River Jian in-progress

kevin -the professor

kevin -the professor

Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
760
Hello Everyone,
I have a set of fittings from Charles Wu that are made to accompany a Han Jian. They are made for a short sword (duan jian), which seems to have been a very common thing of the day. These came in really long versions for the battlefield, and the shorter version (which still had a long grip) for more every-day protection, I assume.

I am calling this the River jian because the blade would have been useful for anyone travelling the huge rivers of China (short enough for boat use, but you can grab handle at the end, once made, to get extra reach if needed). Also because I like to call the pattern in the steel the River pattern. That is because of the wavy line of 15N20 that goes up each edge of the blade, and the twists look like eddies.

I am doing a detailed work-in-progress over on bladesmith's forum. Also on my facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/kevin.colw...3456.1073741863.1407177569&type=3&pnref=story

river%20jian%20against%20tree%202.jpg


Here is the sword blade against a tree for perspective. 21.5" long, 1.25" wide at shoulders. 10" tang (handle will be 12"). .27" thick at ridge at shoulders, nonlinear distal taper, the last 5 inches is just around .13" thick at the spine.

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another

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crappy pic

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Check out the pattern and the ridge.

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and the tip.

checking%20file%20guide%20for%20shoulders%20with%20guard%20river%20jian%20wip.jpg


Here is a sneak peek at the guard. The fittings are amazing.

Comments are welcomed. I hope you guys like this one. More to come,
kc
 
Salem, thanks bro! You know it! As I said elsewhere, your comments mean a lot. I think you have made more jian than I have, for sure. I may have you beat in daos, but you surely have made more jian (this is the first that I have been happy enough with to allow out into the world, though it is the 5th overall). All that came before were good blades for cutting, and I murdered a lot of maple saplings with each of them, getting my act down. But, each had a cosmetic flaw, usually associated with trying to do a hamon on a full-length, pattern-welded, double-edged blade. I just couldn't get them straight enough.

anyway, thanks. If I don't screw up the wood work, this sword will be a nice one. Charles make excellent fittings.
 
It's not a crappy pic if it makes you say 'WOW!'.... :)

Does the traditional sword have that rounded tip? I would want it MORE pointy, but I'd also be the first to ruin a perfectly good tribute. LOL!

Good work, Kevin.

Coop
 
Coop - I will be sending this one to you when I get all of the wood work done. Charles's fittings (and hopefully the blade) deserve your professional treatment.

Yes, the points are somewhat rounded. They still penetrate well, by slicing in as well as stabbing. Remember, pre-Viking era swords had rounded tips, and that was about the same time frame, although half a world away (almost).

I will review my Iron and Steel Swords in China book just to make certain about tip geometry, though.

thanks guys.
kc
 
Coop - ask and ye shall receive... in other words, I looked at my best source (Iron and Steel Swords of China). There were a few of these shorter jian from that period, and some were VERY pointy (like a shrunken longsword from the medieval period), and some were like this one, and one was in the middle. So, I modified the point a little, to go with the, "middle," design. I want a true cut-and-thrust weapon. It is more rigid than a dedicated cutter would be at RC 57, so I think your pointy-er idea was a good one!
 
That's really nice stuff there, professor. :] I love Chinese-style swords and hope to see them become more popular as time goes on.

Coop, there are quite a few historical sword types that can have rounded tips; two that have been current topics in the sword subforum lately are the European katzbalgers and zweihanders.
 
A little more progress...

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Fitting tenon of handle into the guard. Rough shaping at this point.

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Pommel onto handle blank

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I don't have a lathe, so I am cutting with a Japanese backsaw to create the demarcation points where handle risers will be. I hope that makes sense, I am not sure it is English. There will be raised rings around the handle, and the handle will be round in cross-section (which appeared to be the style of the time).

I gotta get a lathe if I am going to do many of these. You know the routine, sell a sword, buy another tool.
 
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I removed all of the material with a cabinet maker's rasp from Germany (hand raised, great tool), and I am using a smooth-cut file to get the rasp marks out. Filing wood is relaxing and effective.

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Pommel epoxied and pinned (invisible peened pin all the way through, made of same copper alloy). Here, I am about to file the handle rings to final shape and begin the polishing process. A smooth cut file, 8", leaves about the same finish as 320 grit abrasive paper, only the file leaves a burnished look that paper doesn't. I will use 400 and 600 grit after this. It is curly walnut by the way, and I am going to stain it with aqua fortis.

Of course, then the handle will get a wrap, and so a lot of all of this work will be hidden. But, I will know it is there.

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Inletting guard down into the throat of the sheath.

I do this with files, chisels, and rasps.

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favorite little chisel working on inletting. It is, as you can easily see, a 6" file that had a high carbon tang. I made the tang of the file into a chisel that is about 3/32" wide. It works very well. I use a lot of files up, filing heat treated swords. So, I make most of my own tools (the ones I make) out of old files.

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Fitting the chape to the sheath. This is where we stop, for now. Hopefully, more progress over the weekend.

Thanks for looking. Comments, advice, tips, etc., are all welcomed.
 
Professor

Elegant. Absolutely elegant.
I study tai chi sword and qi quong (yi jing jing) with a very skilled and spiritual lady from
China. She has great appreciation of fine swords and is sharing
Her skills with our class
I will pass these photos on to her. She was taught by
Her grandfather and mother who is in her 90's
And still practices

Thank you for sharing your skill with the forum
 
that is one of the kindest comments I have ever received.
Thank you. I studied tai chi some in order to learn to make better jian and dao (as well as handling a lot of originals - though I am only guessing since I have never handled an original Han jian).

Lot of work left with sword and fittings. However, 3/4 of the work is done, and I really love the blade.

take care,

Kevin
 
Been awhile, but I am still working on this one. Almost done. Hopefully over the next 3 days I will finish.


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Here I am sawing the lines to then chisel between for an mounting for the scabbard slide.


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Cleaning up the area.

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Using a Braun Block (from Ed) to sand the sheath. 100 grit paper and good backing, to get all the dips and stuff out.

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These sheaths have a central ridge for most of the length that transitions to an oval near the chape.


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Vise with neoprene on the jaws in a bullet vise, Braun block to sand.


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More fitting of chape.



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You can see the marks, where wood needs to be removed (and sometimes exactly opposite of there).



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I soft-soldered (stay-brite) a hidden pin made from a copper nail into the guard. This is to make ultra-sure that the guard can't rattle, come what may.


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Matching pinhole on the handle. Normally, you braze a ring to the guard, and then have the handle come inside that. This can keep the guard from moving. But, with these fittings, there wasn't enough room to use a ring like that, and have a tang that was very wide/thick. Therefore, I abandoned the ring, and you can see even the wood doesn't take up room on the sides of the handle. That leaves max room for tang, and the pin will take care of making doubly-certain that the guard can not rattle.



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Surface prep for epoxying scabbard slide.




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I feel like a criminal every time I do something like this, but I just had to put a pin through Charle's beautiful chape.


http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss231/thor2888/River Sword wip Duan Jian/IMG_2302.jpg


That's it for now. The sheath is fully polished, and now the scabbard slide and chape are attached. I just need to put a couple more layers of tung oil on it.


I also need to polish the handle, wrap some leather cord around the scabbard slide to make it more secure, do the final polish and etch, and epoxy and pin the handle.


That is it. Not much, really.


Thanks for looking. Will be done soon.

Comments welcomed, as always.


kc
 
Here is another set. This will be the last one until I get the leather cord to wrap the scabbard slide. If there is interest, I will provide a link to a Smithsonian article called The Scabbard Slide in Asia (or something close).

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Here is a pic of the handle in place, but not pinned or epoxied. I am just looking to see if adjustments are needed. As you can see, I use tung oil. This stuff is great. Build it up slowly, in many layers. Wipe on, rub on. Let sit about 12 hours, repeat for several days. The sheath has a layer of tung oil that has filled the pores. It looks a little like a CA finish, only easier to do, and historically accurate.

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Everything was stained with aqua fortis, which I learned from Alan, through this forum. I just buy Ferric Nitrate crystals and dissolve them in water. It is easier than nitric acid plus steel wool.

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss231/thor2888/River Sword wip Duan Jian/IMG_2305.jpg

Charles Wu goodness.

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This is some of the most interesting walnut I have ever seen. Tung oil and AF go together so very well.

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Charles Wu goodness.

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This is it until the leather arrives. Thanks for the kind words. There will be more when I get leather. Almost done, though. Wrap the scabbard slide with leather cord to help bind it. Then, sharpen, final polish, etch.

This one is going to Coop.
 
that is way too damn cool.
 
Thanks Lorien.
I was starting to wonder what I did to piss everyone off or something. I don't make the kick-ass fighting knives/bowies or tactical stuff that is so beautiful and prevalent on this forum. But, every now and then, especially when I make swords, my stuff is ok. It's not Claudio-level, but it doesn't suck, either.

At least, I cling to that belief.

But there is very little reaction to the Chinese-style stuff. Maybe when I make messers or bauernwerhs (also two of my favorites) there is and has been. But, with the daos and jian, there is less.

So, it is very good to have that kind feedback. I truly appreciate it.
kc
 
I would love to see a Chinese Jian made in 3V. Is that something Mr. Lorien or Mr. Carothers would ever do?
 
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