I'd like to help but I 'paint' my swords and such to make them stylized. Lots of layers, layer masks for EVERY layer, folders and sub-folders, making sure every layer has a name.. Thats how I make it all work that way if I want to focus on a particular bit I just click the folders to hide the parts I don't want etc etc so on and so forth.
As for actually making them I suggest using the line tool to get the basic shape over the top of the image, hide it most of the time and then show it to check if the shape is right. Using lighting efects and layer comps to get an idea of how its working.
This tutorial may help you ith figuring out lighting and such and shading.