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I Forge Iron

help with katana?


gabrielguy

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hey guys, im new to the forums and i havent started blacksmithing,yet. but i have a katana by tomahawk(dont ask why) but ive been wanting to take of the tsuba(guard) and the disassemblys been a jerk and the tang wont come out of the tsuka.i eventually out that some katanas have their tangs glued into the tsuka, i fear that this is the case of my katana. ive also heard about a screw under the endcap and also a hook, but neither of these are the case because ive taken off the endcap and there isnt any holes or anything. so i tried to look up the sword that i have and the box it came in sais tomahawk XL 1050 but i couldnt find it anywhere on the internet, only one for sale somewhere but nothing about the sword. so one of the pictures i posete are its tsuba to see if anybody recognises it.anyways, is there any way to still get the blade out or any way to confirm that the tang is glued in, without destroying the katana?(it is my only katana) also, ive taken out the two wooden pugs from the tsuka but there was a third pug and i gouldnt get it out and got fustrated so i just gouged it out with my kunai, and it wasnt even a pug going all the way through. in the center was some type of metal, im guessing the tang, and two smaller pugs were on each side of it in the hole to cover up the metal. this third hole is the last hole by the end cap. the photos are of the last hole.(i know i talk too much)

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post-18881-0-26631900-1300209270_thumb.j

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Chances are since it is a cheaper sword it has been epoxy'd into the Tsuka. Normally you remove the Nakago Pin and the tang slips free to move it to and from various other Furniture. The cheaper end swords are just that done cheaply and glued on so they dont fall apart. Hate to say it but ya might have to cut it off.

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Chances are since it is a cheaper sword it has been epoxy'd into the Tsuka. Normally you remove the Nakago Pin and the tang slips free to move it to and from various other Furniture. The cheaper end swords are just that done cheaply and glued on so they dont fall apart. Hate to say it but ya might have to cut it off.
thanks for the help. there isnt any way of maybee heating the whole sword(of course without the saya, and removing the jto from the handle) and melting the epoxy withouth ruining the sword? btw, i know nothing about epoxy, so if epoxy isnt meltable, dont make fun lol
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Ill think about it a bit and get back to you on it, maybe one of the other guys has any suggestions. oh and by cut it off I didnt mean the tang I meant the Tsuka itself
yeah i figured you meant the tsuka lol. and okay thanks for the help. and oh, i havve all the pins out right now, would it be a bad idea to like try to cut a tree with it and crack the epoxy loose from the tang? lol
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What did they suggest when you posted this on the beginner's forum at swordforum.com?
no one asked for anyone to be rude. at one time in your life you didnt know what an anvil was, and whoever told you what it was, wasnt rude about it and didnt make smart remarks obviously. otherwise you wouldnt know. and to answer your question i dont even know what that website is but obviously you do. is it becus you have an account there?
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It was a suggestion that a site dedicated to swords would be a better place to ask this question than a site dedicated to blacksmithing.

You had to find this site as you are a new user here, I was surprised that you didn't find any of the sword sites (or even knifemaking sites for that matter) ahead of this site.

Can you share with us your search criteria that brought this site on top before other such sites? We may be able to help you refine it.

And I suggested the beginner's forum not as a "cut"; but as it's much gentler on folks asking basic, odd or even quite weird questions. (There are a lot of katanaphiles out in the world that would rain MUCH HEAVIER on your parade than my mere question did; hence the beginner's forum rather than say the nihonto forum there. Though the Home Improvement Projects sub-forum of SFI might be right up your alley for this too.)

And BTW nobody ever told me what an anvil is---I learned about it by reading when I was in grade school. I learned how to research something I didn't know about a year after I started learning to read. Didn't own one till about 20 years later though. Now I own a ton of books and about a half a ton of anvils.

Should I be sorry I spent time trying to guide you to a better location?

Thomas

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I'm into a number of things myself; however I have found that going to the place that specializes in the question being asked tends to get better answers than going to a place where the question is rather peripheral. I am on several websites (and am a moderator on a couple too) and spend a lot of time on the armour making website sending blacksmithing questions over here as I spend time here sending armouring questions over there.

Just like I'm going to see a specialist today instead of my local Dr as the local one does not know squat about the health issue I am dealing with.

I hope to see your question over at SFI when next I visit there.

One way to deal with the original issue would have been to ask "Where's a good site to find out how to remove a katana tang bedded in epoxy?" which would have gotten you directed to such a place or if someone knows the answer they might tell you directly.

Thomas who has been smithing for 30 years and spent a year, 1983-1984, apprenticed to a swordmaker who did japanese blades as well as european and fantasy ones. (6 days a week in the shop, no pay, two meals a day with the Master's family kind of apprenticeship)

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.....would it be a bad idea to like try to cut a tree with it and crack the epoxy loose from the tang? lol

Yes that would be a VERY VERY BAD idea. When most cheap blades meet a tree, only the tree wins, also many good blades will break doing this. Ambulance and mortuary gets paid, but you still lose. If you need to cut a tree use an axe.
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