Real Katana T10 Steel with Gold Tiger Tsuba in Black Rayskin Saya - Folded Blade

The blade starts with T10 carbon steel, folded through melaleuca layering to create the visible grain pattern across the 28.34-inch nagasa. Clay tempering hardens the edge to 60 HRC while keeping the spine more flexible - the process that produces the natural hamon line running along the edge. Hand-finishing brings the surface to a polished chrome tone, and the blade ships sharpened with a hand-finished edge.

The gold-tone alloy tsuba is the visual centerpiece of this build. Cast in an openwork tiger-and-floral motif, the relief detail is deep enough to read clearly at arm's length. The gold finish contrasts directly against the chrome blade and the all-black fittings on either side, creating a deliberate three-tone color story across the sword.

Black cord wraps over a real white rayskin (samegawa) base along the 11.02-inch tsuka. The rayskin's raised nodule texture anchors the cord wrap and prevents shift during use - the same material and method used on period-correct Japanese sword furniture. A gold-tone kashira cap at the pommel ties the handle hardware back to the tsuba.

The saya is hardwood finished in piano-lacquer black, with a rayskin overlay that gives the scabbard its spotted, textured surface rather than a flat gloss finish. Black-red sageo cord wraps the kurigata with a knotted tassel detail visible at the koiguchi opening. The combination reads as formal and deliberate rather than decorative.

At 39.76 inches overall and 3.08 lbs, this katana sits in the range of historically proportioned daisho longswords - long enough to carry presence on a display stand or wall mount, weighted to feel genuine in hand. Overall shipping package dimensions are 43 x 4 x 4 inches at 6 lbs.