beach mats

[jezah81]

Hi,
Are Chinese made beach mats suitable for cutting? What would the procedures be for soaking and all that stuff? Up until now ive been cutting bamboo,how does it compare to the bamboo? How many beach mats would be appropriate to roll into one target?
Regards,

[chrismoses]

Beach mats can be ok, you generally need to roll 2-3 together and then soak them for 24-48 hours depending on how quickly they take up water. Let them drain for an hour or so and then cut. You'll need some kind of a stand with a spike to mount them. The cloth boarder tends to make them harder to get on the spike than tatami omote or other higher quality targets.

I haven't cut bamboo, what kind (fresh or dried) and diameter are you using? Anybody in Seattle have a bamboo problem they need dealt with cheap? :D

[SeventhSentinel]

heh ya know my auntie's got this acre of bamboo forrest... thought bout going back there but was worried bout being impaled by 50 foot falling bamboo

[Joseph Svinth]

Some links of potential interest:

http://ejmas.com/tin/tinart_scott_0800.htm
http://ejmas.com/tin/tinart_smith_1103.html
http://ejmas.com/ejmasreviews.htm#Iaito%20Which%20Cut
http://www.tameshigiri.com/Links.html

[jezah81]

thanks for the replies dudes.
I have been cutting mainly dry bamboo about 1-2 inches in diameter.
Regards,

[Gene Gabel]

Originally posted by jezah81
Hi,
Are Chinese made beach mats suitable for cutting? What would the procedures be for soaking and all that stuff? Up until now ive been cutting bamboo,how does it compare to the bamboo? How many beach mats would be appropriate to roll into one target?
Regards,
........................................

We usually roll 2/3 for practice and one for demos (want to look during the demos, so make it easy on yourself).

The mats run around $1.40 at Wall Mart or Academy sports when in season. Regular goza is pretty expensive for us, what with shipping it being so expensive. The shipping usually usually ends up about the same price as the mats.

There is a difference in cutting bamboo. We also have a block sized forest nearby and the new(green) bamboo in the smaller diameters (1-2in or so) are fine.I do not recommended the old stuff. It can be like iron and put some major bends and chips on the blade.

Also depends on the blade itself. Some blade configurations are better for soft targets and some for harder targets.

Gene Gabel

[EmreDikici]

Sorry guys,
If you can forgive my ignorance, what is the purpose of soaking the mats prior to the cutting?

[jezah81]

Thanks again for the input, now that you mention chips, i just chipped my sword yesterday accidently hitting the glass covering on the light bulb on my ceiling(smashed everywhere), it chipped about 1.5cm from the kissaki. Does this mean the blade isnt tempered properly or just that it hit the wrong way? Also, i might be a pragmatist, but would this effect the function of a blade being chipped in the area that its in?
Regards,

[Brian Owens]

Originally posted by EmreDikici
...what is the purpose of soaking the mats prior to the cutting?
It swells the fibers in the mats, and gives a texture (if done right) that closely simulates human tissue.

Since the authorities now frown on us testing blades on convicted criminals, it's a resonable substitute. :)

[Gene Gabel]

Originally posted by jezah81
Thanks again for the input, now that you mention chips, i just chipped my sword yesterday accidently hitting the glass covering on the light bulb on my ceiling(smashed everywhere), it chipped about 1.5cm from the kissaki. Does this mean the blade isnt tempered properly or just that it hit the wrong way? Also, i might be a pragmatist, but would this effect the function of a blade being chipped in the area that its in?
Regards,
.................................................

This doesn't sound good. I know of an instance of someone cutting a ceramic ceiling fan pull finial in half with no damage to the Chenppk he ws using.
How about some pics??

Gene Gabel

[Brian Owens]

Originally posted by jezah81
...would this effect the function of a blade being chipped in the area that its in?
For most situations, you'll be cutting with the monouchi, so it shouldn't be a problem. If you're doing thrusts it could be problematic.

A good token could possibly re-form the kissaki to remove the chip without shortening the blade too much. If you have a chu-kissaki or o-kissaki, a conversion to ko-kissaki would be pretty easy.

[jezah81]

I think i said it the wrong way! What i meant was it chipped on the edge(about 1mm or less deep) which is 1.5cm away from the kissaki, so kind of near the tip. The kissaki is still perfectly intact. Between the yokote and kissaki, maybe thats an easier definition!
Any thoughts anyone....
Regards,

[Brian Owens]

Originally posted by jezah81
...What i meant was it chipped on the edge(about 1mm or less deep) which is 1.5cm away from the kissaki, so kind of near the tip. The kissaki is still perfectly intact. Between the yokote and kissaki, maybe thats an easier definition!...
Terminology can get confusing, especially since not everyone uses the same terms for the same things.

Here's the terminology as I learned it:

The kissaki is the fan-shaped area above the yokote and the ko-shinogi.

The cutting edge of the sword body is the ha or hasaki.

The cutting edge of the kissaki is the fukura.

Below is a picture I made showing my terminology. Where on this picture would your chip be?

[Brian Owens]

Wierd. The blue letters all blurred a lot, and the red letters even blurred a little.

Let me post a modified version and see if it's easier to read.

[jezah81]

Well then, the chip is on the fukura about 1.5cm away from the kissaki. I hope im a bit clearer now! Is this a great problem or could it be left untouched?
Regards,

[renfield_kuroda]

A tiny chip in the ha, especially near the kissaki, is generally really really easy to take out, assuming it's brought to a knowledgable polisher. Had Hataya-sensei do this for my cutter last month; took him all of 30 seconds. Note that it's a cutter, so I didn't care what the polish LOOKED like, just wanted it to work.

Any flaw/chip/crack in a blade could lead to failure, which could cause serious injury/death, so if you're unsure, show it to someone (sensei?) who knows what he's doing.

SAFETY FIRST!

Regards,

r e n

[Brian Owens]

A small chip on the fukura of the kissaki shouldn't be too much of a problem. If it were on the back of the kissaki (not likely, but it could happen) it could interfere with noto.

So you should be fine. As I posted above, if at some point you want to have the kissaki re-formed to remove the chip it can be done (if your blade has a hi (groove) that complicates things a little, but it may still be possible).

Hope this helped.

EDIT: Well, Mr. Kuroda beat me to the "Submit" button. But it looks like we both agree that you should be okay.

[Brian Owens]

Originally posted by jezah81
Well then, the chip is on the fukura about 1.5cm away from the kissaki. (Emphasis added. --B.)
By the way, not to nit-pick (well, okay, it's nit-picking. But I'm just trying to be educational), but the fukura is part of the kissaki.

The kissaki isn't just the very point of the blade. It's the entire section from the yokote and ko-shinogi to the tip -- the red area in my second photo above.

Kissaki come in small, medium, and large sizes, called ko-kissaki, chu-kissaki, and o-kissaki, and also a "chisel" shaped tip called ikubi-kissaki ("boar's neck" kissaki).

[jezah81]

Thanks to the both of you for all your help. And also thank you for helping me learn the correct terminologies.
Regards,