Who thinks a classical japanese treatment for an ak47 would be cool?

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First thing: I don't have one, wouldn't know how to do it, and don't have the equipment :p But I can dream :D

Hogfeet's ak47:
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something like this (traditional)
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(from bugei: )
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anyone think it would be cool? the ak47 doesn't have the sori, but I think it would perform well once some of the metal of the tang was ground off, giving it a less neutral balance.
 
Too flashy, though. The fittings pictured above.

I think of the AK-47 as all business, all the time.

BUT ... a more sober and serious set of fittings might be quite cool. It's unusual, but I have seen and handled a few katanas with enormously long handles.
 
Personally I like the simple form of the ruck/ak. It would be interesting to see some vivid scales covered by a nice wrapping though.
 
OldPhysics said:
Too flashy, though. The fittings pictured above.

I think of the AK-47 as all business, all the time.
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something more modern, like this perhaps?

I don't remember the maker, but he's here on bladeforums. I always liked this piece, though the pommel was never my cup of tea. make the pommel a little more traditional, and perhaps change the quillion to a round tsuba?

I'm a little wearing about having a full tactical finish on a traditional style handle, since it's somewhat hard to get away from the traditional wrap style shown in the first bugei example. once you get into using micarta, it very quickly loses all traditional aesthetic. You could do a full tang tube fastened rope patern cnc'ed micarta handle, just in the shape of a traditional handle, but then it would just be a slight variation of how it already is.

Even if you removed all the gold appointments and left everything with a simple black on black with silver fittings, the basic set up of the bugei is the most common that I've seen...
 

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Hmm, I think altering the AK would be a tricky business to get right.

If I had to push the AK towards a traditional look I would probably do it by using some sort of micarta slabs that had been made from traditional cording and working/shaping them to show an aesthetic link to the traditional handles.

I don't think adding say a tsuba would improve the sword and it could actually diminish the overall look. Trying to add any additional parts would mean they would be some sort of Busse/traditional halfbreed and that to me is going to be an ugly beast.

Just my thoughts, there may be someone out there with the skills and the eye to succeed in designing a 'traditional' AK and I wish them good luck if they decide to do it but for me I wouldn't mess with perfection.
 
The closest I would go would be something I'll be working on with Ban (the AK) but no wrap or fittings. I'm gonna try and make a saya out of the same micarta used for the scales kind of like a shirasaya and Ban... well he's just gonna do what Ban does:cool:. Figured I'd try it with an AK or two and then a ruck or two if it works out. Other than that they should be all business.
 
RoyalM said:
Hmm, I think altering the AK would be a tricky business to get right.

If I had to push the AK towards a traditional look I would probably do it by using some sort of micarta slabs that had been made from traditional cording and working/shaping them to show an aesthetic link to the traditional handles.

I don't think adding say a tsuba would improve the sword and it could actually diminish the overall look. Trying to add any additional parts would mean they would be some sort of Busse/traditional halfbreed and that to me is going to be an ugly beast.

Just my thoughts, there may be someone out there with the skills and the eye to succeed in designing a 'traditional' AK and I wish them good luck if they decide to do it but for me I wouldn't mess with perfection.
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To be honest, I've owned an ak47, and I've handled a 1600's wakazashi, and the ak47 isn't perfect to me. the 1600's sword was technically blade heavy, but it disappeared in the hands, it's balanced allowed for a perfect intuitive knowledge of where the tip was at all times. the ak47 always felt to handle heavy to me.

There isn't much you can do to the ak47 as far as simple modifications that would push it towards a traditional look, because a traditional look and function does not incorporate tube fasteners, full tang micarta slabs, or choils. were a simple modification to be done, life gfd'ing the finger side to have finger grooves, or adding a swag back to the blade would just be for modifying the ak47, not for moving it into the style of another blade. you would end up with something like the ruck kensai.

Essentially, the purpose of modifying the ak47 to accept traditional handle fittings and appointments is in no way an attempt to improve the performance of the blade, though it might make the balance a little more traditional. traditional katana's were not made to chop wood or be thrown, they were meant for the sole purpose of being used on an opponent, and for nothing else. So modifying the ak47 to the traditional style would be limiting it's scope of work by reducing the reliability and durability of it's handle. Thats just the nature of the two designs.
 
LVC---I agree. If the AK is modified, it won't be an AK. In this case, INFI and Micarta work, beautifully.
 
It would be interesting to take thin micarta and put a wrap over them. I'm also curious what sort of tsuba someone might come up with that would echo both the katana tradition and the modern tactical AK. Matte titanium? The end product might lose something between the katana and the AK, but I think it could also be a well-blended fusion.
 
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