Weapon had set out as a carved ornament (7)
I believe the answer is:
netsuke
'a carved ornament' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'weapon had set out' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'set' is 'ets' which is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'nuke' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for netsuke that I've seen before include "Japanese decoration" , "Carved Japanese toggle" , "ornamental device" , "Japanese carving" , "Japanese clasp" .)