Condor Tactana?

Got an angle grinder? If not, they're like 20 bucks at harbor freight, plus another buck for the metal cutting disc. That will make short work of the steel. Then you just need to file and sand down to clean it up.
 
Hunting season started and I forgot this thread!

I ended up drilling out the lanyard hole rivet, cutting an 1.5" off the ends of the micarta scales to the tang with a hack saw, popped off the micarta, and then shaping the remaining metal into a pointed pommel of sorts for that close up butt thrust to the face that may be needed in a close in engagement. I'll post new pictures to, as I reshaped the blade some more also. I suspect my final post will just be a big pile of metal filings on the floor as I can't seem to leave it the F**k alone. But it is getting sharper and sharper without me doing anything but polishing. I take a layer of skin off some small spot by accident almost every time I touch it. Blood thirsty little devil!

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More resent pictures of my project. I know it's not much compared to most stuff here but I'm having fun and it does function quite amazingly.
 
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Thanks, I was afraid this had become a forgotten thread.

I just met a guy with a large drill press who says he can put a few holes in the handle to move the balance point forward a bit. It's almost perfect but the balance is still off for me. It's hunting season here and I've gotten 2 large doe who were kind enough to allow me to test the blade (after I had taken the meat of course). The sword traversed the neck like it was not even there. I swung to hard thinking there would be resistance and almost fell when there was none. Ribs and spine similarly. Point of that story is that I did feel that a bit more forward weight would be helpful and not hurt manageability at all. I'll do 1 hole at a time starting between the farthest 2 rivets and test and drill and test and drill, etc. Next it to make a proper wooden Saya (sheath). The leather one it came with is OK but I fear the blade may be cutting it going in and out.
 
thanks gregorio.

A friend suggested taking off the handle and annealing the tang to facilitate drilling and lightening it up some. He claims that it should have little effect on the blade proper or 'toughness' of the sword. thoughts on this appreciated and proper technique if this sounds reasonable?
 
If you can get the handle off then it seems like a reasonable suggestion. Not hardening a tang is fairly common.

I suggest you think about whether that would be easier than just drilling the handle and filling in the holes. Are you sure the tang is hardened as it is?
 
Hi gregorio,

I'm not sure if it's hardened. I have the 1 1/4" square piece of the tang I cut off and tried to drill that with the best drill I had, going slow and with oil, and it did leave a nice divet (.010 maybe) in it but it then seemed to stop cold and not progress. It was a bigger bit, maybe 1/4", and not really new so I don't know if the results would be better with a known bit. Else where on the forum I looked up drilling hardened steel and saw a thread that said masonry bits are best. I just have not had time to pick one up to try yet. And wasn't sure what size really - maybe 1/8" pilot hole and a 3/8" to finish? And then hole placement -put like 4 holes, in a diamond shape, between each rivet area. Probably making this a lot more work than necessary.

I'm not crazy about removing the handle. I really like it right now and can imagine a change for the worse easily. The pieces at the end that I cut and pried off were no problem, I am just am not sure how my rivet replacing skills would hold up on the rebuild.
 
I'm sure there are machinist out there with better advice than I can give. Personally if it was me I would solicit some help from someone with a serious drill press.

You've done a nice job so far; it would be a shame to mess her up.
 
New bits will cut when an old bit just won't. Steel is pretty tough to drill. If you were able to make a dent, it can probably be done with a new bit. Rehandling isn't too bad. Get some pin or lanyard tube stock, and just stick it through when you epoxy the new handle scales on. Then you can peen it down if it's solid, or sand it down if it's not, then shape the new scales. What's the POB right now?
 
The POB is 2" in front of the tsuba (hand guard), which includes the habaki (the brass piece). Not to bad for an 'inside' sword but another inch or 2 would give more feed back on where the body of the blade is when moving it around, I think. Most other swords I've handled are 5-7" forward, so it may just be getting it feeling more familiar than actually making it better. Haven't ever sparred with this configuration so it's all just a guessing game. Traditionally there was more forward weight so that should indicate some benefit.
 
crimson, have you ever fought/sparred with a sword this size? As I said, I have not and yet I can imagine from my kendo, kobudo and ARMA style sparring that having some forward weight gives more follow thru and strength to a cut. A heavy handle is counter productive to penetration giving it's own inertia to the blade. In kobudo the sai, tonfa, kama are all top heavy. The Kukri is another famous fighting knife consistant with this idea. Speed, with good technique applied to the perfect target (for a slicing sword) is a strong combination as an isolated condition but for a real life block and chop situation a little forward weight should demand an opponents attention some what better. In most historical battle situations axes, maces, war hammers, and other types of front heavy bludgeons were used as primary weapons with swords being a weak backup. And now coming up against another sword is even more unlikely. Baseball bats, real hammers, machetes and other types of 'clubs' are likely to be encountered and blocking or even parrying one with a POB toward the hand seems unlikely. I may over think this a bit but a pretense of reality is the least I can muster as I fashion my weapon.
 
My katana are all much lower balance. And yes, I've done a pretty fair amount of sparring with swords of a wide variety of sizes. Katana are cutters, not choppers. A blade that size should NOT be thought of in the same breath as a baseball bat or anything else similar. The design is optimized for cutting, and chopping, bashing, etc, is a VERY bad idea. If you're trying to block a baseball bat with a katana, you're in trouble anyways. I don't see how you can want forward balance and be thinking about chopping if you've taken kendo? Honestly, that makes no sense to me. Not trying to criticize or anything, but my training indicates speed and flow are primary concerns with a light blade like a katana.

That all being said, it's YOUR sword, and you should absolutely tailor it to your fighting style. What others find comfortable shouldn't be a concern. However, I do want to caution you that chopping and blocking heavy weapons with a sword is a really really bad idea. Instead, you want to rely on movement and speed. Don't parry; move out of the path of the strike, and take the weapon arm or the leg. You wouldn't fight that way with a rapier against a club user. That's a good Western analogue, in my opinion, to a katana.
 
crimson, I have this dialog in my head regularly. And have not found an easy answer to it. A 2.25 lb, 24" sword isn't a light weight weapon. Many maces and axes are very close. And yet a waist turn and quick slice does changes everything quickly. I am very happy with it, generally, right now and may put in a few hours training with it before further modification. I did just get my first strop and 5-.25 micron paste so a little more polishing is in the works. An edge like the one I'm hoping for will certainly support your 'vote' for intended usage. My kendo years are further behind me now than my war hammer and axe days. All are good and there is still something to be said for aging into technique rather than muscle.

On a side - how do you feel about sheaths for a sword like this? I bought some poplar to fashion a saya, however wood working is not my forte and as a result I have treated the wood badly: think kindling. If a 'saya' type sheath is best I will persist in my endevours. As I said before the leather one it came with seems delicate for the job.
 
Does the leather one have a welt? How important is rigidity on the resheathe? A well-made leather sheath should be fine, but I tend to prefer more rigid sheaths. Perhaps kydex might not be a bad idea for a "tactana"? The other thing you might consider is frame construction of a sheath (3 slats of thinner wood, cut out the middle one in the shape of the blade, glue/pin the thing together, then sand it down to shape, glue on a thin leather covering if desired, or lacquer the outside as is more traditional).
 
crimson, excellent idea on the saya. I had seen a few you tube videos that used 2 pieces of wood, traced the sword on both of the pieces, then try to chisel it out perfectly and glue together perfectly. End result for me was kindling. After reading you suggestion I went back and got three 1/4" pieces of wood instead of two 1/2" pieces like last time, traced it on one and cut it out with a jig saw. I'll put that in the center and all I'll have to do is fit the habaki and reinforce. wonderful idea. I won't be finishing real soon as today we took the handle scales off and we ground a 1/2"x 1.5" square out of the tang between the last 2 rivets. it's cooling now. I'll tape the scales back on it and see how it feels, test the POB and then decide if I want to make another grind in the next space up or not. This will be 'MY' sword when done. I may try to re- heat treat it also as my friend noticed that it wasn't as hard as I had said. I told him It seemed a lot harder when I started working on it, wearing files terribly and all, and he believes it was a poor HT and was just hard for a few thousandths maybe. It did seem awful soft when grinding, and with the more resent shaping of the blade. 1075 should be a pretty easy HT shouldn't it? Any suggestions? Might as well do it right before reassembly.
 
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