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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Aug 27, 2015 22:06:06 GMT
To me, the hamon is the most vibrant part of a katana's essence (or soul, I suppose you could say) You must have never experienced the hada and lamination in true tamahagane, then. :P I own three Nihonto... -_- Everything about the blade can be considered a part of the katana's soul, from the hada and lamination to the hamon and even to the koshirae - I was just saying that the hamon is what's always jumped out at me most and spoken to me most as the 'core' of a blade's spirit - I'm not saying that it's contained in the hamon itself and nothing else. Interestingly, I recall that Japanese swordsmiths themselves believe that the katana only gains a soul once it is given a hamon.
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
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Post by addertooth on Aug 28, 2015 2:53:21 GMT
Is this the Kobuse from Hanbon? I am looking forward to your review of that one. First teaser on the Swordsmith668/Hanbon. It arrived today. It was sold as Gyaku (reverse) Kobuse. I set up the laser, and the high-res camera on a stand to get some detailed pictures of the blade. The transition zone between the Damascus sides and the solid hard central steel jumped right out. It goes without saying this method also makes any linear scratches in the blade leap out as well. The final analysis is: it is certainly Gyaku Kobuse. A full review will be given in a separate thread later.
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Greg E
Member
little bit of this... and a whole lot of that
Posts: 1,336
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Post by Greg E on Aug 28, 2015 3:05:24 GMT
Very cool. I am glad to see it is as advertised. I look forward to seeing your review.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Aug 28, 2015 3:09:52 GMT
Excellent - waiting on that review! ^_^ It was this sword you bought, right?
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addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
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Post by addertooth on Aug 28, 2015 3:33:59 GMT
Excellent - waiting on that review! ^_^ It was this sword you bought, right? Yes, that was the listing which was the foundation. I must say the "abrasive polish" on it was the best seen yet on any Ebay Sword. It does not require trick photography to make the hamon show up clearly. The real trick is making it go away so the hada can be imaged. I didn't leave the styling anything like what was shown in the listing. Dragon theme is overdone on Ebay, so a very different look was selected. At the end of it all, the blade was the primary concern. It was ordered with: Blade length: standard with a well defined yakote Bo Hi: no Sharpness: very sharp Engraving: no Ray skin: R004 Black Ito: Silk Dark Green (C13) Sageo: G02 (green) Tsuka-Maki: Hinerimaki Hishigami: YES (extra $20.00) Saya: S26 Black with green ray skin and horn Saya Engraving: no Tsuba: HT029 flowers
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Aug 28, 2015 3:42:25 GMT
Excellent - waiting on that review! ^_^ It was this sword you bought, right? Yes, that was the listing which was the foundation. I must say the "abrasive polish" on it was the best seen yet on any Ebay Sword. It does not require trick photography to make the hamon show up clearly. The real trick is making it go away so the hada can be imaged. I didn't leave the styling anything like what was shown in the listing. Dragon theme is overdone on Ebay, so a very different look was selected. At the end of it all, the blade was the primary concern. It was ordered with: Blade length: standard with a well defined yakote Bo Hi: no Sharpness: very sharp Engraving: no Ray skin: R004 Black Ito: Silk Dark Green (C13) Sageo: G02 (green) Tsuka-Maki: Hinerimaki Hishigami: YES (extra $20.00) Saya: S26 Black with green ray skin and horn Saya Engraving: no Tsuba: HT029 flowers
Now I'm REALLY wanting to read your review lol - it sounds like you got a really beautiful piece. Just goes to show you that you don't have to be Japanese to be a good sword smith - there are professional smiths on every continent, not just in one. Nationality alone doesn't have anything to do with skill, IMHO - I know there are some folks that are a little nervous about buying a katana for any serious money from China. Its unfortunate, because there are some truly talented craftsmen in every country. I'm sure China is no exception. Review pending, it sounds like you're in a favorable opinion about your customized katana, but I'll wait and see for details. ^_^
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addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
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Post by addertooth on Aug 28, 2015 4:39:30 GMT
Like all the pending reviews, it will be factual. Being a participant on this site has taught me a lot about some details which may border on minutia, but to some purchasers they are very important. Also, having several different swords to put side-by-side helps make the small differences more obvious. Cottontail has also provided a lot of information on what represents a well made Tsuka. Cottontail's tsuka standards are hard for most production swords to fully meet, but that is to be expected. As a former machinist, and blade-smith, the review of the blades themselves are rather simple to do. They will center on geometry, trueness, crispness of lines, finish, quality of pattern welds and Hamon. Some pictures will need to be taken soon, before too many upgrades and updates are done to them. At this point, the only changes are limited to the Sageo on two of the swords (and a modification of the acid enhance hamon on one blade), but before and after pictures were taken of that. I picked up a square wheel this week, and have Choji, Hazuya and Jizuya stones on order.
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addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
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Post by addertooth on Sept 2, 2015 0:48:04 GMT
Just an update. Today is the first of September. Ryan promised pictures of the completed blade on the 28th of August. Thus far, no pictures. He does however, have several Shihozume Katanas currently for sale on Ebay. When I asked him about that, he said he is trying to retain a presence on Ebay.
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Post by DigsFossils-n-Knives on Sept 2, 2015 0:50:54 GMT
Just an update. Today is the first of September. Ryan promised pictures of the completed blade on the 28th of August. Thus far, no pictures. He does however, have several Shihozume Katanas currently for sale on Ebay. When I asked him about that, he said he is trying to retain a presence on Ebay. LOL!!!! Gong is the king of BS!
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 2, 2015 2:31:27 GMT
And neither am I. -_-
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 2, 2015 11:57:41 GMT
And more picture lookey-lookey time from Sheng: The stabbie-pokie part: Koshi zori: Pokey-pokey pointy part:
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Post by Kiyoshi on Sept 2, 2015 13:05:58 GMT
Coming along nicely. Mine is still being polished. After seeing a picture of the boshi I wanted, I asked if he could give the kissaki a more traditional style polish. He warned me that it wouldn't be as shiny but I said that was okay and he said he'd do it.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 2, 2015 14:15:41 GMT
Coming along nicely. Mine is still being polished. After seeing a picture of the boshi I wanted, I asked if he could give the kissaki a more traditional style polish. He warned me that it wouldn't be as shiny but I said that was okay and he said he'd do it. Thanks, and I moreso wanted to specify the differences and transitions from the Hamon to the Ji, so I just asked for a Hazuya polish. I also have some fingerstones of my own, so if I ever decide to polish it up a bit, I'd rather do it myself. Still, I like it as it is. :) (I mainly wanted to make sure that there was boshi and the hamon didn't run off the edge, but it doesn't.)
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Post by Kiyoshi on Sept 2, 2015 15:06:32 GMT
As did I. I waited until he had it partially polished and I could see the boshi and turnback before I asked him to polish the kissaki traditionally. I'm actually more concerned that the very prominent boshi was too big for the subtle hamon. The turnback was subtle though, but it was there.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 2, 2015 15:14:33 GMT
Better a boshi be too big than too small though - if there's any kissaki chipping or breakage, a new kissaki can always be done of there's enough hardened edge, so I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Here's hoping that your brother katana to my own comes out nice too. BTW, what did you decide upon for Koshirae?
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Post by Kiyoshi on Sept 2, 2015 16:47:02 GMT
I ended up getting sort of custom ones. For the fuchi and kashira, I asked if he could make some for me but he said he already had some of what I wanted on a sword he doesn't use anymore. I've attached pictures that he sent me of them. The tsuba design was really simple as well. I sent him a picture of what I wanted and he said he already had one as well but he didn't have pictures. I'm assuming since he couldn't take any so he is going to cut one out or something. The habaki is silver colored and supposed to be fitted and have a file mark pattern I sent him. I made sure to make every stop to get some hands on work off the production line as possible. Attachments:
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 2, 2015 16:52:05 GMT
I ended up getting sort of custom ones. For the fuchi and kashira, I asked if he could make some for me but he said he already had some of what I wanted on a sword he doesn't use anymore. I've attached pictures that he sent me of them. The tsuba design was really simple as well. I sent him a picture of what I wanted and he said he already had one as well but he didn't have pictures. I'm assuming since he couldn't take any so he is going to cut one out or something. The habaki is silver colored and supposed to be fitted and have a file mark pattern I sent him. I made sure to make every stop to get some hands on work off the production line as possible. That's good - I personally like the more plain fuchi kashira, especially if they're unadorned black iron. I just wanted to get something a little more showey fro my own, so I'm splurging a bit. XD My fuchi kashira: What style of tsuba was it that you requested, if you know the name of it? I'm curious to envision how you designed it and how it'll look. 8-)
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Post by Kiyoshi on Sept 2, 2015 17:48:08 GMT
The tsuba is very plain. I used photoshop and nihonzashi's tsuba options to throw together a basic one to show what I wanted. I ended up with no fuchi and kashira and full black same. Basically all black and plain but with silver habaki and seppa for accent. Attachments:
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 2, 2015 19:30:47 GMT
Ah, so it's a Maru Kogai style tsuba, huh? I went with a similar iron tsuba too, though mine has a bit of texture to it: Maru tsuba are my personal favorite, there's something I really like about their simplicity that speaks of genuine elegance - there's no need for bells and whistles, I think.
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Post by Kiyoshi on Sept 2, 2015 19:41:24 GMT
Yup. I have mimi on the tsuba too, which is important to the design and something that is pretty hard to find. I could only really find one in antique tsuba ads. Now adays people really like themselves some fancy fittings. I'm a big fan of elegance in simplicity. Sugu and other plain hamon, plain ito, plain iron fuchi and kashira, and so on. I like things to be really plain with just a tiny accent. I'm thinking about brown sageo instead of black on my katana but I'm unsure.
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