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David Mirabile RONIN Battle Tanto WIP (PAGE 25 NEW CUTTING VIDEO)
- Thread starter JParanee
- Start date
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- May 4, 2011
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- 1,405
^^^this, Ben Seward did a zirc guard for some fighters. Small run of Tanto's from David?
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- Jan 31, 2012
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- 4,704
Here is the Habaki set on the Tsuba to reference size
Awesome
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2006
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- 15,019
Hammered zirc!
John great example
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- Dec 23, 2006
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Menuki Time
So let's talk Menuki
For those that do not know what this refers to I'll explain
These are the small ornamental at times pieces that go underneath the handle wrap
Do they serve a function ?
In olden times I believe they did
It is true in latter days of the samurai they became Samurai Jewlery and are still such today
You hear different opinions but I do believe they serve a purpose and that is to fill the grip in a sense as a small palm swell
Mostly seen are dragons etc
On a lot of my swords I use Dragonfly Menuki
The insect itself means a lot to me and on my back which is covered in Japanese Samuraish
tattoos there are three dragonfly flying around 2 ronin squaring off to fight aka Don Draeger
These dragonfly have my 3 daughters names in their bodies
Don't mind the red marks I took the pic after doing stupid Bullwhip tricks
I even have an airboat named Dragonfly
Back to the Menuki
I thought of sourcing my typical dragonfly Menuki but we had a thought
Maybe to really emphasize the Purpose of Menuki we would use a sculpted something and make a domed elliptical oval that would really act as a palm swell
Nothing crazy but truly functional
One of David's favorite material is artifact Ivory
He uses it as Kashira (handle butt) etc
I did not want any Ivory on this piece in any areas that could be damaged due to impact ...... Like the butt of a handle etc
All of a sudden we had a place for one of David's favorite materials to be placed in an area that would be very protected and that is easily shaped etc
So you Ivory purists turn your head
He started with this
Ground it to this
Than because I wanted creamy white Menuki on the dark carbon back ground with the dark wrap he further remove the wonderful dark layer to get to this
Know these will be reduced even more in size to fit the handle but David has a neat trick
Anyone who has soaked their cord wrapping in resin knows these wraps get hard as a rock and super grippy
He has a section of resin soaked cord he cut off a handle and he uses it to preview how things are going to look
Now remember these will be reduced even more and polished when he fits them to my handle but you get the feeling
How cool is that
Functional art and the only light covered pieces on this blade
I'm stoked and I'm waiting to see the handle wrapped with fitted Menuki in place
This is such an epic fucking piece for me and I've seen a lot
I have not been this excited about a piece in years
So let's talk Menuki
For those that do not know what this refers to I'll explain
These are the small ornamental at times pieces that go underneath the handle wrap
Do they serve a function ?
In olden times I believe they did
It is true in latter days of the samurai they became Samurai Jewlery and are still such today
You hear different opinions but I do believe they serve a purpose and that is to fill the grip in a sense as a small palm swell
Mostly seen are dragons etc
On a lot of my swords I use Dragonfly Menuki
The insect itself means a lot to me and on my back which is covered in Japanese Samuraish
tattoos there are three dragonfly flying around 2 ronin squaring off to fight aka Don Draeger These dragonfly have my 3 daughters names in their bodies
Don't mind the red marks I took the pic after doing stupid Bullwhip tricks
I even have an airboat named Dragonfly
Back to the Menuki
I thought of sourcing my typical dragonfly Menuki but we had a thought
Maybe to really emphasize the Purpose of Menuki we would use a sculpted something and make a domed elliptical oval that would really act as a palm swell
Nothing crazy but truly functional
One of David's favorite material is artifact Ivory
He uses it as Kashira (handle butt) etc
I did not want any Ivory on this piece in any areas that could be damaged due to impact ...... Like the butt of a handle etc
All of a sudden we had a place for one of David's favorite materials to be placed in an area that would be very protected and that is easily shaped etc
So you Ivory purists turn your head
He started with this
Ground it to this
Than because I wanted creamy white Menuki on the dark carbon back ground with the dark wrap he further remove the wonderful dark layer to get to this
Know these will be reduced even more in size to fit the handle but David has a neat trick
Anyone who has soaked their cord wrapping in resin knows these wraps get hard as a rock and super grippy
He has a section of resin soaked cord he cut off a handle and he uses it to preview how things are going to look
Now remember these will be reduced even more and polished when he fits them to my handle but you get the feeling
How cool is that
Functional art and the only light covered pieces on this blade
I'm stoked and I'm waiting to see the handle wrapped with fitted Menuki in place
This is such an epic fucking piece for me and I've seen a lot
I have not been this excited about a piece in years
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2006
- Messages
- 15,019
Mike157
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2006
- Messages
- 3,158
And just in case you hadn't seen the photo or Joe's cutting video before....this is the "fancy" version. I cannot tell you how much David's work speaks to me. (Even when I'm on my meds. ) I was lucky enough to see the new blade at the Blade Show. It's going to be an incredible piece (in my opinion). Very excited to see each installment of this thread. Thanks again, Joe. Mike
) I was lucky enough to see the new blade at the Blade Show. It's going to be an incredible piece (in my opinion). Very excited to see each installment of this thread. Thanks again, Joe. Mike
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2006
- Messages
- 15,019
I hated to part with that piece buddy
But it could not have gone to a better Patron of the arts
As beautiful as that piece is I was more impressed with how it cut
What was more impressive and what we were curious about was how the blades finish would hold up
It did not mare is]n the least bit and that photo was taken after the cutting
I wiped it off put Tuff Glide on it and shipped it to Coop
I believe it helped that I did not cup a cut
I've cut with some awesome pieces from the best performance bodies on the planet to you name it and if you have never cut with a big Tanto you are missing out on a genre of blade that truly performs
David's stuff is as good as it gets in the cutting department
The best Tanto I ever cut with was a Phill Hartsfield ElSalvadore Tanto
Mikes ornate Tanto above equaled it
The Hartsfield was a 5K piece
[video=youtube;yBTkMjD5u60]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBTkMjD5u60[/video]
But it could not have gone to a better Patron of the arts
As beautiful as that piece is I was more impressed with how it cut
What was more impressive and what we were curious about was how the blades finish would hold up
It did not mare is]n the least bit and that photo was taken after the cutting
I wiped it off put Tuff Glide on it and shipped it to Coop
I believe it helped that I did not cup a cut
I've cut with some awesome pieces from the best performance bodies on the planet to you name it and if you have never cut with a big Tanto you are missing out on a genre of blade that truly performs
David's stuff is as good as it gets in the cutting department
The best Tanto I ever cut with was a Phill Hartsfield ElSalvadore Tanto
Mikes ornate Tanto above equaled it
The Hartsfield was a 5K piece
[video=youtube;yBTkMjD5u60]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBTkMjD5u60[/video]
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2006
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- 15,019
Preach it, JParanee!
David Mirabile's work is inspiring to the extreme.
Sam so is yours
I've watched you grow as a maker and grown you have
Years ago I was a doubter of the Ti Swords and chalked them up as video game pretend
I was wrong and you have changed my opinion .... Much respect buddy
You will be remembered for what you do.....people have messed with Ti blades for years but you caught my attention and I'm sure as young as you are when the dust settles you will redefine that genre
Thank you for the kind words
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- Dec 27, 2013
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- 10,013
My thanks to you for the kind words, and for the work you do in support of custom blade-making. The enthusiasm of folks like you is like rocket fuel, propelling the constant evolution of swords and knives.
Hopefully the (grinder) dust won't settle anytime soon!
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2006
- Messages
- 15,019
My thanks to you for the kind words, and for the work you do in support of custom blade-making. The enthusiasm of folks like you is like rocket fuel, propelling the constant evolution of swords and knives.
Hopefully the (grinder) dust won't settle anytime soon!
You seriously changed my views on a lot of things and I'm kinda hard headed
Bravo Sam