Apocalypse Edition: Tamahagane Tachi (Picture Heavy)
Dec 21, 2012 4:33:02 GMT
Post by kingrikoraru on Dec 21, 2012 4:33:02 GMT
Tamahagane Tachi
Warning: Picture Heavy (Not the best sword-porn picture out there, but these are still drool worthy)
So with the recent disappointing sword purchases I made, this came as a big surprise and completely blew me out of the water. After my first purchase of the gunto with him, I let Ricky know that I was a big gunto, handachi, and tachi fan. In fact, my 2 most prized swords before this is a zhisword handachi and munetoshi gunto. Ricky responded letting me know that they do, infact, produce a special tamahagane tachi with "out of the world" fittings, but the cost is a little bit over a grand, which was slightly out of budget for me, so I talked to him about downgrading the blade a bit butkeeping the fittings. However, because of the special customized order, Ricky let me know that it would take a while, and so in the end I just went for the tamahagane style in stead. I opted out to have the ito be a synthetic white cotton, since white handle is my thing, battle wrapped and all. (I know it would be a better deal to keep the real dark blue authentic Japanese imported cotton or wait for him to have an order shipped over, but that would take too long and cost extra, so I just went with the synthetic cotton and will probably have cottontail custom upgrade it for me when I have the chance. Anyway, it was a long, long week waiting for this to be shipped over to the U.S, for Ricky to check its quality and apply his signature "tank-cutting" sharpened edge to the katana, but I finally got it today, so here's a quick overview of it.
Historical History:
Authentic tachi were forged during the Koto period, before 1596. With a few exceptions katana and tachi can be distinguished from each other if signed, by the location of the signature (mei) on the tang (nakago). In general the mei should be carved into the side of the nakago that would face outward when the sword was worn. Since a tachi was worn cutting edge down, and the katana was worn cutting edge up the mei would be in opposite locations on the nakago of both types of swords.
An authentic tachi that was manufactured in the correct time period averaged 70–80 centimeters in cutting edge length (nagasa) and compared to a katana was generally lighter in weight in proportion to its length, had a greater taper from hilt to point, was more curved with a smaller point area.
Unlike the traditional manner of wearing the katana, the tachi was worn hung from the belt with the cutting-edge down,[8] and was most effective when used by cavalry. Deviations from the average length of tachi have the prefixes ko- for "short" and ō- for "great or large" attached. For instance, tachi that were shōtō and closer in size to a wakizashi were called kodachi. The longest tachi (considered a 15th century ōdachi) in existence is more than 3.7 meters in total length (2.2m blade) but believed to be ceremonial. In the late 1500s and early 1600s many old surviving tachi blades were converted into katana by having their original tangs cut (o-suriage), the signature (mei) would be lost in this process.
For a sword to be worn in "tachi style" it needed to be mounted in a tachi koshirae. The tachi koshirae had two hangers (ashi) which allowed the tachi to be worn in a horizontal position with the cutting edge down.[11] A sword not mounted in a tachi koshirae could be worn tachi style by use of a koshiate, a leather device which would allow any sword to be worn in the tachi style
Timeline: Ken sword > Tachi > Handachi > Traditional Katana> Chinatana
The Blade:
Weight: 1.7 kg (With Saya)
Overall Length: 105 cm
Nagasa Length: 70 cm
Tsuka Length: 25 cm
No Bohi
The sword on a whole is very balance, but there is some weight there with the saya on.
According to Ricky: These blades are forged from natural iron sand and carbon powder,traditional tamahagane. Beefy and tough blade,yet sharp. Profile is really good because its hand profiled. Really really fine folds,no cracks or gaps,can hardly see the folds because its so fine. Forge says its roughly 10,000 layers. It has a traditional geometry rather than the enhanced cutting budo one. The hamon is very subtle, and beautifully created. Because it is folded finely so many times, one could barely make out the damascus pattern, making this really a work of art. Subtle yet stands out in just the right way to create a majestic blade.
Fittings:
The tsuba is brass with silver and gold plated in a beautiful oval design. The rest of the fittings are a combination of brass and copper with some gold plating. All this gives the sword a very expensive feel to it,as it is some top notch fittings. The saya and tsuka are made from black sandle wood, and the saya does not have that common laquer finish to it, giving the natural wood a chance to shine. The ito? wrappings on the saya is authentic Japanese cotton and the sageo is black and white. Overall, I really dig the fittings on this. The only thing I have a problem with is the tsuka is a bit...large, but that might just be my small hand.
I have yet to do any serious cutting with it, and I really don't want to simply because the blade is so beautiful. I did test how sharp this is and Ricky came through again, delivering a blade that is scary sharp. (I'd say it's tank-cutting sharp haha)
Overall Assessment:
Woah!
WouldI recommend this? If you are into tachi fittings and really want to put money down on a traditional, tamahagane tachi then the answer is a resounding test. Even now i'm trying hard to find any faultin this blade. The white ito looks a bit dirty? I really can't say anything bad about this. The fittings are superb, the hybrid polish and blade is out of this world. Really the only thing I find wrong with this is the the tsuka is a bit large for my small hand, but that's being real critical. The only real problem with this blade is that I haven't found out about it sooner.
I'd like to give a special thanks to Ricky for his excellent customer service and accommodation, making me the owner of this sword possible.
Blade: 10/10
Fittings: 9.5/10
Handling: 9/10
Customer Service: 11/10
Aesthetic:10/10
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Mind-sufficiently-blown.
I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Edit: If anyone is interested in owning one of these, just contact Ricky about it. From what I heard, since these are rather expensive, they are only made when there is an order for them, although the forge maybe have a couple laying around every now and then.
Warning: Picture Heavy (Not the best sword-porn picture out there, but these are still drool worthy)
So with the recent disappointing sword purchases I made, this came as a big surprise and completely blew me out of the water. After my first purchase of the gunto with him, I let Ricky know that I was a big gunto, handachi, and tachi fan. In fact, my 2 most prized swords before this is a zhisword handachi and munetoshi gunto. Ricky responded letting me know that they do, infact, produce a special tamahagane tachi with "out of the world" fittings, but the cost is a little bit over a grand, which was slightly out of budget for me, so I talked to him about downgrading the blade a bit butkeeping the fittings. However, because of the special customized order, Ricky let me know that it would take a while, and so in the end I just went for the tamahagane style in stead. I opted out to have the ito be a synthetic white cotton, since white handle is my thing, battle wrapped and all. (I know it would be a better deal to keep the real dark blue authentic Japanese imported cotton or wait for him to have an order shipped over, but that would take too long and cost extra, so I just went with the synthetic cotton and will probably have cottontail custom upgrade it for me when I have the chance. Anyway, it was a long, long week waiting for this to be shipped over to the U.S, for Ricky to check its quality and apply his signature "tank-cutting" sharpened edge to the katana, but I finally got it today, so here's a quick overview of it.
Historical History:
Authentic tachi were forged during the Koto period, before 1596. With a few exceptions katana and tachi can be distinguished from each other if signed, by the location of the signature (mei) on the tang (nakago). In general the mei should be carved into the side of the nakago that would face outward when the sword was worn. Since a tachi was worn cutting edge down, and the katana was worn cutting edge up the mei would be in opposite locations on the nakago of both types of swords.
An authentic tachi that was manufactured in the correct time period averaged 70–80 centimeters in cutting edge length (nagasa) and compared to a katana was generally lighter in weight in proportion to its length, had a greater taper from hilt to point, was more curved with a smaller point area.
Unlike the traditional manner of wearing the katana, the tachi was worn hung from the belt with the cutting-edge down,[8] and was most effective when used by cavalry. Deviations from the average length of tachi have the prefixes ko- for "short" and ō- for "great or large" attached. For instance, tachi that were shōtō and closer in size to a wakizashi were called kodachi. The longest tachi (considered a 15th century ōdachi) in existence is more than 3.7 meters in total length (2.2m blade) but believed to be ceremonial. In the late 1500s and early 1600s many old surviving tachi blades were converted into katana by having their original tangs cut (o-suriage), the signature (mei) would be lost in this process.
For a sword to be worn in "tachi style" it needed to be mounted in a tachi koshirae. The tachi koshirae had two hangers (ashi) which allowed the tachi to be worn in a horizontal position with the cutting edge down.[11] A sword not mounted in a tachi koshirae could be worn tachi style by use of a koshiate, a leather device which would allow any sword to be worn in the tachi style
Timeline: Ken sword > Tachi > Handachi > Traditional Katana> Chinatana
The Blade:
Weight: 1.7 kg (With Saya)
Overall Length: 105 cm
Nagasa Length: 70 cm
Tsuka Length: 25 cm
No Bohi
The sword on a whole is very balance, but there is some weight there with the saya on.
According to Ricky: These blades are forged from natural iron sand and carbon powder,traditional tamahagane. Beefy and tough blade,yet sharp. Profile is really good because its hand profiled. Really really fine folds,no cracks or gaps,can hardly see the folds because its so fine. Forge says its roughly 10,000 layers. It has a traditional geometry rather than the enhanced cutting budo one. The hamon is very subtle, and beautifully created. Because it is folded finely so many times, one could barely make out the damascus pattern, making this really a work of art. Subtle yet stands out in just the right way to create a majestic blade.
Fittings:
The tsuba is brass with silver and gold plated in a beautiful oval design. The rest of the fittings are a combination of brass and copper with some gold plating. All this gives the sword a very expensive feel to it,as it is some top notch fittings. The saya and tsuka are made from black sandle wood, and the saya does not have that common laquer finish to it, giving the natural wood a chance to shine. The ito? wrappings on the saya is authentic Japanese cotton and the sageo is black and white. Overall, I really dig the fittings on this. The only thing I have a problem with is the tsuka is a bit...large, but that might just be my small hand.
I have yet to do any serious cutting with it, and I really don't want to simply because the blade is so beautiful. I did test how sharp this is and Ricky came through again, delivering a blade that is scary sharp. (I'd say it's tank-cutting sharp haha)
Overall Assessment:
Woah!
WouldI recommend this? If you are into tachi fittings and really want to put money down on a traditional, tamahagane tachi then the answer is a resounding test. Even now i'm trying hard to find any faultin this blade. The white ito looks a bit dirty? I really can't say anything bad about this. The fittings are superb, the hybrid polish and blade is out of this world. Really the only thing I find wrong with this is the the tsuka is a bit large for my small hand, but that's being real critical. The only real problem with this blade is that I haven't found out about it sooner.
I'd like to give a special thanks to Ricky for his excellent customer service and accommodation, making me the owner of this sword possible.
Blade: 10/10
Fittings: 9.5/10
Handling: 9/10
Customer Service: 11/10
Aesthetic:10/10
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Mind-sufficiently-blown.
I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Edit: If anyone is interested in owning one of these, just contact Ricky about it. From what I heard, since these are rather expensive, they are only made when there is an order for them, although the forge maybe have a couple laying around every now and then.