Clay tempered odachi

Odachi or nodachi was a type of traditionally made Japanese sword used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Odachi are difficult to produce because their length makes traditional heat treatment more complicated: The longer a blade is, the more difficult (and expensive) it is to heat the whole blade to a homogeneous temperature, both for annealing and to reach the hardening temperature. The quenching process then needs a bigger quenching medium because uneven quenching might lead to warping the blade.  

This odachi is intricately forged in the honsanmai lamination structure. The edge is made of 1095 high carbon steel which has high hardness while the sides are made of folded steel which has high flexibility and has a beautiful grain pattern or hada.

This odachi is differentially hardened and has a visible hamon. The tsuka is wrapped with genuine rayskin and synthetic silk ito. The pattern on the saya is shell patchwork. The koiguchi, kojiri and kurigata are buffalo horn. The fittings are made of copper.