Tai chi sword

M

Michael McKay

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Nov 21, 2018
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I'm researching steel to make a Tai Chi sword. I recently did a black smith work shop and he suggested looking into nice spring steel or to see what they are made of .

The sword will probably only be used for Tai Chi demonstrion. It likely won't be slicing tatomy mats, but the forged in fire fan in me kind of wants to do a heat treatment.

I don't have a forge of my own so i would be shaping it with either a file or a grinder.

The blade will probably be approximately 3 feet long plus a handle. Does anyone have any recommendations on sizes and steel types?



I thake Tai Chi in Toronto, and there is a Tai Chi sword element in the next level when i grade. I'm sure i can go down to China Town or order something off Amazon, but I want to make my own sword

I want to make something i can be proud of, not use something mass produced.
 
Just FYI, The "Tai Chi Sword" is called a Jian in Chinese where it originates. It is called a "Tsurugi" in Japanese where it existed prior to the development of the single edged curved "Katana".
Test cutting with a Jian was called "Shizan" in China where straw/bamboo figures were cut. "Tatami" is a Japanese flooring mat and never existed in China, therefore never used for test cutting.
 
Last edited:
KenHash said:
Just FYI, The "Tai Chi Sword" is called a Jian in Chinese where it originates. It is called a "Tsurugi" in Japanese where it existed prior to the development of the single edged curved "Katana".
Test cutting with a Jian was called "Shizan" in China where straw/bamboo figures were cut. "Tatami" is a Japanese flooring mat and never existed in China, therefore never used for test cutting.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information .i was just making a forged in fire reference. They use the tatami mats for testing the blades from time to time .
 
Whenever I have seen the Tai Chi sword forms, we always used wooden practice swords. Never even seen a metal blade.
 
5160 and 6150 are popular amongst the US makers but they are doing mostly stock removal. 5160 has some appeal for forging but there are a lot of possibilities for forging. A sword is probably not the place to begin forging but general metalworking and developing skills with tools not something learned overnight.

Angus Trim uses stock removal and 5160, then outsourced marquenching heat treating. Michael "Tinker" Pearce has been getting his 5160 treated first, then grinding and doing a differential temper with a torch. Steve Voorhis forges 5160 but doing knife lengths.

Gus uses a cnc mill and is a tai chi practitioner. He did a tac jian at one point and may yet towards the end of his career. He has hinted doing some of his tactical stuff again. He had done a lot of his single hand swords with his tai chi preferences in mind but others of his stuff heavier thumpers.

Here is one of his tac jian blades still waiting to get cut out of the web after run through his mill.
tacjian.jpg

Then here the finished product

1.jpg 3.jpg

There is a Hanwei practical tai chi sword, which would be my suggestion to have something aside from a wood bokken, while developing the smithing techniques. I have a nice picture of a five burner propane forge, which would be a dream machine for long blades but forges can be a lot less technical. Still a long fire makes long blades a lot easier and raised up to chest height, a lot easier on the back.

Space is a big hurdle, or find shared space. Currently, my condo life doesn't make for a cozy shop space. Making even small projects aside from filing difficult. I have somewhat gone back to my interests in horology and monkey wrenching watches. I still get some old sword work done but containing the mess difficult.

Cheers
GC
 
Draw filing in sections of a longer blade needs a table stable enough to clamp a piece of steel down, while leaving enough surface of the steel to work. I've used a file to somewhat re-profile a blade's cross section and doing so evenly makes for a lot of counting and consistency.

Harbor Freight sells some inexpensive belt grinders and they have found favor for many just for sharpening swords. The cheap grinders though start to go through bushings and bearings pretty quickly, so if going into a lot of grinding you might want to put real money into a machine, or make one.

Learn draw filing with some scrap metal. Something like an old bed frame or shelving, just to get used to filing. Gloves and a handle for the file and a file card (brush). Plan on replacing files as they wear. You are looking for a mill bastard for draw filing.

Cheers
GC
 
I have my own garage to work in. Not sure I'd need to put a forhe in it. There's a lot of start up costs for a hobby i wouldn't have a lot of time for.

Probably use an angle grinder to take off the bulk and then file it down the details.
 
Michael McKay said:
I have my own garage to work in. Not sure I'd need to put a forhe in it. There's a lot of start up costs for a hobby i wouldn't have a lot of time for.

Probably use an angle grinder to take off the bulk and then file it down the details.
Click to expand...

After it's shaped, you can send it out for a pro HT, it isn't expensive.
 
What i might do is get a longer piece of steel, chop it down and make some sort of a knife just to get the hang of working with the metal.
 
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