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So Rick, tell me
about your night last night with Anthony DiCristofano?
Oh my, two bottles of sake killed last night! I didn’t have anything
to eat at all yesterday and we killed the first bottle. We had a
little break then and then hit bottle number two, ha ha. Me ready
for night-night! I slept like a baby! (laughs). |
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Why do you come to Atlanta every
year?
A lot of it is PR. I want to get my stuff and face out there. With
pictures, you really just can’t tell. Pictures do not do us justice.
Do you find yourself leaning towards Japanese or Fantasy weapons
now?
Oh, I always prefer Japanese. The fantasy is my rainy day material.
If my mind is clouded or I need a break from the Japanese, I then go
fantasy and play around a bit. |
Which one Rick, Soshu or Bizen?
I like them all. I kind of primarily stick to Soshu though. I was
fortunate the Japanese smith Sadahito took an interest in me and
approached me and really helped me along. It helped pattern my
future. I’ve always preferred the old Kimoro style and stuff.
Which style of Kissaki do you prefer?
I’ve always liked O’kissaki. I really don’t like chu-kissaki and
just don’t see it in traditional sword fighting. Its kind of boring
to me! Also, no bo-hi! I did do it recently to test out my new
scraper.
Who polished these three swords you brought with you?
Actually, its three different polishers. The one here is done |
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by Chris Osborn, the other one is by a
Japanese polisher named Takeoshi out in British Columbia. I met him
at the Japanese sword shows. He trained in Japan traditionally and
had a major backlog but he’s clearing it out and getting caught up
now and did a fantastic job on this blade. The last one was done by
Brandon Thell. It seems like everyone now too wants to do a project
blade and then polish it out later. |
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Who does your fittings now?
Randy Black or Mike right now. I want to focus on blade work
only now and have no desire to move from metal to wood all the time.
It’s a completely different animal and these guys can do a great
job. When I was younger I made some stuff and look at it now and
say, man, I wish I had that back!
What is your backlog right now?
Actually, I have to finish about four fantasy blades right now.
Japanese wise I’m about caught up. If someone wants a bare blade and
knows exactly what they want, real fast. Mounting wise though, about
6 months from there.
What steels are you working with now?
I love monosteel. I prefer W1 and 1075. I want something that
will hold an edge for a long time. I don’t want something that is
going to bend all day long b/c we aren’t using a crowbar here. It
has to take a flex though too and maintain an edge. Some of the
modern steels are deep hardened enough where if you are going for a
choji hamon, forget it, because it’s going to ignore half the
ashi you are trying to put out there. I do Sanmai as well.
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Are any of your blades “close”
to you? Are some hard to sell after making?
Well, I keep trying to make a blade for myself but after completion,
somebody has to have it and I sell it. I usually let it go but I
need to resist! I want to pass something along to my son eventually
here! Some people just keep making me offers I can’t refuse though! |
