Tybalt’s Rapier (sword)

This 4 ft long sword is a great addition to any Shakespeare lover’s collection, of just for a fun sword. Here are some tips and tricks for printing.

When printing the blade parts make sure to have a large brim, I used 10mm, and I recommend 50-75mm/s on the outer perimeters to avoid z-ribbing or the model tipping over.

All of the parts have a 0.515 mm hole in the middle so that you can slide them onto a 4ft long, 3/16inch wide rod. I started with the top of the blade and worked my way down from there. I have included a blade test file so that you can scale the hole to the metal rod correctly if necessary. I highly recommend starting with the blade test print to see if your rod will fit before printing an entire part of the blade.  

The cross bar connecter also connects the bottom of the blade to the handle, so make sure to place it there during assembly. Even though it seems off print it standing up on the two curved edges to make the hole fit and increase the print quality. The cross bar parts then connect to the connecter/bace. ONLY CONNECT THE CROSS BAR PARTS TO THE CROSS BAR AFTER YOU PUT THE HAND GUARD ON.

I recommend printing the hand guard upside down, because it increases the print quality.

The pommel has a hole so you can add a tassel or other decoration if you wish. You can also make one yourself and tie it on.

Supports should only be needed on the hand guard and cross bar connecter. Orient the rest of the pieces so that they don’t need supports.

For assembly slide the parts onto the rod and glue them all together. Like I said above start with the top and work your way down. IMPORTANT: Do not put the cross bar parts onto the connector until you have attached the hand guard, it will not fit otherwise. The hand guard just slides onto the cross guard connector. The rod reaches the entire length of the sword, so don’t be alarmed when it goes beyond the cross bar connector.

I printed most of the sword with PETG on my Elegoo Neptune 4 plus. I am confident PLA would work as well. I had huge problems with Z-ribbing on the blade, so I cut it into smaller chunks for this publication. I did the hand guard and cross guard/connector in PLA because they are more complex and I didn’t think my printer could handle it. I used a simple steel rod from Home Depot. It cost $6 and was easy to find. I used a layer height of .3mm for the blade to speed up the process, but .2mm would also work.