On 10 Mar 2006 14:26:32 -0800, "quixote"
wrote:

I want to make a bunch of bokken for some local univserity martial arts
clubs.
(A bokken is a wooden sword based on a japanese katana, for those who
don't know the term).

If you look at a picture of one, you see that the sword itself has
basically an oval cross-section with a few flattened sides.

Anyway, I think I can deal with most of the aspects of this, but I
can't think of an easy way to make something with an oval crossection
short of sanding it to death on a belt sander and jointer.

Does it need to be curved? If not you could remove a lot of the
material with a couple cuts at different blade angles on the table
saw. I'd keep it attached to a wider piece while doing this, finally
cutting it free after all your angle cuts. If it has to be curved you
could do something similar on the band saw. A draw knife would make
short work of getting it nearly smooth, finish up with a little
sanding.


-Leuf