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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2010 16:50:45 GMT
POLISHING CANCELED! Okay as you may know I been busy polishing my sword. I normally respect life, and things that can take it. However what I cannot respect is a sword that is as much risk as to it's users as to his enemy (no matter who or what that is). Today with my Musashi SS809BK an accident occurred which I would consider no less find unacceptable in any "fully functional" sword. The ito/tsuka/bamboo peg failed in withholding the blade when I swung it at two water bottle targets... the blade went flying off, with only 1 bamboo peg, the peg either flew out or cracked under pressure as I cannot find it anywhere in my backyard.. Luckily the blade was launched downwards (downward strike)/struck dirt where it stuck a good 6 inches. No one was around thank fully or a injury may have occurred. I remain uninjured, and safe. The blade has been properly dulled and polishing is canceled. I am afraid I cannot blame Musashi, or the vendor for this mishap as it was my own lack of knowledge in that sub $100 are just simply NOT real swords for the most part. This scare immediately let me to examining the blade/fittings to attempt to figure out how it happened, and I believe I found the culprit. The tsuka was carved at an angle, leaving the blade's edge slightly off centered. Add to the fact that the bamboo peg that was left in place was extremely angled it could have been forced out. Here's the Tsuka And the peg hole. Can't see the angle well, but it's definitely there.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2010 19:21:36 GMT
good luck with it. polishing is a pain in the a#$ but when done, it gives a pleasant feeling.....
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2010 1:13:33 GMT
yeah it is pleasant. Apparently youtube decided to give me issues with uploading. I will try again in a short while.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2010 4:11:11 GMT
I can't remember the exact number of days it took me to do my katana. I'm sure it was at least 3 maybe 4 though. You can only do so much in one day until your arm wants to fall off! I found that a rubber block works well for sanding on the rough beginning passes. Just have to hold the paper in place with your fingers. For the finishing work I just used my fingers directly on the paper, blade pointing away from me. I found it was easier to feel the correct pressure and follow the curve of the blade that way. Gotta be careful though. Good luck and can't wait to see pics of the finished product.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2010 19:33:30 GMT
I predict mine may take a few weeks. I am going from 600-800-1000-1500-2000-2500 grit. Each takes about one hour per side, will take longer at higher grits..
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 2:28:47 GMT
Ok, the Tuska is off, but the Mekuni hole angle is correct, it needs to be that way so you can remove it without untying the wrap, you should see the hole on each side of the tuska inside the dimond, you use a brass dowl and a small hammer to remove it, hand press it in, takes the hammer each time to remove, you can get better bamboo mekuni at some of the suplyers...Sanmarc.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 2:34:11 GMT
Actually I replaced the mekugi with SwordnArmory's hardened bamboo, it had a super tight fit. I see so the angle is fine. I wonder what went wrong :/ not a tight enuff Ito wrap? Or maybe my swinging?
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Post by sicheah on Jun 14, 2010 2:50:40 GMT
Actually I replaced the mekugi with SwordnArmory's hardened bamboo, it had a super tight fit. I see so the angle is fine. I wonder what went wrong :/ not a tight enuff Ito wrap? Or maybe my swinging? First of all, when you insert the blade into the tsuka, it is a tight fit or no? If it is not a tight fit, you can toss away that tsuka since it is useless (well you can epoxy the blade with the tsuka). You cannot expect a tight fitting mekugi to hold the blade and the tsuka core. It is like driving dangerously on the road and expecting a seat belt to save your life
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 3:02:50 GMT
It is a tight fit however I can actually remove the blade from the tsuka by hand. I swung it afterwards very lightly, and sure enough the tang crept up slowly until the 3rd swing where it came loose however did not fly out as I secured a piece a of cloth around it (dulled the edge after the incident) attached to my hand for that reason alone..
Yeah I may just sell the fuchi kashira, tsuba, and habaki *if it can be sold* alone and keep the blade/the tsuka unless the ito/menuki/ray skin can be resold. The blade/tsuka i do not feel comfortable selling as the blade is half-tired polished at 1000 grit, and the wooden tsuka handle is obviously defective slightly. I am not even sure if that can be fixed.
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Post by sicheah on Jun 14, 2010 3:16:33 GMT
If you could remove the blade from the tsuka by hand on a production sword, it is probably a little on the loose side. Most of the katana I've owned (owned almost none now ) needs a nakago-nuki to remove. They are really tight, but no cracks on it. The issue is that wood tsuka on entry level katana are not carve specifically for a production blade. Therefore, to be on the safe side, it is better to create a tighter fit for that sword. The problem with that is, too tight a fit might cause the tsuka to crack (which is pretty common in some entry level sword ). In your case, a little loose fit might cause the katana to fly out. Frequent removal of the tsuka also causes the fit to loosen a little over time. Even with cracked on a nicely carved tsuka, a tight ito, full wrap as well as tight fitting of the fuchigashira prevents the crack to become larger and loosen the fit. In your case if the tsuka is not crack, poor fit between the blade and tsuka is the most likely cause the blade to fly out. I am no expert in fixing loose tsuka, but perhaps shimming it with cardboard might help in creating a tighter fit...but personally I am not too sure on that though. To be really on the safe side, you might need to epoxy the blade with the tsuka core
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 3:36:32 GMT
hehe seems like I may... What a bummer though. I would have liked to be able to disassemble my sword later on. I may just get another sword to replace it. I kind want to have 2 swords hung on my wall. So I could just get a replacement for this one. This time I will try munetoshi's T10 Light cutter katana.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 5:13:28 GMT
You can shimm the tuska with some wood and glue, then with needle files, fit it to the tange, takes some time, but worth it, I would make a new tuska for that so it will fit better, what you have is still a real sword, but with bad tuska, the other fittings are fine, no epoxy needed...SanMarc.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 8:08:21 GMT
what do you mean with "EVEN" ?
had 3 Musashi (200-300 $) and all of them sucked (cracked tsuka)
i think Musashi is highly overrated, not better than those low end "brands" like Masahiro or Bushido
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 8:20:57 GMT
Well it has to do with the fact that they're everywhere in reviews, and most praise them for their price/functionality. But I suppose I found first hand that low end Musashi=should not be trusted to be a real beater sword.
I was lucky not to get a cracked Tsuka... but did get one that's off angled, as shown in the pic..
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 13:36:33 GMT
You dulled the blade!? The blade was fine. Just the tsuka core that was messed up.
And what are you looking to get out of those fittings?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2010 16:53:39 GMT
From my research, many people advocate placing ha side of the nakago on solid wood, not on the split in the tsuka core. If I recall correctly this was done traditionally to prevent the forces generated by a 2'+ lever from splitting the tsuka by prying directly on the split in the core. I'm sort of surprised to see it in a sub $500 sword to be honest.
Nothing makes up for a poor fit though. The tsuka needs to be properly carved, and of an appropriate material to take advantage of the intended design regardless.
Cris
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Jun 20, 2010 21:02:35 GMT
I have heard the same thing about the offset seam in the Tsuka, it makes sense. my musashi failed miserably but in the blade and not the fit of the Tsuka. not to sound silly but are you 100% sure that the mekugi was actually in place before you started swinging? you said you couldn't find it. it could also be that the tight fit you described when inserting the SNA mekugi was only on a very small portion of the mekugi and could have come loose with a previous hit and dropped out easily. I had a similar fit problem with mekugi that had too much of a taper and only became tight on the outer part of the large side. and sorry for the next question, did you insert it from the correct side?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2010 21:44:09 GMT
not to sound silly but are you 100% sure that the mekugi was actually in place before you started swinging? you said you couldn't find it. it could also be that the tight fit you described when inserting the SNA mekugi was only on a very small portion of the mekugi and could have come loose with a previous hit and dropped out easily. I had a similar fit problem with mekugi that had too much of a taper and only became tight on the outer part of the large side. and sorry for the next question, did you insert it from the correct side? All good points. Cris
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2010 3:43:32 GMT
I have heard the same thing about the offset seam in the Tsuka, it makes sense. my musashi failed miserably but in the blade and not the fit of the Tsuka. not to sound silly but are you 100% sure that the mekugi was actually in place before you started swinging? you said you couldn't find it. it could also be that the tight fit you described when inserting the SNA mekugi was only on a very small portion of the mekugi and could have come loose with a previous hit and dropped out easily. I had a similar fit problem with mekugi that had too much of a taper and only became tight on the outer part of the large side. and sorry for the next question, did you insert it from the correct side? Yes I am sure it was placed in on the correct side, it's actually a little easy to tell because the side where it goes in has a small cut off node which makes it very easy to tell the sides. No problem it's a very valid question that I would have asked my self.. To add more I actually noticed a very large crack at the bottom of the tsuka, when redoing the ito with some silk ito I got from SnA. I did a horrible job on the ito art wise, but it is very tight/secured and will not budge more then 2-3mm also does not budge when swinging the sword (two meguki in place seems to be safe). The diamonds however are not geometric.
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