Habaki makers outside Japan

[lonely panet]

Morning members 

Whats my options for habaki makers outside Japan?? 

 

Looking for 2 middle level pieces

[eternal_newbie]

Brian Tschernega in Washington (https://japanesesword.com/services) is one of the best habaki makers period, and comes highly recommended - but expect a waitlist. I've also heard good things about John Tirado (https://www.facebook.com/john.tirado.752) and Josiah Boomershine (https://www.facebook.com/p/Josiah-Boomershine-Japanese-Sword-Arts-100062939963788/) but haven't seen their habaki works in person.

[Brian]

Trouble would be shipping a sword in and out of Australia just for a habaki, and the hassle that would involve. Surely there must be a competent person in Australia? Maybe @Andrew Ickeringill has some advice?

[eternal_newbie]

18 minutes ago, Brian said:

Trouble would be shipping a sword in and out of Australia

 

... I read "Location:NA" and thought "North America" 

 

Yeah, Andrew Ickeringill would be your best bet for getting advice on possible options in or around Australia.

[lonely panet]

there is none,  i know andrew and speak with him regularly.  shipping in and out is easy.  just dont want to pay 600 aus per blade for the middle man,  to licance the blade considering the habaki is tha same price

[eternal_newbie]

44 minutes ago, lonely panet said:

shipping in and out is easy.  just dont want to pay 600 aus per blade for the middle man,  to licance the blade

Then yeah, one of the American guys is probably your best bet.

[Brian]

I know they can 3D print in metal/titanium now. I wonder how far away we are from 3D scanning the part of the blade below and above the habaki, printing it perfectly to size, and sending that to have a habaki made?
I guess in a few years that will be a reality

[Lewis B]

2 minutes ago, Brian said:

I know they can 3D print in metal/titanium now. 

And bronze. It looks really good when polished up. 

[BjornLundin]

Probably you can do it now, but who would dare to test when a new Habaki is 500-700 usd for a simple design. You can 3d print in plastic, brass, silver, gold etc..  I made a custom tsuba holder where I 3D printed a perfect fit for nagako-ana in combination of kogai and kozuka-ana. Easiest is to take a photo of example a tsuba, or for this purpose "a blade" using an existing Habaki or wrap a thin brass sheet around the blade for making a template. Then the photo of the template can be turned into a 3d model by online tools. Use example tinkercad (online, free) to elongate the model. Then print out... 

[Scogg]

A big part of me really wants to take some soft-metal jewelry classes, and try my hand at habaki making.

[eternal_newbie]

Quote

I wonder how far away we are from 3D scanning the part of the blade below and above the habaki, printing it perfectly to size, and sending that to have a habaki made?

 

Yep, I've had thoughts along these lines. Print out a plastic/acrylic blank of your blade and send it to habaki-shi, saya-shi, koshirae-shi etc. while the real deal stays safe at home with you.

[BjornLundin]

7 minutes ago, Scogg said:

A big part of me really wants to take some soft-metal jewelry classes, and try my hand at habaki making.

 

I started a few years ago smithing in silver and gold but even now I let an expert do it. Silver has exploded lately, a few years ago it was very cheap now what is it 3 usd per gram to buy? 

[shakudo]

Hi all,

Bit late to this post but I am making habaki at the moment. Dont have much time at present but Im hoping to be able to spend more time on nihonto as I gently slide into retirement. At present working directly on nakago but with my polished blades I will be making a metal blank to hammer on. Thats an option- measure or get someone to  accurately measure and then forward detailed sketch to a maker?! 

As far as guys in USA I had a habaki made by John Tirado and extremely happy with end result.

Enjoy the journey

Cheers

Mike

[eternal_newbie]

Good luck Mike, we could definitely use some options Down Under even if they're just for low-to-mid level blades. Looking forward to seeing some examples of your work!