Carl - Post the photos and anything else here ( unless you want to make a separate thread).
Camp sword - bush sword - machete - super chopper -.....pretty much whatever you want to build but a Zombie slayer.
Ed - It is really up to you, but if you want a suggestion, try a thick and short (16" long and 1/4" thick) Chokuto era wakizashi blade. It will be a heavy straight chopper with a angled ( tanto) kissaki. About 1.25" blade width should work. Tsuka in cord wrapped wood. Tsuba tiny and round. Woodlined leather wrapped saya.
Call it the shinrin wakizashi......or tree slayer.
Thank you Sensei-sama, but not exactly what I was requesting; still it shall be as you have set before me. If memory serves correct, the Chokuto was the Nara period (I remember this because I find it ironic that modern day Nara, Okinawa; is still considered the epicenter for bladesmithing in Japan among some Nihonto enthusiasts and historically produced the rifles that Oda Nobunaga used attempting to unify Japan, and Tokugawa finished) and most commonly associated (i.e. mistaken for) Kodachi (O-wakizashi).
For the folks who need an Ed translator:
http://www.forging.org/system/files/field_document/JapaneseSword.pdf
So, to break it down (without breaking your patience Apelt Sensei):
The first blade that comes to mind is Marchand Senpai's Bushwaki blade except for the fact that the Choku-to did not have a curvature, most likely as a resulting influence from emigrating mainland Orientals, such as the Koreans and Chinese and sealing the relationship to the Chinese Ken. As Japan's "Golden" era, the common man needed a weapon-tool, with Oral Tradition what it is, despite odd skirmishes between territories, the general concern were robbers/raiders; as such, the man in the field chopping rice silage needed to be able to turn to his machete as his primary defensive weapon at home.
This has led to one of the largest arguments in the Mall Ninja world--that the Chokuto and Kodachi spawned the Ninjato. Regardless of their petty fanboy zomgwtfbbq, it doesn't deter the fact the Tomo Ryu Shinobijutsu is a classically defined martial art predating
both the Edo period and Western "Ninja Boom" (America: 1960s-80s and again in the 90s with TMNT) by at least a hundred years. The style's emphasis on concealment, evasion, and
guerrilla tactics required straight short swords.
As your Cyber student and the guy who thinks way too d@mn much, here is what I propose based on those particular semantics that are stuck in my head:
Based on my
tactics for this
arena and the
wilderness purpose I shall make
Bōryaku-no-Areno
Bōryaku emphasizing tactics, "no" is "of," and Areno (which sounds like a play on Arena) roughly translates to "wilderness."
Build:
Traditionally Kodachi style blades are high carbon, and Chokuto are hypothetically single bevel--though I'd like some confirmation on that.
Concurrently I'm still considering 1075, but more leaning towards 1050 or 1060 now. 5160 would serve, but for aesthetics like to try for a hamon.
Despite pending input on edge geometry, I'd thought maybe 16"OAL, but worry a simple 12" blade, sticking to the 1.25-1.5" wide.
I'm not going to add a habiki as it is not traditional, however, for the small tsuba I want to use mokume gane, whether I use a copper/silver/nickle mix or try to get fancy and add wrought to that mix is a question though, along with finding with finding a good mix. "Quarter" mokume won't do, and my local source for sheet pure copper, Ni, and silver just closed...
I'm going to pester BigBlue for sheath ideas--I love how he combines wood, leather, and copper for his.
Running thru some ideas so I can draw this out
