Wasters

[Vance Osterhout]

Thanks for the Tips guys. My first waster is complete. Its definitely a version 1.0. I wish I could post pictures. I Went ahead an splurged on a commercial waster so that I can more closely imitate it. I'm laying plans for v 2.0 as we speak. V1.0 was Red Oak since thats all I could get, but I've since found a Lumber yard which sells Hickory. I wish I could post pictures, but its probably better if I don't since its a very rough model.

[Vance Osterhout]

Are there any rules about using athletic tape on the hilt to improve the grip? It seems like it would be akin to wire or other ancient methods, but I dont want to start bad habits.

[Stacy Clifford]

You don't want something too sticky because the grip needs to be able to rotate in your hand when you switch edges while cutting. Leather and wire give you some play when your grip is loose, but still give you some friction when you tighten up. Rubber grips are a bit too sticky, and with athletic tape it probably depends on the tape. I can say that baseball bat tape is too sticky, don't know about other types.

[Vance Osterhout]

Excellent. THank you.

[Jeremiah.Phipps]

I use a skilsaw and a jigsaw to rough the blank shape, a block plane to get the distal taper, a router to round the grip and blade edges and a drill to pin the crossguard on with 5/16" oak dowel rods. Finish it up with some sandpaper and a coat of boiled linseed oil.

Hi Shane, You state that you put a distal taper in your waster. Do you forgo a profile taper then? My version 1 wasters included a profile and distal taper (in an attempt to better simulate real sword geometry); however, I found that even after adding weight to the pommel for balancing, the sword was too light.

- Jeremiah

[Jeff Hansen]

I use a skilsaw and a jigsaw to rough the blank shape, a block plane to get the distal taper, a router to round the grip and blade edges and a drill to pin the crossguard on with 5/16" oak dowel rods. Finish it up with some sandpaper and a coat of boiled linseed oil.

Hi Shane, You state that you put a distal taper in your waster. Do you forgo a profile taper then? My version 1 wasters included a profile and distal taper (in an attempt to better simulate real sword geometry); however, I found that even after adding weight to the pommel for balancing, the sword was too light.

- Jeremiah

I think you said in an earlier post that you used red oak? If so , that is the reason for the light weight, since red oak is relatively light compared to hickory.

[Jeremiah.Phipps]

Actually, I used maple (which, typically, is lighter than oak, from what I've discovered). I didn't think the type of hardwood would matter; but after some calculations, a blank (2"x3/4"x50") could be 7 ounces lighter.

What I should do is find a source of hickory and do a little comparison.

- Jeremiah

[Nathan Dexter]

People usually say hickory is the best, but its not always easy to find. I made one out of oak, and thats pretty good. Its really rigid though, and maple would probably be better.