Hanwei Practical Katana customisation - First Post

Hi everyone, I've been reading over this website for a few weeks now and I decided I would submit my first post. My father has always had a huge interest in Japanese swords and sword furniture, as well as Japanese artwork, and for a couple of years now my interest in the study has steadily increased. My father owns several Japanese swords dating back to the Edo period as well as countless tsubas and other sword furniture, and I have come to understand the respect that such items deserve.

Anyway, enough background, back on topic.

This was my first attempt at tsukamaki and customising a sword so I thought I would start with a fairly standard katana. The practical katana by Hanwei came with a glued on tsuka, plastic ray skin, and a faux suede ito. Nasty. Completely un-traditional but despite that, the blade itself has a nice geometry and cuts well in addition to looking simple and elegant. I decided I would re-use the sword furniture as it was all solidly constructed and was simple, in keeping with the blade.

I started by binning the original tsuka, keeping only the fuchi/kashira, tsuba, and menuki to re-use. I ordered some imported ray skin panels and Japanese cotton ito and whilst I was waiting for them to arrive I measured and cut a small box of hishigami. I got to work making a new core and then glued on the ray skin panels securely, after drilling holes for the mekugi. I then spent a whole day wrapping the core with the ito, taking my time and being determined to get it right. In addition to the tsuka, I also wrapped the saya with leather as I had a spare saya for the sword and I wanted to experiment with how the sword would look. Here is the finished product, I hope its up to standards. I tied the end knot on the wrong sides but I think it turned out alright for a first try. Feedback is appreciated!