Ullr Customs

Been a little while since I posted, but here's the fruits. One camp knife done, along with a field/survival knife both done except for sheaths. Also a decent sized seax nearing completion.

Here's another build I've gotten stuck into- this is a 1095 carbon steel general purpose field knife.

It's got a 6.5" recurved blade with appleseed edge grind, slightly clipped point, slight distal taper, false edge, and textured thumb grip along the 90 degree back. 10 inches total length.

Just gave it water quenched heat treat and temper and I'm pretty sure it went without a hitch. Indicators are that it's going to have a very nice hamon- landscape inspired being an outdoors knife.

Looking forward to seeing how this one grinds up- could be a stunner 😀

Latest update on my first full tanto build!
It's a 1095 carbon blade in hira zukuri style, differentially quenched with clay in water- so the hamon is real. The slight sori (curvature) is natural due to the quench. I've added a little extra niku (thickness behind the edge) for extra strength.

I've made the seppa (spacers) in brass, forged the habaki (blade collar) from copper, the tsuba (guard) is made of buffalo horn but not finished yet, and the fuchi (handle collar) is also forged from brass but given a patina to darken it.

The tsuka (handle) and saya are both being made. Both will be fitted out with traditional materials, saya being finished off with a modern lacquer.

Well here it is everyone, my first attempt at a Japanese style blade from scratch!

It's an 8.5" tanto blade, in 1095 carbon steel based on a hira-zukuri style. It's got a prominent hamon and small natural sori (from the water quench due to a differentially hardened blade), and I gave it some extra niku behind the edge to make it a bit tougher.

I have a lot of firsts in this one! First Japanese style blade, first blade in 1095 carbon steel, first hamon, first use of jizuya/hazuya, first etch and first forged habaki.

Would love some comments and thoughts- be kind though 😉. I already know there is LOADS of room for improvement in this one lol!

Anyway, here's a couple of pics!

Here's another small job that I've completed this week.

Added a shim to the Ha (blade) section of this iaito saya to keep it snug.

This generally a maintenance job on these swords. If someone is using the sword often as is the case in training, then it's something you can expect to do a number of times.

With these smaller jobs complete, it's back to making progress on the bigger ones!

Hi all!

I have focussed on a few smaller jobs the last few weeks. A few saya shims, a minor katana polish and some knife sharpening, along with a few saya touchups. Quite the mix of little jobs!

I haven't taken pics of any shims, but here's a few before/after pics of the polished blade and a minor saya fix. Apologies for the quality of the pics, I'm obviously not that good a photographer 😂

Although any polish will affect a hamon to some extent, the technique and materials I use are hamon friendly. It would take numerous such polishes to make a significant difference to the hamon on this Motohara.

Next update is here, back to work tomorrow so it's about to slow down a little.
Everything is falling nicely into place. I stained the samegawa to give it a more traditional weathered look. I have soaked and dry fitted it twice to the tsuka, paying close attention to how the join lined up on the ura side while doing fine trimming of the tsuka core and samegawa.
So now it's stained, trimmed and glued up, with the mekugi-ana drilled out.

Next update on the new refurb- making decent progress this week!

So, I have cut the tsuka core back enough to allow for the supplied tsuba and seppa. The fuchi and kashira are now both friction fitted.

It's starting to give a glimpse of how it'll look down the track.

Nice choices on the furnishings Tony, it is going to look stunning!

Time for the first update on the new project!

Over the last couple of days, the new tsuka has been carved and glued up. I've box-profiled it, and carved the end to fit the supplied kashira.

Everything is friction fit as it should be, next is to cut in the fuchi, then start profiling the tsuka shape.