PProElite Katana Rebirth
Feb 20, 2009 21:31:04 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2009 21:31:04 GMT
Since the first day I touched this sword I felt it definitely needs some changes. And although it has passed through some minor modifications (tsuka shortening and changing of the tsuba and tsukaito) I still had the nasty feeling that that wasn't the proper appearance for such blade. So right after the finish of the PC Shinto Shirasaya project I begun the customization of my Practical Pro Elite Katana.
Because of the blade (which is one of my favourites) I chose to make it less colourful (than the previous one) and to stick mainly to the black color. The first thing I did was to shorten and reshape the tang so that the new tsuka could follow the blade sori much more than the original one. The next step was to make the new tsuka core from yellow poplar. (Here once again I followed the method of Erick Nelson's "Construction of the Shinken in the Modern Age"). After the nagako ana was carved and when I was sure that the tang fits snugly and tightly inside it I shaped the outer side of the tsuka. Once the tsuka shape was achieved I wraped it in full same' sheet:
For the tsukamaki I used black cotton ito. And to be sure that the ito will remain tight even after long time of hard usage (or at least till the next time when I buy black silk one to replace it) I lavishly impregnated it with colourless lacquer:
[
I used steel fuchi and kashira that were taken from Hanwei's Musashi Daito (the classic version) and blackened steel Citadel handmade tsuba:
[
In attempt at making the saya more interesting I inlaid some rings at regular intervals and tried to make something like kojiri near the original one (I left the original horn koiguchi too). Then I repolished the whole lacquered saya:
And at the end here are some more pictures of the newly customized katana:
Thank you very much for the reading!
Because of the blade (which is one of my favourites) I chose to make it less colourful (than the previous one) and to stick mainly to the black color. The first thing I did was to shorten and reshape the tang so that the new tsuka could follow the blade sori much more than the original one. The next step was to make the new tsuka core from yellow poplar. (Here once again I followed the method of Erick Nelson's "Construction of the Shinken in the Modern Age"). After the nagako ana was carved and when I was sure that the tang fits snugly and tightly inside it I shaped the outer side of the tsuka. Once the tsuka shape was achieved I wraped it in full same' sheet:
For the tsukamaki I used black cotton ito. And to be sure that the ito will remain tight even after long time of hard usage (or at least till the next time when I buy black silk one to replace it) I lavishly impregnated it with colourless lacquer:
[
I used steel fuchi and kashira that were taken from Hanwei's Musashi Daito (the classic version) and blackened steel Citadel handmade tsuba:
[
In attempt at making the saya more interesting I inlaid some rings at regular intervals and tried to make something like kojiri near the original one (I left the original horn koiguchi too). Then I repolished the whole lacquered saya:
And at the end here are some more pictures of the newly customized katana:
Thank you very much for the reading!