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Scara said:
Ever since I got to handle this one I decided I wanted a Yatagan too. This one is a very handy and surprisingly agile sword.
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Awesome sword Scara. I love the fast feel of them. Mine dont have an edge and was definitely a thruster but it sure swings nice too. A sharp tip would make it a bad to the bone slasher. I think "Yataghan" means "lying Down" i forget why? Tip lying down maybe? The US made a version of them as well and they are a bit more rare and expensive but very nice.
 
ndoghouse said:
Awesome sword Scara. I love the fast feel of them. Mine dont have an edge and was definitely a thruster but it sure swings nice too. A sharp tip would make it a bad to the bone slasher. I think "Yataghan" means "lying Down" i forget why? Tip lying down maybe? The US made a version of them as well and they are a bit more rare and expensive but very nice.
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I think it's been speculated that their scabbard was carried in a nearly horizontal position, but that's just one speculation. This one doesn't have much of an edge either, and given its age I probably won't sharpen it. The tip would be very sharp if it were still sharpened, but it looks like it lost just a tiny bit of metal long ago. Not surprising, since it does have a metal scabbard. But maybe if I ever get the money I can commission someone to duplicate this blade with a just slightly longer handle, and have blade-breaker loops on both sides of the guard.
 
Hello all. Here is a picture of my sword that arrived today. It´s a Condor Kondoru Wakazashi. 22,44" Weight 23.32 ounce. The scabbard & handle is made of walnut.

 
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Ballistol's Condor Wakizashi reminds me that I've been meaning to post pictures of this recent acquisition, a Phillipine made Wakizashi.

Wakizashi18in-JapaneseFilipino19oz-04.jpg Wakizashi18in-JapaneseFilipino19oz-11.jpg

According to the seller it was made-to-order in the Phillipines in 1988. It's high-carbon steel, the fittings are brass and the handle is mangkono wood, also known as Phillipine ironwood, with properties similar to lignum vitae. Having held and inspected the knife I believe all this. The quality is very high, and it feels great in the hand.

The overall length is 18", blade length is 12", and the weight is 19 oz. Spine thickness is 1/4", tapering slightly toward the tip. The leather sheath is well done and the blade fits snugly. I like this type of guard, which protects the fingers while allowing one to easily choke up on the handle grip. This knife obviously was not an attempt to simply imitate a traditional Japanese Wakizashi or long knife; rather it incorporates the traditional blade shape and overall profile with non-traditional features: the guard, wood handle, brass pommel and leather sheath. I like the combination.

The blade came with a few areas of superficial dark tarnish (partly visible in the photos), which I have been gradually removing with Flitz and a lot of elbow grease.
 
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Here's my latest acquisition. It was cheap, the sheath that came with it is even cheaper, but the blade itself it surprisingly good for how much it costs. Perfectly adequate as a light and easily carried self-defense blade. It originally had a cord-wrapped handle, but I took it off to experiment with a different wrap, only to discover that I like it better without the wrap. I may end up trying a new wrap anyway, or I may leave it as is. I also plan on getting some kydex for it. It would be a more secure sheath, and it would be easier to draw from safely.

 
Scara said:
... Shouldn't be hard to drill out some holes for rivets.
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He He!! Long as its not hardened. Otherwise you will need carbide. Id put scales on it using them two holes already on it. The jimping would be over the handle tho. Not sure how that might feel?
 
ndoghouse said:
He He!! Long as its not hardened. Otherwise you will need carbide. Id put scales on it using them two holes already on it. The jimping would be over the handle tho. Not sure how that might feel?
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The holes are pretty big, but that should be doable. I say that never having done it before, so I could be very wrong. And the solution to not having jimping over the handle would be for the handle to taper down before the jimping.
 
I prefer not to have pins showing. I just drill a shallow hole in each handle slab for whatever size pin you want to use. I usually use brass, 1/8'' or 3/16''. Cut the pin so it's long enough to go in the holes an 1/8'' or so in each slab. Acraglas the pins and slabs all to the tang. Let it set over night and file off the excess and shape to suit.

I don't know what jimping is so I'll skip that part. The pins just provide shear and the acraglas will hold them slabs on till the cows come home.
 
Bawanna said:
I prefer not to have pins showing. I just drill a shallow hole in each handle slab for whatever size pin you want to use. I usually use brass, 1/8'' or 3/16''. Cut the pin so it's long enough to go in the holes an 1/8'' or so in each slab. Acraglas the pins and slabs all to the tang. Let it set over night and file off the excess and shape to suit.

I don't know what jimping is so I'll skip that part. The pins just provide shear and the acraglas will hold them slabs on till the cows come home.
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The jimping is the grooves they ground in on the spine for grip.

Hidden pins is an interesting idea. Might look better than having those really thick pins showing.
 
Plus you can use any size pin you want. Even if you expose and peen the pins, they don't have to fill those holes. The epoxy will fill in the gap.
 
Monday.


15 minutes ago.



I'm almost regretting adding the finger grooves this evening, it was looking really good smooth. It feels very good in hand now and I'm not done yet, I may be able to make it look better before I'm done. If not, I got more wood.
Looking cool is job one.
 
Here's kinda what id do if were mine Scara! I do like the exposed nakedness of it but to keep it maybe this would work.

0e360c65f563f16133d9c82a6b427498


Kinda crude drawing so forgive me but the thickest part of the scales would be at the ends and towards the spine then work the finger grooves into the depth towards the spine. I think if you left a bit of metal showing all around the edges and contoured the wood to match it would be really nice looking. I do like Mr. B's hidden pins alot! That would look really nice too!
 
ndoghouse said:
Here's kinda what id do if were mine Scara! I do like the exposed nakedness of it but to keep it maybe this would work.

0e360c65f563f16133d9c82a6b427498


Kinda crude drawing so forgive me but the thickest part of the scales would be at the ends and towards the spine then work the finger grooves into the depth towards the spine. I think if you left a bit of metal showing all around the edges and contoured the wood to match it would be really nice looking. I do like Mr. B's hidden pins alot! That would look really nice too!
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So I gotta apologize. When I first saw the picture you drew up my first reaction was "what the hell is that supposed to be?" Then I kept looking and read what you said and it made for sense. To be honest, the reason I've decided on scales is that I want the blade to align with my fist when I hold it. Right now (and with the original cord wrap) it points to the left when I hold it in hand. This makes any form of thrust or even cut less effective.

But I did have the thought of leaving some exposed metal. I have an Indonesian-made karambit that went that route. But whatever I do, I'm not going to do it any thicker than necessary. I don't want to lose concealability.

 
I was actually thinking more of a wedge shaped cross section. That would help keep it indexed. I agree round is bad for indexing. I still wouldnt make the scales any more than about 3/16th" on the spine side and maybe 1/8" on inside. I wouldnt leave sharp edges anywhere like my drawing shows because the corners would likely break off. You would still have to be careful when pinning so you dont split the scales but that would depend on your experience pinning.
 
ndoghouse said:
I was actually thinking more of a wedge shaped cross section. That would help keep it indexed. I agree round is bad for indexing. I still wouldnt make the scales any more than about 3/16th" on the spine side and maybe 1/8" on inside. I wouldnt leave sharp edges anywhere like my drawing shows because the corners would likely break off. You would still have to be careful when pinning so you dont split the scales but that would depend on your experience pinning.
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That would be zero experience pinning. But you suggestions here will definitely help.
 
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