Spring steel katana - without Hi (9260 steel)

[Madmann135]

5160 spring steel has a better cutting reputation (cutting buffalo head in a single strike). Chemically Carbon 0.56 - 0.64 Chromium 0.7 - 0.9 Manganese 0.75 - 1 Phosphorus 0.035 max Silicon 0.15 - 0.35 Sulphur 0.04 max I could not find 9160 steel but I think you mean 9260 steel, 9260 is known to have better durability properties (bending 90 degrees and returning to center). Carbon 0.56-0.64 Manganese 0.75-1.00 Phosphorus 0.035 (max) Sulfur 0.04 (max) Silicon 1.80-2.20

[PureBreadFighter622]

ok let me see if i got this, 1060 5160 an 9160 has the same carbon count right?

so whats the difference between 5160 and 9160

[Dasmaster1]

what i have never understood is the wrapping of the handle. Sure it gives a nice grip but it would get dirt.. fast.. especially in combat.

[ConvictedCriminal]

Its nice, but if i buy a katana, i like for it to have a fuller (blood groove as some call it.)

Not only does it look nicer, but you can guarantee that it will be easier to swing and have a better center of gravity.

[Seirios86]

dont buy katanas with Hi ;o

imo those 50 (or less, i dunno) less grams are not worth the loss in durability.

even if it's a minor one.

[Dragonstud]

looks cheap and nasty

[TheGooberment]

the hi makes it lighter and fancier, nothing else

[Master293]

To lighten the blade without causing to much structural problems. There is not a strong enough vacuum when stabbing to make a difference when pulling it out. IT IS A MYTH!

[gracer99]

your wrong sambuka, a fuller (blood groove) is to cut mass while maintaining and sometimes increasing structural rigidity (similar to an i-beam). Master293 is right, the vacuum affect of stabbing weapons is to small to be significant. It is a myth.

[ind20000]

Combat knives have fullers (groove) to make them stiffer, not to relieve vacuum pressure from stabbing. (keep in mind the combat knife is used mainly as a tool, and only as a weapon of last resort) And for katana it also makes them considerably lighter and therefore easier and faster to swing, it also brings the point of balance closer to the handle.

The term "blood groove" in itself is false, it's called a fuller, whoever started calling it a blood groove was as ill informed as you.

[DonMeaker]

not all combat knives have a fuller. For example the great V-42 knife doesn't. Nor does my Russian AK bayonet, nor the Swedish bayonet.

[sambuka1989]

It's there so that if you stab your foe your blade doesn't get stuck in them, the groove let's air enter the cavity/let any blood out around the blade so that you can quickly pull it out to kill the next guy.

[Master293]

That is actually a myth.

[confires]

its not a myth i belive the blood groove is a western thing seen in modern katanas used to give it a swoosh and make it lighter yet i think they were origonaly made for stabbing..

thats wut i heard ne way

[Beghty27]

while popularly called a blood groove, in Japanese this groove is known as a bo-hi or a fuller which is designed to remove metal in the blade (and thus weight) along the neutral axis of balance without structurally compromising the metal.

[hardcore0nick]

wat is HI

[shintokatana]

Also known as a "blood-groove". It is the line indentation down the length of the blade. In Iaido it is used to learn proper cutting technique by whether or not you hear the whooshing noise when cutting. A "whoosh" equals good cut, no "whoosh" equals bad cut.

[hardcore0nick]

supper thnx sry that it takes so long to replay :D

[ShalZiar]

The swooshing sound is produced if the angle to the cutting direction is correct (because its caused by the airflow.