Titanium Sword / Katana?

Mecha said:
Kohai,

I would love to have someone of the Japanese cutting arts test one of my blades in that arena. What is the blade length you look for in a cutting sword? Let me forge up a proper cutter with a good length after this upcoming knife show, and I'll try to get it in your grip for a review!

-mecha
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Hi Mecha,

I look for anything between 28.5" to 29.5" nagasa.

Will certainly put it through the paces if you are able to get it made up....testing media are traditional wara mats, I have successfully cut a 5 mat roll, and can put fresh green bamboo in the core if you wish....this is a mutant bamboo that grows in my back yard....the wall thickness can exceed 1/2" and it is hardy stuff.

We laughingly call it "blade twister" bamboo.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
The bamboo is excellent from Steven

I have cut it free standing with a knife which is no easy task
 
A ti gladius would be pretty cool. I know this has been said a bunch but longer stuff really, really needs the weight to work-this goes for parrying/redirecting incoming as well. Even a Jian needs weight and forward balance to work right-the forged integral Jian that balance right at the guard (hanwei made one for a while) are incredibly weird handling-wise and cut really poorly. A decent wu jian will hold it's own on tatami and bamboo with similarly sized western swords.
 
I'm feelin' ornery right now so here's a pic of some swords that will be in display at the upcoming knife show in Eugene.

Blade-twisting zombie bamboo? Sounds like a job for a titanium ninja sword!

DlSJKHN.jpg


This sword is 26" total, with an 18 1/4" blade. As you can see, although it's sharp, the grind is still incomplete: See below



dl9cqL6.jpg


Fully functional Wakizashi(sh) sword, 17" blade and 24" overall. This sword's edge is in a different realm of sharpness, because it was whipped on there by Dan Keffeler, whose illuminating knowledge and shared expertise will greatly increase the quality of my work. In a very short time Mr. Keffeler showed me many mind-boggling things that are possible when making swords and knives.

When it comes to the weight of a sword, to my arm-o-meter it seems as if a shorter one suffers more from being light weight than a long one. This makes sense because a short blade should need more weight to bring force to bear, while a longer one moves with much more velocity.

-mecha
 
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Not sure what to think of this topic. Old katanas had the advantage of being much lighter than medieval swords, with a blade geometry that enhances cutting. But then again, old katanas had to perform the task of cutting an opponent wearing armor, not much of those these days hmm? So I'm not sure the katana loses much utility in that sense. I certainly think a ko-katana with a 24" blade made out of titanium would be damned fast and basically be like a really really long knife.

Without delving TOO deep into prac-tac territory, I'm not sure such a blade would function well as a weapon. I would think cleaving bone would be a tough task for something that's lightweight, and for biomechanical cutting I'd want a thin blade with a lot of belly, and not something with a thick convexed shape like a katana.

As a prop or display piece that's still tougher than cheap chinese stainless steel, I would want a titanium blade for a mix of properties(harder than aluminum, tougher than a piece of crap stainless, and 100% rust-proof). Certainly once I get my BBA in Accounting and get more disposable income, I'd very much want to look into seeing if someone could make a medieval style sword with a titanium blade.
 
horseclover said:
How heavy do you figure medieval swords were?

Cheers

GC
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About a pound more than their katana counterparts. I think a large part of this is the length of the blade(typically seems to hover at 30 inches while katanas are 28), and the handle of katanas seem to have less use of metal.
 
The ninja sword above weighs 1 lb, 6.8 oz as pictured. The wakizashish is just shy of a pound at 15.6 oz. They are both thin.

The next round of swords will be thicker, heavier and longer. I anticipate some 2+ pound titanium swords at 28 inches.
 
Noctis3880 said:
About a pound more than their katana counterparts. I think a large part of this is the length of the blade(typically seems to hover at 30 inches while katanas are 28), and the handle of katanas seem to have less use of metal.
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Were there medieval counterparts to the katana? Not really but later sabres of similar length were not a pound heavier than katana and in a some cases lighter per inch of blade. A single hand medieval sword wih 30" of blade is not typically a pound heavier than a katana of the same overall length. You might be surprised that even large 18th and 19th century sabres with 34" (and more) were well less than 3 lbs. European swords more often had a lot of distal taper to the blades where katana have little and thicker overall (increasing the mass and weight). I've a number of sabres from the 18th and 19th century well less than 2 lbs, with larger American Civil War sabres still well less than 3lbs.

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I think you will also find (almost universally) that armour was meant to defeat arms and not the other way around. Forget about cutting armour with a sword. Even creasing and somewhat splitting (a couple of inches) a kabuto with a katana have proven only with a stationary and blocked target.

http://www.shinkendo.com/kabuto.html

I would not want to question anyone's personal experiences in practice or experience in handling a number of sword types but there still seems to be a lot of misconception from some focusing singularly perhaps under a microscope or limited exposure to a broader range of sword types over the many, many centuries.

CXheers

GC
 
Not to mention a LOT of bad information spread out over the internet, even by supposedly reputable sources. And a lot more bad stuff spread by watching movies.
 
Lycosa said:
Horsie knows his stuff.
rolf
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Yet, I am but a scholar learning every day. I can speak to what I have in hand and what has been documented by others I happen to be familiar with. Truly, I have only been working with swords fifteen years and most of my own interests now centered on a few decades of American swords (still, hard for me not to read other sword info).

Cheers

GC
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Not to mention a LOT of bad information spread out over the internet, even by supposedly reputable sources. And a lot more bad stuff spread by watching movies.
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Yes, you would've thunk we'd learned given the negative stigma attributed to pocket knives courtesy of Hollywood >_<.

It DOES seem as though every sword shown in a movie is a claymore and wielded in an exaggerated fashion. Though "medieval" seems like a fairly broad blanket term to use, and I'm not sure if a typical saber would be lumped in with it.

I was thinking "King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot", which would indeed include swords of that type.

As for "cutting" armor, that sounds stupid and not at all what anyone would intend to do. I thought tanto tips were meant to stab or pierce armor? Still, who wears armor nowadays:D?
 
The yoroi toshi blade is designed to punch through armor, not the tanto.
Some days I think about wearing armor. :D
 
Noctis3880 said:
Yes, you would've thunk we'd learned given the negative stigma attributed to pocket knives courtesy of Hollywood >_<.

It DOES seem as though every sword shown in a movie is a claymore and wielded in an exaggerated fashion. Though "medieval" seems like a fairly broad blanket term to use, and I'm not sure if a typical saber would be lumped in with it.

I was thinking "King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot", which would indeed include swords of that type.

As for "cutting" armor, that sounds stupid and not at all what anyone would intend to do. I thought tanto tips were meant to stab or pierce armor? Still, who wears armor nowadays:D?
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But then again, old katanas had to perform the task of cutting an opponent wearing armor,
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Oh, so you meant stab when you wrote cut. OK

There were medieval curved blades as well and again, single hand swords of overall length comparable to the overall length of katana, weighing pretty much the same ball park. Maybe a little heavier but not "much more" or a pound's difference. You initially touted katana in your initial post and have needed to clarify just what you initially wrote.

Not sure what to think of this topic. Old katanas had the advantage of being much lighter than medieval swords, with a blade geometry that enhances cutting. But then again, old katanas had to perform the task of cutting an opponent wearing armor, not much of those these days hmm? So I'm not sure the katana loses much utility in that sense
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You now write of a "tanto tip". Of course katana had points and they are called kissaki.

Cheers

GC
 
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