L6 katana being finished now

Now in the queue for April 2008 but available for sale now -- 3 options for purchase

Bare Blade (in machine finish, no habaki, available immediately): $4000.00 USD

Polished in shirasaya with Gold Plated Solid Silver habaki (April 2008): $6650.00 USD

Fully polished in modern higo fittings, solid gloss saya, doeskin ito (April 2008): $8650 USD

This is a wide mihaba shinogi zukuri L6 "Bainite" katana by mastersmith Howard Clark of Morgan Valley Forge. This blade is currently in my queue for polish and mounts and is slated for completion in April of next year (2008). I've had a *lot* of people asking me about L6 blades in polish and mounted so I went through my project list and am announcing this one a bit early.

I am backlogged and behind as most of my customers know (I am sorry about the delays, folks). So if someone wants to buy this blade in its current state, unpolished, in machine finish and without a habaki, the price is $4000. There are others now offering polishing and mounting services and if someone doesn't want to wait for me or pay prices at the level I charge, it is available at $4000. That price includes shipping and insurance in the continental US. Anywhere else, well, talk to me and we'll work out the cost of shipping.

The blade itself is 28.5 inches long, shinogi zukuri. It was forged in a style very popular among those competing today in cutting competitions -- i.e., a wider mihaba with a high shinogi tapering to a thinner mune. This creates a sharper edge angle and makes for an aggressive cutter. The motohaba is 34.25mm with a motokasane of 6.25mm. The sori is about .6 inches or 15.5mm. The overall weight of the bare blade is 1 pound, 12.6 ounces or about 810 grams (this is obviously just the bare blade).

When polished the sword will have an extended chu kissaki. You can make out the boshi in the following photo. Keep in mind that this is the bare blade before any foundation polishing. It will be significantly reshaped with a properly installed and shaped yokote and kissaki when finished.

The nakago is a bit longer and will accommodate a longer tsuka. If left to my own devices I would probably install a tsuka from 12-13" long on this blade to help balance things out where I like them. The robust nakago will require somewhat larger fittings. I may reshape the nakago slightly to accommodate more moderate fittings if I end up doing the mount.

As you can see from the photos this is a brand new blade, unpolished and not even drilled yet for a mekugi-ana. It was a blade Howard Clark was holding back for a while but it is now available.

I am offering this in three possible ways.

First is just the bare blade. If you want a genuine Clark L6 right now in machine finish, here is your chance. A good length (28.5" nagasa), sharp, and ready to finish. $4000 usd which includes shipping and insurance in the continental US.

Second is fully polished with a Gold Gilt Silver Habaki in alder shirasaya. Due for completion in April 2008. Total will be $6650 with $4500 required now and balance due on completion. Price includes shipping and insurance in the continental US.

The third option is fully polished in a fully mounted state. I plan to use high quality user fittings on this piece. Meaning my plans are to keep the costs down a bit and mount things up in my best "user" configuration. People sometimes tease me that my understanding of "user sword" is a bit different, but I think high quality of mounting is critical to a good user sword. So I don't cut corners on things like same wrap, quality tsukamaki, quality ito, and quality finish on the saya. But I can use less expensive fittings that are simple but high performance and durable. So the idea is decent quality modern Higo style fittings, a decent simple tsuba, full samegawa wrap lacquered black, quality reproduction menuki, and dark brown doeskin ito. The saya in "basic black" but with a light, subtle dusting of gold powder to give it some luminescence. Due for completion in April 2008 as well. Total for this blade fully polished and fully mounted will be $8650.00 with $5600 required up front and the balance due on completion in April of 2008. Price includes shipping and insurance in the continental US.

With the third option I will be open to some revisions to sizing, colors, etc. But keep in mind that some changes can significantly raise prices as the time involved in finding/designing/doing this stuff can be quite significant for me. Which is one reason I'm considering getting out of the business entirely once I clear my backlog.

If you're interested in buying the sword now or reserving this piece for April of 2008, contact me asap. First come first served and all that.

I will accept paypal for the customer's convenience but I will have to ask that the customer add 3% to cover the paypal fees if applicable. Otherwise check, money order or wire transfer are the best means of payment.

SOLD

28.5" Nagasa L6 "Bainite" katana by Howard Clark