Soshu Kitae Tanto 11"

[bubba-san]

Thought I would post this one up . Working on this for a while . Construction is sanmai very similar to Soshu Kitae blade .The famous sword smith Masamune used the "Soshu" seven layer construction method.
This one has the 5 sections ,hard super blue edge , soft iron in center. And spine which is high carbon . and cladding.
the difference is the cladding which is multiple layer mallable iron , where as, soshu had 4 layers of cladding
I will Ht and polish with watersones which will expose the hard cutting edge of the Tanto . Cutting edge is
11" OL is 15" +..... Nice heavy duty blade , should be a good cutter when finished ...... Bubba

 

[bubba-san]

Tomorrow morning ,I am go to heat treat and temper . Hope it stays together ? Sanmai and other complicated laminates can be touchy when HTn. When this thing hits non-magnetic into the warm oil it goes . I havent made up my mind if its going to be aichuchi or hamadashi style ?
One has a small tsuba and the other does not . I am kind of leaning towards the Hamadashi style (tsuba) . What do you think ? Got some nice honika wood for Saya straight from japan . So this will about as close as you can get to traditional Japanese Tanto . This thing is wickedly sharp , just from shaping the blade . I will need to dull it a little for HT , dont need any warping or cracking .I forged this one pretty good so I am more worried about warpage than cracking or coming apart ..

Bubba-san

 

[BonhamBlades]

freeking amazing

 

[rhinoknives]

Bubba-San!
Great looking blade you have there!

Laurence
www.westsidesharpening.com/

 

[bubba-san]

Just took it out of oven ( kitchen) and no cracks it did have a slight bend but, whats nice about this stuff you can straighten it with wood mallet
and its fine . Now its soaking in white vinegar to remove decarb and burnt on oil , also etches it , so I will have and Idea what its going to look like

 

[Dan Pierson]

Is that because only the edge, and maybe the back, could possibly crack?

 

[bubba-san]

Its pretty hard to crack this stuff but , it will warp a bit . It might crack if I water quenched it . Even when fully hardened it will bend instead of breaking , because the folded iron remains soft , it doesnt harden and protects the edge and spine .

 

[bubba-san]

soshu kitae tanto



I finished hardening and etch . looks a little better than before , with the blue paper core it is a vitual razor..I am not kidding
Got some new Honika wood for saya , when I finish that part , I will post it up . Bubba