I was searching for hilt wrapping details and came across a site for Nostro swords. They have a great introductory photo illustration of the traditional making of a sword. It may take a minute or two to load since it is one large page.

http://nostro-swords.co.za/construc.htm

I did not recall seeing this brand in the reviews. Does anyone on the forum have any experience with them?

I believe the smith in question is named Nostro Titus, and he used to post a long time ago on SFI sharing some of his work. I recall it looking really good, though I haven't seen him post in a long time.

Nostro Titus still posts on SFI now and then. Last one was a month or so back, sharing some tsuba work. I know nothing personally about his work but it does look nice...

Im probably ordering a sword from Nostro in a bit so i hope ill be the first to write a good review of his work.