Tough day

Today was easily the toughest day of the entire build. My original plan was simply to wrap the handle, but it quickly became obvious that the moulded diamond pattern on the print was fighting the wrap instead of helping it. After several frustrating attempts, I made the difficult decision to completely redesign the handle, filling all of the diamonds with body filler and air-dry putty before repainting it and starting the wrap again from scratch.

Unfortunately, that led to another challenge. While removing the masking tape, sections of both the custom gold and green paint lifted away. I spent hours trying to repair the damage, but every attempt seemed to create another problem. At one point I genuinely considered throwing the entire project in the bin and skipping this week's video altogether.

In the end, I stopped trying to chase perfection. I had promised to make the sword for my daughter so I

decided to show the sword to her exactly as it was. To my surprise, she absolutely loved it. She told me I would be crazy not to take my glamour photos because she thought it looked fantastic, and then asked me to hurry up and give it back so she could hang it on her wall. It was a great reminder that, as makers, we're often far more critical of our own work than anyone else ever will be.

Looking back, this build taught me some valuable lessons that I'll carry into future sword projects. Sometimes the biggest victories don't come from making something perfect—they come from solving problems, learning new techniques, and finishing the project despite the setbacks.