Ok. This is the bit that I've been dreading. This isnt a cosmetic habaki to demarcate the tsuka from the hamachi, this is to actually hold the damn thing together. Knocking up the blade was easy. Building a habaki was frustrating, disheartening, but eventually, it all started to come together. I thought I'd show you the yuk before the yay!
OK, so this is where it all started.
Firstly, it literally involved using a chisel and hammer to knock two large cuts into the back of the piece of cut copper and then clamping it to a piece of metal the thickness of the blade I'm looking at using with it.
Secondly, I used a combination of a lump hammer and a rubber mallet to attempt to convince the metal to form an L shape. By the time I'd done this, the damn thing needed re-annealing.
Here I am,s at in hospital for a lung infection that looks bad and Im blogging about this kwaiken style knife Ive just started. I often forget the before pictures so I thought I'd just add a small document for posterity.
Just a couple of pictures and as you can see, its a little terribad atm. the blue marks on the top of the kissaki are to remind me where the niku needs to be adjusted to keep everything uniform. It will more than likely a plain wooden shirasaya style design when finished. We shall see.
A little bit more altered and looking a little better apart from that damn tsuka. the channels are ok, but as you can see ive used paralell blanks to keep the ha side of the nakago against actual wood and tried to avoid potential break points.
