# Communities > Modern-era Swords and Collecting Community > Modern Production Katanas >  JW Hot Steel Forge?

## G. Light

I know ebay has some good sword makers on there like Cheness and zhi sword, on trawling through some katanas for sale ive come across this seller JW HOT STEEL FORGE, folded blades with good prices and a lot of good feedback, has anyone bought a blade from this seller? is this another zhi type forge or a rip off ebay forge?

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## Timo Qvintus

Try searching SFI for "paartist86"..

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## sal v.

hello, i am sal. i have purchased a blade back when i was 13..i am 14 haha, it was a bad move. there damascus blades look okay, but the monosteel that i got, lacked looks and quality. promised too be able too take it apart for maintenance. no seppa rings, and no removable tsuka.
remember that laminated steel and san mai, are the same things, and that they have a high failure rate. usually medium too high strength,and they have excellent flexibility, but they can also bend severely on bad cuts, so if you are a beginner like myself, you best stay away.

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## Bogdan M.

> remember that laminated steel and san mai, are the same things, and that they have a high failure rate. usually medium too high strength,and they have excellent flexibility, but they can also bend severely on bad cuts, so if you are a beginner like myself, you best stay away.


I wonder where did you get that info from? Sanmai is a generic name for several blade lamination methods who were traditionally largerly used with success for building katanas. You're pretty way off track here. 

I've ordered a custom piece from paartist myself, it will arrive in about a week, given the price I'm not expecting a work of art, but from the communications with the guys I got the feeling they know what they're doing, and they put a lot of effort in satisfying their clients for their higher end blades. I'll post some comments maybe when I get the sword, but from the pictures that they sent it seems like good quality for the money. Again, *for their higher end* swords. 100$ is too cheap to give you a real chance of getting a decent sword, regardless of the manufacturer.

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## Jennifer Yabut

Paartist86 has been discussed extensively on SFI.  Personally, I'm put off by how they advertise themselves on eBay, their high shipping costs, and NO RETURN policy.  The lack of return policy is the biggest red flag to me.

I strongly advise you to do more research before attempting to buy swords on eBay.  There are good deals to be had if you're lucky, but it would help if you know exactly what to look for.

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## sal v.

i have heard so many bad things about them...i cannot trust them....my monosteel speaks for itself... only did it gain the beauty that i wanted it too have, when i modified it, then polished it.....oh whatever

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## Bogdan M.

> i have heard so many bad things about them...i cannot trust them....my monosteel speaks for itself... only did it gain the beauty that i wanted it too have, when i modified it, then polished it.....oh whatever


What I questioned were your general allegations about sanmai blades that were plainly misleading.

How much did you pay for your sword from them?

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## Kenneth, H.

> [...]Sanmai is a generic name for several blade lamination methods[...]


Actually san-mai translates as "three plate lamination", meaning one  center sheet of hard steel sandwiched between two other sheets, in most cases (if not all) by folded steel or at least a softer steel or iron.

Other laminations such as kobuse or in Chinese "bao gang" where hard steel is wrapped around a soft iron core, or shihozume (in Chinese "si fan duan") where a hard edge, soft core and medium soft back is sandwiched between folded steel are reffered to as their respective names, and not san-mai.  :Smilie: 

Best regards, Kenneth A.H.

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## Bogdan M.

> Actually san-mai translates as "three plate lamination", meaning one  center sheet of hard steel sandwiched between two other sheets, in most cases (if not all) by folded steel or at least a softer steel or iron.


I agree with what you say, but it's incomplete. There are 2 ways of obtaining that 3 plate lamination: one is called orikaeshi sanmai, the other honsanmai.

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## Kenneth, H.

> I agree with what you say, but it's incomplete. There are 2 ways of obtaining that 3 plate lamination: one is called orikaeshi sanmai, the other honsanmai.


Aha! I now see what you meant by your previous post.  :Wink: 
You are indeed very correct with your two newly stated laminations. San-mai is indeed incorporated into the word describing the lamination. But alone, san-mai is still only san-mai.

If you look at any e-bay auction of Chinese swords or Chinese made Japanese style sword stating its san-mai lamination; one can safely assume that it is the simplest san-mai lamination, and not hon san-mai or the like.  :Smilie: 

Best regards, Kenneth A.H.

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## Jared Barnhill

I have one of their SanMai damascus folded steel swords. I recieved it as a gift (to my specs  :Smilie: ) about a year and a half ago, and I am quite pleased with it. Besides as has been said, a rather high shipping rate, the prices are low to average for production swords, you could take the same money and buy a blade through cheness or Hanwei. However for that amount of money through JW, you also get some nice customization options that others don't offer, maybe its just a novelty but I liked it. I admit the fittings were a little loose, and clearly not overly expensive but that can be said about most production swords. But it has a very nice blade (no yokote only complaint), that cuts well, and has a nice polish, it was customized the way I wanted it, and overall I think you atleast get what you pay for.

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## sal v.

you know, there blades look okay....but it just seems like there are so many better companies...

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## Christian J.

I recently recieved the mount fuji straight katana with o-kissaki, i have to say a very nice job on the kissaki and polish, i am not sure about the hamon, it is clearly acid enhanced but it has some brush strokes. polishing job is better then any of my other swords (incl bugei, oni-forge, paul Chen, Last Legend), that speaks for itselve ofcourse. The quality of the steel itself is not tested.



more imageshttp://collectie.shinsakuto.net/Katanas.htm

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## Kenneth, H.

> [...]i have to say a very nice job on the kissaki and polish, i am not sure about the hamon, it is clearly acid enhanced but it has some brush strokes. [...]


Actually thats a wire-brush.  :Wink: 
Those brush marks are from the wheel of the buffing machine.
What you do is; you take a piece of brass sheet metal, cut the shape of the hamon you want, then hold the brass sheet on the blade while you use the buffing-wheel to brush the area of the sword not covered by the sheet-metal.  :Smilie: 
Usually such a sheet hangs on the wall next to the buffing-wheel, so a worker can easily pick it up and make a hamon if thats in the order-papers for the sword.

All those little 'sparkly' dots in the "hamon" are simply residue from the sheet metal.

Best regards, Kenneth A.H.

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## Guy C

I am also waiting for delivery of one of their San Mai katanas. Ordered back in December arriving in the next 10 days?) but they have kept in touch and reply to emails quickly. I wanted a Katatemaki wrap which they readily agreed to do for an extra $10 if I could supply some pictures. It will be interesting to see what turns up. I will try and post some pictures

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## Christian J.

> Actually thats a wire-brush.


But i have seen some effort in wire brushing on some other swords (The wallhangers from Masahiro) and this looks like a different thing. You can hardly see the brush shapes by eye, only with extremely bright light.
If you are right you can easily remove the hamon with a fresh polish?

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## Kenneth, H.

> But i have seen some effort in wire brushing on some other swords (The wallhangers from Masahiro) and this looks like a different thing. You can hardly see the brush shapes by eye, only with extremely bright light.
> If you are right you can easily remove the hamon with a fresh polish?


This wire-hamon is quite similar to the wire-hamon done by us.. The technique is quite common in Long Quan. Pretty much every forge apply the same method.

The hamon can be removed with a fresh polish, yes.  :Smilie:  Whether or not there is an actual underlying hamon remains to see though.

Best regards, Kenneth A.H.

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## Christian J.

> This wire-hamon is quite similar to the wire-hamon done by us.. The technique is quite common in Long Quan. Pretty much every forge apply the same method.
> 
> The hamon can be removed with a fresh polish, yes.  Whether or not there is an actual underlying hamon remains to see though.
> 
> Best regards, Kenneth A.H.



Now i'm curious, the sword was sold to me as "differentially tempered with real hamon". But i'm not willing to ruin a perfectly good wire brush hamon, how can i test it?

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## Andrew W. Priestley

"perfectly good wire brush hamon" is a contradiction in terms.

The wire brush area is NOT a hamon by any realistic standard.  It is purely cosmetic, and ugly if you can see the wire brush marks at all. 

It is also misleading.

If there is a real hamon under that wire brushed mess, then it is being completely hidden., and you should clear away the camouflage. 

I'd be surprised if there were a real hamon under there.

Testing it wpould be hard without polishing a window through the wire brushing, or using hardness files to see if the edge is harder than the spine, again marring the finish.  Hardness testing files ain't cheap either. 

If you can take it apart, there might be a visible hardened area under the habaki...maybe.  Take it apart and look under the habaki, see where the wire brushing stops.  you could then try to polish a window under the habaki to see if there is any hamon visible.  Start with a low grit sandpaper that can cut the wire brush marks, then go step by step up to at least 800 grit.  Just polish a small area the size of your thumbnail, so it shouldn't takde long.  Avoid rounding any edges or ridges where the habaki should register/seat.  

Good luck.

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## Kenneth, H.

> Now i'm curious, the sword was sold to me as "differentially tempered with real hamon". But i'm not willing to ruin a perfectly good wire brush hamon, how can i test it?


Thats the big question isn't it?

the thing is, it kind of depends on what kind of steel they used for your blade.
For example, whenever we make a lower budget sword, we use 1045 steel allot. Its a medium carbon steel, and a hamon doesn't actually show at high polish. It can bee seen slightly at early stages of polishing, but as the blade gets more and more shiny the hamon simply completely disappears. For blades like that; we'd make a fake hamon upon request as a cosmetic thing.

Best regards, Kenneth A.H.

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## Timo Qvintus

I have no experience of hybrid polishing but wouldn't a quick acid-treatment (under the habaki or somewhere else "hidden") reveal a hamon?

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## Christian J.

Guess i really have to test it  :Stick Out Tongue: 

Luckily i have the habaki covering up some hamon so i could indeed use a polish to see if the hamon is real, if the acid method works i could try it on the other side? but then i need a small explanation..

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## Christian J.

First of all, maybe this topic can be moved to the "Modern production swords" forum?
Or maybe merge with This topic?

Anyway, i have proceeded with the hybrid polish method and the hamon is completely removed. I made a small *site* to show the efforts.

My question is: is this enough proof that the hamon was really wire brushed or will you remove also the "real" hamon with this kind of polish.

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## Christian J.

> "perfectly good wire brush hamon" is a contradiction in terms.



It was ment as being a bit sarcastic but if there is indeed no real hamon under the wire brush it would be a waste of an esthetically nice effect on the sword. 

By the way the sword was only $60 (but incl. shipping and taxes i payed up to $200 :EEK!: )

I'm curious if the more expensive swords have the same "wire-brush" hamon so Guy C. hopefully you can post some nice images. Try to use bright lighting because you will get a hard time getting those "wire-brushed" on the photo. good luck!

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## Timo Qvintus

> First of all, maybe this topic can be moved to the "Modern production swords" forum?
> Or maybe merge with This topic?
> 
> Anyway, i have proceeded with the hybrid polish method and the hamon is completely removed. I made a small *site* to show the efforts.
> 
> My question is: is this enough proof that the hamon was really wire brushed or will you remove also the "real" hamon with this kind of polish.


You can't remove a real hamon unless you remove a lot of blade width from the edge.. Nice work, the part looks almost mirror-polished! If there is a real hamon underneath some lemon juice could bring it out, but I think it's face to say it's TH. Hardly a surprise at $60 price-range..

oh, and I second the move to Production forum.. Glen mate, get your viking moving company ready!  :Big Grin:

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## Christian J.

> If there is a real hamon underneath some lemon juice could bring it out


For howlong should this juice be in contact with the blade?




> Hardly a surprise at $60 price-range..


It is indeed not a surprise but i'm a bit  :Mad:  because of the fact that is was sold to me as having a "cley quenched blade with real hamon"

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## Timo Qvintus

> For howlong should this juice be in contact with the blade?


I haven't tried any of this stuff so no comments, but check out this thread:
http://forums.swordforum.com/showthr...ighlight=lemon

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## Christian J.

Well i tried to use the lemon/dishwashliquid method and the results are a bit strange. On one hand you could say that there is indeed a differentially tempered blade under the "wire-brush" hamon but i'm not fully convinced.

What do you think?

website (adjusted with the latest results)

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## Timo Qvintus

Very interesting results. IIRC some people hybrid-polished their wirebrush-hamon Zhi-Swords and found real hamon underneath there too. Based on Kenneth's post I think that the reason this is done is to save time (and consequently money), since wirebrushing a hamon is much faster than even hybrid-polish. The hamon is not very pronounced, even with acid etching.

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## Christian J.

Why do they "waste" time in making a differentially tempered blade and covering the blade with a wire-brush hamon?
Why not fully temper the blade if you do not want to bring out the real hamon with an etch or polish?

I don't think there are a lot of people who want to start cutting with a $40 sword...

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## Timo Qvintus

> Why do they "waste" time in making a differentially tempered blade and covering the blade with a wire-brush hamon?
> Why not fully temper the blade if you do not want to bring out the real hamon with an etch or polish?
> 
> I don't think there are a lot of people who want to start cutting with a $40 sword...


Here's how I see it. Blades have to be heat-treated in any case, even TH requires time and attention to be done properly. Non-hardened blade could not be used (and believe me, a lot of people do use even $40 swords).

"Differentially tempered", "clay tempered" etc. are current eBay hot-sales-words. To be able to use these words in their sales-pitch and avoid complaints they have to actually have a hamon on the blade. Bringing it out requires a LOT of work, however, and the sales-pitch of a cheap sword doesn't mention anything about the polish bringing out the natural hamon. So they machine-polish the blades and wire-brush a fake hamon on the blade. And there you have it: a cheap differentially tempered blade that shows a hamon.

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## Benjamin P.

A couple of thoughts...  there might be a real hamon there somewhere, but it might be highly irregular and unusually thin.  Not because they were being artistic (obviously), but because it wasn't done with a lot of care.  I'm just making that assumption based on the price.

Also, what is likely is that the hamon ends before the machi, so you're polishing at a place where there is no hamon anyway.  So, you might find the hamon a couple of inches further up the blade in front of the habaki.  I've seen similar things in pictures of other low-end blades.  

Just my 0.02 cents..

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## Jennifer Yabut

I went ahead and moved this thread to the Production Katana forum (don't know why I didn't earlier; must've been sleeping).

And I'll just say, as the old saying goes: You get what you pay for.  How much effort do you think a production sword seller is going to put into a $40 blade...really?

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## Christian J.

> I went ahead and moved this thread to the Production Katana forum (don't know why I didn't earlier; must've been sleeping).


Thanks!




> How much effort do you think a production sword seller is going to put into a $40 blade...really?


That is not the issue, if they did not mention anything regarding a differential tempering i would have bought the sword also because there are hardly any other options for this kind of sword.
The issue is that they promised something which they (possibly?) did not fulfill.

Anyway, Benjamin P. suggested that there is no hamon under the Habaki, he might be right but how can you explain the hamon structure that arised after the acid treatment?
And in most production katana's I have, the hamon does go beyond the ha-machi (be it for only a few cm..)
Also in pictures of nihonto you can often see the hamon going beyond the ha-machi.

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## Benjamin P.

> Anyway, Benjamin P. suggested that there is no hamon under the Habaki, he might be right but how can you explain the hamon structure that arised after the acid treatment?


From what I've gathered so far, not all hamon are created equal...  just because it looks like hamon, doesn't mean it is actually heat-treated correctly or with much attention.  In fact, some of what you're seeing might be completely by accident and not deliberate, if that makes any sense.  I read somewhere that low-end blades are sometimes heat-treated more than once or something like that if it doesn't go "right" the first time around... so you sometimes end up seeing more than one hamon line or things that look like hamon but is just really poorly heat-treated part of the steel.  Anyway that sounds like a really bad practice.




> And in most production katana's I have, the hamon does go beyond the ha-machi (be it for only a few cm..)  Also in pictures of nihonto you can often see the hamon going beyond the ha-machi.


Well, most production katanas that deserve to be something more than wall-hanger... cost a lot more than what you paid (no offense!) for this one...  and let's not even compare nihonto... they're not even in the same league/planet.  Anyway, the hamon is supposed to go past the machi, from what I've seen and read... but it's doubtful some underpaid factory worker really cares about all those details... especially when he has probably never seen or held a truly decent sword in his life.

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## Timo Qvintus

A hamon (or any kind) forming where it should be due to bad forging and/or heat-treating technique? AFAIK that's like winning a lottery while getting struck by a lightning.. twice. 

Benjamin, please look at the picture: the polished "window" *IS* beyond machi (under habaki)..  :Wink:

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## Benjamin P.

> A hamon (or any kind) forming where it should be due to bad forging and/or heat-treating technique? AFAIK that's like winning a lottery while getting struck by a lightning.. twice. 
> 
> Benjamin, please look at the picture: the polished "window" *IS* beyond machi (under habaki)..


Oops, my bad.   :Big Grin:   That'll teach me to look at pictures more closely.  Thanks, Timo.

Anyway... what I was saying about bad hardening doesn't really apply to this one anymore.  Still I was told that, sometimes, when the heat-treating or quenching isn't done right on one of these low-end blades, it creates something that might appear to be hamon with strong etching but really isn't at all... which forces the worker to just do another one over it.  Or something like that, anyway.... ::shrug::   :Confused:   Maybe I got wrong info., or didn't understand it right (which is quite likely).

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## Guy C

I promised some pictures when I got my Katana. It's ready to ship now apparently and Hot Steel Forge have sent me some pics of my sword for approval. I asked for the Katate Maki wrap, they said send pictures and they could do it for $10. If it looks as good in the flesh as the pictures I will be a very happy customer.

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## Timo Qvintus

Guy, do you want opinions..?  :Wink: 

How much did you pay for it, BTW?

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## Guy C

I would welcome opinions, although I'll  be better able to respond oonce I actually get the sword. Total cost was $297 including the $10 for the Katate Maki and shipping of  $88 (ouch).  I know you get what you pay for and this would be classed as a low end producton katana. I sometimes think that by paying  little and structuring my expectations accordingly I have a better chance of having those expectations exceeded. It will be interesting to see how it compares with the Bugei Bamboo I am expecting shortly :Smilie:

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## Timo Qvintus

> It will be interesting to see how it compares with the Bugei Bamboo I am expecting shortly


It doesn't.  :Stick Out Tongue: 

Seriously though.. Cheap alloy fuchigashira, shoelacey-looking tsukamaki which looks quite wrong (and not in "correct" proportion, but IMHO that's a matter of taste really), wirebrushed hamon (over a real one like Christian's, or not)..

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## Hong Yeung

o.O thats a real hamon under a wirebrush.....

Saved cost of polishing...

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## Philip Lodge

Hello. Iv been reading the posts on this thread and iv bought some of JWs swords and i see no evidence of clay temper, Just the wire brush hamon( wire brush kissaki!!) I see the san-mai line and folding where its offerd and do look genuin. I also had a sword made(there best, most expencive) without the wire brush hamon and still no evidence of clay temper or diferrential hardening of any kind. I do like there swords, the ones i bought have good steel and are well put together.
 Looks like they use machines to do a lot of the work (bench grinders, angle grinders and buffing wheels) also the cutting edge is a plain razor sharp one. No bevel or camber to the cutting edge. I had to wait 3months!!! for delivery of one of the swords.
I hope this helps. Regards Philip

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## Guy C

Well it arrived today and I am pleased with it. Nice light blade p.o.b just under 5 inches so it feels quite handy. It seems well put together, full tang double pegged. The lamination line line is evident under the hamon (which does appear wire brushed, real underneath or not) The Katate Maki I asked for is tightly done, in fact everything seems very tight, no rattles or wobbles. No it doesn't compare with the Bugei Bamboo (top in some pictures) but then nor does the price.

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## X.Campano

First, i would like to salute everybody took the time to comment a few ebay sellers as i was searching for it ... !!!

Secondly, i will now explain what i am here about ...

This is my first post here but not my first visit ...
In the beginning, i was searching for JW...
I found a few comment, sometimes good, sometimes bad ...

First, i decided to order my sword from JW ebay Store ...

One month later, as they could not reply to my emails, i decided to ask them to refund my money back (377 $ including shipping)
The order was for a SANMAI SILICON ALLOY with REAL YOKOTE, "Battle" wrap tsukamaki as they say ( hehe ! ), NO COUNTER POLISH, NO WIRE-BRUSHED HAMON (I don't really know if the hamon is real ???), they say it's differentialy tempered (i understood water quenched after heating ...), and tsunami tsuba, real ray skin, red wood saya.
They sent me the money back, and told me they will send pictures of the blade ...

After this, i decided to go to BADTRACK ebay Store ("dgspirit" exactly) and get focus on the "clay tempered kobuse A museum quality polish" as you can see in the end of this page : 




> http://stores.ebay.com/dgspirit/About-Japanese-Blades.html


This Store could make it for 430 $ including shipping ...

After reading a few posts in a few forums ... 
i decided to forget him and turn back to the high rated MASTER ZHISWORD...

What i ordered from ZHISWORD is this piece :

THE ORDER IS FROM : #488 ebay item
Sword Name: MURASE Katana

- NO Grooves
- NO Engravements
- Real Shaped Yokote
- Clay tempering process (with OMARU boshi)
- 13 process traditional hand polishing ...
- Double mekugi
- Battle wrap Tsukamaki
- COTTON ITO (color from 180187045395)
- SILK SAGEO (color from 180187045395)
- Koshirae of picture attached
- Genuine RAY or SHARK SKIN on tsuka
- Buffalo Horn Koiguchi (saya from 180155910725)
- Silk Bag (with or without : it's not a problem, 
but could be still nice with it ;o))
- Shipping to France = 48$



TOTAL AMOUNT = 430$

And i think i will be happy with this one !!!

Yesterday, as i wanted JW to send me pictures of the finished blade ... i received these ones ...
You can send opinions about it ... and you can send emails to tell me more about the choice i made ..??

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## X.Campano

As i needed more close up pictures of the hamon ... they sent me those : 




Feel free to comment the faint hamon ...

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## Timo Qvintus

X.Campano, I think you made the right choice (out of these options, at least). Nice recently got his custom Zhi and it looked quite nice. Please post a review with pictures when you get the sword, I'd love to see what the "13 stages" polish looks like. Did you specify the steel for the blade, nagasa/nakago length, sori, type of hamon, etc.?

One thing, though: item 180187045395 has silk tsukaito, while you listed it as cotton; if it's not silk I suggest you upgrade it, it's only $10 or so extra and is much nicer (although not high grade silk).

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## X.Campano

Thank you for comments .. !!
I did not specify any modification on the blade ... Mr. Zhang told me they will use better steel than the one in the auction, in order to have a nicer hamon and better result on the whole blade ... the sizes are the ones on the auction... I asked him for bigger sori, but he told me that could be far longer to forge it. As i told him i needed to have tachi sori on the whole blade, he told me he could only make bigger sori on the blade, but not as a tachi style (in a tachi style, the nakago has the same sori as the rest of the blade)... For the type of hamon, i asked him if it could be possible to have a midare choji hamon and he told me it could cost way too much as it's ok for me with irregular hamon (notare).

Well, for the item number, it was the first choice, but i decided finally to have the tsuka ito in a black cotton, as i love the cotton touch ... and for sageo the black silk on the item# 180188004498 !!! As the saya will be red with black koiguchi ... i decided to have a basic black configuration, as the one i have yet ... and not only for cosmetic reasons but i think the black will show less the dirt parts on the ito than any other colour !!!

YES, I WILL AUTOMATICALLY PUT A REVIEW WITH PICTURES AND YOSEIKAN IAIDO SENSEI'S OPINION HEHE !

Good end of week !

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## Andrew G.

First, let me say that JW offers a few different "levels" of sword.  They offer various >100 generi-looking Chinatanas, $175-$250 san mai 9260 katanas, and <$250 forge-folded katanas.  Of course the cheaper blades are gonna be just that: cheap.  But their higher end blades are a different story...

All of their katanas come with cheap and generic fittings, but the quality of their higher-end blades is quite impressive...very impressive actually.  They absolutely make their higher-end katanas  individually, and will do a complete custom katana to your specifications if you request and will pay for it (real yokote ridge, any size kissaki, shorter or longer blade, niku, etc.).

I have a folded tanto that I bought from them last year.  It came with the same type of wire brushed hamon (and kissaki) that we see earlier in this thread.  I was very disappointed in this, so I immediately began a hybrid polish, with the intentions of removing the fake hamon and seeing if there was a real one underneath.  Here are the results:

Before (looks horrid):


After (intensive hybrid polished and etching):








As you can see, there is a very nice true hamon underneath.  I bought this tanto standard, and did not make any special requests, so I think we can assume that their [higher end] blades really do have a true hamon...and a pretty nice one at that.

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## Andrew G.

Sorry in advance for the double-post.  But I have a friend who has taken the plunge and has made a custom order with JW Hot Steel Forge.  He purchased one of their 9260 San-mai katanas through ebay, and then made some additional custom requests through e-mail (which they were happy to accomodate).   He requested an O-kissaki with real yokote ridge, no counter-polish on the hamon, and slightly more niku than they generally forge.  He also requested a fully customized koshirae.  They were happy to take his requests, at a total damage of just under $500. and After 3 months, they are actually on their third attempt at creating exactly what he wants (at no additional charge!!)   

First attempt: 





(beautiful, but it developed a [non-fatal] forging flaw, so they abandoned it.)

Second attempt:



(Another beauty, but the kissaki was too "straight" for the customer's liking...and now they are working on a third blade.)

Both the first and second blades are indeed fully-functional, and there is nothing inherently wrong with them.  

I will also note that upon completion they had actually delivered the second sword to the post office, but [on their own notion] made a special trip to get it back so they could send him photos of the blade first (just to make sure it was to his liking before sending).  Good thing they did.



In conclusion, it looks to me like JW Hot steel Forge has a really good thing going for them.  They will go to extreme measures to make their customer happy, and seem quite competent in their abilities (which can only get better with time).  We'll have to wait and see how my friend likes the final product when it finally comes, but don't turn up your noses just yet!!  :Smilie:

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## Brandt Noel

I'm hearing 2 opinions here:

 You get what you pay for ....

JW Hot Steel forge works hard to keep the customers happy....

I agree with opinion number one. I competley disagree with Opion #2.

I paid for a blade and gave them specific dimensions. THey took about 6 months to make the sword and mailled it and it was not what I asked for. the blade tapered from 1 1/4 at the habaki  down to about 3/4 inch at the kissaki. I specificlly requested no taper. So I said fine and asked the to make me another AND PAID A SECOND TIME in SEPT 2007. I was showm pictures of a forged blade that was supposed to be mine and now  8 months later they wont even return an email. SOme time in Oct 2007 , was the last time they responded to an email. They said they would make the necessary changes to myblade to make it more functionalble. aka change my design specs. I wasn't requesting anything that difficult. just a 27 1/2 inch folded 1 1/4 wide untapered blade with a 2 inch kissaki. 

Still 8 months later, I can't even get them to return an email. I have asked for a refund about 3 times.  No Response .Yesterday , I even said I would take any one of there folded blades as a replacement. Still no response.

I'll keep you all posted on how tis goes.

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## Andrew G.

Hmm, that's disappointing.  I agree that they do take a while sometimes to reply to emails, but I have always gotten a good thorough response within a few days.

I'm surprised by this, considering the lengths that they went to with my SBG friend to give him exactly what he wanted...all at no extra charge.

Sorry to hear that and I hope everything works out well in the end.

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