Some successes, some fails. Then I ran out of bottles.
Ive got a long way to go here, all my cuts feel a little forced as I havent been able to complete these with the same confidence that I did the previous time with 2B. I need more bottles and more practice, but for now...
Theres one problem with the Hanwei Raptor (I have the shobu zukuri version) and thats the tsuka. Its very big. Very big. its also tree trunk thick so I decided to tailor mine so its actually more useable. I mean the blade itself is made of a decent and very forgiving 5160 spring steel and therefore, with a new core, this would be awesome and pretty.
So I set to it. Heres the newly shaped core.
I eventually started back on the bottle curriculum and took my next step along it. :) I wont bore you with words, here's the video.
Happy cutting peeps :)
Ok, so its been a little while since I received my 'koto katana' and I'd like to say a few words on how its holding up.
So far, the fact that its 1045 is actually showing a lot more than I thought it would. After cutting a number of bottles, probably around the 50 mark it has definitely showed signs of dulling. I've carefully honed the edge back to what it should be and its working fine again but obviously for bottles, 1060 is probably a better grade steel to use if you're going to be using it for any extended cutting no matter how light the target.
This isn't the problem however. This is.
I got the blade only recently and I've only been properly cutting with it for the last few days. None of my other swords suffer in this way. I noticed a little give as you'd expect from a production sword, but this is silly. Not only that, its dangerous. The omote knot has actually come undone. :/ I dont believe there is any wadding in either knot to stop this from happening.
Basically put, this will have to be rewrapped completely. Another black mark for koto. I only hope that the recent acquisition of the company by a firm in the UK will improve their product. This unfortunately has been an expensive mistake. Having said that, after I've finished rewrapping it, It'll probably still get me through the bottle curriculum.
You live you learn eh?
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