KITH WIP- kusarigama

[Zeb Camper 787]

Got some filing and scraping done 

The black stuff all over the blade is sharpie. Gotta keep those lines straiggt and crisp!

[Jeremy Blohm 575]

On 1/28/2018 at 6:11 PM, Zeb Camper said:

 

When i seen this video i instantly thought of your kusarigama.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Jeremy Blohm

[Zeb Camper 787]

6 minutes ago, Jeremy Blohm said:

When i seen this video i instantly thought of your kusarigama.

Thanks man! looks much easier than how I did it ( with brute force and determination)  

[Jeremy Blohm 575]

I am anxious to give it a shot.

[Zeb Camper 787]

If you haven't heard yet, I broke the wakizashi.... Water quenched it to death . 

But! I got another cooler idea that I may or may not get done on time! I just learned how to pattern weld and lost my mind! I'm taking my vacation days next week to make it lol. 

Edited June 8, 2018 by Zeb Camper
added photos of the broken wak

[Zeb Camper 787]

Ok, so In this ever evolving thread of rabbits chased down holes; I have chosen another knife.

This one is obviously a dwarven knife. notice the sharp lines, hard angles, and perfect circles.

The dwarves were known for their large heavy hilted weapons with thick spined blades that were overly sturdy (like themselves). The lines of the blade closely resemble their archetecture. Deep in the dwarven mines of old; great stone pillars with archways stood erect with patterns and runes carved in them. The huge forges feuled with water or wind powered bellows were used to heat massive amounts of steel used in these settlements for ladders, overhead walkways, staircases, or any where stone was not enough. Massive drop hammers could shake the very mountains as they fell. They were master metal workers. This one in particular does not do the work of the dwarves justice. Some believe it to be the work of an apprentice, a cook, or a feeble peasant... 

I hope to get the blade forged by next week and work on the guard/pommel. I'm taking some vacation days this coming week, so I should put a good dent in it. 

[Charles dP 589]

Very nice design there Zeb.

[Zeb Camper 787]

I got the tooth bar forged out. I lucked out and only boogered up one tooth and it's close to the middle. I gotta cut it in half anyway. I gotta forge out the high carbon tooth bars next, and make big triangles for the serpent. 

[Zeb Camper 787]

I got two 11 layer billets forged out for the twist bars that will be the body of the serpent. I also got the border bars forged. I just need to forge 2 more tooth bars, and finish up the twist bars. Then I can start welding everything together. 

[Robert D. 108]

I really REALLY like the handle design you have on this one. 

[Zeb Camper 787]

Yay serpent! More teeth to be made next! 

[Zeb Camper 787]

I noticed bright lines around the serpent. "simple decarb" I said to myself... Then I ground the billet flat and was cooling it with water. I noticed rust coming from this one line in particular. I ground past the rust, and was going to pop it in the forge, flux the crap out of it and give my best efforts to weld it shut. 

I stopped myself short and started to polish a long forgotten blade to give myself time to reflect.

It might be a train wreck to try and salvage that billet. It could weld right up and be totally fine. Who's to say it wont crack apart when forging the bevels, or in the quench? Should I ditch this billet and start fresh? I still have an 11 layer billet that I didn't use. Am I moving too fast? I'm a total newb. I've only ever forge welded a handful of times prior and here I am making serpent pattern multi-bars with wolf's teeth. 

I quickly reminded myself while polishing my katana for the 4th time; if this was easy I wouldn't be doing it. I will fail, but if I don't keep trying, then I will never succeed. And so, I have to finish this blade. If I fail; I can rest well knowing I tried, and give it another go. 

[Zeb Camper 787]

Well, I think you guys knew this was gonna happen. The serpent didn't work out. I put it in the vice and broke it. you can see it broke right up that line. 

[Zeb Camper 787]

But!... I used my other 11 layer billet for a less eventful blade with 2 sets of wolf's teeth. I just passed over it with a wiz wheel to see the pattern. It still has lots of decarb, so it all looks gray and not really defined. I might forge the edge a bit thinner to give mysef more edge steel. I added a pic of it when it was first welded up and grond down to give an idea of the pattern it'll have. 

Edited June 7, 2018 by Zeb Camper

[Vern Wimmer 487]

I know you are going for the serpent effect but I can't stop myself from saying that my first reaction was

"A river runs through it."

Sorry.

[Zeb Camper 787]

12 minutes ago, Vern Wimmer said:

I know you are going for the serpent effect but I can't stop myself from saying that my first reaction was

"A river runs through it."

Sorry.

You can call it a river! the actual serpent broke. this was just the next best thing. I didn't do anything to try and make it a serpent. It could have a river theme in it's legend... who knows? 

[Vern Wimmer 487]

"It is a part of the endless floww of spiritual energy which flows in a continuous cycle through all things like the water from the ocean evaporated to later fall as the snow on the mountains only to melt in the spring and begin its journey to return to the sea."

(Another Hallmark moment)

[Zeb Camper 787]

Here's what we're looking at as of now. I forged the edge thinner and gave it some curve that I actually think fits it pretty well. I actually melted a hole in the bottom of my propane welding forge . I think that means it's time to reline it... probably with a more flux resistant coating . That said, I can only make the guard and pommel out of solid stock. 

[Vern Wimmer 487]

I like it. It is discovering its own inner blade.

[Vern Wimmer 487]

It took me a while to remember what that pattern reminded me of, the pic is from Wikipedia "yoroi-doshi".

 

 

[Zeb Camper 787]

Thats pretty cool! I'd love to know more about it. 

[Vern Wimmer 487]

It was an unusually thick blade with a distal taper intended to pierce armor.. It could either be wakizashi length and occupying that position on the waist or tanto length and worn on the right hip blade up to be employed in grappling. 

My Sensei told me about them a long time ago and the whole "Tanto" fad, started out about the same time. He found it amusing that the historic blade, from his home Country, designed specifically to pierce armor, actually had a profile that would not be at all "exotic" in the U.S. and the shape of a "Tanto" which was, at that time, being touted as "armor peircing" probably had it's roots in the repurposing of a damaged sword blade (which was common because of the weaknesses of the Japanese swords).

[Zeb Camper 787]

More work done today! It looks like I over slotted the pommel in the pic, but it's an illusion. A mishap with the drilling thats very shallow. It's very snug. I made a punch shaped identical to the tang to fit it. I'll just keep working on making the second pommel piece and tidying up the circular part. 

[Jeremy Blohm 575]

This is awesome!!!

[Zeb Camper 787]

Believe it or not, that contrast you see happened post quench! I didn't etch or anything! I might leave it that way if I can.