basket hilt help

[blakjo]

Hello all. My name is joe (or blak jo) i am a new member of the SCA and im trying very hard to be a DIY player. I have built my own armor (even doing the sewing stuff too) and pole arms, now im trying my hand at sca swords. I have searched a lot on the internet and this is by far the most informative collection of knowledge on the subject of armor and such.
I have a quetion about sca basket hilt construction, though this is an armor forum i thouht someone here might be able to help me out. So far i have built 2 tsuba. the first was just rings relying on a grove in the rattan and lots of tape to keep it in place. with the second one i tried to go a little more advanced and make a built in clamp that i have seen on some hilts.

My question is, the 2 bolt clamps i see welded to alot of the better looking hilts, are they made from scratch or are they some kind of steel clamps that can be bought somewhere?
As i said i made one from scratch but i didnt like the way it looked. So if i could find these clamps some where or if someone could give me a few pointers on basket hilt construction i would greatly appreciate it, as i am the only one of my small group who has any metal shop experiance and i would like us to go out on the field with good equipment with out breaking the bank.
Sorry for the lengthy post, i tend to run on with these things.
And thank you for any tips in advance.

[blakjo]

These are some pics of the tsuba with the built in clamp i made, just in case i didnt desribe it correctly

[losthelm]

A lot depends on where you saw them and what they look like I picked up an ugly one that has a muffler clamp welded on.
For the most part pipe hangers of one type or another are a common style either ordered direct from an industry supplier or used as insperation to fab parts with a bender or other method.
The type you posted are common to hold down conduit or pipe in surface mount wireing/plumbing.
These are quick to pump out with the right tooling, a drill press and Bar bender with the right stops.
For 14-12 guage a simple shop made jig will do the trick though you might need to ajust things a bit w/ hammer to bend out the ends.

Another common option is to make an upside down j and weld to the center ring secure with a standard stainless pipe calmp.

On a side note rember your lanyard, use locktite or locknuts the abuse often will loosen things up on the field.
Welcome to the archive.

[blakjo]

Thank you for the welcome.
Yes the muffler clamps are as ugly as can be. The claps i have seen that are used for conduit and plumbing seem to be made of very flimsy sheet metal. I have been unable to find anything as heavy duty as i have made in the above pics.
Most of the nice ones i have seen seem to be made of thicker metal than most conduit/plumbing clamps. And even at the local granger hardware mecha, the guys had no idea what kind of clamp it was.
And as for as locktight goes, i do some custom harley davidson fabrication so locktight is a must for everything

[Thomas MacFinn]

Why clamp a basket hilt at all? I have a Darkwood armory basket with a simple ring on the blade end and a cup-shaped pommel with a single screw hole on the pommel end.



After the picture was taken, the basket was attached to the rattan through the pommel using a taping fork.

[Samuel]

I go with tabs mostly now. theyre cleaner than muffler clamps and can be done in 12g to last a long while. I personally wouldnt trust a screw ever again, Ive had a basket get hit with using a lag bolt in the pommel and spin enough around to break my thumb. liberal application of strapping tape and tabs, ( FYI Ive ran tabs three inches up the sword before and never had issue with it, its not designated at striking surface as well as being that close to a basket your more likely to smack someone with the basket than the tab. )

[Thomas MacFinn]

I have a Darkwood armory basket with a simple ring on the blade end and a cup-shaped pommel with a single screw hole on the pommel end.

By the way, that ring is oval. My basket can't spin on the sword without breaking the handle.

[Odd]

Wood screw through the SIDE of the cup on the bottom of the basket works better. In the side holds it both on, and in place.

[blakjo]

The reason i was going for the built in clamps, i think the look good and are durable. The screw in the bottm just dosent seem secure enough for me. I have had the pommel (mounted with a bolt in the bottom) break loose for me in practice.
Another reason is i have an asian persona and i will be mostly using katana style swords with a tsuba in place of a basket hilt. The built in clamps on those offers more strength than just tabs. And there is nothing at the bottom of my handle.
Thank you for your in put, and if anyone has more ideas for mounting hilts and cross guards and such i would love to hear them. Any advice helps.

[AwP]

Wood screw through the SIDE of the cup on the bottom of the basket works better. In the side holds it both on, and in place.

What is the advantage of putting it through the side as opposed to the front or back? Seems like it'd hold the basket on and in place to matter what direction it was screwed in from (well except for dead center bottom{top?} which would indeed spin)?

[Odd]

Rattan has grain. The end grain is not as strong against twisting as going in the side. Even off center in the bottom can wrench loose fairly easy.

And if you use Silo, it also keeps the plastic from moving.

[AwP]

Sure, but I still don't see how the side is better than the front or back, unless by "side"" you just meant "not the bottom".

[Odd]

Yeah, that's what I meant.. I should have clarified.

[AwP]

Oh, ok then, that makes sense.