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Originally Posted by Emanuel
Hello,
...Too bad about the copper habaki. A feature of Japanese nihonto, not thai/burmese dha.
Regards,
Emanuel
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Interesting that they're using the habaki here, too.
As some of you know, I happen to like Himalayan Import Khukuris, all of which now come with a habaki, even though they're made in Nepal by Nepalese kamis.
The reason they do this is that, once they saw a habaki one someone's katana, they grabbed the idea, because it made for a better fit in the sheath, and it made it easier to fit the blade and hilt together, because they could cover and reinforce the join with the habaki, rather than fiddling to make sure everything fit perfectly, as they did on the old khukuris.
So, I don't really blame modern bladesmiths for adding what they think are improvements to their work. I only grumble when someone tries to pass it off as traditional. For better or worse, I think the habaki's here to stay, and we're probably going to be seeing it on more and more blades as time goes by.
F