Sword of Altair (Assassin's Creed)

This Instructable is a how-to for a wooden prop version of the sword that is carried by Altair in the game Assassin's Creed.

I decided to make the sword in three parts. Handle, Cross Guard, and Blade. Then I used a threaded metal rod to to make sure the connection between the three pieces was secure. It might have been easier to do one piece that started as the handle and turned into the blade and then attach the cross guard to it, but I already started before I thought of that and rather than lose momentum dwelling on how I could have done it I just kept on pressing on.

The supplies I used were:
-Thin pieces of wood (I got mine from a pallet)
-A threaded metal rod
-Wood glue
-Spray paint
-Clear coat
-Spray adhesive
-Leather

The tools I used were:
-Coping saw
-Rasp and files
-Drill
-Electric sander
-Rotary tool
-Scissors

To get the look right I grabbed a picture of the sword off the internet, enlarged it to the size I wanted and then printed it out. I just printed the handle part since I figured I could probably do the blade without it.

Once I had the design traced onto the wood I cut it out with a coping saw.

To get the rounded look I needed I just went to town with my rasp and files. I slimmed down the grip so the leather grip would be flush with the pommel. I also filed down the end of the handle to fit into the cross guard. Other than that I just rounded everything off.


After I had it shaped the way I wanted I drilled a hole into the end of the handle and through the cross guard. I also used my rotary Dremel to cut a slot into one side of the cross guard for the blade to fit into and a hole on the other side for the handle to fit into.

I got a little ahead of myself drawing the detail on but that's for the next step...

Looking at the little paper cutouts I used as my original templates I tried to copy, as accurately as possible, the detail on the pommel and cross guard. I used my Dremel and a cutting wheel to carefully cut the design into the wood. I also used some small files for fine tuning.

The wood I was using was a bit thick for a sword blade so I had to thin it down a bit. Because of the detail at the base of the blade I thinned it down in stages.

I used a hand held electric sander to thin out the blade and bevel the edge

I used a coping saw for the tip.

I used my dremel to cut the base of the blade into a tab to fit into the matching notch in the cross guard.

I used my dremel and a rasp and files to do the detail work.

To attach the blade together I cut a short length of the threaded rod I had and screwed it through the cross guard and into the blade. I didn't use any glue because I figured the threading would do its job, but I kind of wish I had at least put some glue in the seam before putting it together. I had made the hole in the handle slightly too big because I knew I wouldn't be able to screw that one on since it was going into the cross guard and it wasn't perfectly round. So for that side I put glue all over the rod and jammed it into the handle.

I just used a primer I had around so I was a little worried about the color, but it ended up not mattering. After it was all primed I used a hammered silver spray paint and used light coats so I would get the silver metal look without the hammered look.

After it dried I watered down some black acrylic paint and did a couple coats where I brushed it into the detail, wiped it off, let it dry, repeat, until it looked like I wanted it to.

I wrapped some paper around it to try to get a feel of how the leather would fit and tried to trace the shape of the pommel. Once I cut the leather out I tweaked it a bit more.

I sprayed the back of the leather with a spray adhesive wrapped it around the handle and put a bunch of rubber bands around it.

You're done!

If you want you can add more details. You could weather the blade, or add blood splatter. You can add more features to the grip. Some versions I've seen have a wire wrap design overtop of the leather. You can also stitch the seam in the grip up if you want. I might do that to make it more durable but it's not required.