How to make a Tensa Zangetsu

How to make a Tensa Zangetsu just like mine!

It seems the 2 top swords people are trying to make is sode no shirayuki and tensa zangetsu. Even with my 4 swordmaking guides now 5 becuase of my latest one, it might not be enough XD. So since ive just made a white tensa zangetsu I decided to make an entire guide on how to construct one from scratch ^^. If you cant make a tensa zangetsu even with the help of this guide then all hope might be lost XD. I suggest using all my 5 swordmaking guides in conjunction with this one so it coveres everything XD.

1. Okey first step grab a 9cm by 65 inch piece of strip pine wood. Draw a line parrallel to the edge of the wood 15 inches long, this is going to be the handle. From there draw 2 lines 0.5 cm apart, this is where the guard goes. Then draw another line 3 cm above the guard line. Then from the last line you drew draw a 6 inch line parrallel to the edge of the wood, this is where the curve in the blade starts.

2. From the bottom opposite corner of the wood from the handle draw a 3.5 cm line, 45 degrees inwards. Grab a PVC pipe and bend it accordingly to form a curve and place it on the wood. Then with a pencil connect the lines from the tip of the sword and the handle together to form the blade lines.

3. With a coping saw start sawing gently then once into the wood start sawing properly. To saw properly holw the coping saw down as possible to cut straight and in a rythmetic motion. Avoid scratching the wood with the coping saw handle.

4. After the blades cut out buff out all the bumps along the blade edge with a file going in the direction of the blade edge. After use a plane to remove any excess bumps you might have missed to make the blade edge smooth.

5. Now you start sanding or sharpening the blade at the point of the 3cm line above the guard line. That part remains unsharpened everything beyond that is the blade. Make sure when you sharpen the other side its balenced.

6. Now start sharpening the blade with the appropriate files going in the direction of the wood grain. You can use my technique shown in part 5 of my swordmaking guide to speed things up. Pay close attention on the tip of the blade and sharpen slowly.

7. Grab some wood and draw the 2 handles that will sandwich onto the sword to form the handles. The handles are 15 inches long and 3 cm wide. From an end of the handles make a line 3.5 cm above the bottom. DO NOT sharpen this area of the handle.

8. Now grab a file and start rounding off the handles avoiding the bottom where the line is as shown. Try to round the handles so when formed together it is like an oval shape for ease on the hands.

9. Do the same for both handles make sure both has a balanse of roundness. If they are not sand some more. The area around the bottom of the handle with the 3.5 line you can round very gently a few milimeters at most.

10. Now clear the handles of any dust or dirt to prepare for painting. Give the handles about 5 coats of white primer paint. Then paint the handles with RED you can hand paint or spraypaint. You could also just wrap the handle in red tape.

11. Now for the guard grab a piece of MDF wood and draw the measurements of the guard onto the MDF. Its hard to give the exact measurments for my guard but the sides of the guard are 1 cm in width. The smaller sides is 5cm and the larger 6 cm. You can alter these depending on the proportion.

12. Grab your coping saw and start sawing out the guard. Pay close attention to sawing it out correctly and slowly. To make the hole drill 2 holes at the top and bottom of the hole. Thread a coping saw blade through the hole reconnect to the saw and saw out the hole. Sand the guard with a file for smoothness.

13. Now grab some balsa wood and draw out the embossed details of the guard. Once you have drawn everything out grab a craft knifes and carefully cut them all out. If cutting all in one piece is too difficult do it in sticks.

14. With woodglue apply it to your fingers and from there you can apply it to the pieces of balsa wood to stick onto the guard. Stick the balsa wood details onto the guard carefully wiping excess glue when nessecary.

15. With woodfiller apply it with a knife all outside of the sides of the guard and the inside. Apply enough woodfiller until the sides of the balsa wood and MDF is level with eachother. Sand away any protruding woodfiller to make it smooth. Also apply woodfiller on gaps inbetween the balsa wood details.

16. Now grab some white primer spray paint and coat the guard in 5 coats. When the guard has a good balence of paint then apply BLACK GLOSS paint. You can handpaint black paint then gloss or use spraypaint all in one can.

17. Back to the sword cut 2 pieces of balsa wood the same size as the area where the 3.5 cm line is above the guard line. MAKE SURE the sides of the balsa wood is longer then the width of the blade. Use woodglue to stick it down carefully.

18. With woodfiller fill in the gaps inbetween the 2 pieces of balsa wood. Once done you can see this covers up the blade nicely which locks the guard in place. Sand accordingly to make it smooth.

19. Now you can apply white primer spraypaint to the blade of tensa zangetsu. Add about 5 coats front and back of the sword of course. Make sure the blade touches NOTHING and i suspended off the ground.

20. Now apply the BLACK GLOSS SPRAYPAINT onto the blade. You can once again hand paint it, but would take ages so use spraypaint. If the blade has a deep scratch you must use woodfiller to make it smooth, use sandpaper, re use white primer then use black gloss.

21. Grab some BLACK PLASTIC chain metal can be used but difficult to fine. Make sure the chain is about 10 inches long. Cut half a chain link off with a junior hacksaw file the edges. With a hot glue gun you fuse the half a chain link and the rest of the chain together.

22. Grab the chain and draw around half of it at the bottom of the sword. With a coping saw cut it out and slot the chain into the space tightly. Make sure the chain is dead center into the the hilt.

23. Grab some super glue and apply it to the sides of the chain link and the surronding wood. If its a tight fit the chain link will fuse into the wood if it is loose use woodfiller around the space to give it a tight fit.

24. Apply layers and layers of woodfiller onto the chain link until it is fully covered up. After the chain link is now part of the wood sand away the top surface of the woodfiller so it is in balence of the rest of the wood so its smooth with a file.

25. Slide the guard up the sword to the end. Tape the 2 handles you painted onto the sword and sandwich it, stopping the guard from moving. Then mark 4 points even apart down along the handle NOT ON the unsharpened bottom.

26. . Then with a electric drill, drill through the 4 points plotted on the handle carefully. Hold the drill slowly as to not burst through the bottom leaving a mess. Counter sink the holes you have drilled with a larger drill bit very carefully.

27. Then grab 4 screws and a screwdriver and screw them firmly into the wood. Screw the screw heads until there about 1 milimetre below the surface of the handle. If the screw points edge out of the handle file them down.

28. Now with woodglue apply it down the sides of the handles. Then apply it onto the 4 points down the handle where the screws are. Cover up the screw heads and the other side of the handle aswell. Then apply lots of woodfiller to the bottom of the handle where the chain is.

29. With sandpaper smooth away the woodfiller so its on the same level as the rest of the handle. With finger files make sure the bottom of the handle where the chain is is fully sanded to make it completely smooth like shown. Keep applying woodfiller to fill the gaps and sanding it down to keep it level.

30. Now with a paintbrush I suggest RE-PAINT the handles with RED PAINT. This is becuase after all the bussiness of fixing the handle together the paint is a mess. Use BLACK GLOSS PAINT on the bottom of the handle it doesnt matter if you get it on the chain. Make sure to paint everything fully.

31. Now grab some black hockey tape or, electrical tape and start wrapping the handle. You can use my method of handle wrapping as seen in part 4 of my swordmaking guides, you can use piratecaptains video or the traditional method.

32. Finnaly check the wrapping of the handle is balenced and that the diamonds are even. Check for any scratches or notches on the sword you might have made accedently. If you have followed all 32 of these steps you should have made a tensa zangetsu like mine XD