Katana weight

SBranson

SBranson

Joined
Oct 29, 2006
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I just finished my first katana length blade and am curious about the weight. I have started iaido and am getting more of a sense of iaito weight but this blade has no hi.
It's currently at about 2.41 shaku with a 10" nakago and weighs 860g. bare blade.
My sensei joked it's a "western" blade.
Even though it would be a ton of work to go back to removing steel and remaking the habaki and repolishing, I think about taking another 100g off the blade. I am not going to go through the effort of hi grooves on this one as the kissaki is considered too long for me to use in our dojo. (at least at my level)

I'd be curious to hear any historical or anecdotal comments about this topic.

ps... it's a shinogi zukuri
 
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I only have Japanese-made swords. The long swords vary greatly in weight. I have not weighed them, but a couple are heavier than military sabers from the West.

I was told that the appearance of metal armor resulted in straighter and heavier blades. However, this information came from experts on swords (sadly now deceased), not teachers of martial arts.
 
Thanks for the reply. That's part of my curiosity, whether the lighter weight is due more to the change in use of the sword and I mean further towards the present. Is the standard iaito at around 900g (for my size) typical to historical blades or is that light to reflect the practice of iaido?
I figure I'll be up around 1.1-1.2kg after mounting. (saya excluded).
 
SBranson said:
Thanks for the reply. That's part of my curiosity, whether the lighter weight is due more to the change in use of the sword and I mean further towards the present. Is the standard iaito at around 900g (for my size) typical to historical blades or is that light to reflect the practice of iaido?
I figure I'll be up around 1.1-1.2kg after mounting. (saya excluded).
Click to expand...

If the sword was made for a particular person, there is also the matter of his size.

Some more that I found:

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?29978-Weight-of-Katanas

http://www.toyamaryu.org/SwordMeasurements.htm

http://www.toukenhataya.jp/goods/sword/sword.html#katana (push "translate")
 
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I know there's no rule to this and there will always be exceptions on the extremes. There were some crazy long (for the size of the average person) tachi in the early Kamakura period but warfare was different than the techniques of iaido.
 
Hi, Stuart,

I'd love to see pictures of the blade if you don't mind. The pieces on your site are very nice as well. You do excellent work. Thanks!
 
Finished, completed sword weight of around 2.75 lbs should be ideal for most except the very weak.

At that weight, someone could do both kata and tameshigiri without suffering any sort of joint distress.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Thanks STeven. I think that's about where I'll end up. (I assume that is without the saya)
On the heavy side from the average iaito but good for cutting.

I have been looking at weights of Hanwei pieces and such but I can't be sure whether the posted weight is a "shipping weight" and includes the saya or not.

@BW... I am working on the mount but I will post the sword when complete.
 
SBranson said:
Thanks STeven. I think that's about where I'll end up. (I assume that is without the saya)
On the heavy side from the average iaito but good for cutting.

I have been looking at weights of Hanwei pieces and such but I can't be sure whether the posted weight is a "shipping weight" and includes the saya or not.
Click to expand...

Not sure about if it includes the saya or not, but I would think that it does.

Have found major variances in weight on the CAS stuff, and that is oddly satisfying...they truly are hand made.

I usually order 3-4 of a model, pick the one I want and offer them to friends before sending back what is "not worthy"

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
SBranson said:
Thanks STeven. I think that's about where I'll end up. (I assume that is without the saya)
On the heavy side from the average iaito but good for cutting.

I have been looking at weights of Hanwei pieces and such but I can't be sure whether the posted weight is a "shipping weight" and includes the saya or not.

@BW... I am working on the mount but I will post the sword when complete.
Click to expand...

Weights posted on the website are just the sword, no scabbard.

Another way to remove weight along the blade is to taper the blade from the shinogi (ridge line) to the mune (back), assuming your blade profile doesn't already do this. See #2 here: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/styles.html

Blake
 
Stuart,
This is mere speculation on my part, but I wonder if your sensei was referring to the overall size of your blade as "western" and not merely the weight ? The nagasa of your sword is fairly long but not excessive, however the nakago at ten inches is very long by Japanese standards.

Most genuine Japanese Katana have an average of around seven inch nakago. Even when cut down from a much larger Tachi this was an average length nakago. http://yakiba.com/Katana_Mino_Senjuin.htm

Only in much larger swords do you see extended nakago. I once owned a huge Katana by Shodai Shigetaka which had a 40" nagasa, the Nakago on it was only 10.5".

As for the weight, there were differences found in Japanese swords, which is why I suspect weight alone was not the issue.

Just a thought.

BTW: I enjoyed looking at your web site, you are making very nice knives and swords.
 
Thank you!

I'm not sure but I think it was weight. This was at an iaido class where most people's iaito are around 900g mounted. (without saya)
I changed the nakago while finalizing the tsuka shape so it's now about 9 1/4", but still long by your standards. I presented it in shirasaya so there was no mention of nakago length.

Thanks for this information. I appreciate all the learning I can get.

Stuart
 
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