BirGorkha Everest Katana prototype is here. Pix, specs and evaluation

Tsuba size and shape varied all over the map.Perfect circles were uncommon, oval was probably the most common. Engraving is fine. Any steel adequate for even a cheap Khukuri would be just fine (railroad track steel) or spring is OK too. Thickness should be just about the same as the Katana blade.

Question, Bill: did they "thicken out" the base of the sword just ahead of the Tsuba? We talked about doing that to provide a solid anchor for the khukuri-type tang. If they did that, one nice cosmetic touch would be to wrap that in a layer of thin brass to immitate the "look" of an original. See the pics of the knife above, where there's a brass (or copper) piece at the blade's base? The original the kamis have ALSO has such a critter...that piece goes AHEAD of the Tsuba.

By wrapping the fat base portion of the blade in thin copper, you get the same cosmetic effect but a far stronger overall setup.

Jim
 
Bill, one key thing: on the Tsuba they can use brass, steel, iron, titanium, carbon fiber, it don't matter - what matters is, it's got to be as thick as the blade.

This thin sheet brass simply isn't gonna cut it. They've got to understand that.

Jim
 
Well, that piece of copper at the base of the blade is called a Habaki. This part helps stabalize the Tsuba (guard) on the blade, it also helps to hold the blade in the Saya (sheath). A properly fitted saya will not scratch the blade, and so when the blade is carried edge up, the Mune( back of the blade) and the Habaki (copper sleeve) bear against the sheath. The sides, and the edge does not touch the sheath.
 
Good point about the perfect circle tsubas, they're no good because the sword would roll around on the floor when laid down.
 

I for one really like the tsuba posted. It looks good and functional. I think blued spring steel should be used. The kamis are used to working with it and it readily avalible.

- D
 
Uncle Bill, Jim,

The size and thickness of the tsuba really depends on the length of the blade. Normally the thicker the blade, the bigger is the tsuba.

Fire31420001.jpg


This particular tsuba was made in 14th century, by the bladesmith who made katana.

measurements:
diameter: 86.2 mm
Thickness at rim : 3.0 mm
Thickness at seppa area: 2.5 mm

Using annealed spring steel to make tsuba is great and please bear in mind that steel has slightly higher density in comparision to iron......hmm... but shouldn't make a big difference anyway!

Joe Leung
 
So much for "there weren't any round Tsubas". The size varied all over the map too - during at least one period, smaller ones were fashionable because "it was dishonorable to hide behind a big one". In other words, don't count on consistency or even logic
smile.gif
.

Around 3" oughta do for our purposes but it's by no means a critical measurement. Engraving is fine - some did their decorations as full-tilt sculpted holes in the metal, others did surface engraving. Good Newari or similar craftsmanship should work great and the Tsuba is the ONLY place they should "cut loose" with the engraving.

What else...my opinion is that the leather-wrapped wood scabbards will be OK. I'm also working on a simple-to-make replacement for the traditional tie-down thingie (sorry, forgot the Japanese term) that can be quickly attached in place of the "horizontal frog". Gimme a day or so to come up with pics; it'll be a "do it stateside" project.

The steel we're dealing with is significantly more scratch-resistant than the Japanese steels with their extremely fine polishes. Think a sec: we're not seeing significant scratching on our Khukuris with the traditional sheath, right? So we know that wood/steel/polish combo works.

That's what's making this whole thing practical in the first place - we need to borrow as much "khukuri technology" as possible.

Jim
 
Thanks for input, Joe. We will nail the tsuba down for production models. Right now I'm not worried about it.

Jim, I think that's the reason we called this blade the Everest Katana. We are not trying to make a clone of a Japanese katana or any other. This will be a "different" katana and we hope to incorporate all the plus factors of the khukuri into this model. When you get your number one (should be today or tomorrow) you'll see that the hardness is khukuri style which I did not want but got anyway. And you can see BirGorkha written all over this thing. You know without a doubt it was NOT done Japanese style in the traditional manner.

------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
 
Bill, I almost forgot: I'll have a new shipping addy for you in EMail tonight, don't use the old one!

Yikes...
smile.gif


Jim
 
OK, we're not screwed just yet.

First off, was it Richmond, or Napa? If Napa, I'll be able to contact my old employer there and get it straightened out. It'll be a nuisance, but the piece will NOT get lost, OK?

Jim
 
Napa.

And an update. Kumar is having problems getting the blade on the katana hardened the way we want it -- this was my greatest fear about this project and the reason I was trying to use transmission oil as a que4nching medium. Bura will try his hand at the hardening and we will see what happens.

Maybe I have asked the kamis to stretch too far. It is a long shot from an 18 inch AK to a katana. The bottom line is if BirGorkha cannot produce a katana of outstanding quality, a quality that equals our khukuris, then the katana is a dead project. HI refuses to offer any blade that is not top quality.

------------------
Blessings from the computer shack in Reno.

Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ
 
Bill, I need to know if you sent it to Richmond or Napa. Either way I can get it, no prob, I just need to know. Thanx!

Jim
 
OK, I'm in contact with where it'll turn up. No problems. My roomie owes me one, bigtime, I'll probably send him on a trip up there to get it.

No sweat
smile.gif
.

Jim
 
:
Hmmmm. I wonder. I think it was Bura that said they were familiar with the clay coating in hardening some items.
Of course if that's what he has in mind then okay, but if not it may be worth a try.
I would really like to see this fly for more reasons than just friends wanting a katana.
redface.gif



------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"Know your own bone, gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it again."

'Thoreau'

Khukuri FAQ
 
OK, I now know where it is, I've got confirmation it'll be available for pickup. I don't think I can get there until Monday BUT for certain it ai't lost.

Now if Bill turns out OK, we'll be fine...sigh.

Bill, get well. Please? Whimper?

Jim
 
Yvas,

Actually it is not easy to heat-treat a sword-size blade with clay-coating method. 12" seems like a boundary that is quite hard to get past. I am not a bladesmith but I've tried 1050, W2, and 5160 with clay-coated method of heat-treating (I used a propane forge). I've used satanite as clay, real clay from my girlfriend's pottery class (mixed with iron-oxide from anvil surface). In terms of control, 1050 seemed to be the best. Carbon and alloying elements seems to induce more curvature and stress. Water is a harsh quenching medium so, coat the edge too, with clay. It needs experimenting as, the blade temp, water temp, the thickness of the blade, clay-coating method, the way the blade is dipped into water, all play an important part in the successfulness of the process. And normalising is very very important, or all sorts of twisting and cracking will come as result.

The lines or the rough grinding before heat-treating should be parallel to the cutting-edge to prevent cracking too.

Uncle Bill,

I know pouring water method won't work but afraid to say it before the kamis gave it a try. Knives of the Khukuri size and thickness is a very large heat sink so pouring water on edge will do well. But considering a katana width and thickness, heat-loss by convention will be very very fast once it is taken out of the forge that the blade is just not hot enough to be hardened. And with the length, I would like to think that when the first 6" or so is hardened then the other section will be so cool that it will have difficulty even in evapourating the water.

I think with the good springy quality of 5160, it can be very good already to thoroughly harden it in oil, then temper in either in the forge or oven. Curvature can be put in at the forging. I think it will make a very good practicing sword already.

Keep going Uncle and I think Bura will make it!

Joe Leung


 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top