kaotikross
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See the post "sad news" in this sub-forum, Rostislav..
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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Can you Make a Yari Blade?
- Thread starter BePrepared
- Start date
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Here is the spear head, for those who wanted to see. It started as a diamond-section, but I decided to grind one side flat, as it seems many Japanese yari were triangular. At some point I started to just ugly it up, so just let it be after the off-center tang hole! 
Weight is 8.4 oz. Almost 19" in total length, the blade is 13.75" to the tang. It is slightly flexible.
Weight is 8.4 oz. Almost 19" in total length, the blade is 13.75" to the tang. It is slightly flexible.
kaotikross
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Be Prepared would have loved that, Mecha. A fitting tribute. :thumbup: i was going to stop with that comment, but i had brainstorm:
can you perhaps engrave " The Be Prepared Yari" on it, or similar, and haft the thing? Maybe get with the Admins here and auction it off? Maybe 25% to you, 50% to the widow of Be Prepared, 25% for forum upkeep or something? idk. just an idea.Wouldn't be hard to slap an ash shaft on it, paint the shaft black and just wrap it with paracord or leather thong, add some red tufted fake fur to kinda keep the oriental "look" to it. Surely a fully finished yari would go for quite a bit, and as to the hole being "off center, that's so slight as to be almost non-noticeable, although i understand as a craftsman you prefer perfection. Just a few ideas, hope I'm not out of line.
can you perhaps engrave " The Be Prepared Yari" on it, or similar, and haft the thing? Maybe get with the Admins here and auction it off? Maybe 25% to you, 50% to the widow of Be Prepared, 25% for forum upkeep or something? idk. just an idea.Wouldn't be hard to slap an ash shaft on it, paint the shaft black and just wrap it with paracord or leather thong, add some red tufted fake fur to kinda keep the oriental "look" to it. Surely a fully finished yari would go for quite a bit, and as to the hole being "off center, that's so slight as to be almost non-noticeable, although i understand as a craftsman you prefer perfection. Just a few ideas, hope I'm not out of line.
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He loved damn near every blade he saw in the sword subforum!
I had thought about doing something like what you suggest, but I'm simply not in a position to make so noble a gesture.
Blade-making is a struggle. Plus all the engraving places in town won't engrave titanium!
EDIT: Also I wanted to add that the juxtaposition of perfection and imperfection, balanced and in accord with each other, I think that really can add a lot of character and beauty to a finished piece...and sometimes an off-center hole makes the tang stronger.
I had thought about doing something like what you suggest, but I'm simply not in a position to make so noble a gesture.
Blade-making is a struggle. Plus all the engraving places in town won't engrave titanium!EDIT: Also I wanted to add that the juxtaposition of perfection and imperfection, balanced and in accord with each other, I think that really can add a lot of character and beauty to a finished piece...and sometimes an off-center hole makes the tang stronger.
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Many Japanese yari were tempered to produce a hamon. Might want to give
that a try. The shape is good. Nice work.
Rich S
-------------------------------------------------------
Richard Stein, PhD
Japanese Sword Guide
http://japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm
"Never go anywhere without a knife"
- Leroy Jethro Gibbs
-------------------------------------------------------
that a try. The shape is good. Nice work.
Rich S
-------------------------------------------------------
Richard Stein, PhD
Japanese Sword Guide
http://japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm
"Never go anywhere without a knife"
- Leroy Jethro Gibbs
-------------------------------------------------------
kaotikross
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I understand Mecha, feel ya on that. Oftentimes we who simply use the blades tend to forget that the makers are running a business and have to pay the myriad "pipers', it certainly isn't free. To recoup your costs, there's nothing dishonorable about offering the yari for sale, i certainly wouldn't think less of you, nor would any of us, I'm pretty certain. The purchaser would simply be honoring Be Prepared's legacy, in my opinion.
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As long as someone gets a damn hog with it, Kaotikross, as was its original purpose. I'm looking at you, Florida, with your 24/7 365 hog hunting season!
Rich S., I did a few limited experiments at first with using clay during heat treatment for two titanium blades, but there seemed to be no benefit. The best results so far have come from an aggressive through-hardening in a super fast water-based medium, which is how most beta titanium is quenched from precipitation temperatures (I use ice water). There is still hope for incorporating something like that, I think it would have to be a very high "hamon," like as high as a very high grind, with the clay just along the spine and spilling maybe 1/4" down toward the edge, but I'm afraid it would be mostly just for looks. It gets even harder when tempered, instead of softening, something I need to explore further!
Which brings me to the other possibility for a hamon-like blade effect. During tempering, a clay coating would probably leave a visible line after the heat soak, but I don't want to add a "fake" hamon to a blade that doesn't represent an actual shift in the grain structure of the metal.
I don't think etching will bring out a hamon, since titanium alloys are basically inert to acids. If I can find a good way to beneficially add it to the grain structure, it will have to be polished into visibility. There probably is a way: a hamon between BCC and a blade edge shot through with martensitic alpha prime maybe; the challenge would be to make it visible.
There is so much room for improvement and experimentation. Working with beta titanium for big blades is extremely exciting.
Rich S., I did a few limited experiments at first with using clay during heat treatment for two titanium blades, but there seemed to be no benefit. The best results so far have come from an aggressive through-hardening in a super fast water-based medium, which is how most beta titanium is quenched from precipitation temperatures (I use ice water). There is still hope for incorporating something like that, I think it would have to be a very high "hamon," like as high as a very high grind, with the clay just along the spine and spilling maybe 1/4" down toward the edge, but I'm afraid it would be mostly just for looks. It gets even harder when tempered, instead of softening, something I need to explore further!
Which brings me to the other possibility for a hamon-like blade effect. During tempering, a clay coating would probably leave a visible line after the heat soak, but I don't want to add a "fake" hamon to a blade that doesn't represent an actual shift in the grain structure of the metal.
I don't think etching will bring out a hamon, since titanium alloys are basically inert to acids. If I can find a good way to beneficially add it to the grain structure, it will have to be polished into visibility. There probably is a way: a hamon between BCC and a blade edge shot through with martensitic alpha prime maybe; the challenge would be to make it visible.
There is so much room for improvement and experimentation. Working with beta titanium for big blades is extremely exciting.
