The quietest launch?

There has been little fan fare or build up - indeed, it would probably be fair to say that there has been something of a shroud of mystery about exactly when the next batch of the custom katana would be available to order.. (after all, the last official date provided was August last year!)..

But theres been good reason for it - because in the background we have been tinkering away to delivery what we think now is the PERFECT system - and we can now offer you the option to purchase the custom katana at ANY time, all year round!

Thats right - no more mad panic.

No need to rush your purchase, and no way to ever miss out again!

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it certainly has us excited - now people can budget and save sensibly for their design, knowing they can order anytime and behind the scenes your order will become part of a sophisticated Just in time delivery and production system we have developed with the Black Dragon forge over the years - and now set it all up so that we can provide a slow and steady supply of customized Japanese style blades when YOU want them, not when a frantic window of opportunity opens and closes within a few weeks...

So relax - no rush. You can order again - anytime, and over the next few weeks will be will doing a few cosmetic upgrades to the images, etc - but otherwise, the custom Katana 3.0 is not only back, its here to stay...!

A pretty exciting announcement, but no hyperbole necessary - its a quiet launch because we prefer you take your time thinking about your design than rush it. It really is a lot of fun..

- Paul

New SBG Designs

Last post I re-introduced the classic Black Dragon Katana, the flag ship design of the SBG Black Dragon forge. In this post I want to introduce you to several BRAND NEW designs that have hit our shelves - starting with:

THE BLACK DRAGON ELITE

The Black Dragon Elite is the deluxe version of the classic Black Dragon.

The blade is identical to the basic Black Dragon solid bodied blade, with an emphasis on cutting power, but has elite grade copper fittings plated with real gold and silver, a leather wrapped handle done using traditional hishigami triangles for the tightest, most evenly spaced fit and a stunning dragon themed mother of pearl saya completes the upgraded design. Only 16 pcs available.

THE RED BELLY BLACK SNAKES - KO KATANA AND WAKIZASHI SET

NOT sold separately, the Red Belly Black Snakes are a matched pair of snake themed Japanese blades designed to be used one in each hand.

Featuring a crimson red saya, unique mottled habaki and snake themed fittings with a small, hamidashi tsuba - this unique set of two blades make a stunning addition to any Japanese sword enthusiast looking for something a bit different than the usual ho-hum run of the mill. Only 10 sets made.

KAGETORAKEN KATANA

The Kagetoraken Katana has been designed for its structural integrity, using solid iron fittings and with a black rattan wrapped saya for additional reinforcement to reduce the possibility of saya splitting during iai draw cut practices.

Named after the black iron tsuba, featuring the classic "Torakami" tiger design that inspires its name (Kagetoraken means Shadow Tiger Katana) the sword is completed with an engraving of its name in Japanese on one side of the blade, adding just a touch of class and a dash of interest to the naked, differentially hardened T10 tool steel blade. 32 pcs available, 16 with bo-hi and 16 solid bodied.

THE HOBGOBLIN KOGARASU NAGAMAKI NINJATO

                                                                                                                         
Last but certainly not least comes a unique sword designed to be the ultimate Ninja sword - the Hobgoblin Kogarasu Nagamaki Ninjato is one of the most versatile and visually interesting swords we have had the pleasure of bringing to the table.

With a Ko Katana blade and extra long 14" Nagamaki handle, this unique sword handles like a short hafted glaive by default but by adjusting the hand position where it is held, it can be wielded in a variety of ways and is especially suitable to indoor applications where longer blades are simply too unwieldy.

With stunning black leather wrap using hishigami, a wicked Kogarasu "crows beak" double edged tip for reverse cutting and top quality gold and silver plated solid copper Hobgoblin themed fittings, this rare style of sword is a must have for any collector of Ninja swords, but get in quick, only 10pcs have been made!

CHECK OUT ALL THE DESIGNS ON ONE PAGE HERE

WHAT'S NEXT?

The new designs above are not the only exciting developments at the SBG Black Dragon Forge...

True enough, we aren't hiding any more new designs up our sleeve. But rather, for everyone who has been waiting on some news on the custom katana since August/September last year - stay tuned for a very exciting announcement!!

Talk to you all again soon!

- Paul

Update and introduction to the Black Dragon Forge

Hi everyone,

Looks like an update is WELL overdue - but with some major product releases and a revolutionary and VERY exciting change just about to occur, I will try to compress 9 months worth of updates into a couple of paragraphs and some pics!

Naturally batch 22 was made, the swords came in - and they were, as we expected, quite lovely.

Unfortunately, batch 23 - which was originally scheduled to open in August/September was put on hold in preparation for phase II of a planned, site wide upgrade and expansion - and so naturally people have been wanting to know when WILL the next batch open, especially as batch 22 met and exceeded our expectations, guaranteeing the future of the project for the foreseeable future.

The answer, in another post - this blog is about to get VERY busy...

ABOUT THE "Black Dragon Forge"

Since 2008 SBG, our Canadian Agent and a micro forge in China who specialized in high end and top quality blades have collaborated together to produce the custom katana that we all know and love and who the blog is all about in the first place.

But at a certain point in our history, we decided to get some stock made of a design combination whose basic theme appeared more than once in EVERY batch, the so called Black Dragon design - and the Black Dragon Katana became the first in a series of swords that were later to be known as the SBG designs series.

Here is the Katana in question:

And now, as we are about to release even more designs to this line and need a better brand identity than "those guys who make the custom katana" a proper name was needed, and the Black Dragon Forge was born - and the blog updated with the new look accordingly...

 

Click here to see the new layout and product listings in the store

STAY TUNED

As I hinted at earlier in this post, this blog is about to get BUSY. Indeed, I am sitting on a huge amount of news that I need to get out to you guys but will break it down into more easily digestible posts - so stay tuned, some major and exciting developments and announcements are imminent!!!

- Paul