2016 sayashi and fittings makers?

So it's been awhile since I saw anyone post any interesting projects or commissions here...Don't know what the state of the high-end Japanese sword-fitting makers in America is like any more.

I have a bare wakizashi blade by Walter Sorrells I'd love to have mounted. Who is working on sayas these days, especially irishime finish? Who makes good fittings, fuchi/kashira/tsuba? After a brief statement of interest, Patrick Hastings seems to have gone underground and is not interested in work. His website is defunct for over a year. www.taganearts.com

Or maybe everyone is doing antiques these days?

Well if you can recommend someone besides Hastings, Tenold and Larman, and Hallam for work, I'd love to hear it. Thanks in advance,

And for those interested, I posted about a Sorrells katana put together a couple of years ago here. I'd like this wakizashi to be a close match though the steel is different. http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic....light=sorrells

Randy Black in Phoenix does nice looking work though I admit I've never checked out his work in person but I know a few guys who recommend his work.

Patrick is still around, not sure how one gets in touch with him other than facebook these days, though. He's still doing work, more toolmaking to help promote the art, but he has posted a few bits from time to time. He was having some health issues for a while and I think he needed to take a break and focus more on himself than his work.

Rick Barrett is often an overlooked for sayashi and fittings. He was a jeweler for a while and has done some really nice work, but I don't know what his current niche is. http://www.barrettcustomknives.com/home
It looks like Rick has an apprentice, too, http://www.barrettcustomknives.com/josiah_s_available

http://www.japanesesword.com/Services/services.htm has some good names listed, but god knows how old that information is or if they're still doing it.

Fred Lohman is always a good choice, too. he's still at www.katana4u.com

I've been out of the game and don't really know who is doing what these days (it used to be that you'd find a new person doing this stuff every week on here..) so I'm not sure if I'm helping you much.

+1 for Randy. Great work.

Thanks a lot guys!

Jeff:

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Patrick is still around, not sure how one gets in touch with him other than facebook these days, though. He's still doing work, more toolmaking to help promote the art, but he has posted a few bits from time to time. He was having some health issues for a while and I think he needed to take a break and focus more on himself than his work.

Rick Barrett is often an overlooked for sayashi and fittings. He was a jeweler for a while and has done some really nice work, but I don't know what his current niche is. http://www.barrettcustomknives.com/home
It looks like Rick has an apprentice, too, http://www.barrettcustomknives.com/josiah_s_available

http://www.japanesesword.com/Services/services.htm has some good names listed, but god knows how old that information is or if they're still doing it.

Fred Lohman is always a good choice, too. he's still at www.katana4u.com

I've been out of the game and don't really know who is doing what these days (it used to be that you'd find a new person doing this stuff every week on here..) so I'm not sure if I'm helping you much.

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I got a hold of Patrick in 2015 and at first he agreed to do wak-sized fittings to match the katana ones I got, but then he really disappeared. He would have been my first choice, but it just seems like he's in a different place now. Rick Barrett and Josiah Boomershine seem like a great find. Josiah's stuff especially looks very similar to what I'd like, thanks! I did work with Lohman on the menuki for the katana, and everything went fine there. I don't know what I'll do this time for menuki, but I will look at what he's got for sure. Thanks for all the help.

Randy Black's stuff I can find through a google search seems pretty darn nice. He might be just the right guy for saya and tsuka work...Thanks for telling me about him Mark and J. Cardin.

Any other names are welcome, it's great to see some fantastic work is still being done out there