Katana parts (where to purchase?) and Hamon Question

Havoc550

Havoc550

Joined
Oct 9, 2011
Messages
758
I am about to build my first katana, although it will be more wakizashi length due to my oven, it will have traditional parts. I am looking for a place to get a habaki, seppa, fuchi, kashira, menuki, and tsuba. I found a few places, but if someone has a recommendation, please let me know.

I currently have 1084, 1075 and 5160 to choose from for steels. This is not going to be a a traditionally forged blade, I am just going to grind away a blade shape and probably differentially quench/harden it. I am still a novice on grinding and quenching, but I want to hopefully have the possibility of a decent hamon at the end. I know there is probably a ton of info out there already, but since I already have a question posted, I figured I would ask here. Which steel of the three would you choose?

And on a side note, do you buy the clay for the differential heat treat or make your own?
 
One possibility is a fellow named "Fred Lohman". You can also try the Nihonto Message Board. Like anything else, it all depends on what you want to spend.
 
Nice find, thank you. For future projects, I will definitely look for higher quality parts from that site. I am probably going to grab some parts from Kult Of Athena right now. They have a few cheap kits that will get me by.
 
The steel furniture from Fred Lohman is about as good as it gets....avoid brass or copper fuchi kashira at all costs.....if the sword gets used these tend to green out something fierce and sweat makes them STINK!!!!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Nice blade J W, it looks very nice. I see you used 1084, that been my exclusive steel for the last several months. Were you able to produce a visible hamon by any chance? Its hard to tell from the pics.

Thanks for the extra backing on Fred's parts, Kohai, I will definitely get those when I make something worthy. Until my blades look and handle better than what I have produced so far, they deserve stinky parts.
 
Keep in mind if you want a hamon 5160 will not take one. It is a great steel for swords otherwise, though.
 
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