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Post by ryuto on Dec 28, 2018 18:36:09 GMT
Why do some sword owners demonstrate the ‘cutting power’ of their swords by cutting plastic containers of water (bottles/cartons)? Is the resistance offered by water bottles analogous to...well I can’t imagine...When did this become...’meaningful’ or is it? Is it supposed to be ‘showy’? I’m just curious. Cutting through cartons filled with lit petrol (gasoline)...now that would be showy
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 19:09:54 GMT
It's not hard to understand. Plastic bottles are everywhere. Big cool spash looks so awesome in slow motion.
I'm not into it, and I've backed way off from cutting in general, it isn't as important as it used to seem. First couple years it was a Big Deal but I just kind of got over it personally.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Dec 28, 2018 19:19:08 GMT
As well as what Jon Frances said, it's just fun and an easily measurable medium for cutting, as well as super cheap. Contrast this to tatami mats, which are way more expensive comparably, require a higher skill level to cut (not to be exaggerated of course, but if you bat bottles you either need better technique or a sharper sword), and not everyone can easily get one due to location or knowledge. But the main reason is because it's fun and gasoline smells bad
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 19:20:50 GMT
I started with empty cracker boxes Miura Takeyuki Somewhere buried in a box on an old sata drive are a couple of videos of him cutting
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Post by Jordan Williams on Dec 28, 2018 19:21:27 GMT
I have though taken large industrial size (24x12x30) empty weed killer jugs, filled them with water after rinsing them out and cut them. Larger than a gasoline can and actually pretty easy to cut if you have adequate tip speed and a sharp blade.
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Post by csills2313 on Dec 28, 2018 19:44:16 GMT
Cutting water bottles and jugs is an inexpensive way to practice your blade alignment when cutting with a sword. If you can consistently cut water bottles then you probably will do well when cutting tatami. I also think it is fun.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 19:46:12 GMT
If you practice with empties, you'll stay drier.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 19:50:00 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 19:58:19 GMT
James Williams vs some mats with a Howard Clark blade
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 20:04:09 GMT
When I was still in warehouse distribution centers, the cores from pallet wrap rolls were tough bunnies. About half inch walls and 3 1/2" id tubes. A challenge free standing, to be sure. It is cool to clear the debris at the stand as well. This pile got to be a chore at the end of the day.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 20:08:34 GMT
There are moments in time that seem almost magical. A Kevin Cashen migration hilt cutter circa 2003.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2018 20:26:27 GMT
One can indeed have fun with cutting. These shots of a Hanwei Golden Oriole vs some brick. Again, it was just good timing Tom Carr from Texas had an eye for photography. Those from about the same time frame from a decade or so ago. Somewhere in the bowels of the early SBG format are some cutting games. Preceding that and back again to about 2003, counting complete rings from gallon jugs and just how many chips one could make. Two other odd targets were bundles of discarded garden hose and my dead blow set up of a 2 litre filled with .50 lead balls, stuffed in a leather Wellington boot. That boot had been my first heavy target for my ATrim XIIIa and A&A Black Prince. The hose bundles were interesting, as the heat of friction smeared green onto the blades. Likewise, doing the leather and lead target would smear lead as the balls moved into and away. Ya, I started with free standing empty pasteboard cartons and a fairly slim espada ropera, my first modern reproduction.
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Post by howler on Dec 28, 2018 20:40:54 GMT
James Williams vs some mats with a Howard Clark blade Serious power, speed, control right there.
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Post by ryuto on Dec 28, 2018 21:24:28 GMT
It’s just a bit of fun then? Got it!
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pgandy
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Post by pgandy on Dec 28, 2018 21:26:30 GMT
I can only speak for myself. I cut those targets as well as drink cans because:
• They are abundant • Free for the taking • It would cost a bundle to import mats • They are easy on the sword, although I know of one individual that bent his new katana • A good way to practice edge alignment • And last but not least it’s fun, fun, fun
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Post by Faldarin on Dec 28, 2018 21:43:28 GMT
It’s just a bit of fun then? Got it! It's definitely fun! However, pgandy above has the right of it. It's less damaging to your sword than cutting some things. Also - it's great for practicing edge alignment. (New people to backyard/test cutting often underestimate the effect of having very good edge alignment.)
Bottles are an easy and cheap medium as well - I get full trashbags of them just by asking people at work to donate their bottles to me to be 'recycled' rather than throwing them out.
So no, not really a 'cutting power' thing so much as a skill of the user (in the case of empty bottles, or static cuts).
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Post by ryuto on Dec 28, 2018 22:05:43 GMT
In Japanese swordsmanship, sword edge alignment is known as ’hasuji’ and this can be assessed via the whistling sound the sword makes in transit- ‘tachi kaze’ (sword wind). If your katana doesn’t whistle, then it’s hasuji isn’t optimal. Omoshiroi desu ne?
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Post by pgandy on Dec 28, 2018 22:29:03 GMT
I believe the bo-hi plays a part in that. I now have 2 katanas and a iaito all with a bo-hi so that I could make the sound and enhance my learning curve. If I should get another it will be without a bo-hi as I feel it will cut better and I no longer depend on the whistle.
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Post by Faldarin on Dec 28, 2018 22:33:54 GMT
If you swing -any- sword, after a while, most of them have a bit of a whistle. Katana with bo-hi seem the most obvious, but my H/T Bastard makes a beautiful sound when its edge is aligned correctly.
(Not all swords make obvious sounds though even when the edge is properly aligned.) I know that's not a lot of help. It's easier to hear if you can practice in adequate indoor space. To tell if you're getting a good sound or not, intentionally hold the edge a little off alignment and swing it, then compare that to your best swing... you start to get the knowledge of what a 'good' swing with each sword sounds like after a while.
(I am not an expert, just a little avid about backyard cutting.)
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LeMal
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Post by LeMal on Dec 29, 2018 0:17:23 GMT
Because it's a lot cheaper and easier (if not, for those who keep things clean, ultimately as tasty) as meat and bone. ;)
Seriously though. Meat may still be the gold standard but cut a lot of it and you find it's often shockingly easy. In fact, I've never had a sword that'll cut tatami and/or 2L filled bottles well and won't cut real tissue.
(Though, on a very cautionary note, I HAVE had the reverse, including a very early Atrim that couldn't work well on tatami or bottles in anyone's hands but still went completely through the entire torso, spine included, of a roadkill deer. So if you're botching tatami or batting bottles it's good to check against real meat before declaring the blade or sharpening or geometry--or your proper use of it--"bad.")
But yeah, why not hone one's skill, no pun intended, against the least expensive and most abundant targets out there?
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