How to Make a Saya (Japanese Sword Scabbard) with Walter Sorrells

[asianface95]

whats the song in the background called????????????

[FioriSama]

MAN I WANNA BE A NINJA FOR HALOWEEN(cos im greek and hallowen in now for us) AND I WANNA MAKE A KATANA BUT NO VIDEO IS GOOD FOR MEE

[MrPpor2]

lol lazy commentator :))

[eliteslayer66]

i have no idea how i ended up watching this.

[amira90love]

wow!! great!

[ReiMonCoH]

Oh.. That's pretty cool

[xxswemanxx1]

i tryed alder i wasnt so easy as on the video it was very hard not easy !

[KevinGelking]

Ah, good old walter xD

[tehatemachine]

Why is Chris Hansen narrating?

[a4r8a8ta]

素晴らしいですね

日本人でも、鞘を制作する人は少ないのに

鉋・ノミを上手に使いこなしてますね

ただただ、驚くばかりです。

[ninjadude126]

im sure they had band saws back then lol

[MyDantheman11]

awesome, this vid is really useful

[grizou31]

hi what the wood use for it thx

[slappybuckshot]

@grizou31 Alder. Poplar works if you can't find Alder. The traditional Japanese wood used called ho or honoki, which is a form of magnolia.

[abcOiO]

people wait for the mozaric blade coming soon and will make new era for blades with deadly techniques to beat all kinds of swords

[dylankunaikennedy123]

QUESTION can i do this for a 6 inch knife????

[slappybuckshot]

@dylankunaikennedy123 Sure. Japanese defensive knives -- known as tantos -- were mounted in the same manner as longer blades.

[dylankunaikennedy123]

@slappybuckshot thanks :)

[Thenottyboy1]

i love how the white dude says tang.

[attackoftherandom]

hehe titebond apreciates im sure.lol.

[DeviantDCLXVI]

Out of curiosity, how long does the whole process take? And is it possible for someone who has no experience with woodworking to make something like this (IE: How hard is it)?

[slappybuckshot]

@DeviantDCLXVI It's a pretty involved process and takes a lot of work. So the amount of time depends on how involved you want to make it. A simple shirasaya -- a plain wooden scabbard -- might take me six or eight hours (that's a very rough guess) whereas a more involved mounting might take ten times that. Anybody is capable of doing it...but realistically your first attempts will be fairly rough!

[Ailtin731]

Can anyone tell me how this tool at 0:45 is called ? I wnat to get one too. Please help.

[slappybuckshot]

@Ailtin731 It's a plane. This is the Japanese style plane which has a wooden body. Western planes have metal bodies and operate on a push stroke instead of a pull stroke. But they both do the same thing. You can find Japanese planes at Japan Woodworker, among other places. You can find them online.

[Ailtin731]

@slappybuckshot:

Whoa, didnt expect such an quick answer. But thanks alot, gonna look that up right away ! :D

[NHyuman80]

I like this video, I found it very informative...

but am I the only one who thinks the narrator sounds bored out of his mind?

He sounds like Ben Stein(not really, just an example)

[ChishioAme]

For some reason, I find it somewhat amusing that, in the beginning, the narrator refers to the tanto as a 'small knife' when, typically, the blade was anywhere from 7-12 inches in length. That's about the size of both a bowie and kukri, which are traditionally thought of as large knives.

[tmsods]

not feeling too orthodox today, huh Walter?

[jumpupdnbdj]

That is so beautiful.

[Kenshinhiri]

Isn't this more like a kodachi than a tanto?

[slappybuckshot]

@Kenshinhiri A tanto is theoretically anything less than one shaku in blade length (roughly a foot). This blade is right at a foot long, so it's a tanto.

[Kenshinhiri]

@slappybuckshot

Oh, thanks for clearing that out (: your work is amazing.

[slappybuckshot]

@Elozar100 There's no one-size-fits-all answer, unfortunately. If the split is on the joint, then it's not that big a deal to force it open a little, inject glue into it, then close it up to dry. If the split is in the grain, the same thing can be done...but it's harder. Ultimately, unless you're doing artistic restoration of an old saya, the best solution is to make a new one. In the end, a scabbard is a consumable. They've only got so much use in them before they give up the ghost!

[azreal289]

could you tell me how one would add a Kuri-kata on the saya? Is it carved as one piece?

[slappybuckshot]

@azreal289 It's a little complicated to explain, but normally it's carved as a single separate piece, then dovetailed into the saya. You can make them from wood or buffalo horn or whatever. (There are also metal ones, some of which are held on by a band around the saya. ) If you're really into figuring out the details, there's a very in-depth explanation on the video that you can find on the web site listed at the bottom of the video.

[azreal289]

@slappybuckshot I understand. I do have dovetailing experience but more with making cabinets. Its a hold over from our family trade back in germany when we moved here pre-civil war. I am proud to say some of the skills from that time are kept alive via tradition. I have also got all the tools from the old country as well. I apreciate your advice. Thank you.

[slappybuckshot]

@azreal289 If you've got cabinet making experience you shouldn't have too much trouble. You just have to chisel out a friction-fit slot onto the face of the saya, then slide the kurigata in and glue it.

[Destroyer1990s]

im geting sleepy hearing that guy AWWWWWW-_-

love the vid hate the talking person

[TheRealBlueFlame]

Wow, the narrator sure sounds bored doesn't he?

[kyler1115]

is it fun 2 make those?

[slappybuckshot]

@kyler1115 For anybody who is interested in swords, working on the mounts can really deepen your appreciation for how they function. I find it really satisfying. Is it fun? Well, if you're the kind of person who enjoys working with their hands and making things, absolutely!

[kyler1115]

@slappybuckshot ok :D

[slappybuckshot]

@combatcommand You can check the web site listed on the bottom of the video for info about my blades (though at the moment I'm not taking new orders). The so-called "tanto point" -- a wedge-shaped point used in western tactical knives -- actually has no relation to the geometry of Japanese tantos. The term was used by a prominent American knife manufacturer because it sounded cool, not because it was shaped like traditional Japanese blades.

[billy1999fans]

hey what wood is it

[slappybuckshot]

@billy1999fans It's alder.

[billy1999fans]

@slappybuckshot ow tnhx

[kakashi1578]

@slappybuckshot *Sigh*, it must get tiring to repeat whats said in the video in the comments XD Oh and also, i saw that your Habaki video was made, so are you going to make a shortened version for this channel?

[slappybuckshot]

@kakashi1578 Yeah, I'll get around to it eventually.  Not enough hours in the day!

[kakashi1578]

@slappybuckshot Lol, i know the feeling. Well thanks, i look forward to watching it ^_^

[kokulink]

this sword sya is the dscendent of the sword its called tang dao not tan do LOL

[kakashi1578]

So, i've seen almost all the steps about making a blade in these videos, but the one that i havent seen is how to make the Habaki, do you plan to make a video about making one?

[slappybuckshot]

@kakashi1578 Yeah, it's on my to-do list! These videos (the full-length ones that you can find on my web site, not the little excerpts that I post on Youtube) take about six month to make, so I've been putting off the one about making habakis.

[calmackie]

How much do you off-set the space for the blade? Ive done a wooded japanese knife sheath in the past with half on one side and half on the other but after doing it I was worried about the edge or the mune cutting into the joint. Would 60% one side and 40% on the othe be too much?

[slappybuckshot]

@calmackie I don't offset the mune (spine) at all, but the blade side is offset just enough so that you can give the sharp edge a little pocket to rest on. As you suggest, it makes it likely that the blade will slice the joint open otherwise. That little pocket or shelf or offset or whatever you want to call it is quite small -- maybe a hair more than a sixteenth of an inch or roughly 2mm.

[doctordarkness4life]

im making the same thing right now but smaller. i plan on carving a dragon in it when im done.

[slappybuckshot]

Personally I wouldn't recommend pine because it tends to have a lot of sap in it. It also tends to have a heavy grain that can fight you when you're trying to make a smooth surface. My recommendation (at least as far as domestic woods goes) would be alder first and poplar second.

[arubian06]

@slappybuckshot do you have to chisel both pieces of wood to fit the blade and the hilt in??

[slappybuckshot]

Exactly. You're more or less doing half on one side and half on the other. There are some subtleties to it because you don't want the cutting edge resting on the joint...but that's the basic idea.

[Toddwa05]

This video makes me want to go and make one right now!

[cantujj]

AWESOME VID!! I have never seen this made by hand before.

[RYUNOMI13TADEH]

he looks like Ben Stiller :3

[slavedriver135]

@RYUNOMI13TADEH lol he does!!!

[fst3v0]

i love the narrators accent... cant quite place it tho...

[cccchhhhable]

5/5 i made a saya but the blade was wood

[blarglenator]

i just realized what a piece of crap my scabbard is. -_- it rattles and falls off easily, and it is very soft for wood.

[aerodynamicband]

modern wood glue- titebond

modern furniture finish- minwax

lol!

these are things my dad uses he's a cabinet, furniture, fireplace mantle, door bench, table, crown molding, and almost everything else you can imagine maker. technically his bussiness is a cabinet bussiness but he makes everything. this is awesome my dad has done shaping like that before with planes. he shaped two benches that macthed perfectley.

[MonoxideChild1219]

Called a carpenter?

[aerodynamicband]

yeah he's like a master craftsman with wood

[Kaboom0623]

Technically a carpenter does the rough work and a cabinetry person does the extra fine work. They are all carpenter's just specialised. A cooper is a technically a carpenter but they just do barrels ... same idea.

[WiseManFoolMan]

Get a life get swift covered.

[Einarsson96]

nice music!!!

[NinjaStudent1]

Great video, thanks for sharing! 5 stars.

[kenpachi316]

thanks for this video mate!

[jojoismyname08]

wow, even the scabbard making is an artwork in itself!