Tanto making. A small do-it-yourself tanto knife

Article: SUK-TAN-10/13(TBD13-8)

Dimensions:

Blade length: 204 mm
Shank length: 81mm
Total blade length including handle and storage rim ( saya) - 330 mm
The total length of the blade, including the handle and front frame ( kosirae) - 410 mm
Blade width at its widest point - 231 mm
Blade thickness at the thickest point - 6.5 mm

Blade weight - 140 g
The total weight of the blade, including handle and sheath for storage ( saya) - 335 g
Blade bend - 0.04 cm

Shank Signature Values: on front side – Sukesada(祐定), on reverse side the signature is missing.

Type of hada(hardening pattern on the blade steel surface): mokume and masame.

On the front frame kosirae seals are depicted famous artists made in the technique maki-e which makes the design of this decoration unique. Artists put such seals on their works to certify their authenticity.

This tanto in style aikuti belongs to the period edo (1600-1868 ), when the Land of the Rising Sun was ruled shoguns dynasty Tokugawa.

On a 20.4 cm long blade signed ( May) 祐定 Sukesada the time of its manufacture is not indicated; however, can be attributed to the period Shinto("new swords") and tentatively date XVII - XVIII centuries. As for the signature, the name is 祐定 Sukesada can be called "branded". Signature 祐定Sukesada was used by a very significant number of blacksmiths (at least 150), active in various historical periods. Most of blacksmiths who used the name "Sukesada" lived in the province of Bizen, in the village of Osafune. Apparently, this blade is the work of one of the "late" Sukesada, descendants of Yokoyama Toshio Sukesada. This blacksmith was lucky enough to survive the flood of the Yoshii River and the accompanying landslide of the Yokoyama Mountain, which destroyed the village of Osafune in 1591, along with the blacksmiths living there and their families. The descendants of Toshio Sukesada formed several lines of hereditary blacksmiths who also signed their work "Sukesada"; 14 generations of this family are known, active until the beginning of the 20th century. The estimated time of manufacture of this blade: the Edo period, possibly the second half of the 17th - the middle of the 18th century. (?).

This blade is quite consistent with the style of tradition. Bizen-den: forging pattern ( kitae) on the side surface ( jihad) -mokume and masame(pattern of "wood cut" with long longitudinal wavy fibers and characteristic "eyes", resembling traces of knots); hardening line ( jamon) – a combination of patterns choji("cloves") - and gonome(wavy line). The scabbard is covered with black lacquer ( kuro-urushi) painted with gold, red and silver lacquer, with gold foil appliqué and thin mother-of-pearl plates ( aogai). decorative motif- various cartouches made in the form of seals, demonstrating various forms (images of ancient Chinese incense burners, gourds, circles, rounded squares, etc.), symbols and techniques, with stylized auspicious inscriptions in the archaic ancient Chinese style, made in cinnabar, gold or black varnishes in the technique of relief painting.

Similar images of seals with archaic inscriptions are associated with the so-called. culture" educated people"- scribes, experts in ancient Chinese poetry and literature, Confucian philosophy, etc.

The wooden handle is made in the style hanashi menuki(i.e. without braiding with cords) and pasted over with a beautiful grainy same(stingray or shark skin).

Tanto, despite its quite respectable age, is distinguished by a very good state of preservation; at the same time, it has the corresponding signs of a very long existence: a natural gray-brown patina has formed on the shank, the lacquer painting of the scabbard has characteristic abrasions - traces of the existence of an object that retains the "flavor" of a bygone era.

General view of a knife with a sheath

Japanese blade manufacturing technology video:

The ability to handle edged weapons has always been valued among any people. The craftsmanship of their creation was valued no less. But, perhaps, only in Japan, the blades were made in compliance with religious rituals. The tanto knife, which is a samurai weapon, was considered a short sword and was created by masters in compliance with all traditions and postulates of faith. This blade had strictly certain form, various drawings were applied to it in the process of creation. It was believed that they are the embodiment of the prayers of the masters. Thanks to this, the Japanese tanto knife, like Samurai sword, kattanu, was called the receptacle of "kami" (divine). From the blacksmith, in its manufacture, an honest performance of his duties and observance of religiosity were required. History of creation and purpose According to the understanding of the samurai of Japanese schools, katana, tanto and wakizashi are the same blade, only of different lengths. That is, its European name "knife" or "dagger" is incorrect. The tanto knife first appeared in the Heian era.

During the Kamakura period, these short swords received their further development, their production was very high quality, they appeared artistic design. Subsequently, their popularity declined so much that they were no longer ordered to masters at all. After the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Meiji emperors revived the ancient art of making tanto. Traditionally, the Japanese tanto knife was used by samurai to finish off their enemies or perform ritual suicide. However, doctors and merchants were also allowed to wear it. They could only use them to protect their lives or property. It should be said that traditions prescribed definite purpose for each weapon, each sword or knife could only be performed certain actions. What is a tanto knife The name consists of two words "tan" and "that", which means "short sword". The knife is a one-sided blade with a length of 25 to 40 centimeters. Sometimes it's double-edged. Manufactured without stiffeners. Instances with the presence of such were called moroha - zukuri, trihedral blades - eroidoshi. Traditionally, the tanto knife was made from sponge iron, had a removable handle, which was attached to the shank. For fastening, a mekugi hairpin was used. Also, the knife had a round removable guard - tsuba. These knives are characterized by the presence of a line separating the metal - jamon. Also for training martial arts ah, this knife made of wood was used.

Can I make my own tanto? Many people know how to make cold weapons on their own. Often it turns out to be much better than those samples that are produced in factories. It is unlikely that it will be possible to make a tanto knife with your own hands, to recreate the original. First of all, if only for the reason that it is necessary to have blacksmithing skills. Moreover, the Japanese craftsmen who made swords and other edged weapons passed the secrets from generation to generation without revealing them to others under any circumstances. Hence the conclusion - to achieve the same quality of the metal will not work. Even today, only about 300 licensed craftsmen have the right to make a Japanese tanto knife in their homeland. If you really want to have such a blade, there are two ways out. The first is to make a tanto knife with your own hands from wood. With proper sharpening and selected material, this is very formidable weapon, although not related to the class of cold. If you have any doubts about this, you should read David Morrell's book The Fifth Profession. There is a well-described fight with wooden swords. The second way out is to buy a tanto style knife. There are plenty of manufacturers of such blades today, which one to choose depends on the financial capabilities of the buyer. Significance of Tanto for Japan These blades, like any melee weapon created in Japan, are considered a national treasure. Each knife made by a master with a license is subject to mandatory certification. In the case of finding ancient tanto, they are studied and also certified. But those knives that are made of serial steel during the Second World War must be destroyed. That is, only tanto can be recognized as the property of the nation. self made. In the imperial family, the knife is used for the wedding ceremony.

The knife is not difficult to make, bevels will be the most difficult, but if you have a belt grinder, then this should not be any problem. The most important thing is to choose high-quality steel for the knife. The author used good grade 01 steel. This steel is good in that it is very easy to harden, and it can be hardened with a torch and a container of oil. And steel can be tempered in a domestic oven. This steel has a whole 1% carbon, which means that the metal becomes quite strong after hardening. In addition, this steel grade also contains manganese (1.2%), silicon (0.75%), chromium (0.5%), vanadium (0.20%) and tungsten (0.5%).
Thanks to this composition, the steel is hardened to a hardness of 60 HRC. And due to the presence of chromium, the steel is resistant to rust. So, let's take a closer look at how to make such a knife!

Materials and tools that the author needed:

List of materials:
- steel 01 or other similar;
- plastic or wood for overlays;
- steel or brass tubes (for pins);
- epoxy adhesive.

List of tools:
- belt sander;
- drilling machine;
- means for polishing;
- vice and clamps;
- blacksmith's furnace, household oven, hardening oil;
- band saw blade.

Knife making process:

Step one. Preparing and cutting the main profile
First you need to come up with or find a profile of a knife or tanto sword ready on the Internet. On the computer, it can be reduced to the desired size, and then printed on the printer. The resulting template is cut out with scissors and a clerical knife. We glue the paper template to the workpiece, in our case it is steel 01. Immediately mark the places for the holes on the metal so that you can center the template in which case.

Step four. We prepare the overlays
For overlays, you can use various materials, most often it is a tree. But our author prefers to use synthetic materials such as plastic. They are good because they do not require subsequent impregnation, are durable, are not afraid of moisture, and so on. Attach the shank to the material and cut out two overlays.

Step six. Hardening and tempering
When the blade is completely ready, we harden it. To do this, use a forge furnace or a gas burner. We bring the blade to a yellowish glow; in this state, a magnet should not be attracted to it. Well, then we cool the blade in oil, this is how steel 01 is hardened. After hardening, the blade should not be taken with a file.

Step seven. Cleaning and polishing
After hardening, the steel will darken, this coating can be cleaned off and the steel polished. However, 01 steel is resistant to rust, and if you use a different steel, you can leave this coating, it will not let the metal rust. First, we process the blade on a belt grinder with a fine-grained belt. And then you can proceed to manual processing. We clamp the shank with a clamp and grind the blade with fine sandpaper, using a special tool or plain water. Then we polish the blade to a mirror finish if necessary. When everything is ready, we wrap the blade again with electrical tape so as not to hurt our hands and not scratch the knife itself.

With which you have to work, you can listen to the manufacture of a knife - tanto.

It should be said right away that the length of the knife ranges from 24 to 26 cm. Therefore, you must prepare a block of wood measuring 260x40x20 mm. The thickness of the bar can be from 16mm.

On such a length of wood, warping of the tree does not affect. This remark is true if you have chosen a dry tree. Moist can dry out.

On this bar, on the side, draw a sketch of the future knife according to the template.

In this file you will find a full-size sketch of the knife 1:1 , which can be printed and used as a template when making tanto. It looks like this:

Then apply a center line from above, which you draw along all four sides. From it you make all subsequent marks. This allows you to make symmetrical lines regardless of the original curvature of the wood block.

　Pay attention to the proportions of the blade and handle!

With a knife length of 26 cm, the length of the handle is 11 cm.

With a knife length of 25 cm, the length of the handle is 10.5 cm.

With a knife length of 24 cm, the length of the handle is 10 cm.

But of course you can choose "your" size.

On the side, make small lines of marks with a pencil:

From the very edge of the knife - 7mm. and from this mark - 10mm.

Make these marks along the entire length of the knife at a distance of approximately 20 - 30mm.

From the end of the handle, from the outer edges, make marks of 7mm.

From the line of the beginning of the handle make marks:

　1. - from the top edge - 7 and 10 mm.

　2. - from the bottom edge - 7mm.

　On top, apply the following markup:

Near the tip, from the main center line, on both sides of it, make marks of 4.5mm.

From the start line of the handle, on both sides of the center line, mark 5.5mm.

Near the end of the knife, on both sides of the center line, mark 5mm.

　Do the same below:

Near the tip, from the center line, make two marks:

1. - 1mm.

2. - 4mm.

From the line of the beginning of the handle, on both sides of the center line, also make two marks

1. - 2.5 - 3mm.

2. - 5.5mm.

Near the end of the knife, on both sides of the center line, mark 5mm.

This is where the initial markup ends and figured cutting begins.)

But seriously, you should take a sharp cutter or knife and cut off excess wood along the marking lines.

Start cutting carefully, following the direction of the fibers. Depending on this, cut strictly in the direction of the fibers.

You should end up with something like this:

　Point side view:

Now we need to form the blade of the knife.

To do this, you need to make the following markings on the side of the knife:

From the edge of the future blade at 7 mm, at some distance between each other, make marks with a pencil, which you connect in one line.

Point side view:

Now we form the very edge of the knife:

On the side, we draw a line from the edge of the knife at 20 mm.

From the end of the tip we apply parallel lines of 3.5 mm. from the center line.

The next step is the final formation of the knife edge. To do this, on the resulting workpiece, from the edge of the point, apply a line parallel to the line of the point with a width of 8 mm. From this line towards the center end line, you need to cut off the excess wood.

It should turn out like this:

As a result, you should get a knife of the following form:

The knife is almost ready. It remains only to process the sharp edges of the knife.

To do this, fixing the knife with a clamp to the table (or with a vice, but always through a gasket - a piece of hardboard or thick cardboard), process the edges with a file - with light movements !!!

DO NOT TOUCH the top of the blade!

Process only the handle - to give it a rounded shape and the blade - to remove protruding edges. After that, polish the knife with sandpaper.

Everything! This completes the knife making!

Only the final processing remains: polishing, staining, protective covering etc.

Tanto attachment method for processing

Many people know that tanto is a Japanese knife, although the variant that most people know is the so-called "American tanto", that is, an American replica of a Japanese knife. A real Japanese tanto knife is characterized by a rounded blade tip, while the Americans simplified their version of the Japanese knife by cutting the tip at 45 degrees.

Japanese samurai set

A Japanese tanto knife (or short tanto sword) is included in a set of three samurai swords:

1. Daito (long sword);
2. Seto (wakizashi or medium sword);
3. Tanto (short sword or knife).

Since only representatives of the samurai class could wear a long sword, it was the wakizashi and tanto that were the main weapons of merchants and artisans who used them for self-defense.

Although the tanto is just a stylish traditional knife for the people of the United States, the Japanese have never perceived it that way. A real tanto is a cold weapon, moreover, it was forbidden to use it for any economic purposes. By the way, wearing a tanto in Japan is illegal and punishable by a high fine. For Japanese people who really want to carry a tanto-like knife, American firms have come up with folding models with tanto-like blades. Their sizes do not fall under the definition of edged weapons in Japan.

The appearance of tanto knives in Japan

The first tanto knives appeared during the Heian period from 794 to 1185. These knives did not differ in workmanship. During the Kamakura period, more than quality materials, and the knife itself has become an invariable attribute of the samurai's weapons.

Apart from the samurai, the tanto knife was the weapon of choice for the yakuza. Ninjas also loved to use it, as this knife was worn by various social groups population, and he did not arouse any suspicion. The sheath for tanto was also richly decorated. All tanto blades made according to traditional technology are the cultural heritage of the country.

The meaning of tanto for Japanese culture

In the USA, tanto knives are produced by many weapons companies; a real Japanese tanto knife can only be made after obtaining a special license from a master gunsmith. There are no more than 300 such masters throughout Japan. Each tanto created by their hands has the mark of the master on the blade.

Although now at auctions various countries you can find many tantos from the Second World War on sale, you should not strive to get them in your collection. These knives were not produced according to technology, using steel Low quality. The Japanese government systematically disposes of such blades, as they are low-quality consumer goods that have nothing to do with real short swords.

Most often, tanto blades are sharpened on one side, although blades with the usual two-sided sharpening have been found.

Since tanto knives are very popular among martial arts sections, the industry produces many plastic or rubber copies of these knives, which are used to practice knife fighting with a real opponent. The traditional training tanto is wooden dummies, which were used in the Middle Ages. For training wooden weapons, the material is very carefully selected, so they are able to serve for years.

Often come across combat instances of tanto, designed to pierce armor. They are distinguished by a thick and faceted blade. Tantos without a protective guard were called aikutti, and small tantoids called kaiken were used by women for self-defense.

Different varieties of Japanese tanto knives

Although it is believed that tanto knives fall into just two categories (Japanese and American tanto), there are several varieties of the traditional Japanese tanto knife:

1. The aikutti knife differs from the usual tanto in the absence of a guard. These knives were of various sizes, although short blades were most often used. In battle, knives of this type were used to finish off the enemy, since the warrior's code of honor forbade killing a lying enemy with a sword. Since aikutti (unlike tanto) was not considered a sword, they were not forbidden to finish off;

   

2. The kubikiri knife has a more curved blade. A knife of this type could not have a blade edge and was intended to cut off the heads of the enemy. According to one version, knives of this type were worn by the servants of the samurai, who collected the original trophies of their master. Since this knife is devoid of a blade edge, it was used only for specific tasks. Some believe that this knife was used for chopping firewood or for gardening. It is noteworthy that knives of this type were made by Japanese blacksmiths at a time when traditional swords were practically not ordered. It is possible that this is how Japanese gunsmiths made household knives based on combat specimens;
3. The tanto fan was a kind of concealed carry cold weapon and, along with the battle fan, was quite popular. Japanese weapons. Most often, low-quality steel was used for these knives, although professional assassins and ninjas made their tanto fans from high-quality steel, since the life of their owner often depended on the quality of the weapon. In addition to professional spies, such knives were used by women, retired military men, monks and other people who needed a concealed weapon to protect their lives. In the late 19th century, the tanto fan was sold as a souvenir for tourists. Naturally, souvenir weapons were completely unsuitable for self-defense due to the low quality of the materials used;
4. Tanto-ken is one of the oldest tanto-shaped knives. The first knives of this kind appeared in the 7th century. Tanto-ken has a double-edged dagger-type blade. This is a ritual knife that is used in Buddhist ceremonies. Since blades of this type are real works of blacksmithing, they ended up in monasteries as gifts;

   

5. The real military weapon is the yari-tanto. This blade was used to pierce armor. The blade of this knife almost completely copied the blade of the yari spear. There were samples with a hollow handle that could be put on a shaft and used as a spear. Like any military weapon, some yari-tanto blades had rich inlays. Some samples of these weapons were used as weapons for the second hand;

   

6. Tanto pistols, although they were enough interesting examples weapons are quite rare. After the Portuguese brought matchlock guns to Japan in the 16th century, firearms within a fairly short time gained immense popularity, although real samurai treated him with contempt. Tanto pistols appeared in the 17th and 18th centuries and gained popularity not only as a weapon of self-defense, but also as a thing that emphasized the status of its owner. It looked like an ordinary tanto knife, but when taken out of its sheath, it turned out to be a single-shot pistol. Although the workmanship often left much to be desired, such a concealed firearm in the world of swords was a significant advantage in the event of a dangerous situation;

   

7. Another weapon designed exclusively for warfare was the hasiwari knife. This weapon designed to capture the opponent's blade with a hook. The hasiwari blade was strong enough to pierce helmets and armor. The length of the hasiwari blade varied from 30 to 40 centimeters, which was quite enough to deliver a fatal blow;

   

8. One of the most unusual species tanto was a tanto-saw. Many experts still cannot understand what it was intended for. Although if you remember that Japanese ninjas often penetrated dwellings, cutting holes in the walls, it can be assumed that the tanto saw is a specific tool for shadow warriors.

In addition to traditional Japanese species tanto, there are many more tanto-like blades produced by various knife manufacturers. Due to the great popularity of folding knives, many models with tanto-type blades have appeared. Their advantage over other types of blades is the high strength of the blade tip.

There are many tanto-shaped knives on the market today. When buying such a product, you need to remember that most of the models sold have an American tanto-shaped blade, which even looks very different from the classic Japanese tanto.