"Flattened Pin Swords Anywhere?" Topic

The late Peter Gilder hammered steel pins flat to replace bendy and/or too large moulded cavalry swords with these. I tried this a few years ago and am on the edge of making more. Armed with a simple hammer and an anvil, I can do it, but….
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Before I commence, is there a manufacturer who makes such items for 28mms? Probably not.
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Why? Well nearly fifty Peninsular British Light Cavalry are riding into my collection any day now to be painted. I would rather have thin, flat and unbendy swords in their hands.
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Respectfully,
Bill

For light cavalry swords, I use a common sewing pin used for hemming trousers. I grip the pin in pair of pliers and smash the sucker flat with a common hammer. then I clip off the flat head of the pin and have an instant sword.

I also file a bit of the plating off the pin at the point where it will be reattached to the sword hand of the figure. The bare metal of the filed pin will adher better to the metal figure as a result.

Gilder used larger nails for his heavy cavalry swords. (for our purposes, large nails are really the small finishing nails).

I don't know any manufactures.

I use brass rod instead; it's easier to work with, I think.

How I do my swords: link

you can use "staple" – which are used to punch and pin sheets of papers, you don't need to hammer them, they come in different sizes

Mirliton do a range of cast 28 mm weapons, which are quite strong, but I'm not sure they have one suitable for the Napoleonic era.

Have a look and see if there's anything useful – bit.ly/nXRpGu

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Martin Stephenson
Vexillia: Wargames Miniatures & Accessories
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I tried it, but could never shape it very well, It always looked like … flattened wire.

Yeah flat wire/paper clips or like the Uruk Hai swords from "The Two Towers" Not good for Napoleonic Light Horse sabers at all!

Pins are great. Used many many pins in the past. Not hard at all. You just need a hammer, pliers, and a hard flat surface for an anvil.

mjc

I use brass bar stocck. If you have a real hobby shOp near you, you can get it in various widths and about 10" lengths. It is very easy to work with and already comes flattened out, just bend your curvature into it, poiNt it, and cut.

I'm an orthodontic dental lab tech, and I use stainless steel flat wire I keep in my lab. I found that I needed to rough up the ends to allow the super glue to better adhere to the little lead fist. Since the wire is stainless no need to worry about rust or paint.

As ever,

Hairy

Colonel hairy,
I was a dental tech a lifetime ago. I really miss the access to neat tools and equipment I had in the labs. Really miss them!

@von Winterfeldt

Thanks for the staples suggestion. That had never occurred to me but it might be ideal for making swords for my 15mm cavalry (I'm replacing broken lances with swords to make the 2nd rank of a unit of uhlans)

Bill,

Just in case you can use full-fledged miniature swords I will mention that I recently put up a post on my blog about replacing lances with swords for a unit of 28mm Perry Indian colonial cavalry --

link

I was very happy with the swords I bought from Dayton Painting Consortium. At $3 USD for a bag of 20 swords I found it to be a good value. They have 2 patterns of 18th/19th Century cavalry swords, heavy and light, as well as various other weapons. Here's a link to their 25mm accessories page:

dpcltdcom.org/rsm95_013.htm

I had first ordered swords from Front Rank but, despite being fine castings, they were far too big for the Perry 28mm figures.

Weird -- the link to the sword post on my blog doesn't work. Maybe it had a typo in it. Here it is again:

link

Just tried it, works this time.

Could somebody link us to a site where we can purchase the "stainless steel flat wire" ? Does it always come rolled ? Do you always need to order 25 POUNDS of it at once?

Use the teeth from a fine-toothed hard plastic comb.

Thank you for these greatly appreciated responses! Just when I thought the topic was exhausted, another new and clever idea arrives.
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Now to decide.
Respectfully,
Bill

For years now I have been replacing sword blades and scabbards with the flat side of a "Bobby Pin". An outfit named Conair produces a pin that is the right width and too long. I pick them up at the local Walgreens Drug Store. The product number for the pins that are correct for 28mm figures is: 55351N.
I first remove the lead blade from the figure and drill a small hole into the remaining guard. Then cut the pin to size (leaving a little extra to act as a tang) will a dermal tool or just a small file, I'll notch a tang at one end and place a point on the other (I've even gone as far as to put an edge on the blade). I'll polish the pin with fine emery and either epoxy or solder the new blade into the figure. A coat of clear gloss and its ready to go. The pins are a spring metal with a temper to them, as a result they will not bend over, but spring back.

Here is a Spanish dragoon I did several years back (It was given a "quickie" paint job), with one of the steel Bobby pin blades.

Hope you find this useful

One quick note about the figure in my posting above; He is an Old Glory French Dragoon who had a head transplant with one of their French bicorned infantry.
Here is what happened to the left over parts, scabbard is also a bobby pin.

I use brass wire for spears as well. Few hits with a hammer and a quick file and you have a spearhead.

I sometimes use brass wire for swords. No matter what metal you use, you can bend the wire first to make a curved sabre, and THEN hammer it flat. That same brass wire works great as a guard on the sabre.

O'Cedar Broom brisles. Flatten and trim with razor blade.