Something they don’t tell you about the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film is that the swords Arnold Schwarzenegger swung on screen were aluminum instead of steel. 

Lightweight props designed to look brutal on camera without slowing down the shoot or the man wielding them.

The real versions? The functional, battle-ready steel replicas forged by Atlanta Cutlery and Museum Replicas? 

Those clock in at around eight pounds. 

As Terry Moss from Atlanta Cutlery told us when we recently sat down with him to talk swords, craftsmanship, and the art of forging Conan’s most iconic blades: “Even Schwarzenegger would have trouble with the real versions of these swords.”

The Difference Between a Blade and a Wall-Hanger

Anyone can go online and buy something that looks like the Atlantean Sword. The internet is lousy with knockoffs and so is the real world. Terry described a family vacation to Myrtle Beach where one of the surf shops had an entire wall of cheap fantasy swords hanging behind the checkout counter. That’s where the market went after Chinese manufacturers flooded the space with mass-produced designs that were cheap, flashy, and brittle.

Those knockoff swords are typically made of stainless steel, which sounds fine until you learn that stainless is far too brittle for a full-length blade. Worse, they usually rely on what’s called a “rat tail tang”: a thin, separate piece of metal welded onto the blade and inserted into the handle. It’s a structural shortcut. The weld point is a weak link, so a rat tail tang can’t handle the stress of actual use. Hit something hard enough and the blade separates from the hilt. 

The Conan replicas forged by Atlanta Cutlery are built completely differently. The blades are hand-forged from tempered high-carbon steel, which is the same class of material used in historical weapons. And, rather than have it be a spearate piece, the tang is a wide, continuous extension of the blade itself that runs the full length of the handle. That’s what makes these swords functional and – technically – battle-ready.

Forged in Fire, Finished by Hand

The craftsmanship doesn’t stop at the blade. The pommels and guards on the the Atlantean, the Father’s Sword, and Valeria’s Sword are all made from solid brass. The process is old-school foundry work: the brass is melted down, poured into molds, and left to cool. Once the casting is set, artisans apply a dark antiquing stain into the crevices of the design, which brings out the every skull, every curve, and every other line that fans recognize from the original film.

The result is a replica so convincing that when the show Stranger Things needed a Conan sword for one of its seasons, they used one of Atlanta Cutlery’s. 

Viewers assumed it was a custom movie prop, but it was actually just the same sword you can buy from their catalog. Pretty neat!

Centuries-Old Blueprints

Atlanta Cutlery’s commitment to authenticity extends well beyond licensed properties. 

Through their Royal Armouries line, the company works with English sword historian Matt Easton, who was granted access to examine centuries-old original swords held in England’s Royal Armouries collection. Easton took precise measurements and extensive photographs of the antiques, then worked closely with the forge to ensure the modern replicas matched the originals as faithfully as possible.

That means proper distal taper is used so that the blade thins as it approaches the point and thickens near the guard–exactly as medieval swordsmiths intended. It also means grips are built around authentic wooden cores wrapped in leather, and that the materials and construction methods mirror what a knight or a man-at-arms would have actually carried.

For Conan fans, that historical rigor is coveted. Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age was a product of his voracious study of the civilizations of history. A company that forges both historically accurate medieval swords and the blades of Conan is serving the same instinct that drives Conan’s fans to invest more in his world as a character: the desire to engage with a property that is based on something real.

“Is That a Real Sword?”

Terry told us about taking the Conan swords to two very different events: the Blade Show in Atlanta (a major exhibition for knife and sword makers) and Atlanta Comic Con. The reactions couldn’t have been more different.

At the Blade Show, the crowd is steel-literate. They want to know the composition, the temper, the weight. They want to hold it and feel the balance. 

At Comic Con, the question is simpler and, in its own way, more powerful: “Is that a real sword?”

They’re kind of bowled over, Terry said, by the idea that there is actually a real sword like the one in the movies. Both reactions point to the same truth that these swords exist at a rare intersection: functional weaponry and cinematic mythology. It’s a hell of a moat for the company to occupy. 

Fifty Years of Steel

Atlanta Cutlery has been in the blade business since 1971, when founder Bill Adams traveled to Sheffield, England (once the cutlery-making capital of the world) and bought up old warehouse stock of antique knives that local shops no longer wanted. 

What started as a mail-order catalog of vintage cutlery evolved into military knives, kukris, and exotic reproductions, and by the mid-1980s, into full swords. Their supplier, Windlass Steelcrafts, eventually acquired the company in the mid-’90s, and the Conan license followed not long after. 

It’s been active for over twenty years now.

In that time, the same forge that reproduces centuries-old Royal Armouries originals has also built out one of the most impressive collections of Conan steel in existence, spanning the Atlantean, the Father’s Sword, Valeria’s blade, replica coins, and miniature letter openers that sold out at San Diego Comic-Con.

Now, with a new Conan film currently in early development, that collection is only going to grow into more blades from the Hyborian Age, forged by the same artisans, with the same craft.

Go browse Atlanta Cutlery’s full catalog and see what fifty years of swordmaking looks like. 

You’ll probably find one that you want to swing around (even if you need to hit the gym before you do).