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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2008 2:54:24 GMT
Hey there kiddies: Well, I have to admit, after paying through the nose to have my katana customized to my liking..... Now I want to undertake a DIY..... Of course, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew... A long while back I purchased a hand and a half broadsword.... I was using it for stage combat, but after a while, the fullers started to rattle, and in the interest of safety, I put it aside.... I found it during a move, and I wanted to see if I could fix it.... Turns out its an old one from Valiant Armory, I should've known, since it was kind of a sore for sight eyes....(No offense VA, your new line is very drool-worthy...) Unlike the pic though, mine was brown leather with copper fittings... Anyway, after some fighting with a rubber mallet, I managed to unscrew the pommel, to find this... I couldn't believe it.... a welded tang on a 'battle ready' Valiant? I suddenly felt much like Dan with his Charlemagne.... except I don't have the same long, luxurious locks of hair.... Anyway, so, using a dremel, I cut the tang just above the weld, and I've plotted out how much blade I'm going to cut to create a full tang... Pics will follow soon, but progress is inching along, I'm cutting pieces away at a time, keeping the blade wrapped in a cool, damp cloth when I cut, because of limited tools, and not wanting to mess up the temper on the steel. I'm hoping to whittle this blade down to a sort of short, stout viking style blade. Thoughts as always are appreciated!
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Mar 11, 2008 4:00:50 GMT
Wow what a disgusting tang. Very disappointing. Glad you are turning it into something useful. Will you use the old cross and pommel? I look forward to your creation.
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Post by jw on Mar 11, 2008 21:22:03 GMT
That is disturbing, I see know why I don't buy 'Euro' swords...
It would make a nice long dagger!
Oh, I believe that is brass and fullers are the grooves in the blade...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2008 6:01:02 GMT
Thanks for the semantics corrections jw......
mind you I wrote that thread after a 12 hour workday, and was about to turn in to enjoy another..... lol...
As far as what I'm going to do with the guard and pommel, both are solid, but I'd have to completely drill out the pommel so I it can accept a tang peened into it. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of them... I was thinking about picking up some DSA fittings....
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2008 12:29:50 GMT
I'm sorry to hear about the tang but it sounds like your new blade has great potential!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2008 4:03:20 GMT
You could just make a "Sandwich-Tang" out of the lower 1/4 of the blade. That would provide you with some excellent security and a better opportunity for grip customization.
~Jesse
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2008 4:13:04 GMT
I'm still on the fence as to how exactly I'm going to go about customizing the grip. I need a new guard and pommel, so I've been watching albion's moat sale page, and weighing it against DSA's bits... We'll see what grabs me, I know when I see the parts that should go on the blade, I'll know it...
P.S. Jesse, I'm not sure if you were the one that mentioned Samurai 7 in an unrelated thread, but ever since it was brought up, I purchased the whole collection, and I do have to say its an amazing anime. A perfect compliment to my copy of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2008 1:36:19 GMT
UGH look at that hunk of crap tang. Keep us posted Kleveland.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2008 15:43:40 GMT
.... Then the opposite of congress is.... PROGRESS!!! Well then, there's my two cents into the democratic system, BUT.... we're not here to talk about that.... I have the day off, and given the nice weather, I just HAD to get some work done on this P.O.S. .... First, here's my workspace.... I know, its pretty sad, but here's the tour.... As you can see, all of my stock removal is being done with a dremel.... call it dedication, or insanity.... The red cup and rag are to wrap the blade and douse it with water to keep it cool so to not overheat the steel or the tools... and the hammer, aside from taking out frustration on the nearest rubbermaid trash can, Its been helpful in knocking off the pieces when I can't get in to cut that last little sliver of steel still hanging on... This took about 2 1/2 hours to cut into, from guestimation, I think the steel thickness is about 3/8".... not too bad for a rough cut...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2008 17:38:29 GMT
I love working bartender's hours.... It gives you the day free to do stuff.... I finished roughing out the tang today, can't do much more work on it until I get my parts, which I'm getting through albion's moat and a closeup ....Not bad for a dremel and handtools, eh?
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Post by septofclansinclair on Apr 9, 2008 18:52:16 GMT
Looks pretty good - and I appreciate the comment on my hair. You're making me blush...
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Post by dand on Apr 9, 2008 22:17:28 GMT
Looks pretty good......one thing I would caution you is to make sure you round the corners of the tang/blade shoulders meeting to relieve the stress and avoid a potential breaking point. Dan
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2008 23:07:51 GMT
Thanks for the advice Dan: Actually I've kind of figured a way around that. I was going to cut a small recess into the handguard I'm picking up, so the blade/tang joint sits inside the guard, and I was going to fill the junction point with JB Weld jbweld.net/products/industro.php
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Post by dand on Apr 10, 2008 2:42:03 GMT
Well, the JB Weld should help reinforce things, but unfortunately it may not be enough to compensate for the stress riser that's been created......it should only take a little work with a rattail file to fix it though. Dan
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2008 19:15:22 GMT
Being admittedly my first DIY project, I'd rather take the extra step and be cautious rather than be overconfident in an adhesive..... after all if they were that good, we wouldn't be worrying about tang strength, peening, etc etc..... Thanks for the advice Dan, I'll see if I can't either find or pick up a rattail file. No rush on it though, I'm in holding waiting for my parts to come in....
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2008 4:05:24 GMT
Nice work. I recently cut a sword down similarly, only I used a carbide rod hacksaw. I looked at my dremel and said " Nah that'll take for ever" Yeah... took at least twice as long as yours. I can appreciate the patience that took. Good job.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2008 8:08:26 GMT
It went alot quicker when I got the right cutting head...
on the first side, I was using the standard cutting heads that came with the dremel kit, I chewed through at least half a dozen of them.... so when I went to pick up more heads, I bought the reinforced ones at 5 heads for $6 something.... I only went through two of those, and that's because I got bogged down with the first head about 3/4 through the cut, and it cut through about twice as fast... heat's definitely an issue, so I've been wrapping the base of the blade with a wet rag packed with ice...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2008 22:48:48 GMT
well this seems like this will turn out not so bad
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2008 1:56:13 GMT
Sweet....What will your final blade length be when finished? I have been hankering for a short sword lately and I love the design. Maybe it could be a Wakizahi for a Euro sword..haha.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2008 0:39:51 GMT
... Sorry I haven't given an update as of late... I've been hard at work.... I ground down the false edge, taking off a total of about 1/8 of an inch from the edge overall, and re-centered the point. I picked up hilt bits through Albion's moat sale, ground the guard down.... I swear I've been picking ground steel out of my hair and skin for 3 days straight.... Progress pics soon!
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