Coloring and Engraving Your Katana Sword

If your blade isn’t going to be used for severe cutting and you want to give it some more protection that might prevent corrosion and give it a more excellent look, coloring your blade is a good option.

Electroplating is a process that can be used on a carbon blade to add colour and design. These blades are forged from the same high-quality steel as traditional samurai blades, but the manufacturing process is tweaked at key points to achieve the striking hue.

The blade’s other characteristics, including the hamon, blood groove, tang morphology, curve, and point placement, are also strictly adhered to.

Swords manufactured of grade steel electroplated in colour will work just as well as noncolored blades because the surface treatment does not affect blade functionality. It’s not just a pretty coat of paint; it also protects the blade against oxidation.

The coloured blade sword can have one of three possible colours: red and black, all black, or blue. The dye will only rub off if you sharpen the blade. When using a knife, it’s best to avoid cutting through anything too tough.

Changing a blade’s steel to a certain color results in the following variants.

Moreover, blade coloring is quite delectable on folded blades.

Blade Engraving on your Katana

There is little evidence of engravings being utilized on early examples of Japanese swords such as the Katana, Wakizashi, and Tachi. Swordsmiths originally developed several blade types and fittings based on these four criteria: shape, utility, weight, and strength.

Swords were in high demand, and so was the expertise of blacksmiths as technology improved. Over time, decorations, fixtures, and engraving grew more elaborate in form and significance, and engraving became a standard method for smiths to give credit to their work.

It is not uncommon to pay a premium to have a Katana engraved by a professional, as doing it yourself with a hand-held engraver or a CNC router demands a high level of artistic skill and knowledge.

Three common inscriptions on traditional Japanese Katana were two characters denoting the province the sword was made in; two characters denoting the smith who made it; and, occasionally, the date or an honorific like “respectfully.”

It was customary to include the date the sword was manufactured and the emperor’s title, but this was only sometimes the case, depending on the era and the monarch.

It was common for less well-known smiths to forge the name of a more well-known smith’s name onto their products to boost sales.

The tang of a sword is where engravings were typically done, and because of its location under the handle, it was rarely seen as the tsuka always covers the tang.

As time went on, occasionally, the engravings were in more prominent areas, such as the blade, which is more prevalent now as most sword owners won’t take the sword apart, and many use them for display purposes. Advanced Engravings of “Horimono” Gods, Dragons, and other beings also became commonplace.

The decoration was increasingly refined over time, especially during the Edo era. Swords were sometimes decorated with simple yet stunning engravings called Horimono for religious and aesthetic purposes. These engravings have historically depicted everything from gods and dragons to flowers and animals.

The Current State of Engraving

Thanks to advances in sword smithing, blades may now be marked and engraved in various ways, allowing them to be tailored to the individual using the sword. At Swords for Sale, we can do multiple kinds of engravings on your blade, and we also always engrave some of the sword’s details on the tang.

A customer’s sword can be personalized in a number of ways, including the grip, hilt, sheath, and, of course, the blade. Numerous buyers want their new blades personalized by engraving a touching sentiment, the recipient’s name, a beautiful design, or both. You can see some examples right below.