Titanium alloy ken/gladius/viking sword thing

[Mecha]

Here is a little custom blade, inspired by the Japanese ken double-edged sword. People say it looks kind of like a gladius or viking sword.

I call it the "candy ken" because of all the candy-coated colors on the titanium hilt parts.

Thin blade made of Russian BT23 titanium alloy, 23.25" in length, with a hilt of 6.25" for a total length of 29.5" and weighing in at 1 lb, 0.5 oz.

This is a really light, thin, fun little sword!

 

[Richard338]

It looks very nicely done, which is a bit disappointing as you'll be less likely to use it for YouTube mayhem...

 

[Mecha]

It looks very nicely done, which is a bit disappointing as you'll be less likely to use it for YouTube mayhem...

Thanks!

Might have a video of a different one soon, not exactly mayhem, but maybe some soft targets. There is another one coming down the pipe which will be perfect for mayhem, though.

 

[fishface5]

Suhwheeeeet!

 

[Bigfattyt]

Amazing! Love everything about it!

 

[LEGION 12]

Beautiful .

 

[Mecha]

Why, thanks very much fellas!

 

[Kenneth F Huls]

Beautiful!

Ken means “sword” in Japanese. does not look like a katana, wakizashi, or tanto (yes, a sword in Japanese sword nomenclature), or an older style than those.

Looks much more like a Chinese jian if talking oriental roots. But I am no expert there.

Nice!

 

[Kenneth F Huls]

Beautiful!

Ken means “sword” in Japanese. does not look like a katana, wakizashi, or tanto (yes, a sword in Japanese sword nomenclature), or an older style than those.

Looks much more like a Chinese jian if talking oriental roots. But I am no expert there.

Nice!

I see you have a nice jian in an older thread. Sorry if I splained the known.
Both = nice!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Beautiful workmanship!

 

[Mecha]

Beautiful!

Ken means “sword” in Japanese. does not look like a katana, wakizashi, or tanto (yes, a sword in Japanese sword nomenclature), or an older style than those.

Looks much more like a Chinese jian if talking oriental roots. But I am no expert there.

Nice!

There is a straight, double-edged Japanese sword called a "tsurugi" or also apparently simply called a ken, which was the original idea for this one, but it ended up kind of taking on a life of its own since the moment I decided to make it way bigger than originally intended. Everyone seems to see a different sword in it!

So there did used to be a straight, double-edged nihonto in the distant past history of Japan, a rarity. As you mention, the tsurugi was said to be based on the jian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsurugi_(sword)

 

[Kenneth F Huls]

There is a straight, double-edged Japanese sword called a "tsurugi" or also apparently simply called a ken, which was the original idea for this one, but it ended up looking kind of taking on a life of its own since the moment I decided to make it way bigger than originally intended. Everyone seems to see a different sword in it!

So there did used to be a straight, double-edged nihonto in the distant past history of Japan, a rarity. As you mention, the tsurugi was said to be based on the jian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsurugi_(sword)

Great reference. Thank you. Yes, a little known ancient pattern. Now I see some similarity. There was a very old straight single edged as well. Ring pommels, too. All “pre-tachi,” if you will.

Very cool.

 

[Mecha]

Great reference. Thank you. Yes, a little known ancient pattern. Now I see some similarity. There was a very old straight single edged as well. Ring pommels, too. All “pre-tachi,” if you will.

Very cool.

On the subject of Chinese and Japanese swords, I guess there was a lot more influence flowing from China in 700 AD and before, and that's when you see Japanese swords like the tsurugi and ring-pommel straight swords that resemble Chinese swords. After that period Japan became more isolated and divergent, and began to refine the curved katana with all its details.

I'm working on a futuristic Han dynasty ring pommel sword now, and it's going to be a doozie I think.

 

[Kenneth F Huls]

Tachi before katana, but yes, indeed. The poor, beautiful cavalry “saber’ - tachi - gets no love in the states.

All in all, the development of nihonto is an endlessly fascinating subject, and a very deep rabbit hole, as you obviously know quite well!

I like your work and wish I could feel your designs in hand. Have long been curious about titanium swords. Originally thought they would not cut as well as a properly balanced katana or wakizashi based on the weight difference, or at least one might have to relearn technique, but then L6 bainite seems to cut quite well and I have not heard much complaint there re needing to relearn the sword.

Would be interested in a short table comparing relative weight of traditional steels, L6 bainite, and titanium.

 

[Mecha]

Tachi before katana, but yes, indeed. The poor, beautiful cavalry “saber’ - tachi - gets no love in the states.

All in all, the development of nihonto is an endlessly fascinating subject, and a very deep rabbit hole, as you obviously know quite well!

I like your work and wish I could feel your designs in hand. Have long been curious about titanium swords. Originally thought they would not cut as well as a properly balanced katana or wakizashi based on the weight difference, or at least one might have to relearn technique, but then L6 bainite seems to cut quite well and I have not heard much complaint there re needing to relearn the sword.

Would be interested in a short table comparing relative weight of traditional steels, L6 bainite, and titanium.

I think the weight of L6 in bainite form is pretty typical of normal steel. Generally speaking, ti alloys are around 65% the weight of steel for the same volume of material.

With a ti sword, it just broadens options for the dimensions of the sword, allowing for something lighter and faster in comparable size, or bigger for comparable weight. Bigger swords have much more cutting power than smaller ones, all things included. But that's too simply said. There is so much more to it than that.

It's extremely fascinating and almost impossible to quantify how swords move and what they can do. I will say that making a katana sword in ti is one of the more difficult things to pull off, due to the unique ways a katana is used. Ti is more suited to a Chinese-style sword and techniques, imo.

The world of nihonto is really unique, and the rabbit hole seems endless, as you say. I got to see a display that was said to be around 5 million dollars' worth of Japanese swords, examples spanning hundreds of years, at the Eugene knife show. One of them was a Masamune. Priceless really, and it looked like it. It really changed how I saw Japanese swords, there is a reason so many are enthralled by them.