This is a modern Bowie blade. Hand forged from 1095 high carbon steel and selectively hardened, it has been polished to show the hamon or crystal transformation revealing the heat treatment. The blade length is 8.5" and features a long swedge. The fittings are fire blued iron and the handle is carved ebony. The spacer between the ferrule and the handle is made from an alloy of gold and copper called Shakudo. It patinas to a purple color and I gold plated it then polished off the rim and colored it purple. It is subtle, but gives it a just the right transition. The overall length of the piece is just over 14". The fluting and shape of the handle make it very comfortable in the hand. The ebony was originally cut for a piano, ten years ago, and has undergone some stabilizing, so it is probably significantly more solid than most.
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Dan's BAKCA award winning wakizashi. It was featured in Tactical Knives magazine. Blade is hand forged 1050 steel with hamon. Copper habaki and seppa. Steel tsuba, fuchi and kashira. Silk over ray skin handle with sterling silver menuki. Saya is poplar with a textured black laquer coating and brown sageo tied in the traditional knot. This sword is a sole authorship piece, with Dan even creating the fittings and menuki 16" ha-watari, 22" overall
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Length of cutting edge to habaki 27 1/2". Depth at habaki 1 1/4".Thickness at habaki 7mm. Sori 16mm. Hamon is sugaha. Polish is a very full working polish and has evidence of utsuri Length overall 42". Tsuka is 11 1/2", wood with black ray skin and black leather ito. Fuchi and kashira are Paul's own, with a dove of peace theme made in copper silver. Brass seppa. brass habaki with cat scratch pattern.Tsuba is polished cast iron again with dove. Black lacquer saya with copper silver fittings and black cotton sageo.
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This custom katana, Mokkou, was created by Michael Crampton of http://shadowofleaves.com. It has a carbon steel, through hardened Last Legend blade. The blade has been acid etched to bring out patterns in the steel. This blade, as with all Last Legend blades, is ment to be used and will stand up to the rigors of competition cutting. It has a highly polished nickle habaki and smoked black and polished nickle seppa. The traditional Mokko pattern tsuba is black iron. The menuki are gold and black in the Aoi 3 Mallow pattern and the fuchi/kashira are in blackened iron in the Higo style.The 11 1/2" long tsuka is done in white same with high quality Tetsu silk ito tied in the Hineri-maki style with a Blue and Green shigueuchi style sageo. The saya is traditional gloss black.
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The damascus is from Nick Smolen and the pattern is a ladder with the rungs at an angle. David sent a sketch so Nick could forge it to shape. The guard is mild steel that David sculpted and blued. The "D" part actually ran straight off the bottom until after the front was fitted to the blade, then it was hot forged to shape. The handle is of course fossil warlus ivory. The blued steel finial has a carved cabochon of walrus ivory in it and the leaf shaped prongs are folded over it in sort of a Tiffany style setting.
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Weight: 14.4oz Blade Length: 13.82" Total Length: 18" Blade Thickness: 0.22" Blade Width: 1.23" Blade: Mosaic Damascus forged from 52100, 1084, 15N20 and 1018 carbon steels Bolster: Blued mild steel "S" guard Handle: Carved mammoth ivory Sheath: 10 - 12 oz. Oak tanned leather sheath by maker
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