Making a Katana (Samurai Sword)

[Martin56]

Fascinating !!

 

[Ken L]

I remember when I was involved in the martial arts that the katana was considered the greatest sword ever devised and I must have been told hundreds of times that it's folding was the ultimate expression of the sword makers art.

While the katana is certainly iconic, I was surprised to learn that Scandinavian, Germanic and Pictish smiths were pattern welding swords, for exactly the same reasons that the Japanese developed the technique, but they were doing it more than a thousand years before the first folded katana was made - they did it because their steel was garbage!

The reason why we don't see folded European swords in the medieval period is simple - their methods of steel production were so good (because they'd developed ways to produce it at higher temperatures) that they didn't need it. This allowed medieval European swords to be lighter, longer and springier than those in Japan.

 

[Huge_Vitae]

I folded a katana once with the assistance of a Honda Accord that pulled out in front of me at Hockley Cross bottom of the M3 as it was then.

Doesn’t look like this one anymore, probably a few thousand razor blades by now.

[chesters1]

Pretty ,prefer straight seats though its easier to get a huge bag of shopping on lol.

Bike like that would get me banned so i restricted the chance by moving to a honda 90 ,good in the winter (not a fair weather only rider) snow and frozen rain no problem!

 

Been looking for a project to do but bikes of the 70's silly money nowadays !got all the tools nothing to use them on

As to the sword ,typicaly a single  stroke sword "sword fighting" would **** them up in seconds .British military victorian swords were known to fold as continually polishing them as required removed the case hardening luckily we took to guns early

Were the swords actually used outside ceremonial attire ,assassinations and showing power lopping the heads off the poor? As a "fighting" weapon they appear limited they aint much use against real armour

I think theres more myth surrounding japanese swords ,if both parties use them they probably are good but against a fully armoured western fighter they have a distinct disadvantage .Theres lots of myth looking back the english long bowman at Agincourt  wasnt effective against armour but if you chuck up enough they will find the horses and a knight falling of his horse with horses milling about a death sentence. Our arrows have been tried many times and fail to penetrate armour (the decent armour of the nobility that were mounted) mail was also vunerable in the over the counter stuff of the masses . If the arrow tip is knocked up by the thousand theyre not going to be decent steel and hardened enough to go through far enough to cause death in most cases .

The myth is mightier than the sword ,as soon as the nips saw the power of guns against their flimsy armour they couldnt get enough of them as a sword isnt much good at 100 yards! Look at a lifetime of learning the bow compared to a crossbow and an hour of instruction ,the bows advantage is limited to the amount of arrows it can launch the crossbow is more accurate and more powerful and any peasant can be trained to use it and a lifetime of learning the sword is pointles against a handfull of peasants  with axes unless your in the movies

This lady makes a couple of points and her smithing  isnt to be sniffed at either and yes i think she knows exactly what she is doing fnar

https://youtu.be/0Ql9uA9WX4U

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by chesters1