# Communities > Modern-era Swords and Collecting Community > Modern Production Katanas >  Anyone Heard From RDSA Lately?

## Maurice Cate

I've got a katana on order from red dragonfly sword art that should be done now. Ive been trying to get ahold of Jason for almost two months now with no response. Has anyone that has an order with them heard from Jason recently? I know he's busy going back and forth to Japan, but this is a very long time to have not heard from him. I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

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## J MacDonald

I also have a sword on order and have bot heard from him in quite a while as well. He does not respond to my emails either.

A few months ago I demamded a response and threatened to contact paypal for refund. That, he responded to saying that he was waiting for seppa from Japan. I am sure this is not the case as I have been able to order seppa from yamato and the arrived very quickly.

I *don't* think he's going to rip me off. I *do* think that there is a serious backlog and things are slow.

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## Glen C.

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=100937

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## Maurice Cate

Well I did finally hear from Jason. Said he's been very busy and having probs with worker communication so he's going to be in the shop every day working on orders. It was good to hear from him. All I want is my katana the way I ordered it, and to be kept in contact with about the progress. I just hope the yokote comes out looking good.

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## RonU

I also have a sword on order with RDS - they received my payment on May 15th, and at the time, Jason told me it would take 30 - 35 days to make and ship the sword. It has minor customizations - tsuka ito and saya from a different model, and a shortened tsuka, but nothing that should be taking this long. I emailed him a while ago, and he responded very quickly (the next day) and gave me the same answer - waiting for seppa from Japan - but this was on August 25, over a month ago - I was planning on sending him another email tomorrow to see what the hold up was. I agree with J MacDonald - I don't believe he is trying to rip us off, and probably has quite a backlog of orders - he indicated to me that he had many swords ready, just waiting for the seppa, and I trust that I will eventually receive my sword, but the waiting is killing me!

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## Rick B.

> http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=100937


This. He'll come through, it may just be awhile.

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## J MacDonald

I heard from Jason yesterday. I have a feeling he has seen this post which caused him to act. 

Anyway, he said that my sword is finished and will be sending me some pictures befor shipping...

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## RonU

Hey All,

Good news for those wondering about Jason... I got an email from him this morning informing me that my sword was done, accompanied by 10 pictures of the sword... I know it is actually my sword and not generic pictures of a stock item, because it is made using the fittings, tsuka ito, and saya that I requested.  He says he will be shipping by FedEx tomorrow, and that I should receive it some time next week, probably before the weekend. It took considerably longer than he originally told me it would, but, I guess anything worth having, is worth waiting for... keeping my fingers crossed!

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## J MacDonald

I had serious troubles with communication with him too.
But I got my sword today. It's still in the box. I'd love to take it out and take a look at it but I'm at work.

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## David Bigler

Please share with us once you got the time to take a few pics.

thank you & enjoy

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## J MacDonald

will do

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## Erez S.

i'm also trying to contact them but no reply... wonder what is going on..

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## RonU

I'm guessing he's very busy playing catch up - I count 3 swords (including mine) that have been finished and delivered just this month alone (on just this forum)... be patient... every time I'd emailed him, he'd always replied within a day, except for the last 2 messages I sent him... never got replies to them. Then, suddenly I got an email from him telling me my sword was ready to be shipped, and he sent me 10 pictures. The sword was shipped FedEx Priority on a Friday, and I received it before 10am on Monday.

The saya leaves a bit to be desired... a bit loose, but I can fix that - the sword was his bottom line 1095 sword, so the quality (or lack of) of the saya did not come as a surprise... looks nice, but the fit is poor.

The sword came out beautifully... tsuka ito is tight as a drum, and the blade mounting is rock solid. The weight and balance are awesome for a blade that will be in constant iaido use... great balance, not too heavy for hours of swinging, but not too light.

A great entry level sword, but I may decide to have a new saya made for it in the future.

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## Luke A.

Old topic I know, but how long has everyone had to wait from ordering their katana to actually receiving it?
I first spoke to Jason 2 months ago and he suggested it would take about 2 weeks to make the sword. Fine, I thought, and sent my monies, and haven't heard from him since.
Reading here it seems this is the norm. I'm really not comfortable at all with that! Does anyone have a contact phone number for Jason or anything other than email??

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## Ronn Brown

I bought a folded and forged blade from Jason in Jan. He was great on the email, and kept me informed on everything. However, after getting the blade, and cleaning it. There was some marks on the blade from shipping. The blade wasnt wrapped before shipping as i have seem him do in the past. The saya was lose, and i belive this is what make the marks during shipping. I emailed him about this, and no replys. The polish was super nice, thats why i wished he would have protected the blade better before shipping. Ron

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## Glen C.

Hi Ronn,

Welcome aboard

Sometimes just buffing with a cloth will rub out scuffs like that. Lightly with something a little abrasive such as Noxon or even a gum eraser will blend out the scuff. Pencil and then the harsher ink pen erasers are grades above the gummy block types. Post pictures if you can. I know they can be hard to show and maybe that is as least annoying in just letting them be rather than figure there is a truly economical way to resolve such a peeve.

Cheers

Hotspur; _I generally don't notice the little stuff when using swords but I can appreciate concerns for minor or even major blemishes_

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## Ronn Brown

Thanks Glen for the help. I will just leave the marks be. I know in time, marks will show up as you handle the blade. This is a great forum, i have learned alot here from all the great posts. Ron

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## M. Phan

I ordered a sword on October 20, 2010.  I have sent three emails already inquiring about the estimate time of completion and received no response.  I wasn't even rushing Jason at RDSA, I completely understand that custom sword require time to finish.  I just want to know an estimate.

I am a bit concern now because I am about to deploy in May and have to terminate my lease.  So if he send it to the address I am currently at, I will not be there to receive it.

I just want a confirmation that he received my email, give me a estimate for time of completion.  And if I happen to be overseas, I want to be able to give the address of my parent where he could send the sword to.

Before anyone jumping on me for ordering a sword knowing I would deploy.  No, I did not know.  I received the notification after I placed the order.

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## Glen C.

> I ordered a sword on October 20, 2010.  I have sent three emails already inquiring about the estimate time of completion and received no response.  I wasn't even rushing Jason at RDSA, I completely understand that custom sword require time to finish.  I just want to know an estimate.
> 
> I am a bit concern now because I am about to deploy in May and have to terminate my lease.  So if he send it to the address I am currently at, I will not be there to receive it.
> 
> I just want a confirmation that he received my email, give me a estimate for time of completion.  And if I happen to be overseas, I want to be able to give the address of my parent where he could send the sword to.
> 
> Before anyone jumping on me for ordering a sword knowing I would deploy.  No, I did not know.  I received the notification after I placed the order.


Thanks for serving and I hope your work abroad is safe to see your return.  

As you may have noticed, direct communication with others involved may be more fruitful than expecting your notice here is heard by the source you are dealing with. At best, you might read here of someone else that might have received a sword or is still waiting. What does that accomplish though? We are not a claims department or customer service outlet for any and all sellers/producers. These threads really do not amount to anything but notes pinned to a tumbleweed. If the intent is to at simply antagonize the producer to reply, it is really bad form on this board.

I must now act in a somewhat redundant manner and quote administration

_The natural progression of allowing a forumite/customer post an accusation against a polisher, maker, dealer, retailer, etc. (I'll refer to such as "Seller" - be they selling a product or a service) is that the accused will want to share their side of the story. When the post is made, it's usually because of communication breakdown between the two.

Sometimes the customer has no recourse but to bring public pressure. At times, I've seen unreasonable customers try to manipulate public sentiment to force the Seller into an unfair action path.

What ends up happening is a massive "he said, she said" avalanche of e-mails, PMs, etc. that forces everyone to go through an overwhelming amount of information which is proportionate to the anger and frustration - which almost always leads causes SFI's trademark "warm and friendly" atmosphere to change.

This drags Moderators through mud and minutiae unnecessarily, even though SFI's policies is that we do not arbitrate, PERIOD. We simply do not have the manpower bandwidth for it. Further, arbitration unnecessarily duplicates already-available services out there.

People should give consideration to the Better Business Bureau's Dispute Resolution Services.

Now another thing that comes to mind is that if any forumite wants to volunteer moderating a blog (e.g. www.blogger.com) and will allow both sides to express and resolve the issue, then we're okay with linking to the blog. By linking, we are not endorsing either side; the act of linking is impartial and non-judgmental. What we will draw the line on is if argumentation spills over to SFI in a way that violates the Code of Conduct._

Also pasted from an earlier thread from my notes.

_I want to make it clear that although this discussion has not yet reached nuclear melt down proportion, one of the most simple suggestions that has a lot of merit is for those involved to communicate with each other off this board and to your hearts content and in any manner you see fit. I will add that the seller's local district attorney is a better route to pursue than the BB phone lines._

I have more recent and direct instructions from now owner and administrator Mark McMorrow. He will be a lot less tolerant than me and other moderators. It will be very succinct ruling on this. mark@swordforum.com

Two search terms here would be helpful for some. Wait and waiting.  Contact Maurice, as he initiated another thread already as informed as it might be. After all, Maurice worked with ASA and Gus swords, I'm sure he could offer you a long, long story as an aside. Contact anyone else that ever bought from the source. These threads are not the location to have the conversation. Take it off the board.

Regarding a delivery while you are away, the best you might manage is to have it delivered to a friend or family member. That is if you have paid it all up front. If you have paid nothing up front, you may be in pretty good shape and the sword would simply be returned as undeliverable.

Cheers

Hotspur; _there are lots of caveat threads as well. I wish that could somehow help your situation now_

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## M. Phan

I am sorry to cause any problem.  If you think I violate any policy by posting, I am more than happy to delete it.   I am just placing some hope that Jason read this post and contact me.  I am confident that he will not cheat me, that I will receive the sword eventually.  I am just a bit frustrated at the lack of communication.

It seems that many other people were also frustrated with communication, but at the end they seem to have received their swords and were happy with the products.  Due to my impending deployment, I just want to speed up the communication process.  Otherwise, I would have waited patiently.  This is more of attempting at alternative communication and less of a complain.  Who know?  Maybe there is something wrong with his email.

If he just let me know that he received my parent's address and will deliver it there, whenever that may be, I will be happy.

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## k.moralee

> I am sorry to cause any problem. If you think I violate any policy by posting, I am more than happy to delete it. I am just placing some hope that Jason read this post and contact me. I am confident that he will not cheat me, that I will receive the sword eventually. I am just a bit frustrated at the lack of communication.
> 
> It seems that many other people were also frustrated with communication, but at the end they seem to have received their swords and were happy with the products. Due to my impending deployment, I just want to speed up the communication process. Otherwise, I would have waited patiently. This is more of attempting at alternative communication and less of a complain. Who know? Maybe there is something wrong with his email.
> 
> If he just let me know that he received my parent's address and will deliver it there, whenever that may be, I will be happy.


Hi M. 

Just in case he doesn't get the address change why not consider redirecting any mail for yourself to your parents house? A more logical idea and you can still get on his case VIA email from wherever you're deployed to.

Cheers,

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## Glen C.

I'm honestly not sure what I'm missing here.  RDSA has a web presence and shows the site being updated, along with a login for checking accounts and a plainly listed email address.

Not to offer what may seem unwelcome hindsight but having better information for voice contact and mailing addresses for people doing business of any kind can often resolve or aid just about any internet transaction.

Also what seems to be missing is a regard that this venue is for some reason the default communication center for many, many producers and suppliers. I will reiterate that Kaneie was booted from the premises here and as far as I know, Jason has never posted here. To then continually use this board as a middleman for Jason's and Kaneie's business is to take undue advantage and allowances.  "Well, it's ok for me to ping the issues because someone else did" Nonsense in my book and bad form as mentioned previously. That is not to say that I don't empathize with a situation but I can surely disagree with the way many go about an issue. This is not just my feeling as a moderator on this board.

We do not have a manufacturer or vendor section here at SFI and for very good reasoning by both past and present administrators. 

FWIW which isn't much help but keep these things in mind. Another was posting regarding his wait as threatening and deliberately hoping his actions here would prompt a response by Jason. More than a few have been ejected for their persistences (look at the Guertin days and moderators in the past). Then to offer a request for contact and information (no matter how innocently it may have been approached) is a bit if beating a dead horse and serves no purpose than causing potential public distress.

This weeks inquest could easily have been a stand alone "what can I do in this situation" without the plea of "I hope if I tag this to a previous thread as alerting Jason, he will act". A reason to do so and then link to previous conversations is to possibly remove oneself from the mob mentality.

Cheers

Hotspur; _the mob meetings especially are to be done and dealt with off the boards proper_

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## M. Phan

I will delete my posts. 

PS: For some reasons, the edit button disappear from in my last two posts.  I could not delete them.  Please delete them for me.  Thanks.

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## Glen C.

> I will delete my posts. 
> 
> PS: For some reasons, the edit button disappear from in my last two posts.  I could not delete them.  Please delete them for me.  Thanks.


Posts can only be edited for a short period. You posts will stand as they are unless edited within 24hrs. Posts can only be deleted/trashed by moderators, administrators, etc. As your post had been quoted, it would also entail deleting yet more posts. Your rebuttal that stands to my reply imply underlines a possibly flawed agenda/process in postiing to this thread to begin with.

Again, thanks for your service and I hope your deployment goes well.

Neither of the recent threads have been closed or trashed entirely and I do empathize with the situations. Rather than hindsight, I am hoping more can look to foresight when approaching both purchases/commissions and resolving any issues.

Thanks once more for your considerations. Perhaps think inquiries through and even contact a moderator if unsure how to approach a matter.

Glen

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## Glen C.

I'd like to also reiterate my own stand and feelings about the past, present and future of SFI. While I only joined the squad here in Sept 2007, I have been around these boards (back to the Highlander board) and I have seen a lot of virtual internet carnage amongst administrators, moderators, vendors, producers, makers and the posters at large. I have tried to be as understanding, open and allowable regarding posters allowances as I can be within the bounds of the rules. Too many (and I don't mean M Phan's participation/situation exactly as a problem but an opportunity for all to grow) take advantage of the truly fairly lax atmosphere here. As busy and free as some boards are, SFI kind of lands in the middle of permissions and maybe that's why folk might push instead of simply asking.

I really don't mean to stand on a soap box or at a pulpit and preach but as feudal as this particular society on the net is, there is decorum and common sense that can be learned here to avoid problems.

Thanks for reading.

Glen

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## Chris Maguda

I received my blade sometime in Feb 2010.  Then I had an issue and the blade was heat treated incorrectly so it was very brittle.  Holding up to his word and the great customer service that I had heard they had, Jason told me to send it back to him and he would forge me a new blade, and mount it with the tsuka and fittings that I already had, because they were custom pieces.

As it turns out, Chinese customs wouldn't let him recieve the package because they said He and / or the company didn't have import or export rights.  

Chinese customs now owns my katana.

After many emails, Jason quelled my fears and he promised he would begin work on a brand new katana to replace the one I lost for free because of all the trouble I went through.



After that, I tried contacting Jason numerous times and I had recieved one email back from him telling me "i didn't forget about you, we are just very busy".  That was on 26 Oct 2010.

Since then I've made it a point to try an email every few months or so.  I haven't had a response since the above date.  I just sent another one today.  I'll let you know if I get a response.

Not sure what's going on.  Does he have a new email address?

Any help would be great.

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## Glen C.

> I'm honestly not sure what I'm missing here. RDSA has a web presence and shows the site being updated, along with a login for checking accounts and a plainly listed email address.


info@ instead of jason@ ?

Nobody bothered to get a physical mailing address and telephone number?

It may also be semantical folly to list swords being forged by Jason. he would begin work? Sorry, I don't think so. He may be asking his forge (or another) to please. please arrange one. He is nothing but a go between and undoubtedly facing the same hurdles many middle men have had with Chinese forges. 

As well meaning as any of these guys are/were, they are likely not to offer updates if they have no updates to offer. Would folk rather read of American makers that make monthly promises week to week and then fail with a smile? Oh, but they are such nice guys right? Heck, I'd still like to think of many that have traveled and done business through SFI (and other boards) as internet friends. I have even bought stock that is available but it is soon all too apparent in many of these "such the deal" opportunities that any are going to need extreme patience while being able to absorb loss of the funds 
entirely.

So it is

Hotspur; _speaking now as an agitated reader that can only shrug my shoulders and even simply say "told you so". That's just impolite though so I am trying to be gentle (again) in pointing out the all too obvious_

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## Chris Maguda

I understand that Jason himself isn't actually forging the swords he sells, that was just a quick summary of what he was going to have done for me.  I do have the physical mailing address, but customs wouldn't release it to him because they claimed his business was not allowed by law to receive it.  Trust me, I had a hell of a fight with UPS once this all started.  It ended in the sword being in limbo.

Anyway, I haven't had a problem when dealing with Jason before this span of time, and unlike a lot of people I actually HAVE been patient enough not to call because I had faith in his customer support, but given the amount of time I think I've waited long enough to start to worry.

I was just asking if anyone has heard about any large changes with RDS, since it seems they have a new website I can't find any contact info, so I just keep replying to the one Jason was mailing me from originally.

I've already conceded to the fact that I've probably lost the funds AND the sword, but I'm still trying to get it resolved.

If that's a crime, then I'm guilty.

~Chris

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## Glen C.

> can't find any contact info


info@ mentioned for another attempt at mentioning having visited the site myself looking for contact information (why should I care though?) An account to register through if any cares to? Pursued the listed info@addy? Registered on the site? Sent a registered snail mail if one has a physical address? Phone information requested when ordering to begin with? What check list does any follow?

Sorry again to write as jaded but these things have been all to common over the years and one or two successes set up a great many to then wonder what happened and the no contact routine.

The wow factor turns from joy to sorrow and anxiety. Myself, I am pensively watching a usps priority tracking number for a very fragile relic. No direct response from the seller re my plea to pack well except the day after then getting a third person claim # for insurance possibilities. Yikes!! Fortunately it is someone with a stellar and tenured track record. This is crumbling cracked ivory on a blade cracked more than halfway through. Disposable income? Not at all but even in pieces when it arrives, it would still have some value. At least I know the item was in hand for sale and has been sent to me.

Cheers

Hotspur; _a year from now, someone will say no one cautioned them about doing business with this given source_

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## M. Phan

I apologized again for inappropriate posting of the subject.  But from now on, I will just go to our fellow forumite, John Smith or Dan Keffeler, if I want a custom blade.  With John, I even had a chance to visit his forge.  It is a great assurance when you actually shake the hand of the smith at the very place where he forge your blade.  Lesson learned.

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## RonU

Hey All... I was browsing the RDS website today, and noticed several email addresses...

These two I've seen before -

info@red-dragonfly-sword.com 
nihonto@naver.com 

But this one appears to be new from when I ordered my sword -

manager_jasonkim@hotmail.com

Good Luck

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## J MacDonald

> I received my blade sometime in Feb 2010.  Then I had an issue and the blade was heat treated incorrectly so it was very brittle.  Holding up to his word and the great customer service that I had heard they had, Jason told me to send it back to him and he would forge me a new blade, and mount it with the tsuka and fittings that I already had, because they were custom pieces.
> 
> As it turns out, Chinese customs wouldn't let him recieve the package because they said He and / or the company didn't have import or export rights.  
> 
> Chinese customs now owns my katana.
> 
> After many emails, Jason quelled my fears and he promised he would begin work on a brand new katana to replace the one I lost for free because of all the trouble I went through.
> 
> 
> ...


Chris, 
Thanks for this info. I received a beautifull sword from RDS, but it had a few issues. I was told to send it back, but I don't think I'll risk it. I'd rather the have the sword that I recieved than nothing at all.

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## Chris Maguda

To GlenC:  I'm sorry you must be so jaded.  I haven't felt uncomfortable on these forums until your post so I guess that's a good thing, but I thank you for your insight but not for assuming that I didn't TRY to find it myself.  Which I did.  Trust me.

My old link to RDS re-directs me to http://www.swordart.biz/ which I had signed up for, but was getting some kind of error when trying to view the one and only forum subject talking about the new website.  I figured, with a new website, there'd be new/different email addresses, so I came here to see what the deal was and found that other people were having issues as well.

To J MacDonald:  I'd be very wary sending anything to China.  Ever.  I and others I know have a very bad track record with having things just up and vanish.  Not a good feeling.  /facepalm

sigh.. back to the point..

Yesterday, I finally got a reply from Jason telling me that he's going to be sending me some pics of the new blade very shortly.  I'm not sure what happened to make it take as long as it has but he didn't say.

I can't say that I'm surprised that he has been so responsive since he's been great to work with.  I just know he's super busy..

I'll post up the pics when I get them, so long as I don't get trolled off the forums by an admin.   :Wink:   (just kidding Glen  :Gag: )

~Chris

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## Maurice Cate

I heard from Jason close to 4 months ago. He sent me some pics of my katana but some things needed to be addressed and Jason needed some time to do so. I've been e-mailing him from the latter part of March for an update and I'm still awaiting a reply. Something to consider is the earthquake and tsunami. I know Jason regularly makes trips to Japan for koshirae, supplies, and whatever else. I'm not sure if the natural disasters have at all effected Mr. Kim and RDSA's completion of orders, but I think it's worth mentioning for consideration.

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## B Ella

Sorry Chris if i'm stepping on any toes, but talking to Chris Maguda anmd he heard from Jason regarding his sent back sword today and sounds promising.

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## Chris Maguda

> Sorry Chris if i'm stepping on any toes, but talking to Chris Maguda anmd he heard from Jason regarding his sent back sword today and sounds promising.


No problem at all!  And, yes.. I have finally heard from Jason and he said he is sending the replacement sword soon.

I'll post up some pics when it comes in!

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## Shahar Y.

Me and my friend got replies from Jason about our swords- mine is finished and ready to ship (sent pics), and my friend's blade went wrong, so Jason is making a new one for him.

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## B Ella

I wonder what happened?! Sounds like every one has such a high opinion of his work, so tempting. But I'm impatient at best so i don't kow whether my nerves could take it.
BUT i'm looking forward to some pics of yours Chris, and Shahar your as well. Maybe I will be too tempted

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## Shahar Y.

B Ella, if you're talking about my friend's sword, the problem was that the blade didn't have a geometric yokote as requested.
In quality, I pick RDS all the time, but on delivery and communication they need much improvement.

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## B Ella

Shahar, i just meant with the hold up on Chris' piece and their disppearing off the map all together for months. Everyone seemed to stop hearing from them, i've only heard of a few exceptions.
At the start of my research into them, customer service was considered their strong suit, along with their product and quality control. Seems a lot has changed. I was wondering why.
I do like that they refuse to sell him a product they were't happy with though.
Are their katanas up to Tameshigiri. Besides Chris' fault, i havent heard about actutal use in test cutting?

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## Shahar Y.

Oh I see, sorry for the misunderstanding. Anyway I too am not sure about the reason for this lack of communication. They are strong in customer service but weak in customer communication, if you get what I mean.

I have one of their 1095 swords, which I tested only on bottles (no bamboo or tatami in my area), and it held up very nicely. I wish I could get some tatami without killing my wallet.

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## B Ella

Yeah i do, the weak in communication i think would just shatter my nerves , I may be ordering soon, i just need to decide whether to smash the bank or just attack it a little. 
How do you find the balance and fittings?

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## Shahar Y.

The fittings are Japanese, the same you'd find on iaito and shinsakuto (or very very similar, good copies...), and everything is at level with my Japanese iaito. The blade has good balance, niku and "presence". This is why I'm buying from them again.

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## B Ella

Pretty good review. Thank you. I think I'm goingto have to take a closer look.

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## Luke A.

If you think that bad communication will shatter your nerves, I suggest you consider someone else. I'm sure the blade I receive will be great and I'll be very happy with it, but RDS' communication is terrible. After 4 months of silence (Jason originally quoted me 20 days to construct the sword), I received an email telling me it will be finished within a week and I will be receiving pictures as soon as it was finished. That was 3 weeks ago...

Again, I have complete faith that it will eventually turn up, but if you're impatient you'll be bald in no time.

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## B Ella

Yeah i dont know if i could do that. To me that flies in the face of good business, and just worries me that sowrds are being made/prduced with the same attitude. If he is that busy and can't get back to people i think i'll keep looking. I May get a ronin elite for tamegeshirir and a really nice Japanese piece i've been talking with someone on here about. A great shinsakuto daisho and i think i'll consider once ive looked into the Smith a little more.
http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...aisho-(NIHONTO)

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## Glen C.

> Yeah i dont know if i could do that. To me that flies in the face of good business, and just worries me that sowrds are being made/prduced with the same attitude. If he is that busy and can't get back to people i think i'll keep looking. I May get a ronin elite for tamegeshirir and a really nice Japanese piece i've been talking with someone on here about. A great shinsakuto daisho and i think i'll consider once ive looked into the Smith a little more.
> *"http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...aisho-(NIHONTO)"]http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...aisho-(NIHONTO)*


A couple of tips. One would be that copying and pasting a truncated thread url will not let the link function correctly. Copy the address (right click-copy address) and paste it that way

*.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?102753-Anyone-Heard-From-RDSA-Lately/page2*

*asteriks used for clarification of what happens in highlighting to copy a truncated link

Secondly and I don't mean at all to dwell on the issues too much, on and on. This thread was generated by the original poster looking for update and communication purposes. Rather than some serious sidebars continuing on other possibilities of how and where to order the sword of ones hopes and dreams; maybe another stand alone thread of someone's hopes and dreams might be less unsettling than dragging this thread in different directions than was originally intended.

Cheers

Hotspur; _a daily update of "gee, I just dunno about RDSA but there are lots of options we could discuss in this thread" gets a bit old after a week or so. No?_

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## B Ella

Thanks for the advice.
Apologies and noted. I didn't think the subject to far dragged. 
Over and out.

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## Shahar Y.

I just got my sword, it is excellent quality, and for me it was worth the wait.

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## J MacDonald

I also received a sword, just yesterday from RDS.
This one was much faster than before as he simply mounted an available blade rather than had one forged specifically for me.

Excellent quality for the price.

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## Shahar Y.

> I also received a sword, just yesterday from RDS.
> This one was much faster than before as he simply mounted an available blade rather than had one forged specifically for me.
> 
> Excellent quality for the price.


How can you tell if the blade was pre-made?

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## J MacDonald

@Shahar
I had inquired about having a iaito made for me/my students something reasonable priced. I was thinking of getting one of the 1060 blades with a lower end polish. 

Jason mentioned that he had some flawed high carbon blades laying around. The flaw being that there was a hagire (edge crack from heat treatment). While the not suitable for cutting, it should suffice for iai. I thought I would try it out so he polished and mounted one up and it looks a feels great. And, for the like of me I can't find the hagire.

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## Luke A.

Just thought I would stop in and say my katana arrived from RDS this morning and despite the longer-than-expected wait I'm very pleased with it. RDS truely do fit their swords extremely well, everything feels tight and solid.

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## Vu.Q.T

Congrats Luke, please post some pics if you don't mind.

I've been waiting for more than two years now and I'm still waiting .....

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## Chandra Hermawan

Surprisingly Jason hasn't answered my inquiry about my sword order. Its been more than a year and its not finished yet..

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## Luke A.

> Surprisingly Jason hasn't answered my inquiry about my sword order. Its been more than a year and its not finished yet..


I found that Jason would not reply to any of my inquiries - the only emails I got from him were when he had something to update me about (like "the blade is done but we're waiting for fittings" and "your sword is done, here are pictures"). No really, that was the only times I heard from him, no matter how many emails I sent.




> Congrats Luke, please post some pics if you don't mind.
> 
> I've been waiting for more than two years now and I'm still waiting .....


Certainly, these shots are straight from RDS - I've been too excited to stop and take a photo. 2 years?! Did you request it be made from moon rocks?

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## Luke A.

> Surprisingly Jason hasn't answered my inquiry about my sword order. Its been more than a year and its not finished yet..


I found that Jason would not reply to any of my inquiries - the only emails I got from him were when he had something to update me about (like "the blade is done but we're waiting for fittings" and "your sword is done, here are pictures"). No really, that was the only times I heard from him, no matter how many emails I sent.




> Congrats Luke, please post some pics if you don't mind.
> 
> I've been waiting for more than two years now and I'm still waiting .....


Certainly, these shots are straight from RDS - I've been too excited to stop and take a photo. 2 years?! Did you request it be made from moon rocks?

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## Vu.Q.T

Thanks for sharing Luke, looks very nice.

Na mine was just a standard custom, it was supposed to have taken a few months max but excuses+delays keeps dragging it out ...... even now still nothing  :Frown:

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## Chandra Hermawan

> Thanks for sharing Luke, looks very nice.
> 
> Na mine was just a standard custom, it was supposed to have taken a few months max but excuses+delays keeps dragging it out ...... even now still nothing


Exactly. I'd say communication is part of customer service. It looks like RDS has no priority in fulfilling customer's order.

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## Vu.Q.T

To be fair there was a few replies here and there but I've never seen any concrete proof of progress. I do understand that they're one man operation but answering emails doesn't take up that much time does it? I really hope they can deliver the goods soon as as I'm so so tired to waiting. 

If RDS had more staff to handle the customer service side of things, I do think they'll be hard to beat for semi-customs swords.

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## Luke A.

> If RDS had more staff to handle the customer service side of things, I do think they'll be hard to beat for semi-customs swords.


I agree. The sword once it arrived is a beauty and I'm more than happy, but I'd be hard pressed to suggest them to a friend with the complete and utter lack of communication.

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## Vu.Q.T

has anyone done gotten anything from RDSA in the last month or so??? .....  If you have please chime in

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## Jeffrey Ching

Kaneie / RDS is working on a new platform which should make ordering a lot easier. Through this e-shop you can order directly from their stock at the forge.
This to cut out the communication layer with all its issues. The forge has grown exponentially which definitely had its side-effects...

I'm sure they will still handle custom blades but I think getting a custom within 4-6 months is out of the question (unless you've got the gods by your side  :Smilie: )

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## Chandra Hermawan

> Kaneie / RDS is working on a new platform which should make ordering a lot easier. Through this e-shop you can order directly from their stock at the forge.
> This to cut out the communication layer with all its issues. The forge has grown exponentially which definitely had its side-effects...
> 
> I'm sure they will still handle custom blades but I think getting a custom within 4-6 months is out of the question (unless you've got the gods by your side )


Well.. how about 12 month in my case.. or 2 years like Vu here? I mean.. how hard is it to reply an email..2-3 minutes per email ?

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## Joo-Hwan Lee

> I'm sure they will still handle custom blades but I think getting a custom within 4-6 months is out of the question (unless you've got the gods by your side )


Guys, this is slightly off topic, but I think we need to realize that this is not true.  

Check this out: a fully custom blade, forged from scratch from a bar of steel, with custom made/fit habaki and shirasaya in basically 1 month from payment to completion and delivery.

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...ight=hernandez

We really need to "vote with our wallets" and demand much more accountability from the people who take our hard-earned money hostage with the promise of a blade.  Now, I know my example didn't have a finished mount with maki and lacquer, etc., but if a full custom can be finished in basically 1 month, there is just no good reason (none that I can think of anyway) why a production or semi-production company of workers can't finish something in comparable time.

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## Chandra Hermawan

> We really need to "vote with our wallets" and demand much more accountability from the people who take our hard-earned money hostage with the promise of a blade.  Now, I know my example didn't have a finished mount with maki and lacquer, etc., but if a full custom can be finished in basically 1 month, there is just no good reason (none that I can think of anyway) why a production or semi-production company of workers can't finish something in comparable time.


Yeah Joo, I can't agree more. I'm thinking to raise an issue with paypal over this.

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## Yvan Mendoza

Looking for a way to comunicate with Jason Kim and obtain a response, a friend tell me about this posts. Im waiting for this sword a long time, and i not obtain an answer, please if someone can resolve this with Jason, let me know how. 
thanks.

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## Glen C.

Hi Guys

This thread is now closed to further discussion. My decision was made a long time ago and the reasoning mentioned in more than one of these threads.

Further reviews of RDSA swords are fine but we are done using SFI as a collective coffee clutch for support or in offering any weight of pressure by continuing this thread. Start your own collective on a blog or page somewhere and you are welcome to post a link to that here. All appearing in this thread have the capability to network with each other privately. 

Please do so 

Glen

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