The Martial Artist's Katana

Kohai999 said:
Will show up to compete with 4 swords to the average of 1 or 2 for most competitors(two primary, and two backups).
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Hmmm... For the 2006 Taikai, I only had 3 live swords, plus an iaito and bokuto. In the old days, Dave Drawdy would show up with nearly a half dozen live blades. He'd let folks try them out. I ended up buying blades from the companies he bought from because they were such good cutters. The last time I saw him he had a couple of Howard Clark blades that were polished and mounted by Keith Larman. Very nice pieces! Too expensive for me though. My MAS L6 with mounts done by Lohman cost me a quarter of what he spent.

Got a better explanation yesterday on the L6 edge issue I've been having. Apparently, the L6 doesn't hold an edge as long as your standard 1086M steel that Howard Clark uses. That's the drawback to having something as durable as the L6.

Also, another thing brought up if you're considering the MAS L6 blade is that it's only polished up to about 6000 grit. Probably won't make a difference since you plan to use it for constant cutting. Though because it's only done up to 6000 grit, it makes the blade susceptible to some staining from the "makiwara tea", which I've experienced. Polishing with hazuya and jizuya fingerstones, plus burnishing will solve the issue, but I don't plan to take things that far with mine.

Jay
 
jmijares said:
Hmmm... For the 2006 Taikai, I only had 3 live swords, plus an iaito and bokuto. In the old days, Dave Drawdy would show up with nearly a half dozen live blades. He'd let folks try them out. I ended up buying blades from the companies he bought from because they were such good cutters. The last time I saw him he had a couple of Howard Clark blades that were polished and mounted by Keith Larman. Very nice pieces! Too expensive for me though. My MAS L6 with mounts done by Lohman cost me a quarter of what he spent.


Also, another thing brought up if you're considering the MAS L6 blade is that it's only polished up to about 6000 grit. Probably won't make a difference since you plan to use it for constant cutting. Though because it's only done up to 6000 grit, it makes the blade susceptible to some staining from the "makiwara tea", which I've experienced. Polishing with hazuya and jizuya fingerstones, plus burnishing will solve the issue, but I don't plan to take things that far with mine.

Jay
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Drawdy Sensei is a notorious sword slut.:D

Staining of cutters does not bother me in the slightest. I'd love to get some pointers on the use of hazuya and jizuya fingerstones(selection and proper procedures) as well as how to use the burnisher....I have ibota and a "knitting needle" burnisher....just not exactly sure how to use them either.

I missing the Taikai this year due to working at the USN Gathering in Las Vegas with a friend.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
I'd love to get some pointers on the use of hazuya and jizuya fingerstones(selection and proper procedures) as well as how to use the burnisher....I have ibota and a "knitting needle" burnisher....just not exactly sure how to use them either.
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For hazuya and jizuya, I prefer to get them "pre-made" either from eBay or Fred Lohman because they're pre-ground and already have the paper backing.

For technique, you have to take the hazuya, place it under your thumb, and start rubbing the surface of the blade. Same with the jizuya. Made sure to always wet the blade with a water/baking soda mixture to neutralize any acids and oils from your hand.

They say that you need to create tojiru (sort of lubricating paste) by rubbing the hazuya and jizuya against an uchigumori stone, but I've found that once you start using the fingerstones on the blade, the friction creates the tojiru anyway.

Always stay below the shinogi because both the hazuya and jizuya are meant to bring out the details of the steel. Both stones work really good with folded steel, but not so much with mono-steel because there are no details to bring out.

Next step is the nugui, which you can get pre-mixed. I like the jitekko nugui because it emphasizes the hamon. For this stuff, you just pour a little bit of it onto a cotton ball and rub the blade. The nugui darkens the ji while the hamon stays a little brighter.

As for burnishing, I tend to stay away from using the rods because one time while I was burnishing, my hand slipped and the burnishing needle scratched the shinogi-ji and I had to start all over again.

If you're working on a mono-steel blade that you're using for tameshigiri, it's just better to use 14000 grit paper to give it that mirror polish. Mind you, it won't compress the steel like burnishing does, but it has the same effect in that it brightens up the steel.. The only minor downside is that because the steel isn't compressed, you have those micro-pores still present so sometimes water and acids will settle in there and you might get staining, but if you thoroughly wipe the blade down with alcohol and then oil it (right after cutting and before resheathing) then you should be okay.
 
Although no swordsman, I just keep coming back here to read the new posts. Very interesting.

I think I need to remind my TKD daughter that she ought to get back into this.
 
Jay-san,

Not to turn this into Polishing Q&A, but Fred just told me he stopped carrying polishing supplies, due to a variety of factors.

He suggested purchasing directly from Namikawa, but don't really know what to look for.

Would you mind grabbing me some stones and nugui next time you place an order, so I know that I am getting acceptable merchandise?

You can PM me when you are ready, or reach me at dethrdr@hotmail.com.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
OldPhysics said:
Although no swordsman, I just keep coming back here to read the new posts. Very interesting.

I think I need to remind my TKD daughter that she ought to get back into this.
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Dave, if your TKD daughter is still interested, Dave Drawdy teaches Nakamura Ryu Batto-do in Alexandria. Not sure what his schedule is like though as I haven't visited his dojo since 2007 even though I've been back to the Beltway for quick business trips since then. (Hard to bring training gear when I've got one or two day meetings in the Beltway.) Though I think it's on Tuesday nights and Saturday around midday. They do quite a bit more tameshigiri than my group does over here on the left coast.


Kohai999 said:
Would you mind grabbing me some stones and nugui next time you place an order, so I know that I am getting acceptable merchandise?

You can PM me when you are ready, or reach me at...
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Will do! I've still got a small amount of hazuya stones left, so I don't anticipate ordering anything until some time after the first of the year.

Jay
 
jmijares said:
Dave, if your TKD daughter is still interested, Dave Drawdy teaches Nakamura Ryu Batto-do in Alexandria. Not sure what his schedule is like though as I haven't visited his dojo since 2007 even though I've been back to the Beltway for quick business trips since then.
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Dave was a Forumite named Vampire Gerbil who passed away a few years ago, Jamie is Old Physic's real name.:)

jmijares said:
Will do! I've still got a small amount of hazuya stones left, so I don't anticipate ordering anything until some time after the first of the year.

Jay
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Thanks Jay-san, I am in no hurry, not that excited to make my thumbs bleed so much, yunno?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
Dave was a Forumite named Vampire Gerbil who passed away a few years ago, Jamie is Old Physic's real name.:)



Thanks Jay-san, I am in no hurry, not that excited to make my thumbs bleed so much, yunno?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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Too, too true.:)

What can I say? I'm Irish-Italian.

Will have to let daughter know that Mr. Drawdy is literally right around the corner!:eek:
 
OldPhysics said:
Will have to let daughter know that Mr. Drawdy is literally right around the corner!:eek:
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http://www.capitalareabudokai.org/battodoiaido.html

If there's one thing I've seen over the past decade that has been a constant, it's that women learn to do the batto-do kata and tameshigiri a lot faster than men. And also I have yet to meet any female iaidoka who have developed the sword-buying addiction, which is good. So, Jamie, you might be safe! ;)

I had some TDYs to the Beltway in 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007 and did some training with him or his folks and got to look at and try out some of their blades. And each year I bought a new sword...

Late 2002 into 2003 = Nobukuni model katana through a guy named Darryl Guertin. The sword looked nice and in testing some of the models that Drawdy had, it was a swift cutter. But the one I ended up getting was made of cheap Chinese steel and bent on the first day of cutting during an upward diagonal cut. Try as I might, I couldn't bring out the hamon of the blade with fingerstones or an acid etch...

2003 = Got a Koto blade, might be about 400+ years old. It's definitely an old, tired blade that has seen some fighting.

2006 = Ordered my MAS L6. Still my favorite tool for training and cutting. I've nicknamed it "Unbreakable".

2007 = Edo blade about 200 years old, plus a Cheness Katana and Wakizashi. Came within 1/8th of an inch in tying with someone for the Wakizashi tameshigiri competition. My $200 blade kept up with his $2000 blade.

2010 = ?????? The addiction still lives... :eek:

I've known Dave Drawdy since 2001. He's a good teacher and the added benefit is that he travels to Japan yearly to train at the home dojo in Yokohama. I haven't had a chance to do that yet as I'm in the process of saving up for a house. (Sword travels, house, new sword, house... Very difficult decision...:()
 
:rolleyes::)I'm copying all of this 'good stuff' into a file and shipping it off to my martial daughter. She will definitely enjoy it ... and I think she could do with a little more steel-oriented martial arts.:D:thumbup:
 
Mr. Garsson, what are your thoughts, if any, about the Busse-kin line of short swords? Although by no means traditional, they are incredibly tough, and exhibit performance that I have only ever heard of from a Howard Clark L-6 blade.

Just curious.
 
Diamond Dog Dave said:
Mr. Garsson, what are your thoughts, if any, about the Busse-kin line of short swords? Although by no means traditional, they are incredibly tough, and exhibit performance that I have only ever heard of from a Howard Clark L-6 blade.

Just curious.
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Infi is great steel....however, shape and most definitely handling characteristics put these pieces more in the class of machetes than Japanese style swords......There is NO comparison.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
The shape of this Howard Clark L6 wakizashi does not look so different from a Scrapizashi...when you say the handling characteristics are different what are you referring to?
 
Diamond Dog Dave said:
http://www.scrapyardknives.com/knives.htm

It seems to me like this is a modern interpretation of a Japanese style blade.
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See what you want to see.

I cannot instruct you on how to see, nor do I have the patience to point out the differences line by line.

The Scrapizashi, as far as I can tell is a full flat grind or hira zukuri, and the vast majority of Howard's blades are shinogi zukuri, they have a shinogi ji...for starters

Perhaps someone else will attempt it, but I am fresh out of what you need to learn....which is the primary reason that I do not teach at the dojo.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
See what you want to see.

I cannot instruct you on how to see, nor do I have the patience to point out the differences line by line.

The Scrapizashi, as far as I can tell is a full flat grind or hira zukuri, and the vast majority of Howard's blades are shinogi zukuri, they have a shinogi ji...for starters

Perhaps someone else will attempt it, but I am fresh out of what you need to learn....which is the primary reason that I do not teach at the dojo.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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I lol'd....

anyway, wanted to tell you did some cutting last weekend at the dojo. The raptor is a heavy SOB, my sensei didn't care for it. I cut with it fine, but it has some serious momentum.
I did cut with a guys higher end Chen blade, I think it was a folded blade, he said it cost around $800.-- it was fast, light, and felt lively (and cut pretty effortlessly)
 
SShepherd said:
I lol'd....

anyway, wanted to tell you did some cutting last weekend at the dojo. The raptor is a heavy SOB, my sensei didn't care for it. I cut with it fine, but it has some serious momentum.
I did cut with a guys higher end Chen blade, I think it was a folded blade, he said it cost around $800.-- it was fast, light, and felt lively (and cut pretty effortlessly)
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Best bet when ordering from CAS is to get 3-4 and pick the best one, and send the rest back....this only works if you have an account, or have someone who has an account who is willing to do this for you.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
Best bet when ordering from CAS is to get 3-4 and pick the best one, and send the rest back....this only works if you have an account, or have someone who has an account who is willing to do this for you.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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I was just giving you an unbiased opinion:)
 
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