Posted on 05/26/2006 10:33:30 AM PDT by ronaldbizworld
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Management.
it was the color of the line they had at Home Despot within the desired pound-test range.
I don't mind - the Japanese never had the western habit of segregating colors by gender.
nice quote
Interesting idea.
I used a modified version of it as a tagline for a while, but I just put this one on.
I like it.
I'm getting ready to hit the road. Be back in a few ... days, that is.
roughed-out blank (thank GOD for powertools!):
rough-planed template for the other two blanks:
set-up for tracing:
traced blanks:
That wood looks like white ash, am I correct?
"choice-grade" white oak, 4" x 48" x .25"thk
forgot to mention...
in the top photo, from top to bottom:
1. handmade bokken of "Live Oak" cut from a tree in my yard, @22.5oz wt
2. Cold Steel synthetic bokken, @15oz wt
3. (in handmade cherry wood scabbard) my old bastardized Japanese non-comissioned officer's sword, weight not known
4. (Tsuba and) Cold Steel "Chisa" katana, @45oz wt
5. primary template and two unmarked blanks, white oak, @.25" thick, to be cut and later laminated into a bokken, with the addition of a central channel of lead to approximate the weight and balance of the Chisa katana.
""We took a waking tour last night""
Yes, when one is in NYC, it is always preferable to take a tour while awake.
Ah.. I wasn't too sure - it can be difficult to tell white oak from white ash, my father is colour blind - he often has to ask me to tell him which is which!
it is difficult to tell the difference, especially at that distance and under such flat lighting - you can't see the cross-grain reinforcements which typify oak
True, though it is high time I can - seeing as our family business uses both timbers regularly.
ah, don't beat yourself up - this new digital camera is decent, but it isn't THAT good... besides, it isn't as if I showed you a close-up of the grain.
hehe, that's true, I guess!
the total weight of all three wood elements at this point is 17.5oz.
I expect to lose about 30% of that in shaping the surfaces to a close approximation of a traditional bokken's cross section.
As I am well ahead of schedule (having borrowed a neighbor's jigsaw, rather than saw all that oak with a manual coping saw), I shall spend the next little while getting the hilt's profile to final dimensions.
Additionally, I am strongly considering drilling a series of holes between the center and edge lines and dropping in small diameter finishing nails for use as calibration pins, and then final profiling the whole subassembly, SO AS TO GET AN EXACT WEIGHT for all of the wood components.
I have a hot-rolled steel plate guard on order - it should be done sometime monday morning.
Cost: $45.00 - expensive, for a 3" diameter disk of 1/4" steel...
...but what value would one put on never amputating something near and dear?
The whole point of this project is to DUPLICATE as exactly as possible a dangerously keen blade, so that I can practice in safety.
With that in mind, forty-five bucks is a trivial price.
Anyway...
Once I have that guard, and the thin leather and laces for the hilt wrapping, I will be able to get a DAMNED accurate weight for all of the non-lead components.
You will note that there is quite a bit of meat left on the "belly" of the tip: The black line is the profile of the actual sword's tip, and the current wood edge is a close approximation of a traditional bokken tip. I am not sure which tip type will be on the final bokken. That'll be the last woodworking I do on this bokken.
You will also note text written midway on the blade.
It reads POINT OF >< BALANCE.
This is the point of balance on the real sword.
Matching that is just as critical as matching the weight of the sword.
More critical, actually.
It is the one detail of this project about which I worry.
Yes, nearly removing a finger would tend to shove the point home that one needs a safer way to practice one's kata.
Looks good to me.
(But what do I know?)
depends... how many scars do you have, and how many talk to you?
;)
hehe, when stairs are made from white oak - we don't measure the weight - we just know it's damn well heavy!! ;)
I expect to lose about 30% of that in shaping the surfaces to a close approximation of a traditional bokken's cross section.
30% waste - that's oak for ye!
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