Barrett Hiebert Posted February 12 Report Posted February 12 Forumites, Do any of you have any recommendation for a preferably electronic scale that I should get for measurement of nihonto? Thought I should ask here. Thank you in advance. Best regards, Barrett Hiebert Quote
nulldevice Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 A kitchen scale with a microfiber cloth to protect the blade would work great 1 Quote
Barrett Hiebert Posted February 13 Author Report Posted February 13 Thanks for the reply Chandler (nulldevice). Much appreciated. Quote
cluckdaddy76 Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 I would suggest not getting a cheap one off a site like Amazon, my experience is that they are very unreliable. You don't need to break the bank either unless you are looking for precise weights on menuki. My suggestion is a decent Ohaus that meets your needs. I have an Ohaus that was maybe $50 and it is going strong at 10+ years old. Jason Quote
Barrett Hiebert Posted February 13 Author Report Posted February 13 Jason, Thanks for the reply. I shall keep all that you say in mind when purchasing. Barrett Quote
b.hennick Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 Make sure that it can measure a large healthy sword as well as a seppa. I found an accurate kitchen scale that measures metric as well as ounces and pounds. Quote Expand 2 Quote
Schneeds Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 Easy way to confirm accuracy: a nickel weighs 5 grams. 1 Quote
Scogg Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 On 2/13/2025 at 3:17 PM, Schneeds said: Easy way to confirm accuracy: a nickel weighs 5 grams. Expand Yes, but beware, this is true only for USA nickels. I'm pretty familiar with scales, because I use them constantly at work. For anything "sword weight" I think any highly rated kitchen scale, drug scale, or jewelry scale will be sufficient. You will want something where the weighing surface stands higher than the plastic casing and readout area. Chandlers advice with a microfiber is good; but make sure nothing being weighed is contacting anything other than the weighing surface. May I ask, why you want to weigh your swords? Is it just an additional data point, or is there information to be gleaned from the steel's weight? Just curious, Cheers, -Sam Quote
ROKUJURO Posted February 13 Report Posted February 13 I wonder how SAMURAI measured the weight of their blades...... Quote
Tohagi Posted February 18 Report Posted February 18 When their arms are painfully tired they say: too heavy ! 1 1 Quote
Stephen Posted February 18 Report Posted February 18 When I was mailing packages and swords I used this, balancing the middle of it and it was only an ounce or less difference a the post office when they put on her scale 1 Quote
Baka Gaijin Posted February 18 Report Posted February 18 Hi Jean I wonder how SAMURAI measured the weight of their blades...... https://www.nippon.c...n/Japan-data/h01561/ 1 Quote
Barrett Hiebert Posted March 19 Author Report Posted March 19 Scogg (Sam), Apologies for the late reply. Didn’t have thread notification on. I just wanted another data point plus I like to compare blade weights to get an idea as per its mass distribution, specifications, etc. I found an appropriate electronic scale (to 1 gram accuracy) and sent it to Danny Massey at nihontocraft.com who measured this nihonto for me which came out to 17.4 ounces = 493.281702 grams. http://www.nihontocraft.com/Kaga_Fujishima_Koto_Katana.htm I wanted to compare it to this other nihonto that I also purchased, which comes out to 625 grams. https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en/product/shousai/KA-0672# Hope that clears things up. Thanks again for your reply. Thank you to everyone for their replies. Best regards, Barrett Hiebert 1 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted March 20 Report Posted March 20 Barrett, I am curious to learn what information you now got when you compare the weights of two very different blades. The longer, beefier is a bit heavier. Not a great surprise to me! Quote
The Forest Ninja Posted March 20 Report Posted March 20 I got myself a Starfrit Digital Kitchen Scale, 5-kg. Accuracy: 0.1 oz / 1 g Here's a YouTube video about it. Quote
Barrett Hiebert Posted March 21 Author Report Posted March 21 Jean, We shall see more in depth when I get both the blades in hand and use a digital calliper to get even more of the exact reading of both specifications of mass distribution to compare. (In greater detail than what is provided on their respective webpage descriptions). I shall post them here or send you a DM if you are interested. Forest, Thank you for the recommendation and video link. I did pick up an electronic scale though shall keep this in mind for the future. 1 Quote
Brano Posted March 21 Report Posted March 21 I also don't quite understand what you expect from finding out the weight of a few blades However, buy the book Swords of Kyoto, where you will find complete dimensions including weight of many great blades https://www.ebay.com/itm/404119882452?norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-167022-139639-2&mkcid=2&itemid=404119882452&targetid=296633477513&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9062582&poi=&campaignid=20797276991&mkgroupid=155163401279&rlsatarget=pla-296633477513&abcId=&merchantid=5492131537&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwnPS-BhBxEiwAZjMF0nsaf7pqg7QjuzUek3dyrW6UumJAI0ue5VfIP5Pktf4NpyJ4qbgabhoCio0QAvD_BwE Quote
Barrett Hiebert Posted March 21 Author Report Posted March 21 Brano, Thanks for the link. I’ll keep it in mind. To me the weight is a necessary component to understanding a blade. I like to compare and contrast with all the other elements of blade composition, mass distribution. Best regards, Barrett Hiebert 1 1 Quote
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