Making shuriken

hank_rearden

hank_rearden

Joined
Jun 7, 2002
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Hello Gents. I'm not a maker and not likely to start training as one. But how would you advise making a set of shuriken? What steels to use, what kind of stock to get. Blades should be thick (at least 3mm), 4 to 6 points. I know how to use hand tools and a wheel grinder. That's about it. Thanks.
 
Something tough. Edge thickness would be relatively thick like a throwing knife. I’d just waterjet out the shapes if I were making a set
 
Hi! I was thinking of just cutting them out of an annealed plate with a hacksaw. No heat treat needed?
 
They can be as simple or as fancy as you want.
I would use something cheap and tough and harden them, but not too hard.
This reminds me of the rare time we had a substitute teacher in metal shop class. It was a free for all, sheet metal stars stuck in the ceiling. One kid was caught red handed cutting one out and just bold faced said it was a Christmas ornament. The sub said, oh nice.
 
Keep them simple, four lobed, and robust. Forget fancy sickle shaped arms. Use 1/8" steel. 5160 or 1070/1080/1084 would work fine. all have a simple HT. Temper at 550°F.
Using a file and sandpaper would be better than a wheel grinder.
 
hank_rearden said:
Hello Gents. I'm not a maker and not likely to start training as one. But how would you advise making a set of shuriken? What steels to use, what kind of stock to get. Blades should be thick (at least 3mm), 4 to 6 points. I know how to use hand tools and a wheel grinder. That's about it. Thanks.
Click to expand...
If you are looking for something simple and quick, just pick an old rotary saw blade at a local flea market And use it as is.




n2s
 
Well, are you trying to make a star shaped throwing knife, or are you trying to make replica shuriken?
Senban shuriken (plate throwing blades) are what people think of as "throwing stars/Chinese stars/ninja stars/shuriken". Historically speaking they were thin, like a 16th of an inch. And not sharp. Pointy, but not sharp.
The typical shuriken in the art I study is between 3 and 4 inches square, made out of cold rolled mild sheet stock.

Here's a set I made last year.
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How well do they stick? Well they stick ok in soft targets like pine. In reality though not sticking would actually be a good thing in actual use. If it sticks your opponent can pull it out and throw it back...

Anyway, with all that said, I've seen historical examples of shuriken that were 10" from tip to tip, so I really don't think that there are any real hard and fast rules. Just so what you want and have fun!
 
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looks like lots are still being mass produced .. i googled it just for fun ..they are about $5/$10 each
you could of course design your own and have them waterjet cut out/heat treated/sharpen however you like..
 
If you are making them for fun, you can use plain mild steel sheet. The tips will need retouching and after a while they will get worn down. You can harden mild steel in brine and get it somewhat harder.
 
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