W2 Short sword - Now in the owner's hands.

SBranson

SBranson

Joined
Oct 29, 2006
Messages
2,912
I just finished this last night. I'm calling it a short sword or maybe a long knife.. It arose out of a desire to fuse a Japanese styled blade with a more western style of handle and the dropped edge.

The blade has a Shobu Zukuri geometry with a longer tip.

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The blade is Aldo's W2, water quenched and measures 14 1/2" from tip to guard.
The OAL is 20 3/8", the handle is Ringed Gidgee with wrought iron fittings and copper pin, habaki and seppa (spacers)

Thanks for looking.

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Wow, that is just SO gorgeous. Love the guard, the handle and the blade. Yep, that's pretty much everything. How did you finish the Gidgee?

Roger
 
OH MAN! That is so sweet! Crazy hamon and I really like the way you made the copper spacer a touch proud of the wrought fittings, nice touch:thumbup:
 
Thanks. The gidgee is sanded to 600x and then I have a Beall buffing system that has Tripoli, White diamond and Carnauba wax.

The lighting wasn't great to show some of the detail but the guard is forge finished on the flats and hammered on the edge to create a bit of a lip then polished. I like the combination of the rough and the refined. I carried that into the "ferrule" (what's that really called?) where the troughs are left rough and etched for texture with the polished peaks.
 
Stuart... You are doing great stuff lately. I love what you are doing with Japanese motifs.

Your habakis are looking good. Silver solder? Where did you learn? I struggle with those.
 
Long knife is apt. I like it a lot! Fit and finish are absolutely perfect, and your hamon is second to none. Excellent work all around.

How well do you think that would handle during tameshigiri omote? I'm curious about the tang length and W2's edge holding and toughness.
 
Thanks. I like the Japanese style but I am enjoying more appropriating elements of it and doing something different.

The habaki is silver soldered and I have to admit, this one turned out absolutely seamless. :) I learned initially from youtube but then refined the process watching Walter Sorrells' videos. I think the main thing is to make sure the joint is perfectly clean, sanded to 320x so there's no oxides.

Oops... Roger, I forgot that I put on polymerized tung oil sealer before the buffing... It's a recommended part of the process.

The tang goes to about the 5" mark of the handle so there's lots of tang. I can't see why it wouldn't handle cutting quite well and the W2 should hold a nice edge.
 
Wow Stuart... beautiful work. The lines on the blade look sharp and crisp. I love the shot along the spine at the tip... :thumbup: very cool. The fittings look very nice... though it would be nice to see them in better lighting. I would not have known that the guard and spacer had texturing on them if you hadn't mentioned it. I'd also bet that the gidgee has a lot more detail in it than shows up in the photos. I snagged a couple of nice blocks from Mark... and if yours is anything like them, there's a lot more magic that's not showing in the photos.
The hamon, as usual, is fantastic. Very jealous of that. ;):D
 
Exceptional hamon, and the shots of the habaki and tip geometry are just beautiful, that is to say, seriously inspirational.

It's also fun to see you playing with two cultural influences.

John
 
What a beautiful blend of styles. Love the radiused edge on the guard and the domed spine. Together with the dark, subtle finish of the handle, the whole package emits a rich, quiet elegance. Nice work! :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the response. I definitely think someone will be happy with this! no doubt this joins the category of "knives I wish I could own" because I'd use this until I died then request it be buried with me.
 
Stuart this is another great work coming out of your hands man, this one came out really good again. Very nice man, astounding hamon and the habaki that's just quality work!
 
Great hamon, handle and fittings, but most of all a marvelous blade all around that really comes alive all together. :thumbup:

Eric
 
turned out fairly average...
 
Not!!!
 
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