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Post by TheMu on Sept 7, 2012 14:05:35 GMT
Customized Cold Steel Warrior Katana I purchased this sword years ago and I didn’t use it much, because its balance was quite odd and… Here’s link for more details: www.coldsteel.com/japanwarrior.html. I was looking for entry level katana with “authentic handling” so it was a bit of a mistake to buy it in first place. The store where I purchased it gave me wrong information. Damn them. Now years later I decided to customize it and here’s the result! - I took 4,8cm of from the blade length so now it is 69,7cm long. - I also shortened the saya and carved some details on it. - I made a unique aluminum tsuba. - I also worked some details on tsuka. So now sword weights 1045g, is 98,2cm long and balance point is 12,5cm from tsuba. Well, it’s still quite oddly balanced but its more usable and prettier now! I’ve been using it as my “project katana”, when I want to test something which may cause the sword to get damage. Strangely it hasn’t gotten any damage despite the abuse. I have to say it has proven to be extremely durable sword. Now after some customization I’d say it’s a good samarai sword! This is my first post so go easy on me. Thank you all, TheMu
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Post by frankthebunny on Sept 7, 2012 18:06:42 GMT
that looks great TheMu! I really love the tsuba, care to go into how you made it? was it cast or carved?
have some karma!
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Post by Jakeonthekob on Sept 8, 2012 0:13:41 GMT
Damn that tsuba looks awesome bro! You got some talent you need to foster!
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Post by LastGodslayer on Sept 8, 2012 0:42:39 GMT
Wow! Looks wicked... The tsuba does look awesome. Cast, right?
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Post by TheMu on Sept 8, 2012 8:16:04 GMT
Thank you all,
Yes, the tsuba is casted. First sculpted of wax. I had a chance to use professional jewellery casting equipment during my art studies year ago.
What do you think, is it smart to try fixing the balance of the sword by shortening the blade(since the blade is too long also)? How about fixing the balance by deepening the fullers or by adding another pair of fullers or by grinding the blade thinner?
-TheMu
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Post by LastGodslayer on Sept 8, 2012 11:50:26 GMT
Shortening the blade isn't the way to go about it, unless you want the blade to be shorter, but still tip heavy. The improvement comes from the fulcrum (where you place your hand in the sword) coming closer to the center of the sword so that the binary made when handling the sword has a closer magnitude. There is no ideal balance for everybody, but you want the blade to carry enough weight at the tip so not all of the power comes from your arms, but not so heavy that you have to use a lot of arm or body power to change the direction of motion.
Deepening the hi can be dangerous as you have to be careful not to go through. Widening it towards the mune might work though. Since the hi touches the shinogi I don't think you can add more hi on that blade. Reducing the sakihaba will pull the balance closer to the hand (adding fumbari as it were, the only issue being you can only reduce the ha, as the bo-hi prevents you from changing the placement of the shinogi), also reducing the thickness might work but whatever you do (and all of the aforementioned are complicated to say the least) the basic idea is lo lighten the blade but specifically taking the weight near the tip or adding it near the handle so its more agile. However, a poorly balanced blade will always be poorly balanced.
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Post by SullivanSwitch on Sept 8, 2012 13:04:11 GMT
Thats making lemonade lol. The tsuba is really cool, it looks like a fantasy sword now. Thumbs up.
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Post by Jakeonthekob on Sept 8, 2012 22:39:48 GMT
It's all about what you wanna do with the sword. If you shorten it and redefine the geometry, then it will handle better. There's no doubt about that. Simple weight distribution facts.
However, if you want to keep the length but make it handle better then get someone to rehaul the blade geometry. Make the blade thinner, with more tapering not only in thickness but also width. Keep the hi's as they are. Doing that is A TON OF WORK but I will guarantee that it will handle easier. But you must keep in mind that doing something like that makes it not as durable. So no more wood chopping lol.
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Post by frankthebunny on Sept 9, 2012 1:52:46 GMT
while the tsuba is really cool, aluminum probably isn't helping the balance much. personally I wouldn't go through all the trouble of carefully modifying the blade geometry. I would either replace the light tsuba with a heavier one or get another sword with better balance and just keep this one to practice other mods on. I think it's unlikely that changing the geometry could be helpful practice for future customs unless you were going to learn to forge swords. just my opinion. what was the design of the tsuba based on or was it a total abstract? to me it almost looks like two pair of Great Dane heads pressed nose to nose.
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Post by TheMu on Sept 9, 2012 8:00:38 GMT
Thank you all for the advise, I completely agree with you.
I'm using Hanwei Shinto for practising so I luckily have a well-balanced sword as well. My Cold Steel Warrior is my lab rat:)
I still think I'm going to try milling another pair of shallow and thin Hi on the blade. I believe this is propably not worth the trouble but I'm sure it will be educational!
Damn frankthebunny, now I see the great dane heads too:) It's meant to be completely abstract but I myself see some H.R.Giger-like design in it.
And I promise I'll leave wood chopping to axes... and to my self-made machete I'm going to post later!
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