Blade Makers' Challenge: Jin Sukizawa's blade

[silvershamaa]

For Der Echte's blade making challenge, I'll attempt to create the most unique blade possible, the likes of which could never even be imagined.
Latest update:




I've used quite a few bizarre secret techniques before, but this time I thought I'd gamble and put a coin inside the blade and hopefully give it a magical feeling while looping! Let's hope it works!

 

[CCBladecraft]

That’s interesting. Have you experimented with objects inside the handle before?

 

[Der_Echte]

Bawhahahaw-hee-haw. Silver is laying down false clues for the goon Squad in hopes that Nate or someone will copy that approach. GENIUS.

 

[CCBladecraft]

Bawhahahaw-hee-haw. Silver is laying down false clues for the goon Squad in hopes that Nate or someone will copy that approach. GENIUS.

Oh wow haha 😂

 

[silvershamaa]

We're almost ready to cut this one into shape, it's currently undergoing the gluing process. Here's whats in it. The fiber I'm using is Innegra-carbon (IGC) which is a very unique fiber that only SDC and I are familiar with it seems. Top ply is Lutz spruce. The spruce-IGC combo has one of the best dwell/power balances I've tried so far, as in, it provides a great "hold" feeling without sacrificing power.

Only disappointment: No coins have been used in the making of this blade.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

For Der Echte's blade making challenge, I'll attempt to create the most unique blade possible, the likes of which could never even be imagined.

I've used quite a few bizarre secret techniques before, but this time I thought I'd gamble and put a coin inside the blade and hopefully give it a magical feeling while looping! Let's hope it works!

Bawhahahaw-hee-haw. Silver is laying down false clues for the goon Squad in hopes that Nate or someone will copy that approach. GENIUS.

Who was it who put nuts and bolts in the handle again?

 

[Der_Echte]

A Swedish dude we don't really see post much moar...

 

[silvershamaa]

Moving on to the next steps: one ingredient for the handle will be Wenge wood, and the other material, as I said earlier, will be a surprise. Maybe those who follow my Instagram closely might get a hint of what kind of material it could be sooner than those who don't.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

A Swedish dude we don't really see post much moar...

hahahahaha. And who was Liten getting his ideas from? Was it the original prankster?

 

[Music&Ping]

Wenge is... nice, and its grain allows a firm a good grip. It's also a good vibrations conductor, many luthier use it for fretboards or even bass or guitar necks as it has a very distinctive sound (the german world known company Warwick/Framus is famous for using it "the sound of wood" is their slogan because of their über use of wenge)

Too bad it's now an endangered wood specie red listed on the IUCN though... I guess it does not matter THAT much if it's a lil' blade's handle, a bass fretboard could be sawn to make a dozen blade handles at least.

Wouldn't it be a issue for export then ? I know some rules don't allow some species to be imported, like Madagascar rosewood or some kind of ebony, it's a big problem in the US, some famous jazz musicians have even seen their instruments or bows seized by the TSA agents, make sure wenge is not banned in the US and if so, throw all the papers needed:
"Some plants, cuttings, seeds that are capable of propagation, unprocessed plant products and certain endangered species are allowed into the United States but require import permits and other documents; some are prohibited entirely. Threatened or endangered species that are permitted must have export permits from the country of origin.

Every single plant or plant product including handicraft items made with straw, must be declared to the CBP officer and must be presented for CBP inspection, no matter how free of pests it appears to be. For information on importing plants or plant products visit the Plant, Organism and Soil Permits page."

Wenge is not CITES or ESA listed, but it's still under surveillance, better safe than sorry ...

Especially this permit is really important https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...ucts-permits/cites/ct_cites_endangered_plants

 

[silvershamaa]

Interesting. I would be concerned for Stiga then, as they have an entire blade series that uses Wenge. Its the Nostalgia blades. Its not just the handles, but the top plies of the blades as well. I would expect that series to fade away soon

 

[Music&Ping]

It depends on 2 factors:
- do they purchase their woods from legit timber companies with all CITES certificates done right ? if so, no problem.
- do they provide all the papers needed for export when products are finished ? I guess so, it's a big company, they know everything about legal issues.

 

[silvershamaa]

Since the TTD website was down, I realized I would've had no way to get Der_Echte's shipping address if it never came back up, and I was panicking that I was in serious danger from Goon Squad attacks. Luckily it came back up, and I can finally post some updates.

I'm on the final steps of basically embellishing and polishing up the blade now. Here are some photos as of 2-3 days ago, finally displaying what the handle kinda looks like.

 

[Der_Echte]

That one is gunna be a beauty. I might be defacing it sweating on it while operating it.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

 

[Der_Echte]

As a last resort, you could have paypald me $0.02 and added a note with your email asking to be emailed..

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

As a last resort, you could have paypald me $0.02 and added a note with your email asking to be emailed..

Sent from Chamber 13 S35 in the Secret Hideout Sub Level 724

Stuff like this is probably why the Goon Squad has never been able to catch up to Der even when he's not in one of the top secret locations he haunts.

BTW: I think Der is going to be needing 5 or 6 hands pretty soon because he is not going to want to put down any of the blades from his blademaker's challenge.

This must be why I spied him trying to teach himself to toss for serving with his feet.

 

[silvershamaa]

And finally, here it is:







It came out to right around 100 grams. I'm pleased that I was able to follow all of Der Echte's required specs (in terms of handle size, blade size, and weight) without something going wrong that would've forced me to deviate from them a bit. Here are the other non-specified specs:

Composition: Spruce-Innegra carbon-Cherry-Kiri-Cherry-Innegra carbon-Spruce
Handle: Wenge + Gems from Mars
Weight: 100-101g
Thickness: 5.9 mm
Speed: OFF' (mid-range offense)
Frequency: 1390 hz (For frequency, I'm not sure if other blade makers grip the handle tightly while testing it or just let the blade vibrate freely, and that would affect the frequency by around 40-80 hz. I gripped it fairly tightly when testing)

 

[silvershamaa]

And as for the potential export&import concerns of CITES endangered wood species that Music&Ping mentioned earlier: I looked up that list, and Wenge is not on the CITES list of protected species, so that wouldnt be an issue even if Der Echte needs to take it out of the country at some point. I won't have to export it anyway since I'm right here in California.

 

[Der_Echte]

California uber alles.

I guess I will look on the package to see where you are Silver, but if you are willing, there is a good chance I visit your area in the next year. We get around playing and loving this sport.

 

[Der_Echte]

If Prince from MN was alive and saw this blade, he might feature it on his album cover art.