Tanto knife

A

avigdor

Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
25
I wanted to make a Tanto knife but I cant find measurements anywhere.
so i wanted to ask if there's someone how made one of this and will be able to share with me the information.
thank you and have a nice day.
(sorry for my grammer)
 
A tanto is a knife below one shaku in blade length (a shaku is 10 sun = approx. 12" or 30cm). Generally, a tanto has an edge length around 7-8".
A wakizashi is one to two shaku, and a katana is two to three shaku. Most of the time, these three blades are on the lower side of the length range. A 10-12" tanto would be very long.

Most people make a tanto that is not at all authentic and traditional. The "American Tanto" with the sharp angles and 45° tip is not what a tanto looks like. A tanto looks closer to a fillet knife. The tip curves back and the blade has a slight curve to the belly. Sometimes the tip curves back gracefully, and other times it is more blunt.
The blade width is usually between .75 and 1". They are not very thick. 1/8" to 3/16" is plenty.

I put more info in this thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1341446-First-tanto
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
A tanto is a knife below one shaku in blade length (a shaku is 10 sun = approx. 12" or 30cm). Generally, a tanto has an edge length around 7-8".
A wakizashi is one to two shaku, and a katana is two to three shaku. Most of the time, these three blades are on the lower side of the length range. A 10-12" tanto would be very long.

Most people make a tanto that is not at all authentic and traditional. The "American Tanto" with the sharp angles and 45° tip is not what a tanto looks like. A tanto looks closer to a fillet knife. The tip curves back and the blade has a slight curve to the belly. Sometimes the tip curves back gracefully, and other times it is more blunt.
The blade width is usually between .75 and 1". They are not very thick. 1/8" to 3/16" is plenty.

I put more info in this thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1341446-First-tanto
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick response but maybe I weren't so clear for what I was looking for. I'm trying to look for measurement and proportion for a non traditional tanto knife. something that look like this:


It would be great if you could help me to find the right angles and measurements for this type of knife.
 
There are no right "angles" or "measurements" for an American Tanto. If you're not trying to replicate a traditional Japanese Tanto....then it's your call. I would go over to Cold Steel's site and get the dimensions from a few of their Tantos. They have a few different sizes of American Tantos....and I would think they would be a good place to start.
 
Yep, if you want one of those, just print out a photo of one you like, scale it ( figure the size ratio), and take measurements.
 
The template you have attached looks like it is from DC knives blog. they are already to scale. just print it out and pick the size you want and glue it on some thin plywood. cut it out and you have a template. or, you can do what i do and just spray adhesive it to your stock.
 
Everyone has personal tastes, but some things just don't compare. Look at these two groups of images and see which is prettier/sleeker and more enjoyable to build and own:
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/s...Tanto Knives&a=fixed&eqSUB_CAT_CODEdatarq=ta&
http://nihonzashi.com/tanto.aspx

There isn't much difference in degree of difficulty in making either type. A average American tanto can fetch $150-200, and a nice one $250-350. An average Japanese tanto will fetch $350-550, and a nice one $750-1250. Sans hamon will drop those prices about 30%.
 
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