Dagorhir katanas?

[Kotaro]

I was reading the manga "Samurai Legend" last night, and it got me thinking, "Why not have katana boffers?" Anybody have any ideas? I was thinking of carving the core from varnished wood and adding the padding to form a curved katana blade. Sound plausible?

[Alric, son of Harland]

There are many ways to make a Dag-legal katana. If you want the core to be curved, you can either find a curved core (I've never heard of a good one) or you can curve the core. There are many ways to do this, but all of them involve heating PVC. Dhugal turned on his stove and held PVC over the heat, bent the core, and held it there until it cooled. You can also hold the PVC under hot (just shy of boiling) water, then put it into a mold made of plywood and nails.

My favorite way to curve a core is the most expensive, but the most reliable. Get a large piece of PVC (3" thick) about 5' long and cap the bottom. Put your core in this "oven" and boil some water (maybe with a tea kettle). CAREFULLY pour the boiling water into the oven and cap the top. Change the water in the oven every 15 minutes for 1-2 hours. When your PVC is ready (and be patient; patience is key when smithing), put it into a mold. You can make the mold by putting nails into a plywood so that when the PVC is put between the nails, it will be slightly curved.

There are also great designs out there for single-sided swords. I'll dig one up and post it.

Alric

[Kotaro]

Great idea, Alric! I'd never have thought of that. I'll probably go for your "oven" approach and see what happens. Is 1" a good thickness for the core? It think that's the thickness of the 10' length I bought.

[Alric, son of Harland]

That's a little thick, but you can try if you want. I'm not a big Japanese buff, but I think katana were typically longer (red swords). I would use 3/4" whether you're gonna make it blue or red because by curving the PVC, you are reducing the structural integrity of the core.



It's a beautiful thing.

Alric

[Kotaro]

superjoshe said:

Great idea, Alric! I'd never have thought of that. I'll probably go for your "oven" approach and see what happens. Is 1" a good thickness for the core? It think that's the thickness of the 10' length I bought.

Oh, wait, I lied. It's 1/2". Is that too thin? It seems to me that if it were to be a red sword (>/= 48"), a 1/2" core would be quite flimsy and, for lack of a better word, wiggly.

[Alric, son of Harland]

1/2" is a little thin for a red. I would practice by making some popsicle blues (the basic design). The Eryndor site has a really good tutorial.

Alric

[Sir Semi]

1/2" is ALOT thin for a good red weapon. By the Way thanks go out to Scion (Sechiro.. sp) of Angaron for that design