Website Adventures
In the meantime, a shot of my workbench today with half of the in-progress Shinkage-ryu odachi.
Art Show
So it occurs to me that there might be more casual observers popping by, looking for an answer to the burning question, “What the heck is a tachi, anyway?” Obviously, this is the sort of question that precludes a normal night’s sleep, therefore in the interest of a healthy work environment, here’s the monologue you may have missed.
A tachi is a Japanese sword, typically worn with armor and slung from a double looped affair tied to the belt. It’s kind of like a katana, but worn differently. The tachi I make are practice swords, done to the specifications of several of the many surviving classical traditions. Yes, many of these arts dating back to the 1500s or 1400s are still being passed on in small groups today.
Yes, the tachi I make do get used by people, mostly for pre-arranged training sequences which involve weapon-on-weapon contact. They are carefully laid out, using the natural strength of the particular woods I use in order to maximize their durability, while giving a lively and balanced feel in the hand.
The three tachi are all made from jatoba, and represent three different Japanese martial traditions. The form of the weapons speaks to the mindset inherent in the techniques of the school: Yagyu Shinkage-ryu is precise and calculated, Araki-ryu is heavy and decisive, and Shindo Yoshin-ryu is badass sophistication.
The Araki-ryu sword guard was made from a laminate sandwich of jatoba, seen here after glue-up, on top of a batch of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu odachi in progress.
The tachi are displayed on a katanakake (sword stand) which is not officially part of the art show, but is necessary for the display. It was made from waste Mulberry.
The trio of tanto (daggers) are my way to play with the opposite idea: same form, different material. These little pieces are where I get to explore beautiful wood features that would make a longer piece unsuitable for training.
New Year, New Mokusen
The top two are 10cm longer than the usual mokusen, and the bottom one is 5cm longer. They also rocker out at the center, making them quite a bit heavier in hand. I rather like these better than the straight-sided ones, though preference seems to vary.
And of course since I was playing, I finished up some double laminate ones in this new shape, including one for myself of osage orange with a bark include. The bark here is wet with the epoxy I used to stabilize it.
Happenings
Work is on hold right now as I reconfigure my workshop, incorporating a move into an area of our basement that has just been rendered useable with the installation of a concrete floor. This will double my work space and allow me to better keep my sawdust and noise from encroaching on the rest of the house. I'm building lumber storage racks and I'll be able to have separate, permanent workspaces for different operations. The job ate up most of what I'd made this year, so thanks to everyone who has bought something -- you made it possible.
Of course the cement got slopped in literally right before the Great Halloween Storm of 2011. No sooner had the crew left than the flakes began. At about 8pm we heard a tremendous *crack*, a whoosh, and a tremor. One trunk of our 100' tall cherry tree had given way and the main part very narrowly missed landing on our kitchen (over the part of the cellar with my fresh cement). A good part landed on the roof, smashing our gutters, and funneling the next day's runoff to the foundation.
Being cherry, it's not really suitable for weapons. The rest of the tree needs to come down, and I hope I can place most of the wood with other woodworkers.
After this weekend, I should be getting back into the swing of things.
Kagitsuki Naginata
I did not faithfully copy the model. The model was very light weight, almost a Tendo-ryu style naginata, and the kagi was rectangular instead of round. I reasoned, with some help from a friend and fellow budoka who's an engineer, that square kagi would focus force from contact and might lead to premature weakening of both kagi (no big deal, as they are replaceable) and naginata (much less replaceable). So these naginata are as heavy as our normal naginata, and the kagi is round, and there is no adverse effect on the kata that we can tell.
So I drilled holes in two perfectly good naginata. It was well worth it.
Meet Me In St. Louis
A Slight Delay in Communication . . .
TSYR Buki; Swordfest
Also debuting was the brand.
Swordfest, May 14, Capital Area Budokai, Arlington VA:
I hope to have a few things for sale at Swordfest. There's one Shinto Muso-ryu bokken with a thin tsuka, great for someone who also does iai and is used to thinner tsuka, or for someone with small, easy hands. I also hope to have a mokusen or two in black locust and osage orange. Plus whatever else I can finish.
I'm not going to have enough goods to bother with a table, but will be happy to chat about the work.
Upcoming Events
She will be joined by the Chief Quality Control and Product Demonstration Engineer (assisted by uncompensated product demonstration volunteers) at Swordfest in Alexandria, VA, May 14.
Beth's Buki being a mostly made-to-order sort of affair, there probably won't be much in the way of goods to fondle, covet, and take home, but there are some extra short things in the works that with any luck can be finished — after current orders are completed.
Kusarigama
The difficulty with these guys is the mortise and tenon joint which attaches the blade piece to the haft. The whole process requires a lot of tool-changing, which is a killer in what passes for the shop.
After about a dozen trials, I’ve finally settled on a fundo assembly which swings, lands, and recoils suitably on multiple surfaces. I’m still looking for a source for quality stranded (not sheathed) cording, preferably hemp. What I've got right now is fine except I can't splice the attachment loops, so the himo is rather inelegant.
Status: Supply Research in Progress; Prototyping Complete; Not Ready for Prime-time
