Building a Jake the Pirate Sword

I had been planning to make my son a Jake the Pirate sword of the Neverland Pirates fame (it's a kids show). After he told me out of the blue he wanted a Jake sword, I decided to get to work.

I drew a template in Google Sketchup to get proportions correct.

I started with EVA foam mats. You can get these from a variety of places. They are also known as anti-fatigue mats. I had a variety of scrap on hand so I started with that.

Interlocking foam mats.

Using a utility knife, I cut out the pattern.

Using a hot glue gun, I assembled the sword. I used 80 grit sandpaper to round off some edges and a wood burning tool to shape the handle. You could use a soldering iron in lieu of my wood burning tool. I also burned in a 'wood grain' pattern to the sword.

As the sword near the hilt is thin, it is not very rigid. I cut the back of the sword edgewise and inserted a small steel rod that extends from the hilt to the widest portion of the blade. I sealed the rod/opening up with hot glue.  The end of the sword still flexes, but the base now has some rigidity.

Next I painted the sword with a rubber coating.

I plan to paint the entire think with a cream base coat.  I will then layer multiple coats of brown on top of the base to achieve a wood look. I let my son see the unfinished sword to see how he liked it, and I'm having trouble getting it back to finish it =)