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Post by chrisperoni on May 14, 2015 2:36:40 GMT
Well, here's the finished work on the ken sword I bought long ago from Huawei. Click here for a link to the w.i.p. thread on it. I'm calling the sword "komugi no kuki no ken" which according to a very rudimentary translation search means "wheat stalk sword" - based on the colours, look and feel of the sword. Kinda reminds me of a fall wheat harvest for some reason. I'm very happy with how this all turned out. The p.o.b. is 4.5 from the tsuba and the sword weighs a little under 3lbs. It handles quite well - light and agile - and for me at least, the harmony of materials and design flow quite nicely too. Huawei supplied the rosewood saya and folded t10 blade which has a lovely hamon and some great nie and nioi which I tried to pick up in the pics and video, but of course is much more visible in person. I made all new parts from the seppa through to the kashira, with a full samegawa wrap on a reshaped tsuka, tried my hand at tsukamaki for the first time and rebuilt the saya with new fittings. Oh yeah, I hope you like the music - I had tried to narrate the video but between the sirens, lawnmowers and being interrupted repeatedly, I decided to scrap the talk and just go with an instrumental track.
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Post by skane on May 14, 2015 15:58:13 GMT
Very nice work and great looking blade. I like the heavy duty hardware and overall color coordination. Thanks for sharing the project details and final result!
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Post by Robert in California on May 14, 2015 17:04:20 GMT
Wow! Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing! RinC
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Post by Cottontail Customs on May 14, 2015 19:32:02 GMT
Great work Chris -Josh
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Post by chrisperoni on May 14, 2015 21:36:17 GMT
Thank you guys! Turns out I'm not quite done yet though. For some reason I can't explain the saya has become too tight about halfway up and the blade once inserted is an incredible pain to pull out (need to whack it with a mallet actually). I was attempting to sand out the inside a bit with a long rod and sand paper but it was just not working so... I've had to cut off the kojiri and drill out a small hole on the bottom of the saya to be able to get into the saya properly. I am going to have to slightly reshape the end of the saya and make a new kojiri once I figure out exactly what to fix up inside the saya. Bummer that I'm losing the piece of horn I used but it doesn't look like I'll be able to salvage it. Ah well nothing to do but to do it and fix this problem. The sword is no good to me if I can't get it out of the saya.
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Post by skane on May 14, 2015 22:20:21 GMT
Is the blade binding in the saya around the area covered by samegawa? I've had tsuka nakago-ana get tighter after applying same (with just panels), and the dried same constricts the wood enough to tighten the nakago fit.
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Post by chrisperoni on May 14, 2015 23:05:04 GMT
No its not that. Thought that might have been it but the saya is tightening halfway down, a good ways past the wrap. It loosens up again near the bottom but I can feel right where it starts to get tight in the middle.
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Post by KaOsBlaKbLaDe on May 15, 2015 4:18:24 GMT
Very nicely done Chris. I really like how this turned out. I think you've surpassed the point of "tinkerer", and look forward to seeing your next project.
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Post by Shishi on May 16, 2015 0:46:53 GMT
Wow. Congrats on your fine work and an awe inspiring sword.
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Post by chrisperoni on May 16, 2015 17:17:42 GMT
Thanks guys. Going to post a pic of the reworked saya kojiri once I get it fixed. Still fiddling with loosening the saya a bit
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Post by chrisperoni on May 17, 2015 22:47:29 GMT
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Post by chrisperoni on May 20, 2015 19:42:46 GMT
Cutting video
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