Sumisaya is a traditionally made samurai sword sheathed inside of a clear 3D printed case to show off the beauty of the hand-crafted blade. The katana case was printed on an Objet500 Connex3 from clear resin and will be available for sale from new 3D model marketplace Rinkak.
For 400 years in the Kansai region of Japan, swordsmith’s have used the traditional technique of folding and bending steel over itself multiple times to create a beautiful and deadly sharp sword created by combining several types of steel. This process takes weeks and while many swordsmiths use different techniques most of them use clay and controlled cooling to produce different types of steel of varying strength and firmness.
By blending these types of steel together you get a blade that can hold an edge longer but remain flexible enough that it won’t shatter if struck too hard. Often the craftsmen polish the sword to intentionally feature the patterns naturally created when two types of steel of differing hardness are joined.
The uneven blade pattern that marks the line between the harder steel used for the cutting edge and the softer steel that makes up the body is called the Hamon. Each master swordsmith has a different technique for blending the two steels, resulting in patterns that are unique to them and often to each blade they create. Traditionally the blade is hidden inside of a wooden sheath that has been painted and lacquered, but the Sumisaya turns that tradition on its head.
Design company Studio Shikumi and 3D printing company Kabuku decided to create a sheath that would show off the unique beauty of the samurai sword. The goal was to create a blend of traditional katana sword craftsmanship with an innovative modern case that would be made of completely clear acrylic resin on a Stratasys Objet500 Connex3 3D printer.
While the sword took about two months to complete in total, the sheath itself took less than a week, although the case did require multiple polishings in order to achieve the near complete transparency required for the design.
The sword sheath can be downloaded from the new digital 3D model and 3D printed model marketplace Rinkak now.
