The Finished O-Tanto

As I've mentioned before, this O-Tanto was gifted to me by a friend and I decided to change the look and feel of it quite radically and in an almost entirely non traditional fashion :)

This was the original, unaltered article.

So like I said, not a lot about this is traditional. I have done a full katate maki style wrap, but without gaps between the turns of ito. Then I have of course done a seperate wrap for the Ura and Omote knots at the end. The ito was actually folded in half, wet, and then wrapped tightly around a tin to make it easier to complete the end knots neatly. If you dont do this then it ends up looking like it's been tied by a five year old.

The saya was sanded down entirely, painted white and then the end was darkened and faded with black. the actual kojiri at the end is still solid white which gives it some more interest I felt.

The tsuba was made frrom scratch by myself out of mild steel. An abstract design was added using my favourite ferric chloride resist; Nail Varnish, and it was then etched, cleaned off and it fits like a charm. 

I am a huge fan of hamidashi style tsuba which is somewhere between aikuchi (no rim at all) and a standard sized tsuba. I think it makes for a more elegant look and less like it just came from EBay.

You can also see the enamelled copper wiring I used to continue the white, black and copper theme. It simply twists all the way down until it reaches the end knots and adds more visual flair.

Yep. Now onto the business end. It turns out this is a folded pattern welded steel and a little etch brought that right out.You cant see it in these photos but its quite visually appealing. I had nothing to do with that though apart from the etching to bring out the pattern, this was created as the blade was, at the forge.

Almost like a small wakizashi isn't it?

A couple of shots to show the proportions again, this time though, using my hands rather than random objects.

So yeah, another job done. This project, and probably others too, seems to have attracted the interest of my neighbour who is now interested in aqcuiring one himself. :)

i should warn him, it's addictive.

Stay sharp peeps, and have a wonderful day.