Ok...last one.
This piece was a VERY special project for Anthony, and was featured in the first ever international museum exhibit of modern swordsmiths in Macau, China called Masters of Fire.
I actually had one piece of my work in that exhibit as well, in the Educational Corner. It was a damascus knife that I made a few years back.
Here is Anthony's Naginata Naoshi....this thing is even more beautiful in person...pictures cannot describe it....
Note the laser perfect blade geometry...which was set by HAND by holding the blade with bare hands and rubbing it against a set of water stones....just try to imagine the patience and dedication it takes to make something so perfect with your hands...oh wait...you amazing tattoo artists know all about that
Please note that Anthony's Mei (signiture of his smith name in the nakago at the bottom) is different...shortly after he made this sword, he took a new smith name of Sukemitsu. This was a common practice in Japan amongst Tosho (swordsmiths) when they had reached a new era of artistic understanding in their work.