- Joined
- Oct 25, 2004
- Messages
- 3,178
The weather conditions kept shifting today and some of the videos didn't turn out too well. Fortunately, the important ones did and I managed to shoehorn them all into my limited slice of Wave Broadband's resources. Let's get started.
First of all, I've been working off and on at cutting through a 2x4 in a single swing with an Ang Khola. I won't even try it with the 16.5", a 20" seems to be the bare minimum. I haven't done it yet but I've improved since I started. If it's doable, I'll do it eventually. Today saw two attempts, the second of which turned out to be my best one yet - 3 swings. Granted, I broke the damned thing (and the sawhorses for that matter) instead of cutting it but I'll take what I can get. The AK got a little time in driving nails which it does surprisingly well. I've also tried some diagonal cuts with the 2x4 in a vertical position; while the grain orientation allows me to cut more deeply this way, it takes more swings overall to make it through. I've considered playing with the edge geometry but decided against it - I know just enough to be dangerous but not enough to be effective, and I'm aiming to do this with an out-of-the-triangular-box configuration. Maybe one of our resident martial artists could do this? (Hint, hint.)
While we're talking about ongoing projects, some of you may remember that I was cutting multiple cans in one swing with the 25" Kobra. I took another crack at it today and managed six. I'm just about at my limits here; if I want to get more, I'll need a longer blade or the cans will have to be hung more closely together. (Note the spaces between them.) I'm pleased with the level of control that I've gained with the Kobra since I purchased it - it gets used very rarely these days but is probably still my favorite. All of this merely reinforces my belief that I truly need a 30" Kobra.
I'm a big fan of the Manjushree sword and had been dying to get my hands on a Dukti since I saw the first one. I sharked the one that was offered last Sunday and described as needing 10 minutes repair work. Lies! It only took me three, and half the work was done with (rather firm) hand pressure; a rubber mallet and the edge of my workbench handled the rest. After a few etch/polish cycles to bring out the figure of the steel and check for a hardened zone (none detectable) and a good amount of cleaning and oiling of the handle, it was time to put the Dukti through its paces. I recorded the last few swings. I'd figured that it would handle very similarly to the Manjushree and I was totally wrong; it took me a few minutes and more than a few cans before I was comfortable with it and making decent cuts. The guard is sheet brass and is much lighter (as is the handle overall, I think) than that of the Manjushree, giving it a much more blade-heavy balance; this is made even more evident by the shapes of the guards. The Manjushree's ricasso can be easily "fingered" for better tip control; the Dukti's guard is far too wide to wrap a finger over. Once I got used to it...well, I like it. Equally cool, equally fun to use, just in different ways. If you forced me to say it, I'd say that the Manjushree is a bit faster and better at the thrust, and the Dukti hits a bit harder - but the things I've done can hardly be called scientific. They're both worth the price for the handles alone.
Next up: the Hanshee Hybrid! All I've done to this is to clean it up, give it a Yvsa inspection, and turn it loose on beer cans - it came quite sharp and I didn't want to hose up the finish with sandpaper or etching. The balance is quite a bit different than any of the other khuks I've handled...imagine that. It took some getting used to before I was cutting cleanly with it. Besides the shape (very cool) I really love this one; it gives the impression of really wanting to tear things up in a way that's difficult to describe. I really, really, really want to turn it loose on wood but I'm concerned about the handle arrangement and I don't want to marr the finish any more than I already have. Then again, the finish can be polished and new handles can be installed if the old one breaks - I guess I'll have to do some real work with it after all. Hey, I tried to talk myself out of it, didn't I?
ATTENTION SEAX ENTHUSIASTS: for today's thrusting tests, I used a milk jug full of water secured to my tameshigiri (if it can even be called that) stand. With typical Satori animal cunning, I used crossed pieces of tape on the corners and base, leaving the middle untaped so as not to affect my thrusting in any way. Also, in accordance with Daniel Koster's excellent recommendations, I positioned it roughly level with my midsection. The thrusts were made in passing, strong foot forward, similar to how a man might thrust if he were pulling his opponent's shield out of the way with his left hand and simultaneously advancing into seax range and thrusting low, with the aim of coming up under the ribs.
Okay, I made that last part up. It was just more comfortable for me that way.
One very unexpected benefit of the target is that you can see the blade's path through it. This video turned out excellent and is probably my favorite thus far. First thrust is inverted, second is standard. Since I made my first thrust high, there was still plenty of water covering the second puncture hole. I tried to demonstrate the size of the holes by jiggling the blade in them afterwards. Note, in particular, the wicked upwards fishook motion the blade makes with the inverted stab - I'd sorta felt it, sorta knew it, but didn't really understand the significance of it until I reviewed the movie. One test is statistically insignificant, I'll admit, but this one really turned out a lot better than I'd expected...especially for the first take. I will be performing this one more often.
Without further ado - Jeb, this one's for you.
Remember the excellent thread the other day about the deadliness of the back cut and such? I decided to try one myself today. In deference to Yvsa's comments about what a true spirit blade is, there was only one choice for this: the Cherokee Rose. While probably more accurately described as a short sword than a knife, it does have a configuration that most would describe as "Bowie" and it's one of my favorites. I was worried that the clip, while paper-slicing sharp, was too obtuse and short for a clean cut through a can. My fears were justified and a bit of unintended hilarity ensued as a gashed beer can, full of water, was hurled at my $600 camcorder at high velocity. I chuckled on camera and I still chuckle whenever I see this. Perhaps, had I been trained in accordance with that infamous article, my back cut would've been better. So, here it is: The Back Cut Blooper
Our esteemed forumite and resident shark Dave Hahn recently purchased a Tulwar, and if he likes it half as much as I like mine I'm sure that he's looking for things to destroy with it right now. I wouldn't want to give him any bad ideas or anything, but I knew that today would be a good day to give mine a thrashing. Here are some vicarious thrills in the meantime:
Splitting a cutoff.
Chopping a cutoff.
Fending off an attacking piece of 3/8" exterior plywood.
Note that I was intentionally a bit rough with it while removing it from targets - my Tulwar is still undergoing its sea trials before being commissioned as an extra heavy duty machete. Today's exercises had no discernable effect on the edge.
Ooh! Plywood! Yep. I'd aquired this sheet for the purpose of making scabbards and, frankly, it's too damned knotty (naughty?) for the job. Waste not, want not, I always say, and it became a target for a variety of implements including the AK Bowie, the Pen Knife (which I'm quickly growing very fond of), a 30" Sirupati and the Everest Katana. Due to space considerations only the Siru and the Katana will be shown. Also note that in both cases, I'm prying, torquing, and otherwise mishandling the weapons at hand - more testing, don't you know. While the depths of the cuts aren't all that impressive, this is probably the toughest plywood that I've worked with; it kicked my jigsaw's @ss in short order and, if you watch the motion of the stand and wood, you'll see that I'm loading up pretty good on these swings. I ought to try this again with weaker plywood to show off.
Eat Sirupati Death, Foul Plywood!
...and they tell you not to do this with a katana.
This last one really surprised me. An untrained swordsman flailing on some sturdy plywood with a katana? Seems like a recipe for disaster and swords far more expensive than mine have been ruined by less. I was counting on at least a little edge damage but the only problem I noticed was that a bit of my etch wore off. I half considered posting this video on SFI with an innocent question about my form but we don't need another multipage flamefest over there and trolling isn't cool, no matter how funny it might be.
This kat is really starting to impress me. I'd been blowing off formal instruction because the nearest I could find is a kendo club an hour away that meets on weeknights; in retrospect, I may be giving them a call. I'd love to see what this sword could do with a competent operator.
Hope you folks enjoy. As always, any and all comments are welcome, constructive criticism especially. If there's something in particular that you want to see and won't result in me maiming myself, let me know. Please do not read more into these than what's there - I'm simply chopping up garbage and filming it.
First of all, I've been working off and on at cutting through a 2x4 in a single swing with an Ang Khola. I won't even try it with the 16.5", a 20" seems to be the bare minimum. I haven't done it yet but I've improved since I started. If it's doable, I'll do it eventually. Today saw two attempts, the second of which turned out to be my best one yet - 3 swings. Granted, I broke the damned thing (and the sawhorses for that matter) instead of cutting it but I'll take what I can get. The AK got a little time in driving nails which it does surprisingly well. I've also tried some diagonal cuts with the 2x4 in a vertical position; while the grain orientation allows me to cut more deeply this way, it takes more swings overall to make it through. I've considered playing with the edge geometry but decided against it - I know just enough to be dangerous but not enough to be effective, and I'm aiming to do this with an out-of-the-triangular-box configuration. Maybe one of our resident martial artists could do this? (Hint, hint.)
While we're talking about ongoing projects, some of you may remember that I was cutting multiple cans in one swing with the 25" Kobra. I took another crack at it today and managed six. I'm just about at my limits here; if I want to get more, I'll need a longer blade or the cans will have to be hung more closely together. (Note the spaces between them.) I'm pleased with the level of control that I've gained with the Kobra since I purchased it - it gets used very rarely these days but is probably still my favorite. All of this merely reinforces my belief that I truly need a 30" Kobra.
I'm a big fan of the Manjushree sword and had been dying to get my hands on a Dukti since I saw the first one. I sharked the one that was offered last Sunday and described as needing 10 minutes repair work. Lies! It only took me three, and half the work was done with (rather firm) hand pressure; a rubber mallet and the edge of my workbench handled the rest. After a few etch/polish cycles to bring out the figure of the steel and check for a hardened zone (none detectable) and a good amount of cleaning and oiling of the handle, it was time to put the Dukti through its paces. I recorded the last few swings. I'd figured that it would handle very similarly to the Manjushree and I was totally wrong; it took me a few minutes and more than a few cans before I was comfortable with it and making decent cuts. The guard is sheet brass and is much lighter (as is the handle overall, I think) than that of the Manjushree, giving it a much more blade-heavy balance; this is made even more evident by the shapes of the guards. The Manjushree's ricasso can be easily "fingered" for better tip control; the Dukti's guard is far too wide to wrap a finger over. Once I got used to it...well, I like it. Equally cool, equally fun to use, just in different ways. If you forced me to say it, I'd say that the Manjushree is a bit faster and better at the thrust, and the Dukti hits a bit harder - but the things I've done can hardly be called scientific. They're both worth the price for the handles alone.
Next up: the Hanshee Hybrid! All I've done to this is to clean it up, give it a Yvsa inspection, and turn it loose on beer cans - it came quite sharp and I didn't want to hose up the finish with sandpaper or etching. The balance is quite a bit different than any of the other khuks I've handled...imagine that. It took some getting used to before I was cutting cleanly with it. Besides the shape (very cool) I really love this one; it gives the impression of really wanting to tear things up in a way that's difficult to describe. I really, really, really want to turn it loose on wood but I'm concerned about the handle arrangement and I don't want to marr the finish any more than I already have. Then again, the finish can be polished and new handles can be installed if the old one breaks - I guess I'll have to do some real work with it after all. Hey, I tried to talk myself out of it, didn't I?
ATTENTION SEAX ENTHUSIASTS: for today's thrusting tests, I used a milk jug full of water secured to my tameshigiri (if it can even be called that) stand. With typical Satori animal cunning, I used crossed pieces of tape on the corners and base, leaving the middle untaped so as not to affect my thrusting in any way. Also, in accordance with Daniel Koster's excellent recommendations, I positioned it roughly level with my midsection. The thrusts were made in passing, strong foot forward, similar to how a man might thrust if he were pulling his opponent's shield out of the way with his left hand and simultaneously advancing into seax range and thrusting low, with the aim of coming up under the ribs.
Okay, I made that last part up. It was just more comfortable for me that way.
One very unexpected benefit of the target is that you can see the blade's path through it. This video turned out excellent and is probably my favorite thus far. First thrust is inverted, second is standard. Since I made my first thrust high, there was still plenty of water covering the second puncture hole. I tried to demonstrate the size of the holes by jiggling the blade in them afterwards. Note, in particular, the wicked upwards fishook motion the blade makes with the inverted stab - I'd sorta felt it, sorta knew it, but didn't really understand the significance of it until I reviewed the movie. One test is statistically insignificant, I'll admit, but this one really turned out a lot better than I'd expected...especially for the first take. I will be performing this one more often.
Without further ado - Jeb, this one's for you.
Remember the excellent thread the other day about the deadliness of the back cut and such? I decided to try one myself today. In deference to Yvsa's comments about what a true spirit blade is, there was only one choice for this: the Cherokee Rose. While probably more accurately described as a short sword than a knife, it does have a configuration that most would describe as "Bowie" and it's one of my favorites. I was worried that the clip, while paper-slicing sharp, was too obtuse and short for a clean cut through a can. My fears were justified and a bit of unintended hilarity ensued as a gashed beer can, full of water, was hurled at my $600 camcorder at high velocity. I chuckled on camera and I still chuckle whenever I see this. Perhaps, had I been trained in accordance with that infamous article, my back cut would've been better. So, here it is: The Back Cut Blooper
Our esteemed forumite and resident shark Dave Hahn recently purchased a Tulwar, and if he likes it half as much as I like mine I'm sure that he's looking for things to destroy with it right now. I wouldn't want to give him any bad ideas or anything, but I knew that today would be a good day to give mine a thrashing. Here are some vicarious thrills in the meantime:
Splitting a cutoff.
Chopping a cutoff.
Fending off an attacking piece of 3/8" exterior plywood.
Note that I was intentionally a bit rough with it while removing it from targets - my Tulwar is still undergoing its sea trials before being commissioned as an extra heavy duty machete. Today's exercises had no discernable effect on the edge.
Ooh! Plywood! Yep. I'd aquired this sheet for the purpose of making scabbards and, frankly, it's too damned knotty (naughty?) for the job. Waste not, want not, I always say, and it became a target for a variety of implements including the AK Bowie, the Pen Knife (which I'm quickly growing very fond of), a 30" Sirupati and the Everest Katana. Due to space considerations only the Siru and the Katana will be shown. Also note that in both cases, I'm prying, torquing, and otherwise mishandling the weapons at hand - more testing, don't you know. While the depths of the cuts aren't all that impressive, this is probably the toughest plywood that I've worked with; it kicked my jigsaw's @ss in short order and, if you watch the motion of the stand and wood, you'll see that I'm loading up pretty good on these swings. I ought to try this again with weaker plywood to show off.
Eat Sirupati Death, Foul Plywood!
...and they tell you not to do this with a katana.
This last one really surprised me. An untrained swordsman flailing on some sturdy plywood with a katana? Seems like a recipe for disaster and swords far more expensive than mine have been ruined by less. I was counting on at least a little edge damage but the only problem I noticed was that a bit of my etch wore off. I half considered posting this video on SFI with an innocent question about my form but we don't need another multipage flamefest over there and trolling isn't cool, no matter how funny it might be.
This kat is really starting to impress me. I'd been blowing off formal instruction because the nearest I could find is a kendo club an hour away that meets on weeknights; in retrospect, I may be giving them a call. I'd love to see what this sword could do with a competent operator.Hope you folks enjoy. As always, any and all comments are welcome, constructive criticism especially. If there's something in particular that you want to see and won't result in me maiming myself, let me know. Please do not read more into these than what's there - I'm simply chopping up garbage and filming it.
