Cutting Down Ricasso on CAS Hanwei Bastard Sword
Dec 26, 2007 23:41:43 GMT
Post by ShooterMike on Dec 26, 2007 23:41:43 GMT
I received a new replacement sword from CAS Hanwei several weeks ago. Unfortunately, the hilt exhibited a terrible rattle in the guard and grip when held upright and struck on the pommel to cause the blade to vibrate. Blake Pogue arranged for me to return it for replacement. But instead, I decided this was a golden opportunity to carry out a project I had been keen on since reading about a similar project carried out by Michael "Tinker" Pearce on SFI. I have to credit Tinker for the inspiration for this whole endeavor.
My first goal was to shorten the Hanwei sword from the rear, setting the shoulder forward an inch, making it fit the guard and grip snugly, and fill the hilt assembly with glue. At the end I would fit the pommel and peen it back in place for an overall tight sword, with hopefully improved handling, and a slightly better fit for my 5' 6" height.
The second goal was to do it all with hand tools and a few common, inexpensive grinders that most people can afford or already have, such as a belt sander and a Dremel tool. And I wanted to document the whole process so others could see that repairing or upgrading an existing sword is not a difficult undertaking.
I began by clamping the blade onto my work table.
Here is the original peened pommel.
I began grinding the peen away with a Dremel tool using an abrasive cutting wheel.
With the peen ground away, it was relatively easy to knock the pommel loose with a rubber-head mallet. Then knock it off the tang with the a plastic-head mallet.
The rest of the hilt simply slid off the back with no effort. As it came off, several thin wooden shims slid out the grip. These were apparently used in an attempt to make up for the very sloppy fit of the grip near the guard.
Next it was time to take micrometer readings of all the critical dimensions and draw out what I wanted to achieve. I learned the hard way that if I don't take this planning step I will likely be correcting goof-ups later. Note the scribed cut marks on the shoulder of the blade.
Next step was to clamp the bare blade to the table, then cut just outside the scribed lines with the Dremel tool and cutting wheel.
Here's a picture immediately after the sections were removed. The two removed pieces are on the table.
Next step was cleaning up the tang and making it fit snugly to the existing grip. For this I used a tungsten carbide cutter in the Dremel to cut a round shoulder at the junction of the tang and blade. Then I filed the shoulders to the scribe lines with a hand file. Lastly, I ground and filed the length of the tang to match the interior of the grip using a bench grinder.
Then it was time to do the final fit on the guard. I really lucked out on this. When I filed to my scribe lines, the fit was such that I only had to tap the guard into place and it fit exactly as I wanted.
Now it was time to clamp the blade in an upright position. For this I used the table leg, and placed a wood block under the tip. The guard was put in place. The grip was filled with Elmer's wood glue and slid over the tang. The pommel was slipped onto the tang and hammered into place with hammer and a large flat punch. The last quarter inch took considerable pounding to put the desired pressure on the grip and make the whole assembly rock solid.
Last came the hardest part, peening the tang. The sword was clamped tightly into a padded vise. A cut was made across the length of the tang to provide a place to start the punches. Then I used a variety of punches to start the expansion. Then finished up by using a ball peen hammer as the final punch, hammering the ball against the peen with another hammer. Here's the beginning.
And here is the final result, before any cleanup grinding.
I kind of like the rough-looking peen. At least for now, I'm leaving it this way. Here is the finished sword.
The handling is noticeably better for me. Only one inch seems to really make a difference when it is removed from a very thick, heavy ricasso. It seems a bit more lively and can now be handled with one hand well enough to make the blade hiss and sing in dry handling, if only barely. Whereas before it was a bit slower and required two hands to move around. And needless to say, having the whole hilt assembly rock-solid makes all the difference in the world.
My first goal was to shorten the Hanwei sword from the rear, setting the shoulder forward an inch, making it fit the guard and grip snugly, and fill the hilt assembly with glue. At the end I would fit the pommel and peen it back in place for an overall tight sword, with hopefully improved handling, and a slightly better fit for my 5' 6" height.
The second goal was to do it all with hand tools and a few common, inexpensive grinders that most people can afford or already have, such as a belt sander and a Dremel tool. And I wanted to document the whole process so others could see that repairing or upgrading an existing sword is not a difficult undertaking.
I began by clamping the blade onto my work table.
Here is the original peened pommel.
I began grinding the peen away with a Dremel tool using an abrasive cutting wheel.
With the peen ground away, it was relatively easy to knock the pommel loose with a rubber-head mallet. Then knock it off the tang with the a plastic-head mallet.
The rest of the hilt simply slid off the back with no effort. As it came off, several thin wooden shims slid out the grip. These were apparently used in an attempt to make up for the very sloppy fit of the grip near the guard.
Next it was time to take micrometer readings of all the critical dimensions and draw out what I wanted to achieve. I learned the hard way that if I don't take this planning step I will likely be correcting goof-ups later. Note the scribed cut marks on the shoulder of the blade.
Next step was to clamp the bare blade to the table, then cut just outside the scribed lines with the Dremel tool and cutting wheel.
Here's a picture immediately after the sections were removed. The two removed pieces are on the table.
Next step was cleaning up the tang and making it fit snugly to the existing grip. For this I used a tungsten carbide cutter in the Dremel to cut a round shoulder at the junction of the tang and blade. Then I filed the shoulders to the scribe lines with a hand file. Lastly, I ground and filed the length of the tang to match the interior of the grip using a bench grinder.
Then it was time to do the final fit on the guard. I really lucked out on this. When I filed to my scribe lines, the fit was such that I only had to tap the guard into place and it fit exactly as I wanted.
Now it was time to clamp the blade in an upright position. For this I used the table leg, and placed a wood block under the tip. The guard was put in place. The grip was filled with Elmer's wood glue and slid over the tang. The pommel was slipped onto the tang and hammered into place with hammer and a large flat punch. The last quarter inch took considerable pounding to put the desired pressure on the grip and make the whole assembly rock solid.
Last came the hardest part, peening the tang. The sword was clamped tightly into a padded vise. A cut was made across the length of the tang to provide a place to start the punches. Then I used a variety of punches to start the expansion. Then finished up by using a ball peen hammer as the final punch, hammering the ball against the peen with another hammer. Here's the beginning.
And here is the final result, before any cleanup grinding.
I kind of like the rough-looking peen. At least for now, I'm leaving it this way. Here is the finished sword.
The handling is noticeably better for me. Only one inch seems to really make a difference when it is removed from a very thick, heavy ricasso. It seems a bit more lively and can now be handled with one hand well enough to make the blade hiss and sing in dry handling, if only barely. Whereas before it was a bit slower and required two hands to move around. And needless to say, having the whole hilt assembly rock-solid makes all the difference in the world.