Katana

The black mamba is a highly venomous snake endemic to Africa. It got its name from its dark coloration and black mouth which gives it a very deadly look. Ryan1210 is a katana with a black theme and with a lethal look as the snake from which it is named after. The tsuba, fuchi and kashira are made of blackened brass with a snake design. The habaki and seppa are also blackened brass. The tsuka is hardwood wrapped with black rayskin and black suede ito. Suede is a tough material which helps make an excellent grip on the handle of the sword. The saya is matte black with a partial wrap of unpolished black rayskin. It also has black buffalo horn koiguchi, kojiri and kurikata.

The blade is made of differentially-hardened 9260 spring steel with kissaki moroha zukuri geometry. This unique blade form is a rare and old style of sword and may be a transition between the Japanese double-edged sword and the tachi. One of the famous swords with the kissaki moroha zukuri style is the Kogarasu Maru or "Little Crow" which was forged sometime in the early Heian or late Nara period. The Kogarasu Maru is a treasure of the Taira Clan and now a part of the Japanese imperial collection.

Ryan1322 is a katana with a shinogi zukurigeometry. Its blade is made of folded 1095 high carbon steel. The blade has no groove and the folding of the blade during forging produces a very distinct and beautiful raindrop pattern. This is different from the appearance of the usual folded steel which has a wavy hada. The hada on this blade looks like irregularly-shaped ripples.

The tsuka is made of hardwood wrapped with red, rayskin panels and black synthetic silk ito. The red saya is hardwood with grooves and has a buffalo horn koiguchi and black-brown sageo.

Tamahagane, which in Japanese literally means "jewel steel" or "precious steel", is a type of steel made in the Japanese traditional way. Tamahagane is made by smelting iron sand in a clay furnace called "tatara" and mixing it with charcoal to produce steel with various carbon content. This very laborious process takes as much as 3 days. After the smelting process, the tatara is broken and the steel bloom or "kera" is broken and swordsmiths segregate and collect the steels with various carbon contents.

Making a katana from tamahagane requires high level of expertise from the swordsmith. Swordsmiths will laminate the different types of steel collected from the kera to create a sword which has a hard edge, soft core and springy sides.

Ryan1180 is a katana or more specifically a handachi with a blade made of Chinese tamahagane. A handachi or "half-tachi" is a blade with tachi style fittings on the tsuka but has a saya that of a katana. The blade of this sword is hazuya-jizuya polished to bring out the beauty of the blade. It has a sugu or straight hamon and the hada of the blade can be clearly seen. The habaki, seppa, fuchi, menuki and kabuto-gane are all made of chromed brass while the tsuba is silver-plated. The tsuka is made of hardwood and fully wrapped with one-piece genuine rayskin. The saya is made of hardwood and painted with high quality black piano painting. Black buffalo horns are used as koiguchi, kurikata and kojiri.  The sword is fully customizable.

The blade is honsanmai lamination, 1095 high carbon steel is the cutting edge,folded steel is the jacket steel. It is differentially hardened and has a visible hamon. The area between hamon and cutting edge is hazuya polished, so it looks differently. The dragon and flowers are engraved by hands. The tsuka is made of hardwood, it's wrapped with one-piece genuine rayskin and synthetic silk ito. The saya is made of hardwood and partially wrapped with unpolished genuine rayskin. The koiguchi, kojiri and kurigata are polished buffalo horns. The tsuba, fuchi and kashira are made of brass.

The blade is made of T10 tool steel, it is differentially hardened and has a visible hamon. The area between hamon and shinoji is hazuya polished, so it looks differently. The tsuka is made of hardwood, it's wrapped with genuine rayskin and real leather ito. The saya is made of hardwood, the koiguchi, kojiri and kurigata are polished buffalo horns. The tsuba is made of iron. The motif of this sword is fire, so the saya is red and there's a fire engraving on the blade.

Ryan1168 is one of our midlevel swords. The blade is of a shinogi-zukuri geometry and in a gyaku kobuse style of lamination. The edge is made of 1095 high carbon steel while the core is made of a softer steel. The blade is differentially-hardened with a natural hamon and can take on hard targets. The tsuka is made of hardwood, wrapped with genuine rayskin and synthetic silk ito. The tsuba, fuchi and kashira are all made of copper inlayed with silver and feature an intricate flower theme. The menuki is a silver praying mantis while the habaki and seppa are also made of brass. The saya is made of hardwood with black buffalo horn koiguchi, kurikata and kojiri. It has a smooth, black lacquer finish and has grooves along its length. The sageo is black synthetic silk.

The blade is honsanmai structure, 1095 high carbon steel is the core steel and cutting edge, folded steel is the jacket layer. The grains of folded steel is clearly visible. The blade is clay tempered and hazuya polished. The tsuka is made of hardwood, wrapped with one-piece genuine rayskin and synthetic silk ito. The saya is made of hardwood, the decorations on the saya are shell. Koiguchi, kurigata and kojiri are made of buffalo horns. Tsuba, fuchi and kashira are made of copper and plated with silver.