Custom Clariel

Hello everyone! I’ve just shipped out what is probably the most gorgeous Clariel style blade I’ve ever made. It took me a little over a week from start to finish. Remember when it took me 3 – 4 weeks to make sword?!

I’m so pleased with how far I’ve come with my crafting. It’s been a long and frustrating journey with big bites taken out of it for illness and surgery. Life doesn’t always cooperate with what we want to do. We all do the best we can.

I continue studying, experimenting, and swearing at my tools to bring you better and better artwork.

About the piece: This shadowhunter requested only the angelic rune on the handle, a black wrapping, and a frosted finish on the blade.

The snap closure on the wrap is the tiniest I’ve ever used so it’s quite difficult to spot if you don’t know what you’re looking for. I decided to shape the leather flap (which covers the light fixture) in two separate pieces and adhere them together. This resulted in a covering that conforms to the shape of the handle much better than forcing a single piece of leather to go over multiple curves.

If you want your very own Clariel, you can pop over to my Etsy shop and get one made for you. Please note: I go on holiday at the end of this week so your sword will come to you in the new year if you order now. 🙂

That’s all from me for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Almost Done

Quick update on Clariel before I go running off to the workshop again. I’ve been super busy with the holidays coming up.

Leather flap formed, interior painted a nice reflective white, ready to be glued on.
Starting the rune carving. Yes, I do it all by hand.
Carved and pressed. Now for the epoxy putty handle.
Sculpted, clamped and curing. Yessss.

I’ve already got the sanding, the other rune carved on the other side, and the base coats of paint on the handle … but I forgot to take a pic before I left the workshop last night. Sorry! Super busy! Thanks for stopping by! Gotta run now.

Back in Business

Hey guys! I’ve been out of commission for 6 weeks with this stupid surgery thing and I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back in the workshop! As soon as the doc cleared me for active duty I hopped on the train, headed directly to the shop, and cast a brand new Clariel.

I like big clamps and I cannot lie …

I was worried about getting back into the swing of things. Would I need some time to get back in the game?

It looks like a creepy but happy fish.

The resin behaved. The vacuum pump behaved (even though I really should probably change that oil …)

Yaaaaassssss

This is probably the fewest bubbles I’ve ever had in a casting and they were all pinhole surface bubbles, easily buffed away with a little sanding. To say that I’m pleased with the results is a huge understatement.

Here it is all trimmed and with its first couple rounds of sanding. I’m starting to leave the handles rough so the adhesive and epoxy putty has a better surface to grip to. I can’t wait to see how it’s going to turn out!

Thanks for stopping by my page. Hopefully updates will be regular again.

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