Glossary

The shape of a sword’s blade, both in the profile, and distal views. It is largely responsible for the blade’s specific use, and potential as a weapon.

A metal tip piece on a scabbard. It can also reference a leather tab / flap at the top of some scabbards which overlaps the guard when sheathed.

Typically utilized by Del Tin of Italy, this high carbon steel is not only flexible and tough, but will also hold its edge well.

Center of balance – the point on a sword where it can balance on its own. It is the point where the sword has equal mass distribution and thus can balance on its own. This is also referred to as the “Point of Balance”

Durable and shock absorbent, this Czech spring steel is well-utilized for hard-hitting sport and stage combat.

This term is sometimes used in regards to Japanese swords and when used in this context it will refer to a blade being folded with more than one type of steel.

Visually distinctive blades created by melding two or more different steels into a single blade.

In contrast to Through-Tempered, this is the traditional method for tempering the Japanese sword. Before quenching the blade the swordsmith will coat it with clay and the varying thickness of the clay will determine how quickly the blade will cool when quenching. The thin layer along the edge will flash cool the edge and the thicker clay on the body and spine will slow its cooling. This results in the blade having two separate levels of hardness; the edge will be harder steel which will better hold a sharp edge and the body will be softer and have some shock-absorbing properties. In addition to this the polishing of the blade will reveal a wave-like hamon line that denotes the border between the differentially-hardened regions of the blade. 

While this traditional method does make a blade with a fine and hard edge the drawbacks are that this edge is more brittle than a softer through-hardened edge and make it more likely to chip or take damage when struck against a hard or dense target. The softer spine of the blade also has a tendency to take a bend if a poor cut is made against a target, requiring it to be straightened again by a professional.

This is the relation of how thick a blade is at its base and how thick it is at the tip. A sword with good distal taper will be thicker in the base and thinner at the tip. A sword with little distal taper will be more uniformly thick from base to tip.

The shape and angle of the edge of the blade of a sharpened sword.

Similar to 9260 spring steel, well-tempered EN45 is flexible and shock resistant.

Similar to 1050 / 1055 high carbon steel, it is resilient and durable when well tempered.

A thinned portion of the tip opposite the main cutting edge of a single-edged blade. This can sometimes be a shorter and sharpened edge, but it can also be simply a thinned, but unsharpened portion. This is a feature typically seen on sabers, but can also be seen on some other single-edged swords.

A metal band at either end of the grip used to secure the leather or wire wraps. Also used as a decoration.

The steel used to make a Japanese sword may be folded. Traditionally this was done to aid in purifying the steel, but the availability of pure modern steels makes this step unnecessary for achieving excellent results. This technique may be used on replica Japanese blades with the intent to construct them according to more traditional methods and to impart a traditional visual aesthetic to the blade. More than one different type of steel may be melded and folded together to create a blade with composite properties from several types of steel, but it is also common for a single steel to simply be folded on itself. 

A traditional way of crafting a sword and its steel components. Metal is heated and hammered into the desired shape by the craftsman. (See: Stock-Removal, Hardening, Tempering) 

The fuchi is a metal hilt collar between the tsuka and the tsuba.

There are two general definitions used in association with this term. You may need to ask the customer which type of definition they are referring to: 

1. A sword tang that passes the entire length of the grip, and is attached directly to the sword’s pommel.
2. A type of grip where the tang of the sword has two ‘’scales’’ or halves of some material (usually wood) which is riveted to the tang to create a layered grip.

A groove down the center of a blade, used to both lighten a sword, and conserve sword steel (making a wider blade possible with less material). Often mistakenly called a “Blood Groove.”

The thickness of sheet metal used specifically to construct armor and helmets. The higher the number = the thinner the metal.

The section of the sword hilt whose purpose is to protect the wielder’s hand. It may take of the shape of a simple bar, a steel basket, a flat disc, or several other forms.

The habaki is a metal collar (usually of brass) mounted at the base of the blade above the tsuba guard and is used to keep the sword from falling out of the saya and to support the fittings below. 

The wooden pole / grip on an axe, spear or polearm.

Once the forging or stock removal process is completed, a blade is heated to critical temperature and then cooled quickly in a quench bath, commonly brine or oil. This process hardens the blade, so that it may retain a cutting edge without wearing quickly. (See: Forging, Stock Removal, Tempering)

All of a sword, except for the blade proper. The crossguard, grip, and pommel. 

A proprietary blend exclusive to Hanwei, this steel is regarded as a high performance steel by Hanwei for its resilience, edge retention and ability to take a visually impressive hamon.

See Glossary of Terminology for Japanese Bladed Weapons for more information.

Powder steel is highly homogenous and excels at evenly distributing the carbon content of the billet to create an exceptionally pure steel which will temper evenly throughout the blade.

The kashira is a butt cap (or pommel) on the end of the tsuka.

A curved bar which extends from the guard to pommel, designed to prevent the user’s hand from being cut by a sliding blow from an opponent’s weapon.

The component which is the mouth of the scabbard of a Japanese sword. On traditional swords and better replicas it is traditionally made of buffalo horn and its purpose it to prevent the wood scabbard from splitting at its opening from repeated contact and impact. 

The kojiri is the tip cap for the saya scabbard of a katana. Traditionally made with buffalo horn and better replicas will also be made of horn.

A term for the collection of components used to mount and finish a katana hilt.

A knob on the side of the scabbard used as the attachment point on which to attach or knot a sageo cord. 

Demanding and fickle to work with, L6 rewards the skilled swordsmith with one of the toughest blade structures that can be produced.

Lamination is a traditional Japanese blade construction method that forge-welds panels of differing steels into a single blade.

This construction method was common to traditional katanas but is rarely utilized in replicas due to the complexity involved. A laminated blade will be a composite of several different steels and these are used to create different sectional partitions of the blade. There are several different lamination types of varying complexity; some are simpler and involve a softer core of steel being pointed into a harder steel ‘’jacket’’ whereas others can utilize as many as seven or more different partitions of steel of varying qualities. 

The individual partitions of the blade may be folded before being used as a component for the overall blade composite depending on preference. Once constructed the sword can then be differentially-hardened when tempering. 

For axes and polearms this is strips of metal riveted onto the wooden grip / haft to strengthen the weapon and to make its wooden grip / pole more resistant to breakage.

The mekugi is a small bamboo peg for securing the tsuka (grip) to the nakago (tang). Most Japanese swords have two for extra security, though a single peg was common historically.

The menuki are metal ornaments placed on the rayskin of the grip. They are overlaid with the cord grip and partially covered to keep them into place when the grip is completed with a grip wrap. 

A generic term for any steel that is not hardenable or hardened. This is often modern steel with lower carbon content. It is often used for the hilt components for swords as it is sufficiently strong for this purpose.

The tang of the blade inserted into the handle. Traditionally the swordsmith would leave his signature on this part of the blade. Some modern replicas will leave some manufacturer signature or identifying info on this part of the blade.

A typology created by Ewart Oakeshott as a way of classifying historic swords (antiques) into codified groups and subgroups, based on the sword’s shape, size, and physical features. Often used by collectors and enthusiasts to distinguish different sword types in discussion. 

Penter of balance – the point on a sword where it can balance on its own. It is the point where the sword has equal mass distribution and thus can balance on its own. This is also referred to as the “Center of Balance.”

The component at the end of a sword’s hilt. Can be used as a striking implement and can aid in balancing the sword.

Profile taper refers to the changes in the outline of the blade or edge, from the base of the blade to the tip. (Imagine lying a sword flat on a piece of paper and tracing the outline.) 

Renaissance term for the crossguard. Used almost exclusively when referring to rapiers.

A low-cost and low quality way to mount a blade into a hilt – usually seen on low quality swords and swords meant to be decorative and non-functional. Its name derives from welding a thin cylindrical rod onto the blade to create the tang. The end of the rod is usually threaded so that the pommel can be screwed into place to construct the sword hilt. This design is structurally weak and will often break at the weld if the sword is used. 

Some swords have a thickened, block-like section above the guard at the base of the blade to give it more durability / rigidity. This section will not have a sharpened edge. It is more commonly seen on swords like rapiers. It is also a common feature on cheap / low quality swords. 

A modern steel hardness scale, with a range of 20-80 points (on the Rockwell C scale). The higher the number, the harder and more brittle the steel is. This final hardness for a blade is achieved through tempering. (See: Tempering)

The sageo is the cord used to tie saya to the belt/obi when worn. It is attached to the scabbard, often with an elaborate decorative knot.

The ray or shark skin wrapping of the wooden handle. Most replicas will have inlaid panels of these and very high quality replicas will have the grip wrapped entirely over in rayskin.

The saya is a wooden scabbard for the blade; traditionally finished in lacquered wood.

The seppa are metal washers above and below the tsuba used to tighten the fittings. These are usually made of brass. 

A style of katana hilt mounting. Unlike most katana with elaborate cord wrapping a katana mounted “Shirasaya” style has the blade mounted into very plain wood with a plain wood scabbard to match. Traditionally this was a way to preserve sword blades that were not going to be used for a substantial length of time. Lack of cord and other fittings prevented accumulation of moisture to better preserve a blade for longer term storage. The blade was often pinned to the wooden grip to ensure that it was still functional in an emergency.

Resistant to rust, this low maintenance steel is perfect for long term display. It is not suitable for functional use in swords due to inherent brittleness.

Standard carbon steel is industry rated in numbers such as 1045, 1060, 1095, etc. What this essentially means is that the 10 is an industry indication for plain carbon steel. The last two digits indicate the level of carbon content in the steel. Thus 1045 contains 0.45% carbon whilst 1060 contains 0.60% carbon.

Increasing the amount of carbon in steel improves its hardness, edge retention, overall strength and increases its threshold for hardenability when tempered. This can come at some cost to durability however, as harder steels are more brittle than softer steels. Higher carbon in steel also tends to increase the cost of the finished product as harder steels are more laborious to shape, grind and polish and this increases production costs accordingly.

See Glossary of Steel for more information.

A method of making a sword blade or its components, the blade is fashioned into shape by using a grinder to completely shape a stock piece of steel into a sword. Though different from forging neither technique (forging or stock-removal) is better than the other; they are just different methods to achieve the same results. (See: Forging)

A Chinese alloy tool steel with properties similar to 1095 – it is also capable of producing a particularly vibrant hamon when differentially-tempered.

Steel for blades which is produced in the traditional Japanese manner is referred to as Tamahagane.

The section of the sword blade that the hilt is attached to. This part of the sword is not visible when the blade is fully mounted. 

When a blade is hardened, it is very brittle as it comes out of the quench, and if stuck on a hard object t shatter. Tempering is a thermal heat-treatment where the blade is heated to a temperature below that which the blade was hardened at and is held at this temperature for a predetermined length of time. This reduces the hardness very slightly, but greatly reduces the brittleness and the amount of stress in the blade, thus making it more durable, resilient and flexible. 

The opening of a scabbard by which the sword enters the scabbard. Used interchangeably with “mouth.”

This is similar to most other types of swords which are made from a single piece of steel with a uniform HRc hardness. Though not the traditional method, this type of blade composition can be spring-tempered so that it can flex and return to straight which makes it less likely to be damaged or become asymmetric if the user executes a poorly aligned cut on a target. It is also easier to polish out scuffs and scratches on these blades which do not have a hamon. Altogether this makes this blade type suitable for beginners or tameshigiri enthusiasts who wish to do substantial amounts of test cutting and minimize the level of maintenance their blade will need. 

The tsuba is the hand guard of a Japanese bladed weapon. 

The wooden handle of a katana. 

The cord wrap which is braided and knotted to a katana tsuka handle. Cotton, Silk and Leather are common. Materials such as jute-like twine or even elaborately folded and lacquered paper were also used historically.

The art of wrapping and dressing the tsuka grip of a katana with braided cord. 

Suitable for light and medium cutting and use, this resilient steel has the base requisite characteristics for a functional sword.

A tough and impact-resistant steel used for dependable blades.

A solid all-rounder for durability and edge retention which is well suited for practical cutting swords.

A resilient compromise of durability and edge retention with a slight favorability to durability over higher carbon content steel.

A compromise of durability and edge retention with a slight favorability to edge retention over lower carbon content steel.

A steel focused on its ability to hold a keen and sharp edge, though it is slightly more prone to taking edge damage when struck against hard and dense objects.

A high carbon steel with substantial manganese to create a deep-hardening, strong steel when tempered.

A favorite of many custom swordsmiths, this high carbon spring-steel is flexible, resilient and will hold a edge and is well-suited for performance-cutting swords.

A favorite of premium USA-based manufacturers, this high carbon steel has optimal properties for durability, flexibility and edge-retention when tempered well. An excellent steel well suited for premium swords.

A Chinese steel alloy formulated with a focus on durability and wear resistance.

Quality 9260 high carbon steel is well-regarded for its spring-like flexibility and shock-resistance.