From scrap to beauty; a tanto story.
Feb 6, 2009 2:18:34 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2009 2:18:34 GMT
I threw in a cheap tanto when I bought a sword from one of the infamous E-bay sellers some months ago, and when it arrived it was in a sad state. Everything was loose, big, bad fittings, and the blade geometry... well, if you can speak of geometry in this case. As usual I forget to take "before" pics, but believe me, I nearly threw it away, that's how bad it looked.
The first thing I did was to throw everything exept blade and saya. I first filed the blade to something more like a tanto, then polished it roughly. Then I fitted a new habaki, hammered it to a snug fit and filed it down to a triangular shape that fit the blade. The blade was at least properly heat treated so it will hold an edge.
I let it rest a few weeks while I thought about what I could do with it, and when I found some perfect fittings on Ebay, I laid a plan in my head. I bought some really cheap ugly, green rayskin from Artsfeng, and while waiting for the rayskin I made my first tsuka core. The fittings were mounted to a perfect fit which for me is highly unusual (I have to use a knife to pry them off). The tsuka was clad in rayskin and laquered black. The menukis came off a Cold Steel tanto I bought. I mounted it as an aikuchi, but never got really pleased with the way it looked or felt.
So this week I finally decided to let it have a remake. I made a tsuba out of soft metal, stole the seppas from another sword and laquered the fittings in a black metal laquer which resembles buffalo horn or polished iron. I filed down the habaki to compensate for the added tsuba and seppa as I already had drilled a second hole when I mounted it the first time. This also gave the knife a more harmonic appearance.
Well' enough talk, here it is, after a process of three months:
The blade is up for a new and final polishing, and the fake hamon is something I experimented on yesterday with vinegar. The saya is also up for a remake with a planned sakura theme in gold, but the cold weather stops any laquering activity outside for now.
Thanks for looking!
The first thing I did was to throw everything exept blade and saya. I first filed the blade to something more like a tanto, then polished it roughly. Then I fitted a new habaki, hammered it to a snug fit and filed it down to a triangular shape that fit the blade. The blade was at least properly heat treated so it will hold an edge.
I let it rest a few weeks while I thought about what I could do with it, and when I found some perfect fittings on Ebay, I laid a plan in my head. I bought some really cheap ugly, green rayskin from Artsfeng, and while waiting for the rayskin I made my first tsuka core. The fittings were mounted to a perfect fit which for me is highly unusual (I have to use a knife to pry them off). The tsuka was clad in rayskin and laquered black. The menukis came off a Cold Steel tanto I bought. I mounted it as an aikuchi, but never got really pleased with the way it looked or felt.
So this week I finally decided to let it have a remake. I made a tsuba out of soft metal, stole the seppas from another sword and laquered the fittings in a black metal laquer which resembles buffalo horn or polished iron. I filed down the habaki to compensate for the added tsuba and seppa as I already had drilled a second hole when I mounted it the first time. This also gave the knife a more harmonic appearance.
Well' enough talk, here it is, after a process of three months:
The blade is up for a new and final polishing, and the fake hamon is something I experimented on yesterday with vinegar. The saya is also up for a remake with a planned sakura theme in gold, but the cold weather stops any laquering activity outside for now.
Thanks for looking!