[quote=Leidenschaft]
I was going to reach into my inner-Dwarf and forge a sword for my senior project.
[/quote]

From everything I've learned in my eight hour binge of blacksmith videos, it's that decent swords are all about the heat of your fire; too low and the metal won't be pliable enough, too high and the metal becomes brittle when cooled. this of course is all basic stuff so I hope you seek the insight of one who knows substantially more than me but the thought's there :p Good luck, SoulSmith