T10 Clay Tempered Katana with High Quality Copper Fittings and Hadori Polish Finish

T10 Clay Tempered Katana with High Quality Copper Fittings and Hadori Polish Finish

Blade: T10 Steel (Folded 13 times, Clay Tempered Hadori Polish)
Blood Grooves: on both sides
Blade Edge: fully sharpened
Habaki (Blade Collar) & Seppa (Spacer) Material: Brass
Tsuba (Hand Guard): high quality copper Tsunami tsuba
Fuchi (Handle Collar) and Kashira (Buttcap): high quality copper
Tsuka (Handle): white ray skin samekawa hardwood tsuka
Tang: Full tang secured by two mekugi pins
Saya (scabbard): silver lacquered hardwood saya

Blade Length: 72 cm
Handle Length: 27 cm
Approximate Weight: 1.42 KG
Blade Width: 3.2 cm
Blade Thickness: 0.75 cm

 

You are looking at a high quality fully functional Japanese Tsunami Katana samurai sword. The blade has a Maru Lamination . It is made from T10 steel and has been differential clay hardened.  This high quality full tang double pegged katana exhibits one of the most appealing Hamon temper lines that is authentic and distinct as a result of the differential hardening process. And the hamon has been further enchanced by the traditional polishing stage “Hadori Polish”.

How important is differential hardening?

A differentially hardened katana (as opposed case hardened or tempered) has a hardened edge and a soft spine.  The edge is hardened so it will retain a sharp edge while the spine is left softer so it will bend and not break.  This is usually done with a traditional clay coating tempering process. Differential hardening is key to making a battle ready katana that will be used for extensive tameshigiri (test cutting).  Our expectation is that a shinken should survive at least 10,000 tatami omote cuts (10 years of heavy use) and only need minor sharpening after every 500 (six months of heavy use).

Polishing

When the rough blade is completed, the sword smith turns the blade over to a polisher called a togishi, whose job it is to refine the shape of a blade and improve its aesthetic value. The entire process takes considerable time, in some cases easily up to several weeks. Early polishers used three types of stone, whereas a modern polisher generally uses seven. The modern high level of polish was not normally done before around 1600, since greater emphasis was placed on function over form. The polishing process almost always takes longer than even crafting, and a good polish can greatly improve the beauty of a blade, while a bad one can ruin the best of blades. More importantly, inexperienced polishers can permanently ruin a blade by badly disrupting its geometry or wearing down too much steel, both of which effectively destroy the sword’s monetary, historic, artistic, and functional value.

On high quality blades, only the back of the blade and the adjacent sides, (called the shinogi-ji), are polished to a mirror-like surface. To bring out the grain and hamon, the center portion of the blade, (called the hira), and the edge, (the ha), are usually given a matte finish. Microscopic scratches in the surface vary, depending on hardness. Smaller but more numerous scratches in the harder areas reflect light differently than the deeper, longer scratches in the softer areas. The harder metal appears more matte than the softer, and the manner in which it scatters light is less affected by the direction of the lighting.

What is Hadori Polish and why?

It is an optional stage of traditional Japanese sword polishing, whereby the Hamon is enhanced by polishing with a coarser abrasive than the body of the blade, leaving it whiter in appearance. The hadori style is named after the hadori stone used, a waterstone selected for its slightly greater coarseness which helps lighten the hamon and make it stand out against surrounding areas. The hadori style cannot exactly replicate the hamon as the finishing is actually a trace of the original; thus its quality depends mainly on the nature of the hamon itself, available equipment and the skill of the polisher. The goal of hadori polish is to bring up the aesthetic value of the sword.

The balance of the blade is perfect and the sword is completely functional. It can be used for Tamashigiri (target cutting).

The Kissaki is medium with a well defined Yokote. The sword is full tang and sharp.

This blade features a high quality handmade copper Tsunami tsuba with matching fuchi kashira (collar and end cap). Silver hardwood lacquered.  Handle has an authentic ray skin samekawa Tsuka wrapped in grey ito wrap, full tang and secured by two bamboo mekugi pegs.

This katana is designed specifically to endure the rigors of tameshigiri (target cutting). The blade is light weight and very quick. It is a sword that is extremely responsive and agile. The full tang construction and meticulous forge ensure that the blade will consistently perform for years to come.

• Handmade Folded differential clay hardened Maru Blade (13 folds 8192 layers) and polished by the traditional Japanese Hadori method
• The blade is full tang and sharp.
• Saya: The saya is a hardwood silver lacquered.
• Tsuka: The habaki is brass. Handmade high quality copper tsuba with matching fuchi and kashira. The ito is greu silk wrap with traditional criss-cross pattern over authentic white ray skin samegawa. The tang is double pinned with bamboo mekugi.