Help!!! Impossible Loss...

M

melikesharp

Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Messages
5
Hello everyone,

Long time fan and owner of HI products here, with a problem that I thought was impossible to have. I own an 18" AK kukri, a Tarwar and Katana (both made by master bura). I was recently cutting away with my katana at a dying yucka. Yucka's in the AZ area are soft when alive and when dead, get really spongy and fibrous. I was cutting at it, when all of a sudden my Bura Katana BROKE in my hands!! It appears that the tang had snapped about 1" down inside the handle. There is no damage to the blade (no matter what I threw at it), but the tang snapped nice and clean. :( I imagine this happened due to a bad temper in the tang alone or something.

What can I do ? Is this covered under warranty ? I've tried to call the HI office number, and have left a message, but can't seem to get a hold of anyone. Of all my weapons, I would have counted on my Katana for the last to break. :(

Is there anything I can do or am I gonna have to call this one a loss ?

some pictures...


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5_five.jpg


-melikesharp
 
MLS, send a email to Yangdu (himimp@aol.com), explaining what happened. Or just point her to the this thread.
Joe
 
So sorry this happened to you, that sucks.

Surprised the tang is so thin, really that looks awfully close to a rat-tail tang, not very sturdy looking, not what I would expect from HI at all.

Good luck!
 
That does look like a pretty small tang for such a large blade.

That said, I'll bet HI will take care of you.
 
Man, that is a real bummer. I'm sure Yangdu will be along some time soon to look at the thread. Like Aardvark said, sending an email to Yangdu is the best way to get ahold of her for such things.

To me, and this is simply an assumption that could be unfounded, I think that the tang breaking is the key. Even if the tang is thin, the sword should, IMHO, probably bend at the tang rather than break. Maybe a little water got on there from the teapot. At any rate, Yangdu should be able to clear this up shortly.
 
That tang is too small for a sword of this length, but swords were never designed for chopping at trees and bushes. Even if the tang hadn't broken, it is possible that chopping at a Yucca miaght have bent the blade. I'm sure they will replace it, but I'd recommend some more appropriate targets in the future. If you don't get a replacement, I have one in my closet and we could talk about how it could move to your house...
 
Agreed Jake and Danny,
Maybe the Kamis would benefit from some pictures of a katanas actual tang. It is certainly engineered to receive stress differently. It is thicker,shorter and dependant upon a very different handle, consisting of a wooden thru tang hole in a flexable wood wrapped handle in rayskin or something comparable and stretchy, with supports above the tsuba, below and at the pommel along with tightly woven handle braid...all acting together as a shock absorber.

also created to cut a certain way and act sticky to other katanas.

mark:cool:
 
Hello melikesharp

Send the broken Katana back to HI for replacement. You are covered under HI warranty.
 
Good on HI to make it right for you. Would a thicker or larger tang resolve this concern? If hacking on a Yucca would make a presumably flawed tang snap, what would tests on a mat do?

HI's warranty keeps me here. That and supporting Kamis and their blessings to my blades.
 
First, GREAT of H.I. to replace the sword. Once again, I'll pose the rhetorical question: what other places have a warranty like this, such that you can actually AFFORD to TEST your blades before relying on them in the field? I test all my H.I. blades, and have had only one bend a bit--with prompt replacement. Result: I trust them all, because I have proven to myself that I can.

Second: I'm not sure the yucca is anything like an abusive test of a sword. We're not talking some kind of woody tree or bush here--it's sort of an overgrown lily with a fibrous stalk. I've never attacked a tatami mat with a blade, but I have to think it'd be vaguely similar to what you'd get if you chopped a yucca stalk.
 
Springy material is harder on a blade than you might think. It puts stresses on the blade different from striking a fixed object. A tree limb that moves is another example of the same thing. Sometimes I think lesser targets are actually harder. A fiberous Yucca with lots of space between fibers is a kind of dead zone; the energy is eaten up and less of it actually directed on material resulting in a positive cut. That force is not enterly transmitted to the target, and what happens to the blade and wrist of user? I don't have the math or engineering to explain better, but I've seen and felt the differences while chopping wood and plants with khuks. I use a khuk to chop wood, not a sword. I think DannyinJapan nailed this from both accounts, tang being less than right and target also. Yangdu solved the problem on behalf of customer, as is her style. Good for HI. I'm sure the blade experts and technical folks could explain it much better than I. There's actually a lot going on with chopping various materials, and it is fascinating how a simple blade can wander into so much subtlety. That's what first amazed me about blades.

munk
 
that surely looks like a project blade for someone lucky enough to snag it from yangdu. clean up the end, weld a sturdy bolt on there (yes, i know, really traditional), and thread a handle onto there, and voila. might work out quitee well, and would allow some spiffy handle goodness. got a welder? you know you wanna.

bladite
 
What a great idea, Bladite. A welding shop might charge 20 bucks to do it, also.

munk
 
munk said:
What a great idea, Bladite. A welding shop might charge 20 bucks to do it, also.munk
Click to expand...

a friend of mine would probably do it for free :)

i'd use a big fat super class A bolt, there's a term for the kind that are rated for extreme strength. probably cutting off the old tang, and making a slot that JUST fits the bolt width, but not the threads, and then actually cutting threads in there, as mechanical a lockup as possible.

then lots of cleaning, flux, and weld o rama.

i'd then be strongly tempted to make a techno handle, with wraps, instead of all wood. heh.

bladite
 
an A325 Structural bolt would probably do quite well. I would try to make the handle out of leather "washers" compressed together with the nut from the bolt and then shaped for the hand. It would be a nice project piece and one I would love to do if only I had some money coming in (been laid off for a while now).

Jack
 
i'd be inclined to avoid any welding as it would bugger up the heat treatment, i'd grind the last bit of blade down on either side to form a longer & wider than original tang, clean out the handgrip & widen/lengthen the hole for the tang & use your favourite epoxy resin to remount it into a wakizashi. drilling the tang for a set of pins to ensure that the blade isn't going anywhere. like this thai one:
Dharbhilt.jpg


japanese swords were frequently shortened and remounted, here is a wak made from a shortened katana* with the old tang cut off and the sides ground a bit as i mention above. you'd need to grind a bit further on the busted HI blade.
aoe6.jpg

this one is a 14th c. blade thought to have originally been a tachi, been shortened and remounted at least twice (hence the two unaligned mekugiana holes)
 
Great ideas all the way around. kronckew, It's good that you posted a picture of an actual tang that hopefully the Kamis may see sometime. Life gives us lemons, we make wakizashis',( of course we could etch with the lemonade :).:D

mark
 
for esav & y'all;

here's the whole dharb for those who have not seen it where i posted it in the 'other place'
Dharb002_DCE.jpg

(as the saying goes: 'come over to the dark side, we have cookies')
 
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