Why a habaki?

K

Ken Cox

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A recent thread drifted into a tantalizing discussion of the habaki.
I say tantalizing because it only raised further questions.

My daughter asked me recently why some Japanese blades have a habaki, and I told her it held the blade in a right relationship with the sheath.
That did not satisfy either of us, since it seems one could fashion an integral ricasso to serve that function, or even put the burden of accommodation on the sheath rather than the blade.

I found myself wondering if the habaki could serve more of an aesthetic purpose than a practical one.

I respectfully request a discussion of the how and why of the habaki, taken a little further please.

Thank you.

------------------
Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom
If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.
 
Here's a bunch of reasons off the top of my head...could be more, but these are just some of mine...

A) Continuity of blade shape through tang.
B) Easier to make and can be replaced if damaged.
C) Aesthetic purposes.
D) It can be removed for maintenance and polishing.
E) I assume vibration and lateral stress has a different effect on a habaki than it would an integral ricasso.
F) Could be removed and "tweaked" easier for use in other mountings.
G) The saya is of a relatively simple construction using a soft wood. Easier to keep the saya simple as it's more likely to be damaged or replaced than a habaki.
H) Leather shoes are not fun to walk on ice with...though that has nothing to do with habaki.

biggrin.gif

Shinryû.
 
Hi Ken:

You ask... why use the habaki?

I consider it a classic solution to an age-old problem involving the transition from the blade, through the guard, and into the handle. All swords (and knives) must face this transition, and there are several strategies for dealing with it.

From my point of view, as a (retired) maker, I like the habaki because it made my life easier. One can polish and sharpen the blade with long-wise strokes that go right under the handle. The habaki seats against the notches (sorry Robert, not up to speed on the terminology)and forms a flat surface aginst which the guard (and seppa) can rest. It also, and importantly, forms a smooth swelling that can serve to seat into the throat of the scabbard.

Without the habaki, final blade polishing has to be done with strokes across the width of the blade... much more susceptible to ripples. Also the fitting of the guard must be much more precise. The habaki can cover a lot of errors in the piercing of the guard!It is also nearly impossible to sharpen a blade right into the corner of the heel, while the habaki allows extreme sharpness all the way up.

When I made a sword using the habaki, I could be certain of success. With a blade requiring a heel and ricasso there is always risk in the final grinding, polishing, and sharpening. This is the area people inspect first to ascertain quality. It is NEVER perfect.... it's just impossible for it to be so. The habaki method allows a much closer approach to perfection by maintining closer control over each and every metal surface. There is never a point at which there is real risk of scrapping the blade entirely due to a tiny slip. This assurance of success results in a peace of mind that is invaluable to the process and incidentally, results in a lower divorce rate as well.

As I said, the habaki (and I use the Japanese word because there is no other) can be used on any style sword, and solves a number of problems all in one. There fore I consider it as classic an engineering solution for the blade-handle transition problem as "the cup" is to the problem of getting a drink of water!

Some things just work! Tom
 
just a short one, mainly to Mr. Maringer....
so very glad to see you posting. i'm the fella who recently acquired your custom 2 Vorpal/1 tanto custom set, and had lotsa of questions.....
re Mr. Marotz' comment on the habaki/saya...I've seen a few saya, especially newer (post 1800) with metal collars to prevent splitting, and that's the only major problem I've ever had my iaido equipment. I would think that the habaki came about as a maker's tool for "adjustment" and continuity (like Tom said).
most older saya, for battle swords like tachi, are exceptionally robust, and those swords incorporate habaki.
looking thru the pics I have I see many habaki for iai-type and newer swords that are sized/shaped differently...maybe this was a result of peacetime (iai-type) use?

 
mwinter: I'm not really sure what you were trying to say in that post. If you were talking about metal kojiri and even koiguchi, yes they existed. Did they significantly add strength to the saya? Not really. And the saya is still of simple construction. And it is still relatively weak. Because it's a 1 to 2.5 foot long piece of relatively soft wood, it would be smart to keep the design simple. Being that the habaki makes the fitting system integral to the rest of the sword [as opposed to JUST the handle or JUST the saya which are easiest to damage], and NOT permanently affixed to the blade, it winds down to a lot of little benefits making it worthwhile.

As far as the style of habaki on different swords, there's a lot of variation between even like styles of sword. There were a plethora of tsuba designs from various time frames...more often for aesthetic and fluidity issues than that of use (in my opinion).

I dunno if that was what you were talking about...Tom and I gave pretty similar reasons, I gave a few more purposes but his were a bit more verbose. Like I said, I didn't understand your post too well so I'm just expounding on some moot points.

If you could clarify what ya meant, I'd appreciate it.

Shinryû.
 

Ken, If youve ever had to make a sword without one you would know why.I will only make them with habaki these days as it simplifies construction.I wanted to post apic but I still don't know how to use the photopoint thing.
SteveFilicietti
http://unitedbladeworx.com.au
 
ok, ok.....LOL
i will try to clarify....i was just thinking out loud.
i had noticed that many earlier, tachi mountings, habaki in this case, were different than many katana i had seen. what i was wondering, and this may be a self-answering question...
is it likely that the change in habaki was directly related to the rise of iai/dueling as opposed to battlefield use?
(just somethin I'd noticed, and I could be way off base.)
 
To be perfectly honest, I don't know. I've seen lots of variations of habaki on various swords of various time periods and provinces. A general change of shape could merely be a refinement of design, or it could be aesthetic taste, or whatever. I personally think it was more of a trend change than anything else, but I could very well be wrong.

The habaki is not made--nor was it ever made-- for taking high stresses or abuse. Habaki of gold, silver, copper, shakudo, shibuchi, and even wood have been used in various situations (though one should not trust wood on a "using" sword, but it's fine for shirasaya). If it needed a lot of strength, they would have taken the time to make it out of iron or something stronger than the nonferrous soft metals they used.

There's other possible reasons out there, this one is just my opinion.

Shinryû
 
As I understand it, the habaki is there simple to hold the blade firmly in place.

Japanese blades are polished to such a degree that even the slightest scratch mars the surface and can devalue the blade. With a well made habaki and saya pairing, the blade virtually does not touch the scabbard at all, because even the soft woods used can cause imperfections in the polishing. Ideally only the back of the blade should ever come in contact with the scabbard.

The reason the scabbard can't simply be made tighter is that it will damage the polish of the blade.

I would surmise that the reason that the base of the blade cannot--or rather is not--widened into a riccoso for the purpose would be similar. Were the habaki an integral part of the blade, not only would it make sharpening and polishing the transitional region between blade and riccaso much more difficult, but it would mean that a part of the blade is routinely scarred, marring the perfect polish.

I'm not by any stretch of the imagination an expert, but I suspect that most, if not all, Japanese Habaki have some form of texture--if only in the form of a less exacting polish,like a satin finish--to make the scars left by the mouth of the scabbard unnoticable. I'm fairly certain that all habaki I've seen, whether in person or in photographs, have had such texture.

It may not be very satisfying, but I would say the habaki is just there for ego sake. Keeping the sword beautiful.
 
No offense, but I respectfully disagree...the high level of shiage which we see in beautiful art swords today did not exist in the days of the tachi, and has not been "tuned" to such a fine degree until starting a century and a half ago. Therefore throughout much of history, the sword has not always been given the same attention to polish as it has been since Meiji times.

Also, a blade can --and will-- often rub up against the inside of a scabbard, regardless of the spacing the habaki provides at the machi.

Just some minor points. No big deal...welcome to the forum!

Shinryû.

[This message has been edited by Robert Marotz (edited 01-09-2001).]
 
Something in what Fletcher said caused a non-verbal chord to resonate in me.

How closely does the traditional Japanese sword habaki conform to the blade?
If I examined one from the point side, would I see a uniform gap or standoff between the copper and the steel?
Also, how much material thickness does a traditional habaki add to the blade, or, how much space would a habaki create between the steel and the sheath?

I appreciate the disassembled picture Tom has on his archive site of a modern knife (a beautiful one, too).
It gave me some more insights into the habaki in modern usage, which may or may not correspond to traditional usage.

Does someone have a photo of a habaki in a disassembled state, taken from a period sword?

Finally, could someone please recommend an online glossary of Japanese sword parts and furniture?
A lot of the terms used here go over my head.

------------------
Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom
If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.
 
Ken:
As to a couple of your questions. The material thickness of a habaki is as little as 1/16 inch up to somewhat more than 1/8", depending on the size and scale of the piece. For many of my larger pieces it was even more. As to the standoff... ideally the copper should be touching the steel, but in practice there would be a glimmer of light revealing a small gap. If the fit is near perfect it will be a thousandth or less. A larger gap indicates a less than ideal fit. This is possible because the ideal tang shape has a slight distal (thickness) taper to it up to the habaki.

I don't have any photos of period pieces. The best reference for obscure names is. "A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor" by George Cameron Stone, published by Southworth Press, 1961. It is commonly referred to in the trade simply as "Stone's Glossary. I don't know if there is an online version, I rather doubt it.

Regards: Tom
 
No offense taken, Robert. If no one disagreed with anyone, and we all had the same information, there'd be no point to the forum (no fun either).

Ken, try http://japanesesword.homestead.com/

I just found it. It seems to have a pretty thorough glossary.

As for the fit of the habaki, as I understand it, it is generally very tight on the tang of the blade, with a (very slightly) looser lip over the base of the blade itself. On my WW II era tachi (NOT the best example of the craft, to say the least) you can see a uniform gap of well less than a millimeter between habaki and blade surface, but virtually no gap on the tang side (with tsuka--that's the handle--,tsuba--the guard--, and related fittings removed). That is of course only one sword, and shouldn't be assumed to represent all swords, but it does offer an example.
 
I am overall in agreement with Tom...I haven't read that particular book but if you want some simple online sources for "glossary" stuff...

http://www.japanesesword.homestead.com

Rich Stein's page is very good for those who want to get involved in the various concepts of traditional Japanese swords.

Personally, I think the habaki was the only concept of Japanese-style swords that modern western blademakers have been "OK" to rip off. It's a term that still has a meaning (for the time being) and has not lost its name to Western BS. Katana, kozuka, tanto, tsuba, and hamon [among others] have really been taken for granted and they've lost a lot of their meaning in modern times due to obvious reasons. It's almost enough to cause one to hesitate teaching other people for fear that they'll take it for granted and twist and blur the distinctions more for their own purposes. But, we continue to teach and learn.

It's fun stuff if ya can take it a little bit seriously and with a lot of respect.

Shinryû.

Guess I should clarify...by western blademakers...I do not mean the traditional and semi-traditional Japanese-style makers.

[This message has been edited by Robert Marotz (edited 01-09-2001).]
 
Just browsing through. Thought I'd add a few comments...

Habaki vary in style throughout history for a variety of reasons. But there really were two basic designs. Single piece and double piece. The double piece are actually used for creating a snug habaki on a blade that has been over polished. On blades like this the nakago is often thicker than the blade itself. So to prevent slop, a springier inner sleeve is put ever the nakago then the larger sleeve goes on next and fits over the the first piece creating a more snug fit even though it by all rights shouldn't fit. A very elegant solution. And you'll see those on older blades quite frequently simply because they've been polished repeatedly and a single piece habaki no longer fits properly.

The other issue I'd like to address is the idea that they are soft. Today many martial artist suppliers and "generic" habaki suppliers use simple cast habaki. And they are soft. Many production and semi-production katana are also rather soft. But higher end habaki generally were hammered to shape with the fellow making the habaki repeatedly heating the habaki to resoften the material (work hardened copper for instance). A top notch habaki maker will carefully plan his heatings and coolings and subsequent hammering to shape so that the final habaki is *fully* work hardened when the last tapping into place occurs. This is a world of difference from cast habaki or a forged habaki where the material is soft and one where it was fully work hardened.

Properly done they are actually much stronger than people assume.

Back to the shadows for me...

------------------
Keith Larman
Summerchild Polishing
keith@summerchild.com - http://www.summerchild.com

[This message has been edited by kdlarman (edited 01-11-2001).]
 
Heya Keith!!! Nice to see ya hop on and make a post! Hope family and all is doing well, and feel free to stop by when ya can.

Shinryû.
 
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