Back on the computer finally WOW I am sapped trying to learn that alien device. One thing is for certain THE CAMERA SUXXXXXX. Anyway I made some progress. This will be the last I have a chance to work on it for a while.
Scribes were a mix of freehand and square . . .
Cutting a curved blank so attention must be paid to keeping the cutting point flat on the table where it meets the blade or fingers (and blades) can get compromised....
Mucho grande handwork will be needed on this. If I was a monkey it would only take me a few months to complete. Since I'm not, it's only going to take me a few months to complete . . .
More roughing the tang. I wanted a full length tang but this is the blank I wanted for the blade, and a full length tang was not possible even for my shorter-than-average height.
Katana length's varied according to the height of the Samurai. He had to be able to draw his sword quickly and with ease - the blade that allowed him that
was what the sword smith would make, yet still have the longest blade possible. It was just another subtle nuance of sword making . . . . .
Curved tang - had to do it on the rough but we will fix it in the next step . . . .
Making the tang straight and square (in the rough) so no ugly glue lines are seen with x-ray vision . . .
Like I said LOTS of handwork to do on this. Almost all of it will be including hand sanding. It will test my patience more than a sucky ass android phone . . .
The half-tang is actually thicker than what the blade will be - there's a transition that must occur.
The edge grind I'll be shooting for is this . . .
But we'll see about that. I'll just be happy to finish it even close to that. Here's some other species I am compiling to use . . .
This is going to be fun if I don't pull my hair out or my weenie off.