First tanto

J

JeffreyFogleboch

Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
193
Hey guys just forged this Tanto blade from low Mn 1075 and heat treated by quenching in water and then in oil. The nagasa is a little over 7", thickness at the machi is about .22", and the width is about 1.125". Habaki is copper. I'm not really sure what to call the hamon but I think it looks cool. Tell me what you think and critique it so I can improve my skills. Thanks for looking!

-Jeff
206bb1b9880dbcdca0fcf7b6c14ee57c.jpg
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https://vimeo.com/145560164
 
Very nice. I have no critique because it looks pretty good to me. Great hamon.
 
Excellent hamon! I like to call that pattern "Storm clouds with tornadoes". Overall, a great tanto. For a first tanto it is stunning. Congratulations for making a proper tip shape and not the blunt wedge that many people think a tanto has.

Can you post a photo of the blade with the habaki off? I would like to see the machi.



My suggestions/critiques for future blades:

Try and match up the clay pattern so the two sides match in the hamon. While hard to tell from the video, it appears that the two sides of your blade are both nice, but not the same (especially at the boshi). On your blade, the omote is the weakest, unfortunately. This is partly the whim of the hamon sprites. They come and go where they want to in many cases. The best we can do is try to guide them to where we want them to show up. There is no hamon failure in your blade at all, so take this comment as guidance for the next one.

Traditionally, tanto are made with a motohaba ratio of 1:10 to the nagasa. 1: 8 is wide, and yours is 1:6. That said, I see many tanto closer to your 1:6 today. If your tanto was made to these traditional guidelines, it should be about .75" wide at the machi. One reason for this is that the tsuka has to fit the blade dimensions. If the blade is too wide, the tsuka can end up very fat and uncomfortable, as well as funny looking. A tanto isn't a sword, it is a sleek knife. It has no need for a fat or long handle.

On your next tanto ( or any knife), add distal taper and blade taper to the blade. It is not "wrong" as it is, but a bit of taper would give it more flow and shape. The traditional taper for a tanto is about 70% from the moto-haba/moto kasane to the saki-haba/saki-kassane. What that boils down to is that at the beginning of the tip (about 1.5-2" from the point) the thickness and width should be about 70% of the thickness and width at the habaki. The relationship of two tapers must be even for everything to work out right. On your blade which started out at .22" thick and 1.125" wide, the saki kasane/haba should be about .15" thick and .75" wide.


These ratios are good on just about any long knife blade.
 
Wow Stacy...that was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for the compliment and critiques. As for the hamon I was surprised that one side came out drastically different because I Clayed both the same...not a bad thing but I do agree that a symmetrical hamon looks more professional. As for the width, I was totally unsure of this. I think I looked up a bunch of tanto dimensions and picked one that looked nice, 3/4" seems really thin! It's strange how much different the proportions look when you see it in an online image and in person. Are you familiar with "hocho zukuri" tanto? I believe on famous tanto was made in this way with a massive 1.5" width my masamune. Was this tanto used in combat? If so how was the handle made think enough to be practical? I would guess that it was more of an art piece due to the extremely robust shape.
 
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