San Mai Katana

I examined this sword at length at the Seattle Show as a judge....it was entered into the "Best Fixed Blade" category...the other two categories were "Best Folding Knife" and "Best Kitchen Knife".

This was a commissioned piece. The green finish, and the overall profile were the choice of the customer, as was the tsuka.

Obviously, swords are a whole different piece of fish than knives. The core on this one holds very close to the center, on both the ha and on the mune. Not much wavering, so that is cool right there. The carbon migration from core to skin is well handled, nicely balanced, showing me that Bill has a real understanding of the 52100 heat treating(duh, right?).:D

There were two problems that I had with an otherwise superlative sword. One is the tsuka treatment, it is untapered in the middle....most practicitioners like "Rikko" tsuka which has an almost hourglass shape, which helps orient the hand and assists in keeping the tsuka from twisting in the hand. This tsuka(again, per customer order) is virtually untapered, due apparently to his large hands and perhaps, aesthic preferences.

The other issue, mostly minor, was one of a slight "washiness" to the shinogi ji. I'm used to a "crisper" transition.

It is extremely important to keep in mind that the construction is sole authorship. Bill carved the saya and tsuka, and applied the same and silk ito. The diamonds on the wrap are clean and well spaced, the ito quite solid, without anymovement. It's quite an achievement, and while we are seeing more of this in modern times, the number of 'smiths capeable of pulling it off well are still few and far between.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I had fun checking this out in Seattle, nice work Bill. Dave, I'd love the chance at something like that.
 
Thank you all

this was a fun project but seemed to take forever. the blade of the sword was especially tedious because I had to keep cooling and checking to make sure the core was where it should be. the shibuichi and shakudo for the kozuka were fun, I did the alloy's myself and then cast the metal into hot water in the traditional method. I have read that casting into water helps exclude oxygen and also helps control grain size. I did notice that these were less prone to cracking/splitting during forging than when I have cast into an ingot mold and forged.

the black "flames" on the saya where done using the old hot rod painters trick of using a pure acetylene flame and letting the resulting smoke curl up and around the saya and then putting clear over the top.
 
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