Mini ninja sword failure on many levels

[Atlas Knife Company]

Almost had this one finished. While wrapping the tsuka maki, the tang snapped off!
One side of the damascus wouldn't etch and you can see a delamination in the blade near the tip. Top image is before I trimmed the tsuka.

2.25" AOL
1 11/16" blade
80 layers of 1080/15n20
Copper habaki/seppa/tsuba
Lollipop stick for a handle(rolled paper soaked in CA)

 

[fast14riot]

Geeze Charles, I didn't realize you used a lollipop stick for the handle! I thought you were using fiberglass rod like you had mentioned before. Shame about this one, it sure looked nice! Maybe try some W1 next time so you don't have to deal with delamination.


-Xander

 

[tryppyr]

Not to put too fine a point to it, but this isn't the first time you've had a problem with your damascus.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

I was just watching the "Home Mall Ninja Shopping Network" and they call that a "break - down" style. You can get 2 of them and convert the handles to nunchucks with the free connector chain.

Hey it looks great! Maybe that 1 brick kiln has uneven heat and is compromising things? Keep at it!

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Xander: I tried the fiberglass rod, but it just wasn't working. The lollipop stick could be unrolled to the proper diameter, soaked in CA and had a perfect, tiny hole down the middle. It was rock hard and looked great. The fiberglass wouldn't split evenly and ended up looking bad.

Greg: Yep, lots of trouble with my damascus. The only thing that worked right was the putter that I made from it. One of the minis in the KITH turned out fine.

Daniel: It's a 2 brick forge, thank you. Hehehe. Others with more experience have looked at the forge and tell me it's heating evenly and shouldn't be an issue. Maybe raise the input up ½" to get a better swirl, but that's about it.

I thought about making a shorter tanto. Instead, I'm gonna destructively test the blade and get a rockwell hardness for it. It shouldn't have snapped. I tempered twice at 400° for 2 hours.