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Post by Adventurer'sBlade on Jan 5, 2021 0:50:26 GMT
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Jan 5, 2021 1:01:08 GMT
Lancelot Chan uses something similar to PVC. I can’t think of it’s name at the moment but it’s what they use in Hong Kong or and is more or less equal to PVC. He has a number of videos on the Subboard “Backyard Cutting”. He wraps them in wet newspaper and sometime inserts chop sticks in them. Might check out has videos and if looks promising send him a PM. I use drink cans, juice/milk cartons, plastic jugs that I find or my throw aways. It’s easy on my blades and a cheap way to check technique and edge alignment.
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Post by treeslicer on Jan 5, 2021 1:12:42 GMT
Thank you, Blade. I know PEX is softer and more malleable than PVC. Has anyone tried cutting this? Blade, do you have a good, inexpensive source for these cardboard tubes? I've found them at the UPS store but they were about $10 a tube. Alittle rich for something to cut, for me, at least. Pool noodles are a wonderful target for honing your skills. If you don't slice them right, you'll get curved slices, ragged faces and edges, or just bat them out of the way. If clean, they don't leave scratches, and they can't damage a good sword by hitting them wrong.
As a field expedient, you might try filling cardboard oatmeal containers with crack-filling spray foam.
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Post by samuraisoul on Jan 5, 2021 1:21:40 GMT
Thank you, Andy and Treeslicer!
Andy, I will go investigate that sub board and see if his methods would work. I can get access to plenty of paper.
Treeslicer, that is a very good point. Tanaka Fumon Sensei talks about that in his interviews, and in his book, I believe. Watching the cut for scooping. I will get some pool noodles and I will use them as a training tool. There is no such thing as too much basic practice, I have learned.
That oatmeal container and spray foam trick is pure genius!
Has anyone stacked layers of cardboard to make a denser target? I've always wondered at that because it's such an easy to acquire material. I know it can contain metal fibers, sand, and all kinds of things, but let's say that it was cut with a sword who's finish you weren't worried about marring....would densely packed cardboard be any kind of a good cutting medium?
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Post by RufusScorpius on Jan 5, 2021 1:58:12 GMT
I believe lancelot chan uses PEX with rolled newspapers. PEX is softer than normal pvc and wrapping it in newspapers prevents damaging the blade. You could also use rolled newspaper around a cardboard tube (which you can make yourself out of any regular box), or just roll a sheet of cardboard and wet it if you don't have the newspapers. About the thickness of a man's arm is about the size you're looking for.
And pool noodles are notoriously hard to cut because they are so floppy and you have to get your technique just right or they will bounce off the blade and laugh at you.
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Post by samuraisoul on Jan 5, 2021 2:03:52 GMT
Thank you, Rufus, or do you prefer Scorpio? This makes sense with the PEX, and I will be combining that with rolled cardboard, and making my own cardboard rolls. I have access to alot of cardboard, so this is the most economical approach for me.
Do you wet yours by spraying with a hose, or soaking in a tub overnight?
I can see pool noodles being a very good hasuji and stance trainer. Improper alignment and it will immediately show, I'm imagining.
I recently acquired copies of Toshishiro Obata Sensei's books Shinkendo, Naked Blade and Crimson Steel, as well as Nakamura Sensei's The Spirit of the Sword. The focus on practical suemonogiri and tameshigiri is exactly what I needed. I struggled through the Book of Five Rings and the Yagyu's Heiho Kadensho, but these down to earth texts make sense to my tradesman's brain. I highly recommend them if someone is bent in a similar fashion as I am. These books are what sparked my renewed interest in target cutting.
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Post by treeslicer on Jan 5, 2021 2:26:17 GMT
And pool noodles are notoriously hard to cut because they are so floppy and you have to get your technique just right or they will bounce off the blade and laugh at you. Here's a small sample of my continuing supply of used pool noodles, that I haven't hauled to the dump yet. They make great pipe insulation and crab trap markers.
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Post by samuraisoul on Jan 5, 2021 2:28:55 GMT
What I see there is alot of good form, sir.
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Post by treeslicer on Jan 5, 2021 2:33:18 GMT
What I see there is alot of good form, sir. Thank you very much, sir.
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Post by samuraisoul on Jan 5, 2021 2:35:55 GMT
The last quote in your signature, where is that from, Slicer? I collect books, as well as sharp shiny things.
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Post by RaylonTheDemented on Jan 5, 2021 2:38:29 GMT
I use rolled ans soaked newspaper rolls, which can be a reasonable and extremely cheap (read free) alternative to tatami mats, depending on how tight you roll them.
To simulate bone I use 5/8'' - 3/4'' wood dowel cores (rolled in and soaked with the newspaper).
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Post by samuraisoul on Jan 5, 2021 2:41:17 GMT
Thank you, Raylon! Any particular wood for the dowels? Craft stores sell cheap balsa ones but I can find other varieties at home depot.
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Post by randomnobody on Jan 5, 2021 2:41:43 GMT
Unfortunately, I live in an area where there is very little accessible countryside. I live very near Eglin Air Force base. Which is, land wise, the largest air force base in the world. The Air Force owns most of the property outside of the towns around where I live, and cutting of anything on Air Force property is prohibited, without special licenses, which are bought up every year by professional firewood sellers. I do not know anyone who has acreage here, where I could go cut bamboo. I've kept my eyes open for groves of it, and haven't seen any that aren't on Air Force property. I've even checked the areas around the marinas and the public parks down here. No luck. The Air Force properties are all actively patrolled by Security Police in trucks and on ATVs, so it's not worth the fines or possible arrest to go try to harvest it. There are alot of installations in the woods out there, so I don't blame them. Eglin, eh? I spent a couple years, as a child, on Hurlburt and visited Eglin once or twice. Excellent static displays. Being so close to the military does make things complicated. Tons of good suggestions from the others.
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Post by treeslicer on Jan 5, 2021 2:49:29 GMT
It's attributed to Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu, but I forget exactly where it's sourced from. I've seen some slightly differing translations of it floating around. I'll dig around in my library and dojo notes, and see if my memory refreshes. More than one koryu quotes it in some form or other.
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Post by RaylonTheDemented on Jan 5, 2021 5:01:29 GMT
Thank you, Raylon! Any particular wood for the dowels? Craft stores sell cheap balsa ones but I can find other varieties at home depot. Store doesn't specify, just says hard wood. So I dug a bit and found the manufacturer (praise be stickers and the internets) of the ones I have in the garage and it seem it is white oak. Bought these ones at Home Depot.
You need to soak wood cored rolls for at least 24 hours and preferably 48 hours to make sure they are (the core) fully soaked. The cores are quite harder to cut dry.
I am a novice at JSA and no expert cutter by far, but I would suggest you build experience and get used to cut un-cored rolls before adding dowels. Possibly start with soft wood.
o7
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Post by samuraisoul on Jan 5, 2021 23:24:31 GMT
Random, yes sir, my grandfather retired at Eglin,I was born here, and I've returned here at different times throughout my life. I genuinely like the area.
Slicer, thank you, and please do! I would love to know where to read more from this author. They espouse Katsujinken in a complete way, to my way of understanding the principle. Katsujinken in not pacifism, and that is something that alot of modern authors seem to not understand well.
Thank you, Raylon. I agree with you that I need to practice on uncored or soft cored rolls, before moving to hardwood cored rolls. Thank you for sharing your preparation advice. I will definitely try your method.
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