Advice on getting a katana

[Antonio Cejunior]

Hi Bill,

After Rich's post very little can be said.
However I'd like to add a little condiment to it.
Many of those who collect contemporary made katanas that are not nihon-tô, do not like production stuff. And like me, some at my Forum are moving from Katana to Dhas. But then that's another story.

Production swords have been for long overpriced. You pay over 1K for a serial piece that costs in the origin not more than $150. The rest is profit margin with a little for shipment in bulk. And what you get is something similar to the next guy plus all the hype. I learnt my lesson the hard way.

And the proof is the PPK series which is made of steel (cheap or more expensive, it takes the same amount of work) is much more affordable.

I know of a Thai company whose owner spoke to me and said they were making katanas out of laser cut blanks and had a very special way to add a hamon etch without any quench.

All this is scary to me. But then it all depends on what you want it for.

I don't dwell into the nihon-tô area, but have many smiths with who I worked and continue to work. Here are some FYI

My Oar Saya Katanaby Jesus Hernandez
Buckeye Burl Katana by Walter Sorrells
Mino Den Uchi-gatanaby Anthony DiCristofano
SHIBUMIby Howard Clark
Katsujin-ken by Rick Barrett
Seasoned Katana by Joe Walters
Athziluth by Howard Clark

But then all of these have been designed by me. That is the pleasure of owning stuff that would not fit into traditional concepts. I'm mainly politically incorrect

[Bill M]

Anthony,

For new made swords, these are exquisite. I particularly like Atziluth. The name has deep meaning from something I have been studying for almost 40 years.

Perhaps you are reaching to an ideal to call it that?

Thank you for your response,

Bill Marsh

[Antonio Cejunior]

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

Anthony,

For new made swords, these are exquisite. I particularly like Atziluth. The name has deep meaning from something I have been studying for almost 40 years.

Perhaps you are reaching to an ideal to call it that?

Thank you for your response,

Bill Marsh

Ah, I see Bill.
The Three of Life and the Kaballah.

Well, it was prompted after I designed the guard, tsuba. It happened that the person who did it is a kaballist, and he was absolutely stunned with the design in terms of numerology. It also stunned me as I was just guided by my own sense of harmony. He then sent me the Kabalistic explanations and I uploaded them for the record.

Hope you find it interesting.

[Bill M]

Thanks for all your input!

Got a modern made one. Good for a starter and will fun to do some chopping and learn a few sword forms while looking at antiques.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...9125&rd=1&rd=1

Turns out that two of the bladesmiths making custom swords mentioned in Antonio's post live near me. I am in contact with them.

I am still very interested in collecting antiques like the swords I already have, but seeing a lot of beauty and fun in the Japanese pieces.

[mross]

Bill,
This is where I started my antique sword collecting. If you want I can fill you in on what I learned. You should have my email.
Mike

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by mross

Bill,
This is where I started my antique sword collecting. If you want I can fill you in on what I learned. You should have my email.
Mike

thanks, Mike, will do.