laowho

Must be ok now. No such trouble. Don't think I've seen such groundwork before--leather?

Just great. Thank you for this.

Thanks! I never even knew they contracted forward before contracting back. I've always been a little skeptical about how much contraction was really involved in the quench, but now I'm amazed.

I've considered these things, but only briefly. After the Philly sword show I think I knew that there was no way I was wading into these deep waters. But there is somewhere that perfect dragon tsuba waiting for me. And Dr. Brian has said it too--of course we should leave our humble Showa (barely) with our son, but I'm not even sure about that as I almost immediately began wondering how to leave it. Strange indeed. "Suffice to say, what we behold is censored by our eyes. To be possessed is the best reason for possessing."

That does help me, actually. I've even been wondering whether they couldn't be this as concealed behind a crab...

I just lost my coffee BTW...it's a crab, every way you look at it. :lol: Just beautiful. It also seems to me that the phalanges rendering would be too cerebral / literal for the much more nuanced Japanese aesthetic. Frankly, I feel a little betrayed by you Ford. If I look at it as a clever hand I'm repulsed, not impressed in the least. Seems more of a cheap trick. Sorry. Of course you all know better, but...yuck. However, the tsuba is really beautiful, but in a different "genius" sorta way that I can't yet put a finger on (sorry). "Gimme time. I need more...time..."

I've never seen a saya two-toned and paneled like this, and am glad for it as the seam in our saya build is presenting some difficulty.

I love it. Dunno why exactly, possibly to do with possible iron on iron inlay of lumpiness where the unlikely ground of rocky soil germination would be. But if it were shown with a hundred others, it'd be one of only a handful that I'd fancy, so am looking forward to hearing what others will say. BTW, what are they doing, anticipating that copper will turn green for foliage?

I remember these...2d table or 3d on the right as you entered the ballroom...they just jumped off the table and even my wife immediately noticed them. We enjoyed them for maybe a full 5 minutes. Congratulations.

Wow, those are beautiful. Must be modern? Still...

Wow. Those plugs are actually stunning. Nice nodes Guido.

And just to bump the thread again, and for some confirmation before I begin carving, we're tapering the saya 10%

Re: Lance's examples, I'm reminded that when we were considering saya finishes, I had absolutely decided on the ishime finish, both for its texture and because I'm allergic to anything glossy. We're also going with something b/t these two kojiri, neither flat nor bull-nosed.

Yay, I like projects, and have to say right off the bat, white ito over white same? With black saya? Personally, I don't see how you can resist the urge to lacquer the same, and I'd never consider white ito...cream maybe. In fact, I'm probably gonna be as daring as this two-tone lacquer http://www007.upp.so-net.ne.jp/m-kenji/ ... hirae.html but of course you may not want such. As for menuki, I'd recommend anything about 2", and as raised as possible for sufficient bulge. Our first set was disappointingly flat. The horn koiguchi, kojiri and kurigata all sound good...we're using these and adding some nickel silver plate to match the seppa, but I'm finishing them matte rather than polished. We even aged our sageo and silk so that the whole effect is utilitarian and seasoned. Your tsuba and FK are rather plain/unassuming (which I prefer) so maybe consider similar thinking? And in which case, white ito? Off to find some pictures... edit: Re: the menuki metals, and b/c your tsuba and FK have little to no gold (we also have no gold), we've found that our shakudo has enough color in it w/o the need for any precious metals. In fact, parts of them are a distinctly chocolate brown, while the main part is nicely toned with natural variegation.

Sure, I'll try to get pics up. But just some observations if you don't mind... I know nothing about properly identifying anything nihonto for school, date, maker, etc., though I've been doing a lotta homework to at least know what little I can about what we selected and why. (Interestingly enough, in all of this I've moved from an insistence on the Nobuiye and Kaneie scenic-type solid plates to a beginning of an appreciation for sukashi, tho I still haven't mustered any understanding of all the excitement over Akasaka, etc.) Re: the dragons, maybe start here where Brian breaks down the basics viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20328 And check out Chen Rong's Nine Dragons here (you can scroll the entire panel below) http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/n ... gons-28526 Re: fuchi size, your koiguchi may still be larger than your fuchi, but it won't have to be a lot larger/should still blend well. Re: fittings, our original blade was from a western smith and we had originally considered Lohmans fittings for this, but then realized that for a little more we could have original. Moreover, since being captured by tsuba years ago, I've always wanted some shibuichi and shakudo--and for warmth/texture/color, cast reproduction just couldn't compare. We rationalized...new western blade, old Japanese fittings, blending...so yeah, you WILL rationalize, maybe especially re: theme. Of course, once we decided instead on a Japanese blade, cast repros were never an option. Re: our build, I can only tell you what we went through. Our same and silk ito are from Namikawa/Hebei in Japan (wonderful), our tsuba from Haynes, our FK from Ian C here at the boards, our menuki from the recent sword show in Philly, our blade from AoiArt, our saya billet from NWTimber (recommend maybe Namikawa/Hebei's precut blanks unless you have access to a bandsaw), our sageo from some god-awful place that charged ridiculous shipping (only place I could find the cord in natural fiber), our seppa nickel silver plate from some jeweler's place, and our buffalo horn from Nihonzashi. Re: shirasaya, our blade will rest in this. We'll make a wooden blade to hold the koshirae with it. Will try to get pics up soon. As for what looks good, only you know. "The more you look for truth outside yourself, the further away it gets."

Your blade width is fairly standard (even if considered robust by nihonto standards) and you should be able to get away with a 38mm fuchi no problem, provided your habaki isn't overly large and you keep your saya thickness modest. We're doing our build now so no pics yet, but the FK was probably the most difficult component to find, largely b/c we'd painted ourselves into a corner by deciding on the tsuba first (and we were eventually helped by members here). But yes, everything is historical, though the components don't necessarily match by period, but rather by patina and style. Our original blade fell through and the replacement blade just wouldn't take the original tsuba, so that got replaced too, and we followed Haynes suggestion that the tsuba should be yin to the blade's yang. But we liked the original dragon menuki and determined to keep those, but my wife selected a Ho-o bird (phoenix) tsuba, but this is the mortal enemy of the dragon, UNLESS they are paired together, in which case they represent wedded bliss...you get the idea. It all starts with the blade and what it wants. Enjoy. We've had a great time figuring everything out all while sitting with the blade in shirasaya. Remember too that even though blades may have started out with matching/themed fittings, with time the koshirae got replaced, point being that if you restricted yourself to matching FK/menuki/tsuba, you wouldn't have much to choose from and you'd certainly pay a premium. Take your time, have fun window shopping, and listen to the blade. The theme will reveal itself. (But p.s. Perhaps have some regard for the type of dragon you select as per your waves vs. clouds ideas...water dragons look a lot different than the more fully matured sky and heaven dragons, for instance. )

Yes, they were fitted for typical hand size, and if you look at Lohmans you'll see them designating katana-sized fuchi @ 40mm for their western customers (and 38mm as wak size), and possibly also to better match some of the wider production blades. But really, you have to consider the whole finished blade in koshirae. A wider blade might necessitate a wider fuchi so that the koiguchi will make a better match/smooth transition across the intervening tsuba. Personally, I prefer the fuchi and koiguchi to match in size as much as possible. http://www.aoijapan.com/uchi-katana-koshirae And even/especially when the blade is unsheathed, I want the fuchi and habaki to line up. Besides, a wider blade will have a wider nakago anyway, necessitating a wider tsuka and fuchi. Others will know better.

I like the dappling. It isn't something I've seen much of and is very evocative of fall. So much art in tsuba with such simple but profound technique. In fact, if this spotting is representative of leaf dessication, isn't it possible that they didn't have inlay? I'm probably way off track here.

Hi Jason, Yes, there's Lohmans and also nihonzashi where you can custom fit/order http://www.nihonzashi.com/custom_seppa.aspx We're making our own from nickel silver plate because we wanted to, but haven't figured out the edge work yet. Cheers

I was particularly glad for the tea ceremony inclusion and for his touching upon wabi-sabi. It took me back to an Aikido book I read years ago which dedicated a chapter on the samurai tradition of the tea ceremony, the materials selected, construction, items for adornment, service, participation, and even the method for showing the way to the cha-shitsu. Sublimely written, I could only shudder at the sublimity of the act itself. Thanks for taking me back there, and for an awesome site.

Einstein to Bohr: Are you saying the moon isn't there when I'm not observing it? Bohr to Einstein: Prove that it is.

Hi Guido, David, Of course I should have done this first (used the search function), but I did try it immediately afterward and have since been lost in a maze of decarburized surface layering. I've also tried to beg off politely, especially after Ian's post. Dunno what else to say. I answered Kevin because he asked for clarification, and felt that Ian's post required/deserved recognition. That's all I've done since asking the question. But it does tickle me that you've rejoined the fray, Guido. Must be to properly place your cease and desist request. I've been out of it from the beginning, but am happy to read anything I can on the matter. And you never know...some particularly adroit thread may get linked here.

Well, thank you Ian. If there's anything to these possibilities/considerations, I hardly know where else to look but here at the NMB. I can understand if, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, members here would naturally default to an insistence not only upon the quality of Japanese craftsmanship generally, but especially with regard to all things nihonto in particular. That said, and with everything you've offered, it certainly doesn't help me since experience and familiarity seem to be the best (only?) real guarantors of "hand made" authenticity. I'll stick with vendors I can trust for now. Thanks.

We recently had reason to research the combination of dragon menuki and phoenix (Ho-o) tsuba for our build, and came upon this http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/dragon.shtml Seems a pretty decent explanation. Cheers

Umm...Ni-Honto? Me-Tonto? Sorry. :D