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Post by Cottontail Customs on Jun 26, 2015 18:57:23 GMT
This is one of many Ronin katana I've worked with but only the third Elite Soshu Kitae blade and the first shirasaya conversion. Soshu Kitae is a complex process of joing different steel types together and Ronin is the only modern production company I know of that regularly produces this particular lamination type.
There are arguments as to any benefit of using this method but it does make the blade's aesthetics more interesting. Although the polish level isn't as high as it could be, you can clearly see the lamination line running the length of the edge. The blade's geometry is very nice with clean lines and a nicely forged kissaki with geometric yokote. It's a powerful sword, measuring in at 2.7Lbs but with the conversion and fittings, the pob is at just around 5 1/4" from the tsuba, making it comfortable to swing. It should make for a pretty heavy cutter.
This sword is sold in a simple shirasaya of light colored wood and includes the blade, brass habaki and koiguchi and kojiri made of black horn. My task was to convert this into a fully finctional cutting sword.
What I did:
Shaped the shirasaya tsuka for a more functional use
Applied new samegawa panels, lacquered black
Added new iron Higo fuchi and kashira, painted in a high impact paint
Added new steel tsuba, painted in a high impact paint
Wrapped tsuka with Japanese black silk ito in katate-maki style
Plated habaki and seppa in nickel silver
Added horn kurikata to saya
Added new black kakucho sageoSee more pics hereThanks for looking
-Josh
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Post by sharpedge on Jun 26, 2015 19:03:16 GMT
That's a beauty. Simple and elegant.
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Post by DigsFossils-n-Knives on Jun 26, 2015 19:40:32 GMT
Nice work Josh!
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Jun 26, 2015 21:34:28 GMT
Thank you very much sharpedge and Digs -Josh
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Post by junon on Jun 27, 2015 12:55:20 GMT
Solid work as usual... Great conversion from shirasaya
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Post by LG Martial Arts on Jun 27, 2015 13:25:47 GMT
Great job as usual. 2 thumbs up!
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Jun 27, 2015 18:18:24 GMT
Thanks a lot junon and LG -Josh
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Post by madmandom on Jun 28, 2015 0:27:33 GMT
Nice and clean looks good.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Jun 28, 2015 2:51:48 GMT
Killer work!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 3:26:10 GMT
Elegant simplicity, really like it!
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Jun 28, 2015 16:30:33 GMT
Your kind words and encouragement are very appreciated madmandom, Adrian and Blackthorn. Thanks! -Josh
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Post by Demon Sword on Jun 29, 2015 18:07:40 GMT
I'm very impressed with the work, and its exactly the way I imagined it would look. I'm simply eager to take it out, to ooh and awe at it ,before I start using it. then off to the artists to start designing the saya's custom look Its a drastic change from its original setup, to the now functional heavy cutter blade. (original image from ronin below) its very apparent the workmanship involved for this conversion. it was a pleasure to work with you in this endeavor and hope for more in the future
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Jun 29, 2015 20:17:53 GMT
Thanks Demon Sword, it was a pleasure to work with you on this project. I can't wait to see the finished saya work -Josh
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Post by Derzis on Jul 8, 2015 13:49:08 GMT
Great work Josh. I can see that 'no menuki' on katate-maki is starting to become a trend for simplicity :)
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Jul 8, 2015 14:18:50 GMT
lovely work !
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