forging a sunobe

J

John Frankl

Joined
Oct 16, 2001
Messages
1,917
Hello All,

I am about to forge my first katana (I'm terrified). I am looking for some ballpark dimensions for a typical sunobe. Or maybe one that is a bit beefy since I am figuring in some mess-ups and additional grinding.

At the moment I have a bar that is about 0.350 inches thick by 1.25 inches wide by 34 inches long. But before I take it down much further I would really appreciate some advice.

Thanks a bunch,

John
 
John, You have plenty of metal to work with.Go show,and do a small section at a time. First establish the basic dimensions,then go back and rework the blade to define the shape. Remember that most of the shape is established in the grinding/sanding/polishing - so leave plenty to work with.Check out any sword tutorials you can find (check www.knifehow.com ) and get to work.It is not a one evening project.I have four swords just started , that I won't have done until next year.
You didn't say what the steel was?
For katana length figure about a 30" nagasa and about 12" nakago. OA around 42". This will be tailored to the user and exact style you want to make. It can be several inches shorter.For a Wakazashi style, 24" nagasa and 10" nakago will do fine.
Stacy
 
Thanks Stacy.

The steel, per customer's request, is SK5 (the Korean/Japanese designation for W1 tool steel with 0.8% carbon). I began with a 9 layer stack, drew it out, cut it in 3, and went to 27. From there I drew it out, cut it in 4, and wound up with 108 layers (also per request).

John
 
There are several makers that post on Don Fogg's forum that can probably help. Lots of good info. there about Japanese style blades.

Todd
 
John, A point of semantics - A SUNOBE blade is a cheaper,modern blade made by NOT folding the steel.You are making a folded,or pattern welded,blade.Sunobe blades are often cheap imports and wall hangers,or the better ones are used for practice.The blade you are making will be fully usable,and should not be called by the lesser name of sunobe.The amount of work you are going to do will deserve the name Moder Japanese Style Blade.
Stacy
 
Stacy,

Thanks again. We may have a homophone here, but I am using "sunobe" to mean the "pre-form" or "blank" from which I will forge the katana.

John
 
John,

The blade should be about 110 % the length of your sunobe. it should taper so that the end just before the point is 75% of the thickness of the base and also be 75% of the width. The width should be = to the thickness plus the width of the sunobe. These are standard guide lines that I fond in the dozen or so books that I have all written by japanese sword makers. they alsoall refer to the blank that you have as the sunobe. Most but not all ofthe texts advise forging the distal and width tapers into the sunobe If you do this you should be able to get a little more length and thickness and a little less width. If you would like some reference I would recomend getting Yoshindo Yosihara's book and video. the two of them let you know all of the basics. the book alone being the most informative.

bill
 
The video fills in a few of the gaps that the book leaves and shows yakiire process. I don't think that it is a bargin but it is worth the money.
 
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