SBG Custom Katana Gallery

The Custom Katana Gallery below is designed to give you some idea of how many different combinations are possible with the $330 SBG Design Your Own Katana Project beyond the three customer submitted examples on the sales page and the two prototypes I had made up and tested initially here on my pages about Authentic Japanese swords.

Use this gallery as a starting place to get a few ideas and also as a resource to see how the inidvidual fittings look seperately and combined together in different lighting conditions.

Bear in mind that the forge DOES try to match everything together and will darken or lighten components to get an overall effect that may be slightly different than the stock photos, but tends to really bring it to life and make it gel, with feedback suggesting that it is much better than what was first anticipated!

So let’s take a look at how some of these custom Katana designs worked out:

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED PHOTOS

First up we have one of our custom Katana with a very dark theme; black rayskin, black cotton ito wrap (A5) a P2 Dragon themed tsuba and the matching C10 Dragon fittings as well as black textured saya (S11).

You might think it’s a little too dark, but the ‘all black’ look is very unique and popular and personally I think this particular design came together extremely well.

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This one is just a quick pic showing the detail on the gunome hamon that these custom Katana have that was submitted by a somewhat delighted customer...

While you cannot really see too much of the fittings in this picture, as the customer was really more enthralled by the beauty of this blades natural and unenhanced hamon, but for the record it had the B2 cord ito on a black same background, a P17 classically styled tsuba and C2 fittings.

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Here we see 2 custom Katana purchased by a customer side by side.

The one on the top is a very popular (and attractive) with a matching H16 bamboo tsuba and C8 Fuchi/Kashira, with bo-hi and all black fittings - topped off with a striking yellow saya. And below is a no-hi blade with traditional black on white cotton tsuka, and C1 Fuchi Kashira that have been colored to match the thick P17 style brass tsuba (the pic below illustrates how thick this solid brass tsuba really is)...

Below are a couple of pics of the blades natural hamons shining in the sunlight.

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Now I must admit that the H18 alloy tsuba is not the clearest pic in our selection. But a customer who selected it along with an almost equally unclear pic of the C3 fittings ended up with quite a stunning looking sword...

Very unique, and completed with the ever popular textured black saya.

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Here is another custom katana for the dojo - with the customer holding a classic H2 willow pattern alloy tsuba and matching black textured C11 Fuchi and Kashira.

Overall, a very attractive and practical looking piece - and the dojo shot in the background is one of my favorites.

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The pics on the design below one weren’t all that great (unfortunatley a lot of people who bought our custom Katana don’t have the best digital cameras and I had to exclude a lot of pics as they weren’t clear enough to show off here) but it does show another unique and attractive combination.

This is a 29” blade with bo-hi, with the attractive and distinctive T10 steel hamon quite clearly depicted below.

The fittings in this case were the A2 Tan cotton ito wrap over black same, a P9 Cormorant tsuba and C7 Fuchi Kashira that came together really very nicely – in the customers own words: “The fittings are beautifully made and match up with the tsuba quite well. The whole appearance of the sword is rustic and subdued - in short, it's just my style”.

The customers dojo also had a tatami mat tameshigiri session using this sword, and said: "In spite of the fact that I botched several cuts the sword took no damage. (My Sensei kept checking it for bends.)"

Here's a pic of the SBG Custom Katana in action:

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The next custom Katana has a very ‘crimson’ theme – with the first pic detailing the S5 sparkling crimson saya.

Below you can see the A4 Crimson Cotton ito wrap, set off beautifully against black rayskin. To furher enhance the contrast between red and black that is this swords theme, the P5 tsuba was darkened, giving it all a very unique effect that is one of the real benefits of these custom Katana.

MORE DESIGNS

You can see more photos of our custom Katana submitted by customers in this thread on the SBG sword forum, though the clearest ones are all shown above and most were taken from this thread anway.

However, here are a few more combinations of prototypes and combination test swords that have been photographed by my agent in Canada.

First one is a unique combination with a 28" blade without bo-hi (solid blade), P4 Dragon themed tsuba and matching C10 dragon fittings. But most unique is the black and gold B1 "tiger" style synthetic silk ito wrap and sageo on a black rayskin background and deep blue saya.

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Next is a much more conservative and traditional design, with P24 'chrysanthemum' tsuba, a 28" blade with bo-hi and black on white tsuka fittings with a textured black saya.

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Here is a 27” blade with bo-hi with A4 crimson cotton ito over black same (I do suggest that if you go for crimson ito, you get black rayskin as white just doesn’t really give the same contrast).

This custom Katana is completed with a P8 Brass Dragonfly tsuba and has C7 Fuchi and Kashira as well as a glossy black saya.

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Next up we have a custom Katana with a standard length 28” blade and bo-hi, a standard black cotton ito and white rayskin handle – but I think that the S8 saya (blue with glossy, sparkling finish) really sets it off beautifully.

As does the P24 ‘fan’ themed tsuba and C5 wave themed Fuchi Kashira combination.

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Below is a 27” blade custom Katana with bo-hi and another sparkling blue (S8) saya, but also with matching A1 blue cotton ito wrap on the tsuka.

It is set off with a very traditional looking brass P18 floral tsuba and C6 plum themed Fuchi Kashira.

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The next one is one of my favorites, 29” blade with bo-hi and all black fittings (S12 glossy black saya).

The fuchi/kashira is a type C8 and the tsuba an alloy H16, a matching set with a bamboo theme – and personally I think this combination looks stunning.

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Finally, we have quite a unique one here that I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but I think the end result speaks for itself.

28” blade with bo-hi, A2 tan cotton ito, white rayskin, and the P2 Brass Dragon Tsuba and matching C10 Dragon Fuchi/Kashira plus a S11 textured black saya created a very unique and attractive looking sword!

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Well, I hope that you’ve found a few ideas here – and have a clearer understanding of how all the components come together to create your own unique custom Katana design.

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To read a through overview about these swords and see some destructive testing videos of the T10 tool steel we use to make the blades, click here

To start designing your own custom Katana, click here!