Closed, PRE-ORDER, K20.1 Wakizashi

Nathan the Machinist

Nathan the Machinist

KnifeMaker / Machinist / Evil Genius
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Feb 13, 2007
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15,689

This pre-order is a do-over of the original run. It was my intention on that first run to leave the sale open for a week but (as you may recall) it ended up filling surprisingly quickly (under a minute).

To our good and appreciated customers who attempted to order on the last sale, you are not forgotten. I'm so sorry that last sale closed so quickly. We had a specific amount of steel rolled to our specifications available here for that project and when we ran out, we ran out. If you still want a sword you can order on this sale and regardless of where you are in the line, your order will be place in queue as if the tail end of the last sale is actually the beginning of this sale. Even if the numbers in this sale get crazy and we end up closing it early, if you posted in the first day on the last one of these sales you will be accommodated in this sale, even if it is closed. This is possible because we're going to have the steel made for this order rather to force the sale to fit within the amount of material we'd already had made. I wish we could honor the original pricing structure of the first run for you guys, but we have seen enormous inflation on steel, abrasives, carbide and labor costs over the last two years.


This sale will (hopefully) be open for a full week. In an effort to keep things sane, please limit your order to a maximum of three swords. If we do end up needing to close this sale early, please be aware that orders are taken on a first-come-first-serve basis.








Due to limited quantities please limit your order to three swords unless you are someone like Brian who is buying one for each of his boys and you have talked to me or Jo.


Please post only one time to this thread. Please do not make multiple posts or chat. If you need to change something, edit your post, don't add an additional post. This is my order list and it needs to stay simple and uncluttered or it isn't going to work.

This is a pre-order. There are no proxies in pre-orders.

Please read and understand the sword and the ordering process before ordering. I will post some disclaimers in a second post to this one. Please do not order anything until you have read those disclaimers and contemplated how they apply to you. If you're international and your sword is lost or confiscated by customs, I'm sorry but there is nothing that I can do about that and the risk for this falls on you, the buyer. If you have a problem with that, please do not buy from me.

I intend to start shipping these within about a year, but some sword projects take much longer so come into this with your eyes wide open. I'm making no hard promises on a delivery time other than you can request a refund of your "non-refundable" deposit if I haven't shipped these after two years. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Projects like this that are pushing the outer boundaries of our process and capabilities are experimental in nature and surprises sometimes do happen.


Here are some cool pictures of what it might not really look like

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(pictures used without permission)


I may tweak this sword a little bit for the second run.


It is the size and weight of a traditional wakizashi and it more or less falls within the dimensional and kinetic windows of that kind of weapon however we are not saddled with the relatively low quality steel that traditional smiths were encumbered with and we will be able to make a sword here that will tolerate use that would destroy a historical sword. With that in mind I am pressing the primary grinds a little more narrow than normal for enhanced cutting ability, I'm giving it a little extra blade height to reduce the tendency of a long thin blade to wrap around a hard target, and I am adding a weighted pommel which moves the center of gravity back to only 3/4" ahead of the guard for excellent one handed control and the addition of a little weight in the tang translates into a little bit more cutting power in a hit (trust me, it works). If you remember the traditional sword on "Knife-or-death", it got all screwed up in that cutting competition. This sword won't be like that. This sword could probably cut that sword in half.


Specs:
Delta 3V, .190" 60.5 HRC
Total length 28.75
Blade length 20.0
Weight 1lbs 11 oz
Edge angle 20 DPS
Grippy 3D machined scales, grey or green TT

No sheath

As machined and ground, and tumbled

These are Utility Field Grade, milled and tumbled with visible tool and grind marks. You're buying a real and fully functional high performance sword built to cut stuff, not a shiny wall hanger, please don't buy this if you're looking for some flawless art piece.

Price is $1,800. Shipping is $30, so total shipped domestically for a utility field grade K20 Wakizashi Sword (no scabbard) is $1,830


The sword normally comes with TT scales. It is balanced with TT scales. It is a high quality and high-performance material that offers grip, shock absorption, durability and it is a very good material for this sword. However, I have found that both wood and micarta work well with this sword also, so I will offer these as alternatives if you don't like TT.

standard price:
TeroTuf (Gray, OD Green, Orange)
Double Black Linen <----this looks really good on this sword
Double Red Canvas
Blue Canvas (denim)
Natural Burlap


Black or Natural Canvas micarta subtract $20 (this is what I have on my sword, I really like it)

Black Linen or Double Black Canvas micarta subtract $10 (also an excellent choice)

+ $10
Double Red and Black Linen micarta
Scarlet Linen micarta
Bright Blue micarta
Tri-color Canvas micarta

Vintage International Paper Micarta + 50
Vintage International Paper Micarta (crunchy) + 100
ECAM + $175

Wood + $250


Other options:
Acid wash: $150
Color the titanium screws: $20

Here is the order process:

I'm going to take a 50% non-refundable deposit in advance. Once your order is confirmed there are no refunds, changes or cancellations other than accommodations for change of address.

Once your sword is out of heat treat and it is clear that the sword that you ordered will be viable I will request the second half of your balance.

International orders will need to pay 100% in advance.

These will ship as they're finished in approximately the order that they are ordered in this thread. As I'm building them, most of them will go to this pre-order but a few will be sold in regular sales. This means you will see swords being sold while you're waiting for yours.


If you're ordering a sword in this pre-order: post in this thread first and then send an email to Jo at jocarothers (at) gmail (dot) com with this subject line: "K20 preorder" and include your post# in that subject line.

Please include the following information in your email:

1: Your post number on this pre-order thread.

2: Bladeforums name. (for example "Jo the Machinist")

3: Real Name.

4: PayPal email address so we can send a paypal invoice (or ask about other payment options)

5: Shipping address.

6: Your order

Once we receive this information, if everything is there, Jo will send you a PayPal invoice. If information is missing or you have additional questions, Jo will reply to your email. When your email is read and processed we will send you a reply letting you know we've received your information.

Please pay your paypal invoice within one month, otherwise we will need to cancel your order.

Jo, Bo, Mark, Ben, Carl, Trevor, Tanto, Dan and I appreciate all of your continued interest in our work and your support.

Thanks for looking.
 
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Massive disclaimer

Our K18 sword project developed a number of unforeseen challenges (it's a sword, not a knife, things happened) and it would be magical thinking for me to believe that we've learned all there is to sword making with our manufacturing process in this alloy with this heat treat. There exists a significant possibility (probability?) that some unforeseen issue will prevent this project from being successful. If we don't ship you anything, you will receive a refund. We came real close to this happening on the last run. There were literally no extras. Not a single one.

I'm estimating it will take a year for us to start shipping. But I'm giving myself two years which will give me some leeway in case something comes up that requires us to re-think or re-work aspects of this project. So hopefully some of you guys start receiving your swords before Blade show next year, but it could be much longer. Projects like this are experimental in nature. If you don't receive your sword after 24 months you may request a refund. Please do not participate in this pre-order if this significant risk of delay is a problem for you. Please don't hit Jo up for updates or I will store your scales in my boots overnight before assembly. I'll do it. I'm not kidding. Just think about that. You don't want that.

It is not impossible, on a project of this nature, for there to be a massive failure rate so if we lose half or more of these swords the people at the end of the pre-order will get a refund instead of a sword which is bound to make some people feel sad. Please do not participate in this pre-order if this significant risk of failure is a problem for you. You will get your money back and we can both feel sad together.

The vast majority of our sales originate here in the United States but a disproportionate amount of problems and complaints are in Europe. To the point that I really don't want to ship these outside of the United States. It is a lot of trouble and the juice isn't worth the squeeze. But we have some good customers overseas who don't deserve to be ignored just because the problems that are often associated with other foreign orders. Rob in the Netherlands, I'm looking at you buddy. So, with that said, here is a massive disclaimer for foreign orders: Please understand I mean no offense or disrespect but I honestly do not really want your order. But if this order is important to you, I want to try to accommodate you. But the limit of my liability to you ends once the product is in the box and in the hands of the shipping company. If it gets lost or damaged or misdirected or stolen anywhere in the shipping process (including, but not limited to, customs in your home country) you will get my deepest sympathies but you will not get a replacement or a refund. I will make your sword and put it in a box and ship it but beyond that, what happens to your shipment once it leaves my shop is outside of my control and I can not accept any responsibility for the additional risks associated with international shipping. Please do not participate in this pre-order if this significant risk of total and uncompensated loss is a problem for you. By participating in this pre-order you are acknowledging that 100% of this risk falls on you. There's probably a 50% chance you're going to run into trouble with a piece like this. It's a freakin' ninja sword. The people in customs are going to lose their minds when they see it. I recommend you sit this one out, but you can make that choice for yourself. International orders will need to pay 100% in advance (not a 50% deposit) and may need to pay additional money when we go to ship to cover any additional shipping costs. If this is a problem for you, please just sit this one out.

Fit and finish and performance expectations. I believe that we make the best knives of their kind in the world. Our focus and expertise in design, manufacturing and metallurgical excellence is, in my opinion, unmatched in the knifemaking industry. We're the current National and World cutting champions because we're good at what we do. We sometimes have pretty good fit and finish as a side effect of being pretty good machinists, but the goal in our manufacturing process is to create the correct geometry. The process to do that happens to give us pretty decent F&F, but performance and bang-for-the-buck is the primary goal here, not F&F. This is a real sword, capable of cuts and use that would damage or destroy historical swords and it will run circles around some of the toys that pass as "real swords", it is not some flawless, shiny, under-hardened spring-steel decorative wall hanger. But it is not indestructible nor is it designed to process your firewood etc. These swords are dialed in to cut and are all field grade with tool and grinding marks and other cosmetic flaws. F&F gets progressively worse with larger pieces and this sword will be no exception. Expect a high performance ugly blighted turd and you won't be disappointed. If yours ends up being somewhat pretty, that's just a bonus. Please do not participate in this pre-order if a cosmetically imperfect sword is a problem for you. As always, I will not ship anything that I personally would be disappointed with, but we are not, and never have been, in the business of making flawless wall art.

Thank you for your understanding and your support in these kinds of projects. I believe it brings something pretty cool into the world and it makes us a better manufacturer. Regular knives are our bread-and-butter but these projects that push the boundaries help keep things interesting. So, thank you.
 
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Lemme get one of dem Wacky-Zashees (please)! 🥳🍻

In for (1):
+ Double Black Micarta Scales (-$10)
+ Acid Wash (+$150)
+ Darkened or Black(ened) Colored Hardware (+$20), if possible
+ Darkened or Black(ened), or Tumbled & Acid Washed Pommel (+$?), if possible

Thank you for running another pre-order for these bad Oscars - I was bummed I missed out on the last one!
❤️

3/25 paid
 
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WooHoo! :cool:

Will email with options over the weekend and update here.

Edit1: 2 minimum…

Edit2:

Sword #1:
Wood +$250
Color the titanium screws +$20 (gold)

Sword #2:
Double Red and Double Black Linen micarta (buffed) +$10
Color the titanium screws +$20 (blue)

Possibly adding a third set of scales too.
Edit3: Yes, double black linen. +$100?

Edit4: Email sent to Jo 3/11

3/25 paid
 
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In for this (pic attached), whichever configuration this is, is what I'll go with. Seems to be Gray TT with blue titanium hardware. I can't tell from the pic if it has the acid wash treatment, so yes if so and no if not treated in acid wash. Sending email shortly and thank you for this preorder 👍🏻
IMG_20240308_174440.jpg

3/25 paid
 
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