Something I just finished. 22" nagasa naginata naoshi style L6 Bainite blade, 11.5" tsuka, doeskin ito (thanks, Ted), black lacquered same'. lacquered saya, antique shishi fuchi kashira, LegacySwords shishi menuki (thanks, Ted), antique tosho tsuba, custom radiused 14k gold seppa. Little bit of utsuri like mistiness running along the shinogi...

Talk about a fast, wicked blade...

For those of you not familiar with the terminology, nagainata naoshi means a blade that was once a naginata (a very large single edged polearm essentially) that was "corrected" by cutting it down to a size that could be used as a "sidearm". So in this instance, the blade was made to look like one of these blades. And the customer wanted a longer handle (tsuka) to accomodate his cutting style. The fuchi is the collar up at the sword guard, the kashira is the endcap, the seppa are washers, the tsuba is a "hand guard", the menuki are the handle ornaments. Same' is rayskin (this handle was built from alder wood, carved down to fit the tang exactly, wrapped with a singl large piece of high grade rayskin further compressing the core, the rayskin was then lacquered black to make it smooth, then wrapped with doeskin "lacing" that you see. Phew, enough explanation. Here's the pics...

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Traditionally this might be called a sort of chisa katana although that it really misleading. At the blade length here normally the handle would be a lot shorter, but like I said, the length and weight of the blade combined with the customer's desire for a more "robust" cutting blade pushed us to a longer handle for two hands. So very traditional in some senses.

Wonderful job, Keith !

That doe skin wrap is gorgeous and sure looks comfortable to weild !

A really wicked little piece , thanks for sharing ! Mac

Absolutely gorgeous...

Nice work Keith, and all involved, as usual.

The polish is amazing.

Thanks, guys.

And Merry Christmas to you all.