Batches 18 and 19 - Where we are up to

Well, it's only been a couple of days or so into accepting new commissions for batch 19 and already we are at something like a third of the forges maximum comfortable production capacity (for obvious reasons, we don't give them more orders than they can correctlty make within the 90 day target timeframe), so if orders progress as they have in previous batches we will start to batch up all the orders on 5th or 6th of April (current guesstimate only).

To make sure that as many people as possible get their orders in before we close off I will soon be putting another 'countdown' timer thingy at the top of this page, but this time counting down until orders close..

To help with the heavy workload at the moment my new assistant Karyn Thomas has been helping process the orders as we go and is doing a great job. While Karyn has been trained in every aspect of how to process an order when it comes in and record it's unique custom combinations in the format we have developed with the forge, she isn't entirely familiar with every aspect of the product line, so in the meantime I am getting through as many emails as possible, double checking the orders and coordinating batch 18 to come in (which should be just about to reach customs now, I'll check on it again after this post!).

Anyway, I'll post again once the countdown timer is on and when we have some more news on the incoming batch 18 - but in the meantime please bear with me if my email response times are a little slow, I do each one personally and am not the best typer in the world (I'm probably hitting backspace at least 50% of the time! Lol).

- Paul

NOW taking new orders!

Hi everyone!

Just confirming that the timer has counted down and we are NOW officially accepting orders for the SBG Custom Katana series! Yay!

The previous batch to this one is on the way to my agent in Canada and will take a few weeks to arrive, and this batch will take a few weeks to collate and send to the forge - so if you have been waiting for this batch to open NOW is definitely the time to get your order in.

If previous batches are any indication, we will reach the forges maximum production capacity within the next 2 weeks (and even though we do our best, there is ALWAYS some people who miss out simply because we wont 'bite off more than we can chew' and order more orders than the forge can comfortably handle) - so there is still a little time to ask questions, consider what customizations you would like or make some changes. But the sooner you get your order secured the better.

I'll be updating again about the previous batch (18) shortly, so in the meantime, happy designing!

- Paul

As the clock ticks away...

...I've been busy adding quite a few options in preparation for batch 19. And I must admit, I am pretty excited by what has just been readied..

First off, the blog itself has been restructured slightly - you can sign up to be notified when there is a new post towards the top, there is a search box to the right which will search through both the site and the store for any SBG custom Katana related questions - the countdown to Batch 19 ticks away at the top of the blog, and quite a few other tweaks of one kind or another (better internal linking, a page with bigger pics of all the components, etc).

But the real meat and potatoes added is a brand new page which lists no fewer than 80 new tsubas that we can source for an additional $20! Check them all out here:

Special Order Tsuba List

If that wasn't enough, due to frequent requests, we have added two new major options to the extras line up - blade and tsuka extensions! (though not both, as to do so creates a sword that sticks out too much from the others and cannot be batched effectively).


Tsuka's from 12" to 14" long for those with big hands or who just prefer a longer handle, from $20 to $30 extra depending on length.


Blades from 30" to 33" long (O-Katana) for an additional $20 per inch added.

You can see both options listed at the bottom of the SBG Katana order page here.

Add all of the available options now together and I really have no idea just how many possible combinations there are! But no doubt about it, Batch 19 has more variety than ever before - I really look foward to seeing the designs people come up with!

Ok, well, that's enough for now - plenty more behind the scenes preparation that needs to be done over the next 4 and 1/2 days to launch, and still several hundred emails to get around to, so sign up to the blog notifcation list to keep abreast of it all! :-)

- Paul

It's nearly time!

Indeed, to be precise - a date has been set for the opening of batch 19 click on the custom Katana page to see the countdown!

In the meantime I have been updating the SBG custom Katana pages (as it kind of grew 'organically' over the years, it had become a bit confusing) and hopefully making some things a bit clearer, as well as providing all the various links (like to this very blog and the FAQ) all in one spot. Was actually quite interesting as I found some bad links and some information I had forgotten I had even put on there (as a webmaster, THAT is definitely a sign that an update is in order if ever there is one! Lol).

Batch 18 - the one sent to the forge on the 25th of November is going out to my agent this week, and as promised here are a few pics from the forge of some random blades! :-)









Quite a bit of prep work from now, plus batch 18 incoming and I don't know how many emails to get to (I prefer to deal with SBG custom enquiries shortly before a new batch opens as I want to provide the most up to date information) so if you are waiting on an email from me, please bear with me just a bit longer.

Batch 18 and 19 - quick update

Ok, just a very quick update - I'm actually waiting on some pictures from the forge of batch 18 - but in the meantime, since we are a bit overdue for an update, this quick blog update will have to suffice.

Batch 18 is running a couple of weeks behind schedule as suspected due to the Chinese New Years celebration that lasted the better chunk of January, but the forge promised 100% completion by the 21st of March at the worst.

Naturally I am waiting until the swords are completed and shipped out from the forge to my agent in Canada before opening up on new orders for batch 19. So in the meantime I will be contacting everyone who has asked a question about the custom swords as we usually prefer to answer such questions as close as possible to when we start to take new orders again to ensure we provide the most up to date information (because as anyone who has been following the SBG custom Katana over the years will know that we do add new options and improvements every few batches).

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know where we are up to - stay tuned, not long to go if you are waiting for your sword to come in or waiting to place your order.

- Paul