Sōdai Tamahagane Katana

Description of the Product

No shortcuts, no cheap shots - we went through a hard and time consuming process to offer you one of the greatest katana swords on the market. Every detail in this handmade katana has been considered carefully. The steel this sword is made of is full of myths and legends, it is rare and tough. This sword was created in honor of the finest sword art and the mythical skills of forging the most precious katana blade ever existed.

Historical Japanese samurai swords were made from tamahagane steel as it was judged to be the best steel available to make the precious and most prized swords the samurai carried as symbols of their power. Tamahagane was made already 1400 years ago in Japan, from iron sand. It was considered the purest steel, but is very time consuming and expensive to make. Making this special steel was considered lost art as cheaper foreign steel replaced tamahagane in Japan during late 1800's and early 1900's. Luckily this ancient steel making technology has been revived and the tradition has been saved. The most prized and most expensive, traditional Japanese katanas are nowadays made from tamahagane, steel that is very difficult and time consuming to make, but excellent material for a high performing katana and the most authentic and traditional material. The word Tamahagane directly translates to precious steel.

How the handforged Tamahagane blade is born:

As the springs flow through the mountains of Longquan, from the iron mines into the Ou River, the life of Tamahagane steel begins. Tiny grains of precious iron sand gather at the bottom of the mountain, in the Ou River, where the silt is then hand panned to collect enough iron sand for a blade. To make one Tamahagane blade, over 100 kilograms of silt needs to be panned.

The iron sand is then delivered to the master swordsmith, who heats it up and picks the best pieces of molten Tamahagane. Making a katana from Tamahagane requires an extraordinary level of expertise from the swordsmith. The pieces have to be strong and at the right carbon level. The experienced swordsmiths can tell the quality just by the look and feel.

After picking the best pieces and stacking them together, the swordsmiths will laminate different carbon level (0.6-1.5%) Tamahagane steel collected from the kera to create a sword which has a hard edge, soft core and springy sides for ultimate performance. This process turns the Tamahagane steel into a Honsanmai Tamahagane blade. The handforged sword is remarkably well balanced for exceptionally swift and effortless handling. One must handle this masterpiece in order to feel its outstanding potential.

The nagasa of this sword is hazuya-jizuya polished by hand and battle sharpened to bring out the beauty of the blade. It has a Suguha-hamon, a straight real clay tempered hamon allowing the Hada (visible lines between layers of steel in folded steel) of the blade to be clearly seen.

Details of this handmade Tamahagane katana:

To furthermore accessorise this engaging blade, we added 24K gold plated details on the blackened copper tsuba, fuchi and kashira. The custom brass habaki has the BattleBlades name hand-engraved in kanji characters. The fittings are first rate, the tsuka is katate-maki wrapped in brown premium grade silk Tsuka-ito.

Protecting the nagasa, is a black handmade hardwood saya with multiple thick layers of lacquer. We decided to go with an extra long premium grade silk Sageo with custom made buffalo horn Kurigata, to ensure maximum grip when pulling the sword from its saya.

Sōdai Tamahagane handmade katana comes in a branded wooden box with an embroidered BattleBlades Inc. silk sword bag and a serial numbered certificate of authenticity, as well as an additional certificate of authenticity.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Overall length: 103 cm / 40.6 inch / 3.4 shaku
• Blade/Nagasa: 71 cm / 27.9 inch / 2.343 shaku
• Handle/Tsuka: 27 cm / 10.6 inch
• Blade width at Guard/Motohaba: 3.15 cm / 1.24 inch
• Blade width at Tip/Sakihaba: 2.3 cm / 0.905 inch
• Blade thickness at Guard/Kasane: 7.5 mm / 0.3 inch
• Blade thickness at Tip/Sakikasane: 3.1 mm / 0.197 inch
• Blade/Nagasa material: Handforged, polished and hardened honsanmai tamahagane
• Blade Polishing: Hazuya-jizuya hand polishing
• Scabbard/Saya material: Hardwood - Buffalo horn - Premium grade silk
• Handle/Tsuka material: Hardwood - Stingray skin - Brown premium grade silk
• Guard/Tsuba material: Blackened copper with 24K gold plated details
• Weight without scabbard/saya: 1 190 g / 2.62 lbs
• Sharpness: Very sharp
• Manufacturer: BattleBlades