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Post by ride57 on Sept 2, 2011 17:54:11 GMT
Long time no post. I recently got 3 new items of Chinese flavour. First is a Pudao :twisted:  ~54 inches long and 4lbs. It looks wicked. The blade comes dull. It looks like it was a piece of steel that was left out side , then made into a blade, as the surface has that rough look to it. The bohi are cut in with a grinder. The blade is 8mm thick at the guard and tapers to 3mm thick just back of the tip.The balance is just forward of the guard:  A magnet "sticks" to the wood the entire length of the handle, so it has a full tang. I took a mekugi out (gotta learn the Chinese names) and got a rough measurement of 3mm for the tang, and it appears to be flat. I hope it is 1 piece (blade and tang) and not welded. I would have to unwrap and take the handle off to find out for sure. I think leather would make a better grip than what its wrapped with now  I can't wait to hack something with this. :twisted: gotta sharpen it first. So far, all in all, I can't complain for $55 (I got it at swordandarmoury) Ill post the other 2 (qin doa and cutting jian) later today or tomorrow when I get better pics. |
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Post by Sir Tre on Sept 3, 2011 17:01:17 GMT
sorry to burst your bubble, bro. but these have been all over the net. they even have different shapes of blade tips.
if you were to disassemble the hilt, most likely you would find that the tang is welded aprox 1 inch into the handle to a piece of thinner mild steel w/o any heat treat. what usually happens is when performing functional cutting, there begins a warping @ the blade tang junction which will loosen the handle area causing floppiness at that point.
i do hope this is not the case with yours... but the price point is the same.
what i HATE is that these are being advertised as fully functional.
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Post by Jayhawk on Sept 3, 2011 23:35:02 GMT
I'll be curious to see what the tang looks like on that if you can get it apart. I really like the look of that pudao, and I've contemplated buying it myself. It gets pretty good reviews on the S&A site. Did you buy this qin dao: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4684I've used mine for heavy cardboard cutting, and even cutting decent sized branches. It has a decent tang with the screw part only welded on which is the final inch of the tang (a beefy weld, too). The end cap is not affixed well in my experience...but glued back on it's stayed fine. For around $65, it's a rather nice sword...holds its edge well. Eric |
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Post by ride57 on Sept 4, 2011 0:38:34 GMT
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Post by ride57 on Sept 4, 2011 6:04:22 GMT
Well, I decided to take off the handle of the pudao. Got the wrap off and it looks like some sort of epxy or putty? Now Im at the point that if I take off the back ring, I will need to get it welded back on. But the tang is 3/4 in wide. The blade is 1 1/2 wide at the handguard   I am gonna wager, that this is a full tang, ie: tang is not welded to the blade. I will know when I get the handle off |
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Post by chuckinohio on Sept 7, 2011 22:49:15 GMT
I've got one of those Pudao, the one with the blade shaped more like the Dadao. I took the cheapo cotton shoestring stuff off and rewrapped it with leather thongs about 1/4 inch wide. More grip, and a more visually pleasing look.  I haven't really put it through the wringer as far as whacking on immovable objects, but it hasn't loosened up so far after some tree limbs, gallon jugs, and a couple of 5 gallon buckets. Sir Tres advice should be heeded, and a weather eye kept on the handle assembly. In the unfortunate instance of a failure of the tang, seeing the signs sooner rather than later will be a benefit. |
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Post by ride57 on Sept 22, 2011 0:24:12 GMT
Well, I had a day off today and finally got the handle off of the pudao. I really had to work to get it off. I cut the ring off and then used a hammer/punch and sloooowwwwllllllyyyy got the handle to start to come off. i got to this point:  I could see that they used 2 strips of wood to keep the handle tight.  They spot welded the hand guard on to the blade. I did not see anything that would indicate that they had welded a tang onto the blade at that point. I tried to take pictures, the camera just isnt that good.  after a while of pounding, I finally got the handle off. And you can see where the tang was welded on:  below is a big pic.  So, I have a few options. I can continue with my original plan to put it on the wall after doing a few cuts with it. That would include sealing the handle with with stain or something and rewrapping it as I got it. (rewelding the ring is a given) And drilling another mekugi hole in the tang just below the handguard. Or, I could get a piece of metal the same size as the tang and have somebody do a proper weld on it. Then use original handle. Or, reweld and make a new handle. I have some oak and I would need to find the router attachment for the dremmel, route out the tang, glue together and then plane/rasp/sand to get it round. seal and wrap with something. Either way, its going on the wall after I do a few cuts. ETA: maybe this weekend I will have time to take the jian apart and check it out, locktight the hex screw |
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Post by Jayhawk on Sept 22, 2011 2:58:34 GMT
I'll be curious to see how your dao's tang is handled. My tang is solid up until the the threaded bit (last 3/4" or so of the tang), so it's much sturdier than the padao...which is too bad because I really like the look of that padao but would be nervous doing too much cutting with it.
However, I do think it's an incredible looking wall piece and reasonably priced as such.
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Post by Polarclaw on Sept 23, 2011 15:31:23 GMT
Can you post a better shot of that welded Tang? I'd like to see if it's a shoddy weld or a good one. If I were to ever get one of these I'd almost be better of buying a blade and welding my own tang extension.
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Post by Sir Tre on Sept 23, 2011 17:45:56 GMT
have you thought about reworking to dadao?
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Post by ride57 on Sept 24, 2011 19:05:13 GMT
polarclaw, I will get pics later, gotta take the dog to the vets.
sir tre, no I hadn't thought about that, hhhmmmmmm
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Post by ride57 on Sept 24, 2011 22:17:56 GMT
I worked on the dao instead of the pudao today. The cap was well glued on. I had to rubber mallet it off.  The handle was not centered.  It looks like they drilled 3 holes into the handle from the guard side, and one hole in from the other side to hollow out the handle. The one from the handle side was drilled off center. I drilled and rasped to get the hole in the center as best as possible. I also got a spacer to keep it centered. The MP heavy duty metal protector is what I sprayed on the tang. It smells/looks exactly like the corrosion protector we used in the Navy.  Here is the weld.    I wire brushed the tang and used a rat tail file where the blade meets the tang on one side to make the transition more rounded instead of angled.  I have to go get some epoxy to glue that spacer in and to fill in the handle by the blade end some more (sort of like glass bedding a rifle) For the Jian, I took the hex nut off the end. It was on very tight. you can see the end threads are actually part of the tang which was formed, then threads were cut. Big difference between a $225 sword and a $50 sword. :shock: :mrgreen:  The weld on the pudao, wasnt all that good of a weld. In my not-a-expert opinion. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 24, 2011 22:20:48 GMT
Hey, Ride; do you happen to have a scale handy? If you do, would you mind weighing the guard and pommel of your jian? One of my original designs uses furniture of similar size (a slightly different shape, but similar) and I want to know about how much the whole thing will weigh.
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Post by ride57 on Sept 24, 2011 22:59:09 GMT
vincent, the guard/handle/endcap and screw weigh 1 pound. polarclaw, here are a couple more pics of the pudao weld:    |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 24, 2011 23:37:05 GMT
Thanks. So I'm probably looking at about 3lbs... Great; this is gonna be a heavy sumsemprini (it'll only be 34" overall), but at least most of that weight should be in the hilt since the furniture's going to be solid bronze.
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Post by ride57 on Sept 25, 2011 1:00:23 GMT
solid bronze :twisted:
That should be hefty!
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 25, 2011 1:05:08 GMT
Well, ideally, I'd prefer mild steel to save me the trouble of having to plate the furniture (the sword calls for rhodium plated steel in the novel I created it for, but I'd settle for silver in real life as I imagine rhodium is expensive), particularly considering the sword will be peened, but I don't actually know anyone who can work with mild steel (we've got a couple bronze casters on the forum, though).
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Post by ride57 on Sept 25, 2011 7:08:29 GMT
Well, I got some repair putty (Locktite) the kind that is in a roll, and you cut off a piece and knead it to mix the 2 parts. I used that in the end of the handle (handguard end) to fill in the space. I used release agent (you can also use PAM, the cooking spray) on the tang, and molded in the end, then put the handle back on for a hour to let it set up and harden.  After it hardened, I drilled a hole through the handle/tang with a drill bit one size smaller than 3/16. (I got a piece of 3/16 and 1/4 in brass rod) measured a piece of rod and cut it. It took forever to file the opening so the rod would fit through with some tension. The second hole I just drilled it 3/16 and used a punch to dimple the steel next to the hole so there is tension on the brass rod.   I epoxied the metal decoration piece that is on the hand piece that is up against the handguard. I used the putty to hold the metal spacer on the pommel end. I sprayed the tang with the metal protector. I had to use a rubber mallet to tap the handpiece on. (when I first took it off, it was so loose, it fell right off by itself) I got a washer that covers the wood of the hand piece and a lockwasher. I also used locktite on the thread and nut. tapped the 2 mekugi in. I used the putty to hold the endcap on instead of epoxy. I also used Mothers Polish to clean the blade up. It has scratches that look like it was tossed in a bin or something when it was being made. I can still see them, but for the price, I can't complain.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For the Pudao, I am going to find someone to weld a new extension piece to the tang, so its not welded at a angle. Its 3/4 in wide and ~21 in long. I have some oak pieces that will work perfectly for the handpiece. I will need to route out a channel for the tang, glue them together and figure out how to shape it. Then seal and wrap it. I will use the 1/4in brass rod for the mekugi. One in the actual tang of the blade and 2 more on the welded on piece.  |
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Post by Jayhawk on Sept 25, 2011 12:27:26 GMT
Nice working putting those pins into the dao's hilt...that looks really nice, and I'm sure they'd significantly increase the integrity of the sword for heavy chopping. These are clearly handmade as there are definite difference between yours and mine. One difference it the hilt on mine was drilled nicely and fit very snug with only the end cap being loose (well, it fell off right away and yours was nicely attached).
What do you think of the blade itself? I may need to do the pin thing myself...where did you get the nice little brass pins?
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Post by Polarclaw on Sept 25, 2011 22:30:57 GMT
I think you're doing an awesome job. But those welds.... They hurt my eyes. Absolutely horrid welds. Please get someone who knows what he's doing for that weld. I do have confidence that a welded extension could be extremely solid if done well.
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