Digs' damascus waki and tanto completed (pic heavy)
Jan 6, 2015 4:09:27 GMT
Post by DigsFossils-n-Knives on Jan 6, 2015 4:09:27 GMT
No need to repeat again where the steel came from (see here for yourself sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/43002/faked-sanmai-katana-katana1980-lots ) but it's claimed to be folded 1095 steel with a hardness of 62 RC. I used two carbide tipped drill bits to drill through the blade above the shinogi and the best I could do is drill just about 1 mm. These are drill bits used for drilling through hardened steel, and the second bit was brand new. The edge can cut through a stainless nail with minor damage. All this was covered under a previous thread of mine.
So on to the build.
I used a piece of 6061-T6 aluminum for the habaki. This alloy of aluminum is very light weight, has a hardness in between that of copper and brass, doesn't oxidize like copper or brass, and it's cheap.
The habaki is pretty tight
So I shaped the kissaki and determined the required length of the saya. The excess "saya" is cut off and will be used as my tsuka. About a 19.5" saya and 10" tsuka. I also traced out the open end of the front of the saya where I need to plug it up.
I grab a piece of carbon fiber for the kojiri (saya tip) and for the tsuba. And I make a plug out of walnut.
The plug will give me extra surface area for the epoxy to adhere to and maybe a little more strength to the tip.
I then move on to the blade. I start by removing the etched surface on the flats, fixing up the mune, and grinding the bevels. The blade was a little heavy so the bevels were ground thinner and flatter and I added a swedge. Unokubi Zukuri is one of my favorite blade shapes. I also love a o-kissaki and a real yokote. In the pictures is the front 10.25" of the old katana which will soon be a tanto.
Right side of blade
Left side of blade
The tsuba and mekugi pin are also made out of carbon fiber, and everything is assembled for the last test fit.
The blade is etched, everything is epoxied together, and she's done. I had to epoxy the tsuka because the opening and channel was much larger than the tang (originally designed to fit the front of the katana). I did not want to add shims so I epoxyed the blade. This blade is not a serviceable sword. Down the road I can trash the wood and start over; but at this point I didn't have the time and I didn't want to waste the wood saya. The saya was too nice to trash, and I plan on keeping this blade.
The front of the saya is completely skewed by the angle of the photo (sorry for the bad pic)
So on to the build.
I used a piece of 6061-T6 aluminum for the habaki. This alloy of aluminum is very light weight, has a hardness in between that of copper and brass, doesn't oxidize like copper or brass, and it's cheap.
The habaki is pretty tight
So I shaped the kissaki and determined the required length of the saya. The excess "saya" is cut off and will be used as my tsuka. About a 19.5" saya and 10" tsuka. I also traced out the open end of the front of the saya where I need to plug it up.
I grab a piece of carbon fiber for the kojiri (saya tip) and for the tsuba. And I make a plug out of walnut.
The plug will give me extra surface area for the epoxy to adhere to and maybe a little more strength to the tip.
I then move on to the blade. I start by removing the etched surface on the flats, fixing up the mune, and grinding the bevels. The blade was a little heavy so the bevels were ground thinner and flatter and I added a swedge. Unokubi Zukuri is one of my favorite blade shapes. I also love a o-kissaki and a real yokote. In the pictures is the front 10.25" of the old katana which will soon be a tanto.
Right side of blade
Left side of blade
The tsuba and mekugi pin are also made out of carbon fiber, and everything is assembled for the last test fit.
The blade is etched, everything is epoxied together, and she's done. I had to epoxy the tsuka because the opening and channel was much larger than the tang (originally designed to fit the front of the katana). I did not want to add shims so I epoxyed the blade. This blade is not a serviceable sword. Down the road I can trash the wood and start over; but at this point I didn't have the time and I didn't want to waste the wood saya. The saya was too nice to trash, and I plan on keeping this blade.
The front of the saya is completely skewed by the angle of the photo (sorry for the bad pic)