Hey everyone,
I thought i'd share some pics of mynew katana. It's straight from japan, with traditionally built fittings, though it has an alluminum-zinc alloy blade. Why? Because the japanese government placed a quota of 1-2 forged steel blades per month on japanese smiths in order to preserve the swords as cultural treasures. To get around this they make them out of an alloy. The other reason is so that beginners like myself, don't cut the webbing on our left hand when returing the blade to the scabbard, or cut something else off. Usually, the use of a live blade is a privelage earned at around 4th degree black.
Anyway, the fittings have a crane theme throughout, and the handle is wrapped in manta ray skin for strength, and then wrapped in black cotton, giving it that unique "diamon" pattern. The scabbard is gloss black, and the has a plain, battle style "moku" hand guard. The pattern you see near thebottom of the sword is called the "hamon". This is the part on a real forged blade that differentiates between the hard cutting edge and the rest of the blade. The sword, when heat treated, is coated in clay, but the cutting edge has a much thinner application. This allows the smith to create a sword which will retain the edge while cutting, but maintain a softer, shock absorbing side and back. Once the sword is polished and sharpened, the difference in the two steels becomes apparent. Good smiths can create their own patterns of hamon on the blades, and mine is a random patternone.
The groove on the blade is not the ficticious "blood gutter", but is called a bo-hi, which increases the blades balance potential and lightens the blade. It also makes a wooshing sound called Tachikaze, that an instructor can use as a tool to judge whether or not youv'e made a good cut.
So yeah, I basically love this sword...it feels alive when it is in your hands, as though it wants to be swung. I'm trying to come up with a name for it...my instructor has named his steel, forged blade "Eye of the Storm". When it is sheathed, and fixed through his belt, it's the calm, and all the damage is done outside of the eye when the blade is withdrawn. I thought that was pretty cool.
This picture is the wall mount I have, with my bokken (wooden sword) on the bottom, and my iaito (katana) on top.
This is a close up of the handle (tsuka), showing the ray skin and black wrap. The gold ornament is a crane, called a menuki.
This is an angled shot of the sword guard (tsuba), and the handle (tsuka).
The hamon
Theblade where it meets the guard and handle.
And finally, the tip (kissaki).
"It's not cheating if you win."
- A VERY wise person.
I thought i'd share some pics of mynew katana. It's straight from japan, with traditionally built fittings, though it has an alluminum-zinc alloy blade. Why? Because the japanese government placed a quota of 1-2 forged steel blades per month on japanese smiths in order to preserve the swords as cultural treasures. To get around this they make them out of an alloy. The other reason is so that beginners like myself, don't cut the webbing on our left hand when returing the blade to the scabbard, or cut something else off. Usually, the use of a live blade is a privelage earned at around 4th degree black.
Anyway, the fittings have a crane theme throughout, and the handle is wrapped in manta ray skin for strength, and then wrapped in black cotton, giving it that unique "diamon" pattern. The scabbard is gloss black, and the has a plain, battle style "moku" hand guard. The pattern you see near thebottom of the sword is called the "hamon". This is the part on a real forged blade that differentiates between the hard cutting edge and the rest of the blade. The sword, when heat treated, is coated in clay, but the cutting edge has a much thinner application. This allows the smith to create a sword which will retain the edge while cutting, but maintain a softer, shock absorbing side and back. Once the sword is polished and sharpened, the difference in the two steels becomes apparent. Good smiths can create their own patterns of hamon on the blades, and mine is a random patternone.
The groove on the blade is not the ficticious "blood gutter", but is called a bo-hi, which increases the blades balance potential and lightens the blade. It also makes a wooshing sound called Tachikaze, that an instructor can use as a tool to judge whether or not youv'e made a good cut.
So yeah, I basically love this sword...it feels alive when it is in your hands, as though it wants to be swung. I'm trying to come up with a name for it...my instructor has named his steel, forged blade "Eye of the Storm". When it is sheathed, and fixed through his belt, it's the calm, and all the damage is done outside of the eye when the blade is withdrawn. I thought that was pretty cool.
This picture is the wall mount I have, with my bokken (wooden sword) on the bottom, and my iaito (katana) on top.
This is a close up of the handle (tsuka), showing the ray skin and black wrap. The gold ornament is a crane, called a menuki.
This is an angled shot of the sword guard (tsuba), and the handle (tsuka).
The hamon
Theblade where it meets the guard and handle.
And finally, the tip (kissaki).
"It's not cheating if you win."
- A VERY wise person.
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