How to make a katana from wood: simple tips - easy crafts. Katana manufacturing technology How to make a real katana
Making a katana is divided into a large number of stages and can last several months. First, Tamahagane steel pieces are placed next to each other, covered with a clay solution and covered with ash. This allows you to remove slag from the steel, which during melting will be removed from the metal and will be absorbed by clay and
ash. Next, the metal pieces are heated to combine them. After this, hammer forging occurs: the created rod is flattened and folded, then flattened again and folded again - thus doubling the number of layers (with 10 folds, 1024 layers are obtained, with 20 - 1048576) As a result, the carbon is evenly located in the rod, which allows make sure that the strength of the blade is the same over the entire surface.
Katana manufacturing technology
Then it is necessary to put softer steel into the workpiece so that the blade does not break under severe dynamic loads. During forging, which takes several days, the workpiece is lengthened and by joining strips of different hardnesses, the structure of the blade and its original shape are formed. Next, a series of liquid clay is applied to prevent oxidation and overheating. A pattern is formed on the cutting edge - the jamon hardening line.
This line becomes visible when polishing the sword. Jamon is hallmark master, it is possible to find out who created the katana. Then the sword is hardened: it heats up to a temperature of approximately 840-850 ° C and immediately cools, as a result of which the katana takes on extraordinary hardness. In addition, during the hardening process, the blade bends on its own, while the magnitude and shape of the deflection are specific and depend on the cooling method. Then the blade is given a finished look, sharpened and polished using stones of different grain sizes. Moreover, the master strives to achieve completely flat surfaces and clear angles of edges between planes. Sometimes on parts of the katana that have not been hardened, decorative engraving is created, usually on the theme of Buddhism. After polishing and decorating the handle, the katana can be used.
We present our developments in videos of fencing with katanas, machetes and knives. After watching our films, you may discover some new aspects of history, weapons, and culture. This section presents fencing techniques, the technique of their implementation, and the technique of movement during execution. Knife fighting videos on techniques and techniques will delight anyone who is seriously involved in knife fighting. We pay a lot of attention to technique, all our lessons are designed so that you can watch not just the quick execution of techniques, but understand how this technique is performed. For this reason, the show is often performed in a slightly slower format, which of course does not negate its fast execution during production. Separately, there are sparrings - videos of knife fights. Here you can look real application techniques shown earlier in other videos.
Standing apart are small feature films related to weapons, the history of samurai, the making of samurai swords, traditions, old photographs and much more. We sincerely hope you enjoy these films.
Another aspect of our knife fight videos is testing strikes and weapons on real flesh - on pieces of meat - on pork knuckles, pork bokeh. This is necessary to understand HOW a blow is delivered with one or another weapon, what passes and what does not, and often commonly used myths are dispelled during such testing. We don't want to be like Discovery or Cold Steel, not at all, but we like their format and we adopted it for ourselves.
We sincerely hope our videos of knife fighting, techniques with a katana and machete will not disappoint you and you will find something useful for yourself in them.
Do-it-yourself katana sharpening
Sharpening a katana with your own hands is not nearly as difficult as it might seem.
In ancient times in Japan there were special craftsmen who spent weeks sharpening on water stones. There have always been very few such masters and their services were incredibly expensive. Not only was the cutting edge itself processed, but the blade itself was polished - all this was part of the understanding of sharpening a katana. Today, sharpening refers to processing only the cutting edge of the blade and bringing it to a razor-sharp state.
Contrary to popular belief, this is quite easy to do today at home with your own hands. The standard cost of a one-time blade sharpening is from 1,500 rubles. But what can you do yourself at home - how to sharpen a blade so as not to spoil it? Well, first of all, you need to understand why you are sharpening your katana. For chopping makiwar from rice straws is one thing, for chopping not too thick tree trunks is another thing, for chopping all sorts of meat items such as sausages is something else.
Let's do real sharpening of a katana at home with our own hands.
The weapon used was a Chinese katana, hardness up to 52 - 54 units, monosteel, spring, nothing unusual, a fairly cheap sample.
For sharpening we took musat, a fiskars type sharpening device with rotating stones, and a bottle of oil.
First, from a blade - a completely working one, which has just been used to chop a lot of plastic bottles using musat, all small roughness and burrs are removed.
Then, using a Fiskars type sharpening device, the knurling edge of the katana is sharpened.
The result is checked on a piece of paper. As a rule, one pass is not enough for normal paper cutting and razor sharpness, and therefore the blade is lubricated with oil and rolled back into sharpening devices.
Taking your time, a katana blade can be sharpened in three to five steps.
As you can see from the video, a sharpened katana cuts paper like a razor.
Today we will learn how to make a wooden samurai sword katana (bokken) at home with our own hands.
How to make a wooden katana at home
The bokken is used for samurai sword training and will also be an excellent decorative decoration for your room.
So let's get started. If you intend to use our product for training, then it is better to choose the material for the workpiece hard rocks wood - oak, beech, hornbeam.
- On the beam we draw with a pencil the approximate outline of our future katana. Let's start with the handle - we process the place under it along the contour with a file or plane.
- Next, in the same way, we give a contour to the blade, removing excess wood to the lines that we drew.
- Next, use a file to give a rounded shape to the tip of the blade and smooth out the corners of the handle, giving it an oval contour in cross section; use sandpaper to remove irregularities and make it smooth.
- We also use sandpaper to level the blade so that it is flat, moving the sandpaper with effort along the entire length of the blade.
All that remains is to make the tsuba - guard samurai sword. Draw the contour of the tsuba on a sheet of plywood and cut it out with a jigsaw. The dimensions of the center hole can be determined by placing the guard blank against the handle and making marks where the edges should be. We connect the marks along the ruler with a pencil, make a hole with a drill and cut out the center of the tsuba with a jigsaw, round the edges so that they fit radially to the handle, put the tsuba on our katana, and secure it, for example, with superglue.
Photo diagram of making a katana
Making a samurai sword from wood video
So we made with our own hands, in ordinary home conditions, a semblance of a samurai sword made of wood. After it is made, it is advisable to impregnate it with wood resin or varnish. The video provides instructions for making this product; after watching it, even a beginner can make a bokken.
Article genre - Japanese weapons
They have survived to this day and do not lose popularity. Since ancient times, the katana has been made from damask steel - “Anosov” steel, but fighting with such a tool is dangerous, so let’s put the original samurai weapon aside for now, let it decorate the interior.
If you decide to study ancient art samurai, then a bokken, a wooden analogue of a blade, is perfect as a training weapon. “How to make a katana from wood?” - Many people asked themselves this question, but only a small number of samurai mastered the wooden bokken technique.
Features of a wooden katana
Japanese culture is rich in traditions. Training swords have been used in samurai art for hundreds of years. In the East there are many schools studying martial arts. Depending on belonging to a particular school, the bokken sword has its own parameters and name. For example, to make a Bokuto bokken, white wood is used. The length of such a blade is 102 cm, and the weight varies between 580-620 grams. As for the Keishi-Ryu bokken, such a weapon is heavier and, with its length of 102 cm, weighs 730 grams.
Bokken - exact copy katanas, made of wood, which have been used since time immemorial to learn the samurai craft. Having learned how to make a katana from wood, you will be surprised, because this process is not labor-intensive.
The shape of the bokken completely duplicates the shape of the katana, but due to the material used to produce the weapon, it weighs less. How to make a katana from wood with your own hands and get a quality product? Choose the right material. The following types of wood are mainly used to make bokken:
- oak: white, red, black, brown;
- hornbeam.
The blade of a wooden bokken, like a real katana, is beveled at an angle of 45° at the end, and the profile of the blade has a flattened oval or round shape. It depends on the type of weapon.
A distinctive feature of samurai bokken is the absence of a guard, a transverse pad that protects the hand from the enemy’s weapon sliding along the blade. A shallow slot is made along the entire length - “hi”, thanks to which the bokken makes a characteristic whistling sound when struck.
How to make a wooden katana
Today you will learn how to make a katana from wood, following simple instructions.
Mastery training takes place specifically with a bokken, which is why the need to make or purchase this instrument is so common.
Step by step guide
- To get started you will need a drawing. You can draw a rough drawing of a katana or download ready-made template from the Internet.
- Having made the workpiece, begin processing, starting with the handle. Process the area under it using a file and a plane.
- Shape the blade by removing excess wood using a template using tools.
- Round the tip and smooth the corners of the handle.
- Sand the handle and blade using sandpaper.
If desired, you can cut out and attach a guard, but most bokkens are made without this element.
Now you know how to make a katana from wood. It turns out that this is not as difficult as it might seem. Even a beginner in this matter can cope with such a task.
