the sword? My butcher sharpens his knives (which are quite long to get through a side of beef) on a steel. He has the knife in one hand and the steel in the other and just wipes them across each other a few times. It's all a matter of practice. I would assume a swordsman would habitually sharpen his sword himself and only depend on the blacksmith for repairs if the edge is damaged.
Somewhere between two and three feet (roughly 30 inches, I think), plus the hilt. I'm mostly wondering if there's an ideal position (sitting, standing, kneeling?) and arm motion for doing it, since it's naturally going to be harder to maintain a consistent angle on a blade that size than on a knife.
You're probably right. This particular swordsman certainly would - he's quite a self-sufficient sort.
That's not a great deal longer than my butcher's longest knife. One major difference is that he sharpens frequently as he goes along, something you can't do in a fight.
Knives made of relatively soft steel, such as stainless steel, have a tendency for the edge to distort and bend a little long before the edge is actually abraded to the point of becoming dull. You can restore the edge, without actually sharpening it, by running it against a hard but non-abrasive object. So if you're using a 440 stainless steel you're going to be steeling the knife fairly often - every few minutes of cutting, or perhaps every few cuts - and after enough hours of use the edge will be dulled and re-aligning with a steel will just straighten a dull edge. At that point the knife has to be sharpened - abraded to form a new edge
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A good swordsman will not allow his sword to become dull. Part of his daily routine would be to clean and sharpen (if needed) his weapons, but with a major caveat. A sword that is too sharp will lodge in the flesh of teh opponent. Or so I'm told. A more curved lateral cross-section also helps to reduce binding when hacking rather than stabbing
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I probably phrased that poorly - he's not so much sharpening the sword as maintaining the edge. In the previous scene the sword saw a lot of use, and now he's taking care of it so that it doesn't get dull and is in good shape the next time he needs it.
That's really good information, thank you! So you'd brace the tip of the sword on the ground (with padding to protect it) and the blunt end on your knee?
That's how I do long tool blades so I'd do the same with a sword. There is a lot 'that's what works for me' involved in any traditional craft. A short blade, like for instance, a dagger or axe that could be done easily over the knee, but IME there comes a length when over the knee no longer works as you can't support it in balance.
That makes sense. One more thing - I know there's a difference between oil stones and waterstones, but it's my understanding that using oil as lubrication is a more modern method (water also just seems to make sense for a traveller, as it's readily available). Do you know how much water is used? Does the stone go in the water and then get applied to the blade, or is the water applied to the blade before the stone, or does the blade get wiped down with water periodically?
The period the OP's setting is when there was the transition away from pattern welding as suitable steel became more available. The pattern welding meant that you could save the rarer material just for the edge. An edge where you require it to stay sharp rather than blunt quickly.
From a military PoV one of the things you do everyday is to maintain the tools of your trade - your weapons.
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All the videos I found were katanas, which I don't trust to be the same as a viking sword/arming sword type weapon. I will search some more, though. Thanks!
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One other thing to check with experts is the extent to which swords in your period are meant to be sharp. I've heard arguments that some of the heavier ones were blunt, at least near the "handle end". I am no expert, so this may well be non-urban myth, but it's an assumption to be checked ( ... )
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You're probably right. This particular swordsman certainly would - he's quite a self-sufficient sort.
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That's really good information, thank you! So you'd brace the tip of the sword on the ground (with padding to protect it) and the blunt end on your knee?
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From a military PoV one of the things you do everyday is to maintain the tools of your trade - your weapons.
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