Here's what I've been working on since my last post, and just finished up today. This is my version of a hybrid between an American Bowie and a Japanese Wakizashi. The blade is a san mai billet I forge welded using mild steel and a 1075 core. The cutting edge is 12-1/8". I made the habaki from 1/8" copper and silver soldered it, which was a first for me but was surprisingly easy and actually pretty satisfying. I purchased the tsuba and kashira and they threw in a set of seppas so I used them as well, but instead of using the fuchi I made a copper ferrule to try to add some counterweight to the handle side. I used 2 pieces of poplar wood for the handle and carved the tang shape out of both pieces before gluing them together and shaping. The handle was then epoxy'd and pinned to the blade before wrapping it with genuine dianmondback rattlesnake skin. To finish off the blade, I used leather ito wrap over the snakeskin, and I tried my best to do this traditionally accurate. I really enjoyed this project as it allowed me dive deeper not only into Japanese bladesmithing but also Japanese history and culture. I developed kind of a story while I was working on this piece and its how I approached the whole project. I imagined during the mid to late 1800's, 2 smiths from totally different backgrounds, one American and one Japanese, became friends through common ground and collaborated on this particular piece, intertwining both cultures. Thanks for checking it out. For everyone heading to bladeshow, be safe and have fun.