Tenchi Muyo Hilt v.2

I was commissioned to make a custom Tenchi Muyo hilt for a wooden martial arts practice sword. I was able to get my original Tenchi hilt on loan from the client to make the new one.



The wooden sword from the client. I think it’s oak.



I cut offthe guard and shaved down the hilt to reveal the tang.



Since the tang didn’t extend all the way through the hilt, I reinforced the grip with pieces of cherry.



I made a two-part mold of the original hilt and cast resin copies of each side.



I cleaned up the detail on each half, correcting some geometry ad making it more symmetrical overall. I also carved the wood grain into the pommel rather than just painting it on.



In order to make the hilt fit around the wood, I had to make the hilt thicker. I glued 1/8” basswood to each side to make the hilt 1/4” thicker.



I finished the edge, blending the basswood with the resin.



After clamping the sides together, I rescribed the lines that crossed over from one side to the other.



The blade had some distortion and damage from use, so I sanded a fresh edge and filled any nicks.



After the resin halves were completed, I placed them in a mold box and applied a thinned coat of Smooth-On MoldMax Stroke to capture detail. Once that cured, I applied a thick coat of Stoke to build the mold walls.



The demolded masters!



I placed the wooden tang over one half to mark where I needed to carve out.



I used the cutting attachment on my Dremel as a router to carve a slot o=in both halves.



I cast a second copy to send to the original Tenchi client as thanks for the loaner. It saved a ton of work!



I used two-part epoxy to glue the blade inside the two halves.



A fresh coat of primer on both hilts in preparation for final painting.



The new Tenchi hilt (left) compared to the original. The new grip is 1” thick and feels like a proper sword grip.



The other side.



Detail to better show the thickness difference.



The blade in the final Tenchi grip.