Citadel Katana Custom
Aug 30, 2012 15:39:48 GMT
Post by frankthebunny on Aug 30, 2012 15:39:48 GMT
Greetings,
I was working on this sword along with the Kaneie so it is also just recently finished. this Katana is from the Citadel forge in Cambodia and has been a very popular choice for katana in Europe for many years now. these days sadly, it has become more difficult to find a trusted vendor and you might be better off looking for one to pop up in the classifieds on various forums although not too likely since most owners aren't so quick to give them up. I'm really not even 100% sure they are still being produced as I haven't the $ for this level of production sword so have not seriously investigated a purchase.
I believe the sword is made from DNH7 high carbon steel and has an authentic clayed "rolling suguha" hamon which is kind of a mix between a notare and suguha hamon changing from one to the other, notare from the kissaki down to about 8 1/2" or so (the cutting portion) and then turns straight for the rest of the way down to the ha machi.
the mune is very tapered and reminds me of a false edge that might be found on a unokubi zukuri except it is the entire length of the blade and not just a portion. this causes an odd looking flare at the mune side of the kissaki as you might notice in the pics below. it has a chu-kissaki with decent amount of fukura, a defined boshi and lovely kaeri.
I think all of the Citadel come with a very well made copper habaki, or at least this one did and also has a beautifully applied rokusho patina which might have been done later on. I'm not sure how much of the koshirae it arrived with was original since it was purchased from a previous owner. the tsuka did have some issues as I will go into soon.
overall, this is a very light and quick sword weighing in at 2.43 lbs and with a pob of 5 1/4". I have heard that these blades have more distal taper than most other katana style swords and was possibly due to a European fencing influence so would most likely result in needing a bit more speed and tracking to preform clean cuts. I have not cut with this sword. as someone who prefers a lighter sword, this one seems to have the perfect weight/balance ratio for me even though I usually like a shorter nagasa than this one measuring in at 28 1/4"
the customer had been interested in a theme representing Musashi's famous beachfront battle and wanted to incorporate the essence of the ocean and the sand with blue for the saya and ito and with a light color for the samegawa and of course, the fittings. I was a little limited in what I could do for the tsuka since the sword had come with a full wrap which I wouldn't be able to change out. at first I wasn't sure how it had been prepared or applied but as I went on with the work I think I've figured it out. I'm pretty sure someone before me, possibly the previous owner, had used a tanned verion of samegawa since it seemed unusually thick which I could kind of see looking into the mekugi ana.
it was also a little fuzzy in the meat right under the surface nodes, like the underside of a leather hide.
the skin also looked as if it were sanded down (the emperor's node was almost flat) and was most likely dyed blue previously as there was a weak blue residue left peppered throughout the surface along with a sickly yellow.
without being able to change the skin out, there was only so much shaping I could do to the ha and mune without affecting the omote and ura sides. I think I was able to wind up with a pleasing finished shape.
anyway, sorry for going on and on......
What I did:
shaped existing tsuka and applied an ivory/sandy colored lacquer
hinerimaki in steel blue silk ito
fitted new ishime style fuchi and kashira and new musashi style menuki
re-finished saya in a blue metal flake lacquer with a high gloss finish
As always, thanks for looking
-Josh
I was working on this sword along with the Kaneie so it is also just recently finished. this Katana is from the Citadel forge in Cambodia and has been a very popular choice for katana in Europe for many years now. these days sadly, it has become more difficult to find a trusted vendor and you might be better off looking for one to pop up in the classifieds on various forums although not too likely since most owners aren't so quick to give them up. I'm really not even 100% sure they are still being produced as I haven't the $ for this level of production sword so have not seriously investigated a purchase.
I believe the sword is made from DNH7 high carbon steel and has an authentic clayed "rolling suguha" hamon which is kind of a mix between a notare and suguha hamon changing from one to the other, notare from the kissaki down to about 8 1/2" or so (the cutting portion) and then turns straight for the rest of the way down to the ha machi.
the mune is very tapered and reminds me of a false edge that might be found on a unokubi zukuri except it is the entire length of the blade and not just a portion. this causes an odd looking flare at the mune side of the kissaki as you might notice in the pics below. it has a chu-kissaki with decent amount of fukura, a defined boshi and lovely kaeri.
I think all of the Citadel come with a very well made copper habaki, or at least this one did and also has a beautifully applied rokusho patina which might have been done later on. I'm not sure how much of the koshirae it arrived with was original since it was purchased from a previous owner. the tsuka did have some issues as I will go into soon.
overall, this is a very light and quick sword weighing in at 2.43 lbs and with a pob of 5 1/4". I have heard that these blades have more distal taper than most other katana style swords and was possibly due to a European fencing influence so would most likely result in needing a bit more speed and tracking to preform clean cuts. I have not cut with this sword. as someone who prefers a lighter sword, this one seems to have the perfect weight/balance ratio for me even though I usually like a shorter nagasa than this one measuring in at 28 1/4"
the customer had been interested in a theme representing Musashi's famous beachfront battle and wanted to incorporate the essence of the ocean and the sand with blue for the saya and ito and with a light color for the samegawa and of course, the fittings. I was a little limited in what I could do for the tsuka since the sword had come with a full wrap which I wouldn't be able to change out. at first I wasn't sure how it had been prepared or applied but as I went on with the work I think I've figured it out. I'm pretty sure someone before me, possibly the previous owner, had used a tanned verion of samegawa since it seemed unusually thick which I could kind of see looking into the mekugi ana.
it was also a little fuzzy in the meat right under the surface nodes, like the underside of a leather hide.
the skin also looked as if it were sanded down (the emperor's node was almost flat) and was most likely dyed blue previously as there was a weak blue residue left peppered throughout the surface along with a sickly yellow.
without being able to change the skin out, there was only so much shaping I could do to the ha and mune without affecting the omote and ura sides. I think I was able to wind up with a pleasing finished shape.
anyway, sorry for going on and on......
What I did:
shaped existing tsuka and applied an ivory/sandy colored lacquer
hinerimaki in steel blue silk ito
fitted new ishime style fuchi and kashira and new musashi style menuki
re-finished saya in a blue metal flake lacquer with a high gloss finish
As always, thanks for looking
-Josh