My homemade blade

[Malcbarber]

View attachment 12883View attachment 12881
This if my first proper attempt at making a blade. I'm quite pleased how it came out and at 84g and now just need to see how it plays.

 

[TTHopeful]

Cool! What materials did you use?

 

[bobpuls]

Welcome .....
I hope you will continue.

 

[GinjaNinja]

Excellent. I'd also be interested in knowing the materials you used. Also being from the UK i'd would be good to know where you got them from too - happy to share my sources.

 

[Malcbarber]

I'm still struggling to find materials too. This blade was made with balsa core then basswood and ebony outer veneer.
i will see how it plays tonight. The ebony veneer was from a 2.5 meter sheet from eBay and the inner core's from a craft store.
i also would like to know of better place to get good wood at a good price.

 

[Dhaen]

Is it ok if you take a picture of the side of the blade?

 

[GinjaNinja]

I'm still struggling to find materials too. This blade was made with balsa core then basswood and ebony outer veneer.
i will see how it plays tonight. The ebony veneer was from a 2.5 meter sheet from eBay and the inner core's from a craft store.
i also would like to know of better place to get good wood at a good price.

Try Alwayshobbies: http://www.alwayshobbies.com. I get my core materials from here as they sell ayous (obeche) and balsa in 150mm widths which is just about wide enough for most of my blades. Sometimes I 'stitch' another piece to the edge if i want a wider blade. They also sell veneers too. Try http://oakdalecrafts.co.uk for veneers as they have some of the standards of limba and koto, however, getting the right width isn't always easy so you have to look quite hard sometimes. E-bay can be good and from time to time you can get bargains.

 

[yogi_bear]

nice maybe improvements on the handle shape. which blade template did you use?

 

[Malcbarber]

The side profile of the blade

 

[Malcbarber]

The blade I used a template was a tibhar rapid carbon. The handle was not copied from that blade. My current blade I have been using is a donic wang xi which is a straight round handle. I wanted a handle something between a straight and a flared. It hasn't come out perfect but for the first attempt it's ok. I think the handle was harder to make than the blade.