Zidane's Butterfly Sword FFIX From Old Table Saw Blade

I had a table saw blade with broken carbide tips so I decided to repurpose it.

Final Fantasy IX is one of my favorites and the first thief dual bladed sword you could obtain was the Butterfly Sword. Being the simplest to design, I decided to make one of my own.

Obviously, it would be more ideal to synthesize your own with a dagger and mage masher, but beggars can't be choosers.

Old table saw blade, or similar metal

Cutting device, I used an angle grinder but a hack saw could work as well

Vise

Files, sand paper, abrasive items

Marking tools

Straight edge

Hammer

Cold chisel

Calipers

Red cord/lace

Here is a YT short of my process.

https://youtube.com/shorts/8jhlvjs0PI0?feature=share

I took the table saw blade and marked/cut a long area with my angle grinder fixed with a cut off wheel (pic 1-2).

Then, I swapped to a flap wheel to smooth out the rough cuts (and made a lot of iron shavings, pic 3).

The overall dimensions I calculated out (based on pictures online and my cut-out) was a 18mm W x 170mm L x 2mm H rectangle.

The overall length was ultimately cut to 170-mm (~6.7-inches) which will help calculate out the dimensions for the length of the blades, the handle, and the tips later on (pic 4).

The finished blade will have a 34mm handle & each blade length overall was 68mm from "tip to tip." By that I mean where the handle stops and the angle for the blade begins. That part to the tip will make more sense in Pic 7 of Step 2 below. The angles cut on the blades tips were ~40-degrees.

I smoothed out the long sides with a large bastard file to aid in making the edges parallel (pics 1-2).

I marked the center of the piece, lengthwise (pic 3-4), followed by the tips that need to be shaped (pic 5), and lastly the cut-offs to make the handle (pics 6-7).

To remove the tips, I used the angle grinder to cut the majority of the excess off, followed by the flap wheel, and then I finished smoothing with various files.

However, when dealing with the handle portion, I approached the "fingers" left over from the angle grinder on the center handle with a cold chisel. I didn't want my novice hands to remove too much metal or make it too lopsided should I have gone rogue with the grinder / files (pic 8-9).

This made quicker work than I expected and put my mind at ease when removing the excess metal.

I then finished smoothing the middle handle with files to help ensure symmetry (pic 10). I also rounded the handle portion a little with some light filing. It will be covered with the leather eventually but it helped me out.

With the sword cut and smoothed to shape, it was time to grind the blades. I marked the edge of the blades (~1mm) with calipers (pic 1) and stuck the blade in a vise. I went with an unorthodox method to shape the blade and found a scrap block cut to 35-degrees. I used that rough angle to file the blade edges (pic 2-3).

I did this for all edges & tips, removing the bulk with the large bastard file, and smoothing with a finer file (pic 4-5).

With the edges cut, I smoothed the inner long sides to polish it up a bit (pic 6-7). This would also be a good time to remove any excess ink with acetone.

I didn't go super scary sharp with this as this is more of a display item than a functional one. But that was just my option.

With the blades done, I proceeded to wrap the handle. I purchased some red leather lace from the craft store and got to wrapping.

I started by laying some excess parallel (lengthwise) to the handle and wrapped over it, working my way down the handle (pic 1-2).

To finish, I had a lot off excess lace wrapped over a drill bit (pic 3). While still loose, I put the tip underneath (pic 4), pulling taught (pic 5-6).

I cut off the tail after making sure the wrap was smooth and tight (pic 7-8).

I cut a piece of stone tile to shape to act as my display back (pic 1).

I drilled two holes with a tile bit and kept it cool with water. I would simply dip the bit tip in a cup of water which also helped remove excess buildup.

I will use two brass mounts that I acquired from an old timey stereo. This worked out really well for it's size, however, to get them to screw into the tile, I had to force some scrap wood into the holes. I drilled a tiny 1/16th-inch hole to start the screws and the wood gave them something to "bite" into. Hopefully that all makes sense.

The Butterfly Sword was now ready to mount and display on my peg board along with my other geeky goodies!

I went into this really REALLY wanting to chisel / engrave the wings into the blades like the real version in the game, buuuuuut then reality set in and I realized I didn't have the stuff to do that. However, I don't roll over that easily so I will not dismiss this but just put in on the backburner for now.

I'll take any advice ranging from a quick and dirty method all the way to full blown chisel engraving.

Thanks for checking this out and I hope you give this a try.

I plan on doing more video game / Anime replicas of weapons because, frankly, I have been wanting to do so for a long time and this was the first one I executed using metal in a long time.

If you are a fan of my Instructables / YouTube channel you could refute that statement by saying, "Wait, you cold forged a Lance of Longinus," or "You have a wooden Buster sword!" You would be correct but I did those years ago and I would like to get back into it.

Anyhoo, I'll see you on the next one!