How Long is a Wakizashi Sword?īlacksmith forge What is the Difference Between Wakizashi & Kodachi? The wakizashi – like the katana, is an incredibly complicated sword to make and has countless components that need to all come together in perfect harmony in order to forge the perfect sword.
The handle is secured and kept tight with the help of the menuki which also helps to ensure that the blade will be fixed in its position and keeps it tight and secure in it’s place and is covered with Ito wrap to make wielding the sword more comfortable. Usually matching with the kashira on the very end of the handle. The tsuba is then connected to the tsuka, or the handle of the blade by the fuchi - a small metal plate that signifies the end of the starting point of the wrapping that is put around the handle. The seppa can also be silver or gold to add a more elegant look to the blade, increasing its beauty. Usually made of bronze or iron known as the seppa. The tsuba is placed in between two small plates meant to tighten or loosen the blades fitting. The tsuba itself not only serves to add beauty to the sword and has artistic aesthetic features, but protects the user’s hand, crucial for a wakizashi which is a single-handed weapon. The sword has a habaki which is a small piece of metal that has 2 main functions: locking in the blades guard, known as a tsuba, and helping the sword lock into its saya or scabbard. Once the blade has been forged the sword needs to be properly assembled. This pattern is unique to each hand-made sword, thus making every sword unique. Hamon literally translates to blade pattern, which is visible and adds a remarkable beauty to the blade. This part of the hardening process is what creates the hamon of the blade. The blade is then clay-tempered in order to cool at a different rate than the rest of the sword. The blade is forged through this constant folding of soft steel and hard steel that can create over 1 million individual layers of steel in the blade. This constant folding of steel not only helps thicken the layers to strengthen the sword’s edge and overall durability but adds to the beauty of the steel once the sword is allowed to cool in a faster way. Japan has been renowned for centuries for it’s sword making skills, involving a process that melts down and folds the steel over itself over and over and constantly forging and re-forging in order to eliminate any impurities in the steel to ensure the end result is perfect. A substance created through iron sand that is used specifically for the practice of Japanese swordsmithing and production of a few miscellaneous tools. Wakizashi (and katana alike) are forged with high carbon steel known as Tamahagane, or jewel steel.
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