Thread: Impact grade timbers

Ikkyu,
I believe Dick Smith sell carbon fibre rolls.

How far do you want to get into the material side of things? I think research is a good thing, but maybe a bit of experimentation with the prime candidates would point to a solution quickly.

and if you don't mind a left of centre approach, bamboo can be laminated, and also be split down and 'crushed' along the length before laminating.

Originally Posted by Clinton1

Ikkyu,
I believe Dick Smith sell carbon fibre rolls.

How far do you want to get into the material side of things? I think research is a good thing, but maybe a bit of experimentation with the prime candidates would point to a solution quickly.

and if you don't mind a left of centre approach, bamboo can be laminated, and also be split down and 'crushed' along the length before laminating.

Clinton,
Hello again. I don't aim to make swords out of compressed bamboo, was just curious of how they handle with weight and balance and, of course, contact. It just intrigues me how compressed bamboo would work to make a good practice sword.
My real aim is to make wooden swords by hand because I feel this connects the user to the training tool. It takes both skill and many years of practice to perfect making a good wooden training weapon. The craftsman is putting spirit, heart and soul, skill and knowledge of the art into the wooden sword. That is the main reason why I don't want to use powered machinery in the creation of a wooden sword.

No worries mate, just wondering about your direction.
So, do you have a drawknife for shaping? I think it'll be handy.

The glue used is an important question - now anything that would cause the glue to smash would certainly destroy the wood itself. However if the glue to rigid it could break away from the wood.

When people say that epoxy dry brittle - do you mean it turns to class like substance? Which could be a problem.

I think ideally a partially flexible glue would be good. Since the bamboo is going to have a little bit of give in it anyway.

The question is will the glue bind sufficiently to the wood and to bamboo to hold it together.

I think that all can be done is experiment.

Can someone recommend a competitively priced hardwood supplier in Melbourne with a large selection and who will cut to what ever I need.
__________________________

I think their has been some confusion regarding the bamboo - I would have no interest in a compressed bamboo bokken - the bamboo is only mentioned as a flexible core for a tsuba.

Originally Posted by Clinton1

No worries mate, just wondering about your direction.
So, do you have a drawknife for shaping? I think it'll be handy.

Clinton,
A draw knife is one thing I don't have at the moment but I have a spokeshave, three types of block planes and water stones. Right now when I make daggers I mark out the board to the right shape and size then use a coping saw to cut out the black. Then from there i use a combination of the block planes and spokeshave. So yes, a drawknife would be useful for when I attempt to make the larger swords. Tomorrow morning, I am dropping into Carba-tec to buy a draw knife and also another useful tool called a japanese carving knife. Do you know of any other tools that would be useful and also how to go about sharpening a drawknife?

Many thanks
Alistair

Originally Posted by thumbsucker

I think their has been some confusion regarding the bamboo - I would have no interest in a compressed bamboo bokken - the bamboo is only mentioned as a flexible core for a tsuba.

Thumbsucker,
No confusion at all just on the subject of bamboo and bokkens i was just wondering if you have ever seen or handle one i've never heard of it till not long ago. As for getting one i don't think i would i just don't know how well it would go i have seen commpressed bamboo flooring so would it work the same for a bokken how hard is this stuff and can it take hard contact. Also another thing from what i know with kendo shinai they do splinter after time and you have to shave bits off and bamboo does go brittle after alot of contact thats if the tsuba does take alot of hits which in some movement they do i tend to like the leather tsuba but i never had a time of the line shinai just the basic madake shinai anyway i may be wrong if it's a good grade of bamboo i guess it would be good.

Many thanks
Alistair

Originally Posted by CameronPotter

I use the epoxy for bow making (which is bending all the time). It works a treat and most bowyers use it.

Cam

Fair enough. I was wondering how it would perform under impact and flexing.

The SCA (society for creative anachronism) holds medieval combat every weekend all over Australia. They use swords strictly made out of rattan about 50mm thick or a bit less which are covered in woven fibre tape. They do real full impact combat in armour so the swords take a hell of a battering and it is quite spectacular to watch or play. The reason wood of any kind is banned internationally for full force combat is because eventually it fractures and can produce sharp shards that can penetrate armour and cause serious injury. The rattan on the other hand fractures into a fine mass of fibre and doesn't produce long sharp shards under any circumstances.
They say the swords they produce are roughly the same weight and balance as their metal equivalent. I am pretty sure the rattan can be bought from a little warehouse on botany road in Sydney but I don't know the name.
By all means make beautiful wooden swords and use them for slow work but they simply are not safe for 'high impact'.

After constructing a Bokken out of grey iron bark I am glad to report that is a very suitable wood for this type of project - regrettably it is to heavy/dense of 1100 kg/m3 makes it a hard bokken to wield in partnered kata.

I am therefor looking for a new wood candidate that while ranks as high in the Janka, Rupture and Elasticity stakes has a lower density - kg/m3.

My research has given me the following - Gum, Spotted (950 - 1100), Mallet Brown (980), Gum, Southern Blue (900).

Can anyone comment on the relative strengths of the above woods from personal experience. While they are not as hard as IronBark, Gidgge, or Wandoo they are comparable but seems less dense.

I don't know about mallet brown, but the other two are VERY hard.

Cam

If its a ' BO ' you are making , then I would respectfully suggest trying ' Cooktown Ironwood .'
The aboriginals use C/ironwood to make their ' Clap sticks ' which are banged together to make that distinct ' ringing tink tink tink sound , as an accompaniment to didges .The wood is very heavy being a true ironwood and sinks in water .Hard to work with inferior tools and patience is required.
Plain old common or garden variety Ironwood would work also .

As Takuan Soho said , ' one must have an unfettered mind when one selects timber for ones weapon of choice .' ( no he didn't , I made that up !)

regards
Veebull

I have recently acquired two beautiful straight grained and knot free pieces of spotted gum with which I am going to make a new bunch of bokkens with. Now my first bokken was made from ironbark and it took forever to get the Chamfered top edge of the bokken to look half decent.

Using a simple flat spoke shave, I shaved of the edge at about a 45% angle but found it difficult to keep a good line that followed the curve of the bokken. And I am now looking into better means to achieve the Chamfered edge on my bokkens.

I have found Veritas® Chamfer Guide http://www.carbatec.com.au/store/ind...6990_7030_7040 but it seems to only be for a block plane which will not work on a curve. Can you get a Chamfering spokeshave, I found this a Kunz Chamfering Spokeshave, but I have not heard much good for Kunz tools. Question?

My other option is to simple router the edge but I am very inexperienced in routers. My friends father is allowing me to use his router but he says that it will be hard to get a good edge that follows the line because the bokken is curved and cannot be fixed to a guide. Do you think it is possible to router the top edge of the bokken and what would be the best way to achieve this?

The last option may be to use a jigsaw angled at 45% and to simple cut the timber at an angle but again the curve?

Are their any other options?

I basically want a clean professional Chamfered edge to my bokkens. As I find that the eye is drawn to examine the Chamfered edge.