Ladder pattern katana

[steve sells]

I posted a section of this blade when I first etched it, now its ready for delivery.

Here is a 460 layer pattern welded katana I made for an Iaido practitioner
for light cutting, 29 inch blade, 1/2 inch sori, 0.3 inch thick at tsuba,
0.2 1 inch from tip, Habaki is copper, Tsuba is 1095 and A203E in a radial
ladder pattern. 1/4 thick.

Differentially ( clay) hardened, then tempered 4 hours at 440F. Very sharp,
the Client will make the rest of the mounts, saya etc.

[ddan7]

Wow! That's really nice. I'm sure your client will love that sword.

[markb]

Great job Steve, that's a beautiful blade. The Tsuba is especially nice with the radial pattern.

Now for a dumb question... whats a sori?

Mark

[Robert Mayo]

Great work Steve!

Bob

[steve sells]

the SORI is the amount of curve to the blade, When you lay the blade on a flat surface, its the measurement of the "gap" when the point and the back of the blade at the cross guard are on the table.

notes: its strange, a few months ago I started with almost 15 pounds of 1095 and L6 and I ended up with a katana. the Tsuba is only 60 layers.

I am honored people like It, I hope my client does, he had the curve and and length, and ladder pattern requested, the rest was up to me. I really wondered about doing a silver Habaki, and about using pure nickel rather than the a203e then hot bluing the tsuba.... so many ideas.... so little time.

[JPH]

Steve;

Actually the "proper term" for this hada would be Ayasugihada, which means Sugi grain..resembles the grain of the Sugi (cryptomeria) tree.

Geeze I know a lot of useless stuff....

you used 15 pounds of material?? man...we need to talk...

Looks great though....water or oil quench??

JPH

[steve sells]

Coal forge, and a 4.6 pound hammer and anvil is wastefull the rolling mill I built last year helps. not really 15 pounds, to be exact, 14 pounds 10.5 oz. scale plus the 1/4 inch grinder disk to make the ladder...

After I finish building my new shop, I will build a press. Not to out do the 85 + ton Julius Squeezer but in the 25 to 50 ton range would be nice.

But thank you Jim, praise coming from you is a high Compliment. And I used Oil quench

[HWooldridge]

Outstanding work, Steve - I hope you earned something at least in the five figures for it...

[steve sells]

5 ??? ummmmm no. You must have me confused with Howard Clark or Jim Hrisoulas, there are only a few that make blades deserving of those figures.

I think its the stone mushrooms I used in the leading photo, giving the illusion of a false grandeur. I will admit 4, and I should have charged more than I did. But I think many of us feel that way sometimes after finishing a longer than planned project.

[JPH]

Steve:

Methinks you have me confused with someone else...the vast majority of my work is priced well under 4 figures, at least for high carbon.. The welded stuff goes for a bit more but no where near 5 figures...

I would sooner sell 10 $100.00 pieces than 1 $1000.00 piece....more "stuff out there"..the better "advertising..plus you have far more "$100.00 customers that $1,000.00 customers" if you ask me..

JPH