The wood is madrone, salvaged from a storm-felled tree, dried five years. Note the orientation of the grain - end grain! There are not many woods that you could do this with.
The blade is water buffalo horn.
oh my that’s a beauty congratulations!
Wooooo… I agree ! Very beautiful !
Woow, a real beauty!
How is it to play?
Nice wood. And tipping with buffalo horn is very creative.
I remember back in Vietnam, we used to eat water buffalo instead of beef. XD. Actually, that part about eating water buffalo just a joke, but in all seriousness, that’s a really really nice looking bachi
Domo all for the nice comments! I need to thin the horn even further for more of the tip - it is surprisingly stiff, but has plenty of flex once its gets thin, plus it is really tough - not likely to chip.
The madrone is the beautiful tree of the dark side of the deep California hills. The bark peels like red paper and Varied Thrush eat the berries. Like manzanita, the seeds will only germinate if burned in a fire or eaten and shat out by a bear.
I would eat a water buffalo. Well, not a whole one…
Jaw drop! WANT!! Those horns drop off of the buffalo, right? They shed them?
I wish I could say yes, but no, the horn is not shed and grows for the life of the buffalo. It is a keratinous material, like hair or nails, not osseous, like antler. I suppose it could be sawed off and the animal would be fine, but I am pretty sure that did not happen.
So a buffalo did die somewhere and this is part of his head. But the rest of animal was not thrown away. In places that raise them, the whole animal is used in some way.
Water buffalo husbandry is big in Pakistan and India. Buffalo mozzarella is made with water buffalo milk. While all animal husbandry has negative environmental effects, water buffalo are often cited as neutral or even beneficial in certain environments (they control water vegetation in Vietnam and benefit certain fish species).
I am exploring elk antler as a bachi material as they are shed annually. In my defense, I have had this material for decades. I am trying to use up all the cool stuff in my shelves. For the first part of my life I tried to make my mark. Now I spend my days trying to erase it.
Oh, you don’t have to defend yourself, Tomo! I could tell right away that you care about the lil furry things (or in this case, the BIG furry things 
) XOXO!
I think you could see that I have ivory itomaki - I didn’t know they were ivory when I bought the entire “shamisen package”, though, AND they are VERY old … I even have a fur coat - my grandmother bought it in the 1930s and left it to me. I think we all have something like this.
They are all treasures and a reminder of a bygone era - it’s just that nowadays, we need not to perpetuate the practice of buying NEW animal products that are not for sustenance, that’s all, because there are too many of US and not enough of THEM. I wont judge anyone who does anyway, just politely ask that they think about what they’re doing before they do it.
It’s a BEAUTIFUL bachi!! And even more precious that you made it!
Re: WANT!! I am making a run of bachi from all the cool bits I have saved over the years. I hope to have enough to show later this Fall of various things I make. My bachi will (eventually, once I have ironed out the kinks and gotten the hours in the shop which is so hard during Fall bird migration) be for sale - watch this space.
I want to see that show! You are truly talented. 
for the record, here is my “dream” bachi. my birthday is on Friday - I just might order it. yes, pink. I love pink
I have pink celluloid pick stock and am going to make a bachi with the Sailor Moon vibe. A white maple handle? Or something more flamboyant, like Pink Brazilian Tulipwood or Jacaranda?
Thanks for the encouragement. I don’t know if it is talent or simply having one or two of every tool, a shop, and four or five decades of experience. I should be better at this than I am.
Happy birthday! As Jeff Bezos of Amazon is always telling me, “Buy yourself a little something!”
Good very decent.