The san mei blade for this project was made to order for me by Kenneth's Qing Zhong Knife and Sword Company
Blade length : 25" / 63.5 cm
Overall length : 33 7/8" / 86 cm
Grip length : 6 1/4" / 16 cm
Weight : 870g
Pob : 4" / 10 cm - that sounds a bit close to the guard but because it has a long handle, the grip point is further down, effectively lengthening the pob.
The handle is made of padauk, finished with tung oil and antiqued using coloured shellac polishes.
It handles very like mid-length antiques, having similar agility and forward momentum. It's fast, versatile and a lot of fun to use - the grip being just long enough to use comfortably with two hands. The central plate is quite hard and hones to a good edge making it a nice sword to cut with. A bonus with this design, is that the harmonics worked out really well. The node is around about the bulge in the grip so there is virtually no vibration transferred to the hand - not something that I was expecting while I was making the sword.
The brass fittings are not lacquered and have dulled to a nice patina since these pics were taken.
Many thanks to Philip Tom for his patient help and guidance during this project.
'Home made' mid-length jian
Moderator:Scott M. Rodell
- Graham Cave
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Re: 'Home made' mid-length jian
Just wondering what the edge geometry is like? Have you cut with it yet?Graham Cave wrote:The san mei blade for this project was made to order for me... The central plate is quite hard and hones to a good edge making it a nice sword to cut with...
- Graham Cave
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Re: 'Home made' mid-length jian
It's a more of a 'clamshell' than my Huanuo mono steel but the blade also flattens out towards the tip so there is correspondingly less of a 'clamshell' at the end - still more than the Huanuo though. I've done a little bit of bottle cutting / soft vegetation cutting with it and it really outperforms the Huanuo. It cuts through bottles very easily and if I get the cutting angle right, I barely feel any contact. The down side is that the cheeks are a bit on the soft side. They scratched when cutting through 3/8" green cherry.............so I shall only use this blade for cutting soft targets. Even so, I'm very happy with it. It does exactly what I wanted it to do and it's quite affordable for a custom made blade.Scott M. Rodell wrote:Just wondering what the edge geometry is like? Have you cut with it yet?
Graham
tiger's den swords
tiger's den swords
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Re: 'Home made' mid-length jian
That's interesting. Huanuo (like all other large forges these days) polishes their edges in a flat "V", creating a diamond cross-section blade on thier jian. This is the sharpest edge possible (aside for a hollow ground edge which would be too weak). I suspect you are finding your new Qing-Zhong jian sharper because it is thinner at the portion of the blade you are cutting with. Comparing two blades of equal thickness, a "clam shell" cross-section is stronger, but not as sharp as a diamond cross-section. Of course, a duan jian has less stress on the blade when cutting, so it could be made with a thinner blade.Graham Cave wrote:... more of a 'clamshell' than my Huanuo... blade also flattens out towards the tip so there is correspondingly less of a 'clamshell' at the end - still more than the Huanuo though. I've done a little bit of bottle cutting / soft vegetation cutting with it and it... really outperforms the Huanuo.
I wouldn't worry about that. Any sword will get scratched during cutting. You don't worry about your hammer getting nicked when you drive a nail, don't fret scratches on your swords, imagine what any sword got in even one encounter in the old days...Graham Cave wrote:... The down side is that the cheeks are a bit on the soft side. They scratched when cutting through 3/8" green cherry...
- Graham Cave
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Re: 'Home made' mid-length jian
That's good...... I'll just carry on using it and enjoying it then....Scott M. Rodell wrote:I wouldn't worry about that. Any sword will get scratched during cutting. You don't worry about your hammer getting nicked when you drive a nail, don't fret scratches on your swords, imagine what any sword got in even one encounter in the old days...
Width of the blade:
At the forte 35mm
At the mid point 30mm
Behind the tip 25mm
Thickness of the blade:
At the forte 7.5mm
At the mid point 5.5mm
Behind the tip 3.5mm
Graham
tiger's den swords
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