Shadow Dancer 9260 Steel Unokubi Zukuri Katana

This sleek and imposing piece is Shadow Dancer's 9260 Steel Unokubi Zukuri Katana. As its name suggests, this katana has an unokubi zukuri (similar to kanmuriotoshi zukuri, with blade narrowing down like a cormorant's neck with the back portion of it thinned, but kissaki left untrimmed) blade forged from 9260 high carbon steel, ensuring its resilience and shock resistance. The blade also has a naginata-hi that functions to decrease the sword's overall weight and improve its point of balance.

Note that the blade can also be forged from 51CrV4 Spring Steel to result in a highly durable sword with excellent edge retention.

Equipped with koshirae with flower motifs, this includes the mokko gata (lobed shape) tsuba, fuchi, kashira, and menuki, along with gold colored seppa and habaki.

The wooden tsuka is then covered with white samegawa and tightly wrapped with black tsuka ito. Options available for the handle include the default of no hishigami, or the additions of ito hishigami or hishigami pro. These additions can help the tsukamaki be tighter, more consistent, and also prevents the tsuka ito from fraying against the underlying samegawa which has a rougher texture.

Completing the overall piece is a black saya with black fittings such as the kojiri, koiguchi, kurigata, and sageo, with the only exception ebbing the gold colored shitodome.