thank you it's a dream come true, it look's a little curvy but in the end I think it can be done for a katana , and it is a beautiful sword, I've been think of making my own
How to make a samurai sword? Step 1: don't use aluminum If you can whack it into shape with a hammer, then its going to get whacked out of shape if you ever strike something with it
What thickness and width stock did you use and what grade of aluminum? I'd like to try this, and I can get access to 6061 bar stock aluminum pretty easily, but I'm curious as to my starting point on the dimensions of the stock.
Not that I'm a sword-smith or anything. It's just that I know a bit about swordsmanship (did a bit of fencing and kendo), and a LOT about metallurgy (engineering student), it's just that having a back edge on any type of slashing blade is pretty useless, and in the case of the katana, detrimental to the weapon
Fascinating video. I had no idea you could work aluminium with a simple hammer to a sword. Did the work hardening had a noticeable impact on the blade material? (Did it become noticeable harder than the rest?)
The material would not have compressed and would have escaped to the sides. Hence why the hammering causes the curve. The material is being flattened and spreading, not becoming more dense as that would literally defy the laws of material physics.
Wouldn't a double edged sword kind of defeat the entire point of a katana? With katanas, the cutting edge is more tempered to make it hard so you can get a nice sharp edge, whereas the core remains soft and ductile to absorb shock. If both the front and back are hardened, there's nothing to absorb the shock, leaving the entire blade brittle. And if the back's sharpened without hardening it, it's really a pretty worthless edge.
onlinemetals . com offers a good selection of rectangle barstock in aluminum. if you're going for the durable stuff, the 6061 is best, as its aircraft structure grade.
That is seriously awesome, did you have to hammer the front of the blade to a more thinner edge to get the curve in it? I only ask because it seems like it would just be straight if you hammered both sides evenly. I'm very curious about that.
stupid question.... What's the point of making a double-edged Katana? Every katana technique utilizes single edge blades....Even if you did use European sword techniques which focuses on double-edge, the sword structure itself will prevent you from using the technique..
Bailey Armory how will that make a better thrusting point? You only need a sharp point to thrust and its not like the double edge will help widen the wound... The proper way to widen a stab wound with a Katana is to twist it like a key or use it like a can opener. It's what they do in hara-kiri..
Well having two sides of the blade edged makes a more accute point. And actually most euro swords have a triangle shape, so the farther they were pushed in, the wider the two edges cut the wound.
Bailey Armory true, but that's to do with the blade's shape altogether. The triangle shaped edge works because it can be forced into a straight angle like a chisel... However, katanas have fulcrum or an angular motion when it stabs, so a single sharp edge works better. The curved shape tends to dig in, compared to a straight stab. The blade's upper edge won't even be forced into the wound at all..
Perhaps you could combine German lang messer techinigues and Kenjutsu or something. From my non-formally trained point of view I would say it's best function would be for ripostes like the krupau(or however you spell it) for a secondary swipe. You could also use like the Dacian falx, although i have little knowledge of how they use their weaponry. Other than these few explanations I can't find any other functions it could serve other than looking interesting, which in my opinion it does.
Yes they were. They weren't really katanas, they were called Tachi. They came before katanas and they were a lot more curved. Also during World War II were produced a lot of non traditional katanas, made with different steels than traditional, pricy Tamahagane and oil quenched instead of the traditional water quench using clay to harden the blade. Also the geometry and the curvature of the blade was different, because they were made by inexperienced sword makers. Those blades were called showato after the regnal name of the Emperor Hirohito, those swords were stamped on the tang to distinguish them from real katanas.
Please, don't talk of something you don't know. What you are referring to with ''Wakashi'' it's a different sword. It's correctly called Wakizashi, it is a shorter sword, usually worn by samurais not only to show their power, but also used ad a back up blade. The two sword worn together were called daishō.
