W2 John Smith katana project - Black damascus

So this has been an unfinished project for years now. This was one of the bladesmiths from the early 2000's that got me interested in the ways smiths could create a hamon. I am not the original owner but bought this blade in 2018. 

Earliest pic I have:


 


Photos from the smith: www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?/topic/29541-w-2-o-kissaki-katana/

Long story short this went to the Man in Black about 2 or 3 years ago for a mount but it was found the fittings I provided were too small so I had him do a shirasaya and a spare core so I could try a wrap myself when time and money allowed. Not too long ago I commissioned Marcus Chambers for some simple but large fittings. 

Here is a google drive dump of any and all progress pics I took in creating my very own boxy Hanwei style tsuka. I will be re-doing it as I can see where all the little mistakes I made were. 

drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ReqBarjTqUu_7TTh8M6KaJc2xmPdLYEZ?usp=drive_link

I have Josh and his website to thank for all the information he is so generous with. The tsuka in some of the photos I was using as a reference was made by Henry Ahmu I believe and is from a Kotetsu.

My biggest mistakes I see from this were not recessing the samegawa into the core, (just did panels) not thinning the samegawa properly, not using hishigami, and the end knots I did not finish as I do plan to take this apart and redo it properly.