Kogatana & Kozuka: Making a Utility Knife for the Wakizashi

In this episode of my wakizashi series, I tackle one of the last pieces: the kogatana and the kozuka handle. The kozuka is a decorative handle fitting for the kogatana, a small utility knife that fits into a pocket on the saya. Crafting the kogatana was quick and easy, using a scrap piece of raindrop damascus I had forged for another project. On the other hand, creating the kozuka proved to be a very long and tedious process. The kozuka is made of shibuichi, a silver alloy consisting of 20% silver and 80% copper. The feather inlay is crafted from 800 silver (80% silver, 20% copper), matching the feather design of the menuki for consistency throughout the fittings. I experimented with a nanako punch background, a traditional pattern of small dots thought to resemble fish roe. The process of folding the kozuka presented significant challenges, and in hindsight, I would have worked on the feather silver inlay after the fact to minimize the risk of it breaking off. Unfortunately information about crafting methods for kozuka is scarce. Nonetheless, I believe my construction method is plausible, having carefully inspected the original pieces. Overall, I’m very happy with how it turned out, and it’s a joy to see all the pieces now made and finished. Only some finishing touches remain, which I’ll work on asap, and then I’ll create a recap video of the entire process. Thank you all for following this journey and for your support. Your encouragement means a lot! Suggestions and comments are welcome. Leave a like and share to anyone who might be interested! Find some stuff I use for my projects in this amazon storefront: It’s affiliate marketing, so if you order something from here you’ll help the channel for free! Thank you! The new electric furnace I used in this video is this one kindly provided by VEVOR VEVOR Melting Furnace in US: VEVOR Melting Furnace in EUR: If you are interested in getting one use coupon code: VVPRO to save 5% off (Not affiliate links, just for your interest and to thank VEVOR for providing this tool for me to test) 0:00 Shibuichi Silver Alloy Plate Preparation 1:18 Engraving the Front of Kozuka 2:26 Silver Feather Inlay 2:44 Nanako Background Texture 3:57 Bending and Soldering the Kozuka 6:26 Finishing the Kozuka 7:12 Kogatana 8:51 Assembly and Result ★Patreon★ ★Website★ ★Follow me★ Facebook ► Twitter ► Instagram ►