[uberfreak9]

I've been inspired to make an assegai spear for a while now... but I wanted to make it with a foldable blade and I really liked the tanto shape so I bought a tanto blank and enlarged the three pin holes to .25-inch for stronger pins... I slotted a maple shaft so it would be able to fold out from within rotating on the center pin... I used two loop lock pins for a cheap solution to be able to pull them out and refasten them without too much hassle... the center pin is a stainless bolt... the maple shaft was found on a trail... one of those huge deadwood branches that had broken off and rested near vertical so it didn't collect water as it seasoned... how useful is it as a weapon? I'm not sure but it is scary as all f*&%dom so I'm glad I made the blade retractable because I want to hike some trails with it... it weighs 2.8 pounds and is pretty fun to swing around and feels good in the hands... I purposely kept the grip thick so it is fairly indestructible and also I wanted little taper at the blade so it was supported by thick wood on either side... plus I like a thickness (6-inch circumference) as I feel my grip is stronger... ever do an underhand thrust with a baseball bat? This is perfect for that and it would be brutal... with the blade folded it makes for a brutal club alone... I swung it around with the blade folded of course because I don't want to look like a complete f'ing maniac I call it SHINTARO because I wanted to use a Japanese name and since I like the actor who did the original Zatoichi I decided to go with that plus it sounds kind of African so it complement the idea that it is an African assegai spear... pretty crazy, eh?

 

[Jeb]

THAT is wicked cool, uberfreak. Great idea and nice design.

Having a bit of trouble with the name though... I know soooo many Shintaros that I 'm getting the same feeling folks would get back home if you had named it "John".

 

[bigdh2000]

That's insane. Nice work.

 

[Jeb]

Just had another look at it again on my PC screen at home and like it even more. Way cool.

Can we get a shot of it half-open? Or maybe a vid of it being opened and closed?

 

[Axel]

Very cool,I like it.

 

[Ghosth]

Looks amazing!

The maple being fairly dense would put a lot of power behind that blade.

 

[kohlqez]

That's pretty cool, reminds me of a trick weapon from bloodborne

 

[uberfreak9]

Just had another look at it again on my PC screen at home and like it even more. Way cool.

Can we get a shot of it half-open? Or maybe a vid of it being opened and closed?

There is a swampy area I know of with some trees that have fallen over leaving chest-high stumps of rotten wood... perfect for cleaving with a machete, axe, or a SHINTARO! I want to make a video of me deploying the weapon and chopping down those stumps... but it might look pretty goofy as well so we'll see.

 

[uberfreak9]

Looks amazing!

The maple being fairly dense would put a lot of power behind that blade.

I recently read that maple is the preferred wood by MLB players because it is harder and breaks less than ash.

 

[TheNewSlingshotGuy]

I've always loved tanto blades, they are so sexy. Nice work man! Lets see some videos of you slicin' and dicin' with that monster!

 

[uberfreak9]

I've always loved tanto blades, they are so sexy. Nice work man! Lets see some videos of you slicin' and dicin' with that monster!

Ha! Thanks. It's funny that you would consider a lethal piece of steel as "sexy"... I guess it depends on your frame of reference but to me the tanto is "beautiful" but so is a cobra but I would never call a cobra "sexy" so I guess that's the extent of my imagination because I'm not into reptiles.

 

[Bone]

I want one of those. It looks very strong and very dangerous.