Unfinished L6 to be polished and mounted

This is an L6 Bainite katana by Howard Clark. I have already started the project and it is slated to be completely mounted and polished by the end of May 2008. The entire project is available. Unfortunately the owner of this sword has to sell it immediately due to a very serious medical issue facing him and his family. So I am sincerely hoping to find it a new home as fast as possible.

The sword is a Howard Clark L6 Bainite katana made in the last year or so. It is an impressive, robust piece made with the experienced martial artist/tameshigiri practitioner in mind. It was made with a thicker motohaba of 34.25 wtih a kasane of 6.25mm with a so-called "high" shinogi (meaning the shinogi-ji surface angle back towards the mune). This design is *extremely* popular among JSA practitioners who practice tameshigiri. The wide profile of the blade from edge to back results in an extremely sharp edge angle. That combined with Howard's Clark's expert shaping and the inherent resilience of the L6 bainite construction methods yeilds pretty much the ultimate cutting blade design. This blade is *extremely* sharp and will cut aggressively.

Unlike many swords already on the market made for aggressive cutting which tend to feel heavy and unwieldly, Howard was able to forge a more subtle shape into this piece. The tapering of the shinogi-ji surfaces (distinctive of most of his work) and the subtle tapering allowed him to create a larger profiled blade that is still remarkably well balanced in the hand. The center of balance of the bare blade as balanced on the mune is 7" forward of the munemachi. Once mounted this will be a very nice, maneuverable blade. The sori of the piece is .6 inches.

Since the blade impressed me as being a serious blade for the serious martial artist and since the blade shape makes conventional fittings less optimal for the mounts, I had already contacted Patrick Hastings of Tagane Arts to get his feedback and ideas on fittings. Patrick is working on pure iron fittings made specifically for this sword's unique dimensions. My idea was to use simple, antiqued iron fittings that most any bushi would be proud to have. Understated elegance and strength in one package. These are not going to be soft metal fittings, but harder, tougher pure iron much like what was common in pre-edo Japan when the country was almost constantly at war. I felt fittings of this style would fit a sword like this best. I also asked Patrick to make a armourer's style tsuba in the same pure iron and antique them all to match.

I also have a simple set of antique iron dragon menuki that I was saving for some special sword someday. This was going to be the sword for those menuki.

I had not yet decided on colors although black is always good for a sword like this. I had priced this out assuming silk tsukamaki on a "conventional" length tsuka with a single color saya.

So this is going to be a very special sword. It is not going to be a flashy, gaudy dress up and impress the Daimyo piece. It is going to be a serious, austere, understated sword meant for serious sword work.

As I said, everything is already in progress. If someone buys this sword and wants to make some changes, we can discuss it, but keep in mind the ball is already rolling...

Howard Clark opened up his queue very briefly last year and sold out every available slot almost immediately. So he is not taking orders and when you find an L6 blade on the open market it is selling for a significant premium. And as most know, I'm not taking on new work either. Frankly most everyone I know doing high end work is not taking commissions -- we're all too backlogged, so here's a chance to get something relatively quickly.

If you want this sword when it is finished in May, I will need a payment up front of $6600. This will allow me to pay the original owner back what he's already invested into the piece for the sword, fittings, habaki, etc. If the buyer wants we can *discuss* changes to the fittings, but keep in mind that Patrick has already got this project in his queue for work. If the fittings design is changed too much it can significantly push back the completion date. I will be flexible with colors, ito, tsuka length, etc. as those don't require wholesale changes to the entire design.

The total price will be $9,350. So $6,600 up front with the balance due as the sword nears completion. Shipping, insurance, handling etc. outside the normal will cost extra.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

SOLD

SOLD

28.5" nagasa L6 Bainite Katana by Howard Clark