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Post by shepherd214 on May 12, 2020 19:15:08 GMT
Epoxy and two steel mekugi rivets. No danger of the handle flying off... Explain this process a little more?
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Post by treeslicer on May 12, 2020 22:34:54 GMT
Epoxy and two steel mekugi rivets. No danger of the handle flying off... Explain this process a little more? Rufus can't be serious with this, I figure he's joking. Not only would that make disassembly for routine maintenance impossible, but the use of cylindrical fixed pins would inevitably lead to loosening with use, producing a shifty, rattling tsuka and tsuba. Use of semi-fixed (threaded at one end) or friction-fit metal pins is possible, but only if the pins are tapered, and the holes are finished with a tapered reamer.
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Post by Robert in California on May 13, 2020 3:57:08 GMT
I like one mekugi...all the nihonto I had, handled, etc had one. Traditional...I like traditional. That said, production katana that use sort of a one-size-fits-all tsuka, are better off with two. Kind of a case of custom fitted shoes don't need laces. Poor tsuka fit to nakago means two mekugi's better than one, if only so the blade doesn't move/wiggle when shaken up/down/left/right....but two mekugis allow a sword maker to get away with a poorly fitting tsuka. I ask for one in the theory that a decent sword maker will do a better tsuka2nakago fit with one...with a poorly done fit and one one mekugi, the blade would show that by not being 100% secure in the tsuka. RinC
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Post by RufusScorpius on May 13, 2020 14:32:35 GMT
High strength epoxy down the slot of the tsuka, insert blade, use steel rivets fastened with a 10 ton press. No rattles, no danger of flying loose. 100% security assured. With a stainless steel blade, there will never be a need to remove Or if you want to use a traditional style of fastening, then you will have to use one wood taper and one brass taper from the other side, and ensure the tsukamaki wrapping covers the head of the pins. If done correctly, there will also be no danger of separation. AND ALWAYS INSPECT YOUR SWORD BEFORE USING!!!!
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Post by treeslicer on May 13, 2020 17:10:21 GMT
High strength epoxy down the slot of the tsuka, insert blade, use steel rivets fastened with a 10 ton press. No rattles, no danger of flying loose. 100% security assured. With a stainless steel blade, there will never be a need to remove Or if you want to use a traditional style of fastening, then you will have to use one wood taper and one brass taper from the other side, and ensure the tsukamaki wrapping covers the head of the pins. If done correctly, there will also be no danger of separation. AND ALWAYS INSPECT YOUR SWORD BEFORE USING!!!! I've been considering machining up an enhanced retention kit which would use long-taper stainless Allen screws mating to a nut or threaded insert covered by hollow-back menuki, with the tapered shank covered with a sacrificial polymer sleeve of some sort. Just a thought. A single one of those, machined from a "5-tit" bolt would probably be enough for anything, if periodically torque-checked on a scheduled basis..
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Post by Robert in California on May 15, 2020 20:36:08 GMT
To be really secure, go with a modern type tactical sword...slab handles, epoxied and 3 rivet pins. If one is not interested in "traditional" For non-traditional, one can just buy a machete....not expensive.
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LeMal
Member
Posts: 1,092
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Post by LeMal on May 16, 2020 2:31:30 GMT
To be really secure, go with a modern type tactical sword...slab handles, epoxied and 3 rivet pins. If one is not interested in "traditional" For non-traditional, one can just buy a machete....not expensive. There's always Chicago screws with washers.
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Post by El Chingon on May 27, 2020 23:48:12 GMT
Last Legend was awesome when I first found it in the late 90s/early 00s. I loved their designs and that sori...mmm... Being like, 15, they were out of my league hardcore. Pity they were gone by the time I stated making money. I remembered, after my last post, that some of the katana blades offered my MRL/windlass were damascus and some not. Don't think I remember anything about differential hardening, but maybe? Anyway, I'm not not actually sure what my katana have. I know the antique wakizashi both are single mekugi, one being pretty old but holding up fine. I think my Hanwei practical has one, but it's also glued together. My DF Musha was redone by its previous owner but I think is only one now. Pretty sure the rest are two, and two of those are also glued, so there's that. Honestly, one mekugi was fine for most of history but today's market is a little different. May as well go with the infamous "full-tang" style of slabs riveted onto the nakago and call it an improvement for safety. Man that takes me back. I was in that same boat, lusting over LL stuff I would see online and not able to purchase.
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Post by vidar on Jun 3, 2020 21:09:11 GMT
Famous sword masters like Nakamura and Obata recommend 2 mekugi. These gentlemen are used to cut with proper Nihonto where the tsuka perfectly matches the Nagako and the second mekugi is a back-up in case the first would fail so that the blade won’t fly away. But as long as the first mekugi does its job, the second one is idle. HOWEVER, with poorly constructed swords where the Tsuka doesn’t perfectly match the Nagako, both mekugi could function to actually fix the nagako in the loose tsuka. If you remove one mekugi, the sword should normally still be tight within the tsuka. However In case that the sword starts to rattle, the above mentioned phenomenon takes place, thus the mekugi need to transfer more force than what they’re intended to do. This may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy where at some point the mekugi start to break.
So: 2 mekugi is safest but they may not replace a properly constructed, well fitting tsuka.
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Post by Stef on Aug 10, 2020 17:27:57 GMT
I realize I'm very late to this discussion but 2 mekugi it's one of my pet hates. I have gone to great extent to make sure none of my swords words have 2 mekugi, I understand the dilemma and blame nobody for preferring 2 especially if you are unsure about the core's integrity. However, I have had no problems with 1 only. I feel it is not only unsightly and ugly but it reminds me of 99 dollars katana from eBay. Ok my OCD rant is over.
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addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
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Post by addertooth on Aug 13, 2020 5:54:31 GMT
If the sword is just a "pretty" and not meant to be put to significant use, then one makes sense. If it is meant to be used, then two. I have a "pretty" tanto which has a single black horn peg, but I would not seriously consider putting it to serious use.
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Post by zabazagobo on Aug 13, 2020 7:59:44 GMT
I realize I'm very late to this discussion but 2 mekugi it's one of my pet hates. I have gone to great extent to make sure none of my swords words have 2 mekugi, I understand the dilemma and blame nobody for preferring 2 especially if you are unsure about the core's integrity. However, I have had no problems with 1 only. I feel it is not only unsightly and ugly but it reminds me of 99 dollars katana from eBay. Ok my OCD rant is over. LOL yeah, I agree. And most of my collection has two pegs.
"One and done"...get it right, eh? Just use one solid piece of bamboo, not the soft cheap stuff, and it should last. So much bad bamboo...so little time
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Post by leed on Aug 18, 2020 0:00:24 GMT
2 cents from a newbie.... We've heard a bit about the wooden handle showing cracking? Perhaps epoxy and 2 smoked bamboo pins is the safest, but not dismantleable. A pin must put some stress on handles, I'd think. Wood to wood makes more sense than metal inserted into wood. Of course, proper fit is most important.
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Post by captainharlock on Aug 30, 2020 2:33:14 GMT
With a properly made tsuka, I feel only one is necessary. I appreciate the fact that it’s traditional. However, if I was a JSA practitioner, I would want two for added security.
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