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Angus Trim




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PostPosted: Tue 10 Aug, 2004 7:38 am    Post subject: Kurved Blade Status         Reply with quote

Four blades of the first kurved blades machined here in the Batcave are now in heat treat. The first model of a line of kat styled blades.

These first ones were machined out of .38 thick stock, and the blades are going to be a bit over 28 inches finished, tang about 9.4 inches long........

One more kat styled pattern machining this week, and then hopefully early in September, the first of the Kurved Saber blades..........

swords are fun
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Joel Chesser




Location: Oklahoma
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PostPosted: Tue 10 Aug, 2004 10:06 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Awsome, can't wait to see um.
..." The person who dosen't have a sword should sell his coat and buy one."

- Luke 22:36
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Lee O'Hagan




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PostPosted: Tue 10 Aug, 2004 12:22 pm    Post subject: Early September,         Reply with quote

Hi Gus,
Keen to see these in the flesh so to speak,
But roll on early September for the sabres Happy
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Jonathon Janusz





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PostPosted: Tue 10 Aug, 2004 7:18 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

i know i'm probably beating a dead horse here, but a lot of folks have mentioned interest in more quality offerings in the area of two-handed swiss-style sabres. . . any thoughts?
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Angus Trim




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PostPosted: Tue 10 Aug, 2004 8:01 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jonathon Janusz wrote:
i know i'm probably beating a dead horse here, but a lot of folks have mentioned interest in more quality offerings in the area of two-handed swiss-style sabres. . . any thoughts?


No, you're not beating a dead horse. The first two sabers are liable to be 15th century Hungarian, both single hand and longsaber....

Getting the Swiss style will depend on getting the compound hilts right.......so they'll be a while.....

swords are fun
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Bill Grandy
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PostPosted: Tue 10 Aug, 2004 8:09 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Angus Trim wrote:
Jonathon Janusz wrote:
i know i'm probably beating a dead horse here, but a lot of folks have mentioned interest in more quality offerings in the area of two-handed swiss-style sabres. . . any thoughts?


No, you're not beating a dead horse. The first two sabers are liable to be 15th century Hungarian, both single hand and longsaber....

Getting the Swiss style will depend on getting the compound hilts right.......so they'll be a while.....


Oh, now we are talking, Gus! Much cooler than those wacky Japanese swords, right? Razz

You know, even without a complex guard, I'll bet you could come up with something pretty sweet that's still has that historical flair. One of your standard bow tie guards should work. The only thing is that your standard pommels might look out of place, though I don't know if you've got something else in mind there or not.
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Jonathon Janusz





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PostPosted: Tue 10 Aug, 2004 10:07 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

thanks for the information on the sabres, Gus. although not quite my thing, i wanted to help keep the dream alive for all to whom they are Happy

another fyi for the crowd: the atrim "kat-like-objects" [horrible, unwarranted pun intended; apologies made in advance] - are they going to be furnished in classic atrim style or will you be sending the prototypes out to be mounted? i am also kind of curious, as with your european swords you use the pommels very strongly to "tune in" each model, how has it been developing these weapons without the usual counterweight?

thanks again and have fun in your endeavors!

[appprox. T-3 weeks to shiny new atrim. . . joy Cool ]
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Angus Trim




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PostPosted: Wed 11 Aug, 2004 10:02 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Bill Grandy wrote:
Angus Trim wrote:
Jonathon Janusz wrote:
i know i'm probably beating a dead horse here, but a lot of folks have mentioned interest in more quality offerings in the area of two-handed swiss-style sabres. . . any thoughts?


No, you're not beating a dead horse. The first two sabers are liable to be 15th century Hungarian, both single hand and longsaber....

Getting the Swiss style will depend on getting the compound hilts right.......so they'll be a while.....


Oh, now we are talking, Gus! Much cooler than those wacky Japanese swords, right? Razz

You know, even without a complex guard, I'll bet you could come up with something pretty sweet that's still has that historical flair. One of your standard bow tie guards should work. The only thing is that your standard pommels might look out of place, though I don't know if you've got something else in mind there or not.


Actually Bill, I won't know what I intend to do until just before the first blades go to heat treat....*g*

Right now, I'm on a crash course learning some kat terminology. Kats are a totally different world than the western sword....

swords are fun
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Angus Trim




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PostPosted: Wed 11 Aug, 2004 10:07 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jonathon Janusz wrote:
thanks for the information on the sabres, Gus. although not quite my thing, i wanted to help keep the dream alive for all to whom they are Happy

another fyi for the crowd: the atrim "kat-like-objects" [horrible, unwarranted pun intended; apologies made in advance] - are they going to be furnished in classic atrim style or will you be sending the prototypes out to be mounted? i am also kind of curious, as with your european swords you use the pommels very strongly to "tune in" each model, how has it been developing these weapons without the usual counterweight?

thanks again and have fun in your endeavors!

[appprox. T-3 weeks to shiny new atrim. . . joy Cool ]


Hi Jonathon

The kat styled blades are going to be mounted by a gentleman that learned the art in Japan. So they're going to be traditionally mounted. The blades dimensions are set by dimensions taken from antiques, from the end of the tang to the very tip.

Modern US made spring tempered blades, made to traditional dimensions, mounted traditionally. Seems to be a concept that creates strong emotions in some people........*g*

swords are fun
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Angus Trim




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PostPosted: Sat 14 Aug, 2004 1:51 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Keeping up with the status of these, the first two have been picked up by the "principal". The tip geometry will have to see some work at the editing desk, but otherwise these first ones worked out well. The tips of the first two will be handworked into shape.......

The second model is going to heat treat on Monday.

Three more patterns have been chosen to run, including a ridgeless design {hira-zhukiri?} and a couple of more traditional designs with bo-hi.

Photos and such won't be available until the end of August, beginning of September, but I can tell you that the first two models are rather beefy. The first one all fitted out will likely weigh in the neighborhood of 2.75lbs, and will have an effective blade length from the tip to the tsuba of roughly 29 inches....... Lighter patterns are in the works........

Some folks probably remember what happened in the North American smithing community when the first of the Chinese imported kats started being marketed here. It devastated the entry level and midrange North American smiths.......

No, this is not an attempt to wrest the market back from the Chinese importers, no hamon, remember? The target niche is the serious martial artist or dedicated cutter that can overlook the lack of hamon, and wants an otherwise traditional sword that will perform with the best of the imports {or better}, and be much more durable.....

Please do not compare this venture with Howard Clark's L6 kats, or any other premium smith's work. Howard Clark is a premium smith, his work is untouchable, and its ridiculous for anyone to think that production spring tempered blades will be the equivalent of HC's L6 kats. Production imports are a different matter.....

My own thoughts on this is that these swords will find their own niche. I doubt seriously that they will greatly impact any of the "interests" already up and running. The only thing that these things will have that the imports may lack, is durability......

In the western sword market, most people buy for aesthetics, and expect a minimum of performance and durability. They're getting that now with the US manufacturers....... All three manufacturers have rather loyal fan base' too....

I suspect the latter is true also with much of the marketers of the imports. I also expect that 90% of the market for Japanese styled swords will not be able to live without hamon. They will have to have hamon... So these new kat styled blades will likely only appeal to a very small niche.......

swords are fun
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Einar Drønnesund




PostPosted: Wed 18 Aug, 2004 1:38 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Angus, will the Kats have the "Dawg Hamon"? I think that would look rather cool.
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Angus Trim




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PostPosted: Wed 18 Aug, 2004 6:59 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Einar Drønnesund wrote:
Angus, will the Kats have the "Dawg Hamon"? I think that would look rather cool.


Unless the customer wants a higher polish, I think that the Dawg Hamon will be there.......I think the plan is to have a higher polish available, but in my view a higher polish would be wasted on one of these, without the real hamon......

swords are fun
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Russ Mitchell




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PostPosted: Wed 18 Aug, 2004 1:16 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Haven't forgotten you, btw... oddly enough, for having been freaking SWIMMING in boxes all spring, now I can't seem to get a hold of any...
10,000 lemmings can't be wrong.
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Justin Gifford




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PostPosted: Mon 23 Aug, 2004 6:14 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Angus Trim wrote:
Einar Drønnesund wrote:
Angus, will the Kats have the "Dawg Hamon"? I think that would look rather cool.


Unless the customer wants a higher polish, I think that the Dawg Hamon will be there.......I think the plan is to have a higher polish available, but in my view a higher polish would be wasted on one of these, without the real hamon......


Personally, I think the "standard" level of polish would look pretty good on it. Maybe it's just because I'm so used to seeing it on workhorse-type swords, but I kinda like it. Are you going to be making the rest of the metal fittings (tsuba, habaki, &c.) with the blades, or will this be the other gentleman's domain? Either way, I definitely can't wait to see 'em.

Hm.... Gee, I wonder if we'll ever see any Dawg cutlasses? There is a dearth of good production cutlasses out there...
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Angus Trim




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PostPosted: Wed 25 Aug, 2004 10:03 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Justin Gifford wrote:
Angus Trim wrote:
Einar Drønnesund wrote:
Angus, will the Kats have the "Dawg Hamon"? I think that would look rather cool.


Unless the customer wants a higher polish, I think that the Dawg Hamon will be there.......I think the plan is to have a higher polish available, but in my view a higher polish would be wasted on one of these, without the real hamon......


Personally, I think the "standard" level of polish would look pretty good on it. Maybe it's just because I'm so used to seeing it on workhorse-type swords, but I kinda like it. Are you going to be making the rest of the metal fittings (tsuba, habaki, &c.) with the blades, or will this be the other gentleman's domain? Either way, I definitely can't wait to see 'em.

Hm.... Gee, I wonder if we'll ever see any Dawg cutlasses? There is a dearth of good production cutlasses out there...


Hi Justin

I guess I missed this the last couple of days......

Right now the plan is for the fittings to be done by the other gentleman. As it stands I have an awful lot to learn about the blades, and I'll be sorting out the terminology for a long long time.........

Auld Dawg

swords are fun
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Justin Gifford




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PostPosted: Wed 25 Aug, 2004 7:32 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Angus Trim wrote:
As it stands I have an awful lot to learn about the blades, and I'll be sorting out the terminology for a long long time.........

Auld Dawg


Yeah, the world of Japanese swords is a big one. The biggest contrast between that and the European sword world is something of a mixed blessing; there's so much information out there, preserved through years of continued MA practice, it makes it kind of tough to just jump in cold, but on the other hand, there's so much information out there it's not hard to find things out, once you learn what to look for. I've more of a European bent myself, but I have to admit there is something particularly satisfying about the mighty Samurai Sword... All I can say is that while I'm no sword maker, the basic functional/geometrical differences between Euros and Nihontos are pretty apparent, but I'm sure you'll enjoy the challenge!

Heh, the thought of leraning Japanese terminology reminds me of an old English-Japanese phrase book my mother used to have - I kid ya not, one of the practice phrases was, "Dear me, Grandmother has fallen into the septic tank again!" Apparently that happens a lot over there...?

Best,

Justin
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