Work available for sale currently
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Nami Tsuba
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Iris Tsuba
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I am open to consider comission work on a case by case basis.
A project begins with an idea. Sometimes the idea is in the mind of the customer. Others it starts with the maker. As the customer and the maker explore the possibility of bringing this idea into a reality, a dialog ensues. A flow of communication between the two takes them to explore issues of blade design and morphology, adornments, colors and materials. An outline of the time frame for completion of the project is established and careful attention to the budget and costs involved is made.
Then the gears are set in motion. Pencil, paper will come to play a role in the first step which involves detailed sketches and drawings of the vision in mind. This process of drawing on paper what the imagination sees helps me bring to a tangible entity what is to follow and sets the tone for the resulting work.
Procurement of the raw materials is the next step. Homemade steel in the fashion of tamahagane or modern steel carefully chosen for its performance characteristics, the wood for the handle or scabbard, the choice of thread for the handle wrap or the quality of the rayskin and the materials for the fittings.
In the making of a sword there is an enjoyment provided by the solitude and relaxation that goes with the focus and discipline applied to the forging and polishing of the metal, the carving and shaping of the wood and the meticulous work of fabricating the furniture that accompanies the blade and on to the final step: assembly.
Along the way, the customer can be provided with updates in the form of pictures or other communication creating a crescendo that culminates in opening the package containing the labor of months of dedicated work and the realization into a physical object of what started as a dream of the mind.
