Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2008 20:58:49 GMT
After having customized some swords I'd like to move on to new grounds. Next up is a tanto where I have blade, habaki and scabbard. I'd like to make my own tsuka for this one as I'm gonna use some special fittings. I've made a few knife handles before from oak and birch. I now have a nice ash log that has been occupying my porch for the last five years.
I've read that maple is a good substitute for honoki, but how about ash? I guess it's not a big deal which wood to use for a tanto, but how about tsuka for katana and wak from this log?
Any thoughts?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2008 21:25:21 GMT
I'd recommend poplar. Easy to work but sturdy, not to mention easy to come by.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2008 21:49:45 GMT
Poplar is not common here in Norway. Very scarce, actually. And the woodyards has mostly spruce and pine. Any other wood costs $$$.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2008 1:36:39 GMT
This video is easy to follow & also raises some interesting points for beginners regarding wood & wood grain as well as many other aspects, well worth watching so enjoy.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2008 16:45:24 GMT
Poplar is not common here in Norway. Very scarce, actually. And the woodyards has mostly spruce and pine. Any other wood costs $$$. lol sorry Ichi! it's that whole world-wide web thing that gets me sometimes
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2008 9:16:37 GMT
Part two preparing the ray skin, excellent watching.
|
|
|
Post by salvatore on Dec 12, 2008 10:08:56 GMT
God I must be tired...When I saw "Ash", I thought you meant ash, like what you get after burning wood...Jeez! If SBG wasn't so damned addicting, I'd get some sleep!
Isn't maple somewhat brittle? I could swear I heard that using Maple wasn't such a good idea.
|
|
slav
Member
Senior Forumite
Katsujin No Ken
Posts: 4,457
|
Post by slav on Dec 12, 2008 15:31:52 GMT
That guy reminds me of Alton Brown from Good Eats.....except he's cooking up sword parts.
|
|
|
Post by genocideseth on Jan 27, 2009 8:00:52 GMT
Actually, I would really like to know this as well, as it is one of my current choices for my naginata.
|
|
slav
Member
Senior Forumite
Katsujin No Ken
Posts: 4,457
|
Post by slav on Jan 27, 2009 8:11:36 GMT
I imagine ash would be good for a naginata, since you will be using a long pole. Ash is commonly used for long, heavy-duty handles such as wheelbarrow, post-hole digger, and shovel handles. Not to mention baseball bats.
But for a tsuka core, a softer wood such as Poplar would be good.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2009 9:08:28 GMT
I've tried to make a tanto and a katana tsuka from my ash log, but the wood is quite tough and difficult to carve, at least with my lack of experience. It's put on ice for now.
The vikings recommended ash for spear shafts, so it should be perfect for a naginata. It's almost as hard as oak, but doesn't break as easy.
|
|
|
Post by genocideseth on Jan 27, 2009 9:10:45 GMT
Ok good, thanks guys! As far as working it goes, yea it is a toughy to work with. But non the less, I enjoy it. Same stuff I made my guitar out of (White/hard ash right?). I love the swirly patterns and grain structure.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2009 10:18:24 GMT
It's a different ash I've got. Not so much burls and grain in it. You've probably got Fraxinus Americana, american ash, I've got Fraxinus Excelsior, european ash. Probably very similar, but there may be a little difference in grain structure.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2009 13:00:54 GMT
A little update on the Norwegian tsuka material project. I've probably spent $100 on trying different kinds of wood. Ash was too hard to work on with my tools and experience. I tried beech, but that was even denser. With some patience and hard work it is possible to make a tsuka out of these. I found out that the power I had to put behind the carving led to inaccuracy, and I have discarded two tsukas because of this. Another thing about ash and beech is their resistance to bend, they have almost no shock absorbing abilities. Japanese beech is btw used for naginata shafts because of it's properties. I also tried oak, but like ash and beech this is a dense wood that ain't ideal for tsuka. It's better than beech and ash though. At last I found aspen, which is used here to make sauna furniture. It seems to be the best alternative of the woods available here in Scandinavia. It is easily worked, has straight grain without burls and has no residues in the wood. Last but not least it is very resistant to cracking, and when properly dried it is very resistant to humidity changes and remain constant size. That is very convenient, cause with the electric heating in winter the humidity level in my apartment is the same as in the Mojave desert. So aspen wood it will be.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2009 2:18:07 GMT
A little update on the Norwegian tsuka material project. I've probably spent $100 on trying different kinds of wood. Ash was too hard to work on with my tools and experience. I tried beech, but that was even denser. With some patience and hard work it is possible to make a tsuka out of these. I found out that the power I had to put behind the carving led to inaccuracy, and I have discarded two tsukas because of this. Another thing about ash and beech is their resistance to bend, they have almost no shock absorbing abilities. Japanese beech is btw used for naginata shafts because of it's properties. I also tried oak, but like ash and beech this is a dense wood that ain't ideal for tsuka. It's better than beech and ash though. At last I found aspen, which is used here to make sauna furniture. It seems to be the best alternative of the woods available here in Scandinavia. It is easily worked, has straight grain without burls and has no residues in the wood. Last but not least it is very resistant to cracking, and when properly dried it is very resistant to humidity changes and remain constant size. That is very convenient, cause with the electric heating in winter the humidity level in my apartment is the same as in the Mojave desert. So aspen wood it will be. Have you tried Alder yet? I understand it is another good alternative as well.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2009 15:16:15 GMT
No, I have to take with what is available in the woodyards. There is no problems getting exotic hardwood, but other domestic wood than spruce, pine and oak is very difficult to find.
I could cut down an alder myself, but there is still years of drying and paying for the cutting.
I have nearly finished my aspen tsuka, and the material seems very much like the chinese hardwood used in my other swords. It is actually a bit harder, but still a dream to work. The backdraw is that the wood is quite fibrous, so all the shaping has to be done by knife and sandpaper.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2009 17:47:44 GMT
Ichiban: are you making this like a proper tsuka with the samegawa and tsukamaki? Or are you doing it with the intention of leaving a wooden tsuka? If you can get it try cocobolo, aspen sounds like a good choice by all accounts. Fibrous woods without residue are fantastic for tsukas, you don't want any residue when forming a tsuka and if the tsuka does break the fibres will hold it together. Of course we all know that a properly fit tsuka shouldn't have any stresses on it and so shouldn't break.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2009 21:32:07 GMT
It's a proper tsuka, yes. The reason I chose aspen was because of the total lack of residue (it's actually used for making food containers), it's ability to withstand moisture and the very fine grain with long fibers. I will try cocobolo next, I know where to get it! Thank you very much for the tip! Fantastic wak in your picture there by the way, I love handachi mounts. I have actually thought of copying the paint work... Edit: I now see it's a strip of samekawa inlaid in the saya, I won't try that... yet. ;D A pic in saya of rough shaped tsuka core, just finished with the knife work and done rough outlines. I started with two planks of 65 x 20 mm. The lines I'm trying to pursue, following the blade curve on the ha side and going into the curve on the mune side. Close up of the woodgrain The rest of the shaping will be done with sandpaper. Guess I'll drill hole on one side and glue it tomorrow, then the rest of the shaping and thinning. Won't do a full samekawa wrap this time, but inlaid panels. Any comments would be appreciated.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2009 8:52:06 GMT
Yeah, that particular wak is my dream sword, although I would love to get a good painter to do a marble painted saya for me, I've always liked marble and I found a fantastic tutorial for painting it, I probably wouldn't be so good at the lacquer. I think the whole thing is wrapped in samegawa and the spiral is painted black and then lacquered, that's how I would do it anyway. The tsuka looks great and the wood looks like a fantastic option.
|
|