Review-SBG Custom Entry Level
Mar 17, 2010 18:36:22 GMT
Post by Major, Cory J.~ on Mar 17, 2010 18:36:22 GMT
I had originally ordered this sword way back on November 26th 2009. I received this morning, just after rushing home from picking my wife up from work as I knew it would be delivered sometime today, as I didn't want to risk missing the UPS man, and having to wait even longer.
It came well packed, with NO damage to the box at all. After opening it up and pulling the Styrofoam "case" out, I felt a wave of joy come over me. I unfolded the Styrofoam to find my sword, Just as I imagined! (or so I thought).
(Sorry for the last photo, it doesn't want to rotate without stretching the picture.)
As soon as I pulled the blade out of the saya (Which took a lot of my early morning strength as it was SO tight. I assumed I would "break the sword in" soon enough so no worries there.) I loved the way a Katana felt in my hands. Right then and there, I knew this wouldn't be the only one in my collection! I even got my wife to hold it up for me for some display shots (no, she doesn't normally dress like this everyday, but its St. Patrick's day, and we were headed out to the bars!)
Looking at the beautiful hamon from the Habiki up, I noticed an odd grinding look to the kissaki which was not quite like what was advertised as a "Upgraded Polished Kissaki". There is also a "burnt" metal blemish that is present as well.
The Tsuka was the exact color of Ito I had wanted for this sword. The Tsuba I ordered was the P23 "Dragons Claw", and had the slightest wiggle to it, hardly noticeable.
I then examined the other fittings. They were what I wanted, and the forge changed the colors of them to match the overall theme, which was fine with me. However, the Kashira was NOT tied tightly down, and I could almost wiggle it right off the Tsuka without any force at all.
The Fuchi looks likes its been hammered on, and with a similar result to what Avery did to his axe the other day, and has slightly SPLIT the wooden core of the Tsuka.
The Same panels also seemed to be a bit short and narrow, as I could easily spot the wood behind it in the diamonds and especially under the Fuchi.
As I was looking at the fittings, I realized that I had yet to swing this blade, so being a beautiful spring morning I went out side to give it a dry swing so that I could hear the "Whooosh!" for which I had been waiting so long to hear! Then I looked down at the tsuka...
The Ito had started to come out of its knot, , after just ONE swing.
The most troubling thing I noticed about the fittings was the extremely misaligned Habaki.
I ordered the Textured Pebble Black Saya, and it overall good other then a few sleight scratches (just surface scuffs and scratches) but nothing that would bother me overly. There was a ring installed at the mouth of the Saya and seemed like the Saya should have been sanded down a bit more to make the ring flush with the rest of the Saya. The golden Shitidome is vastly different from the rest of the fittings color theme, but I felt it gave the sword a touch of character.
Even the Sageo had some stitching problems and just took away a little bit more of my expectations. (Right on the "rabbits ear of the display knot. It looks light a couple of stitches missed their mark on the machine.)
Also, as demonstrated by Mr. Southern in a video on of SLO's, I had to check for the "rattle".
I have contacted Paul Southern about these issues, and am awaiting a reply back. I have faith in Paul and his reputation, that most, if not ALL of these problems will be taken care of. But again the waiting process begins.
As I was informed it may not be safe to do any cutting with this blade, I have forced my self to hold back, if (more then likely WHEN) I get this sorted out, there will be cutting videos to make.
I am currently only going to give this sword 1 out of 5 stars, as EVERY part of this sword has an issue, weather it be very minor (scuffing on Saya) or more severe (Habaki misaligned, Fuchi coming off, Same panels too small, "burnt" kissaki...), I am disappointed to have waited SO long for my FIRST Katana, to be let down so much. I do apologize for bringing the reputation of the custom Katana's down a notch, but it wouldn't be fair to ONLY review swords that are of good quality.
Pros:
-Very good "looking" sword
-All the right options I had ordered
Cons:
-Managed to get by 2 quality control checks
-every part of the sword has minor to major issues
-Wait time, now to be extended for correcting issues
-Can't even cut with it.
Major Cory J.~
It came well packed, with NO damage to the box at all. After opening it up and pulling the Styrofoam "case" out, I felt a wave of joy come over me. I unfolded the Styrofoam to find my sword, Just as I imagined! (or so I thought).
(Sorry for the last photo, it doesn't want to rotate without stretching the picture.)
As soon as I pulled the blade out of the saya (Which took a lot of my early morning strength as it was SO tight. I assumed I would "break the sword in" soon enough so no worries there.) I loved the way a Katana felt in my hands. Right then and there, I knew this wouldn't be the only one in my collection! I even got my wife to hold it up for me for some display shots (no, she doesn't normally dress like this everyday, but its St. Patrick's day, and we were headed out to the bars!)
Looking at the beautiful hamon from the Habiki up, I noticed an odd grinding look to the kissaki which was not quite like what was advertised as a "Upgraded Polished Kissaki". There is also a "burnt" metal blemish that is present as well.
The Tsuka was the exact color of Ito I had wanted for this sword. The Tsuba I ordered was the P23 "Dragons Claw", and had the slightest wiggle to it, hardly noticeable.
I then examined the other fittings. They were what I wanted, and the forge changed the colors of them to match the overall theme, which was fine with me. However, the Kashira was NOT tied tightly down, and I could almost wiggle it right off the Tsuka without any force at all.
The Fuchi looks likes its been hammered on, and with a similar result to what Avery did to his axe the other day, and has slightly SPLIT the wooden core of the Tsuka.
The Same panels also seemed to be a bit short and narrow, as I could easily spot the wood behind it in the diamonds and especially under the Fuchi.
As I was looking at the fittings, I realized that I had yet to swing this blade, so being a beautiful spring morning I went out side to give it a dry swing so that I could hear the "Whooosh!" for which I had been waiting so long to hear! Then I looked down at the tsuka...
The Ito had started to come out of its knot, , after just ONE swing.
The most troubling thing I noticed about the fittings was the extremely misaligned Habaki.
I ordered the Textured Pebble Black Saya, and it overall good other then a few sleight scratches (just surface scuffs and scratches) but nothing that would bother me overly. There was a ring installed at the mouth of the Saya and seemed like the Saya should have been sanded down a bit more to make the ring flush with the rest of the Saya. The golden Shitidome is vastly different from the rest of the fittings color theme, but I felt it gave the sword a touch of character.
Even the Sageo had some stitching problems and just took away a little bit more of my expectations. (Right on the "rabbits ear of the display knot. It looks light a couple of stitches missed their mark on the machine.)
Also, as demonstrated by Mr. Southern in a video on of SLO's, I had to check for the "rattle".
I have contacted Paul Southern about these issues, and am awaiting a reply back. I have faith in Paul and his reputation, that most, if not ALL of these problems will be taken care of. But again the waiting process begins.
As I was informed it may not be safe to do any cutting with this blade, I have forced my self to hold back, if (more then likely WHEN) I get this sorted out, there will be cutting videos to make.
I am currently only going to give this sword 1 out of 5 stars, as EVERY part of this sword has an issue, weather it be very minor (scuffing on Saya) or more severe (Habaki misaligned, Fuchi coming off, Same panels too small, "burnt" kissaki...), I am disappointed to have waited SO long for my FIRST Katana, to be let down so much. I do apologize for bringing the reputation of the custom Katana's down a notch, but it wouldn't be fair to ONLY review swords that are of good quality.
Pros:
-Very good "looking" sword
-All the right options I had ordered
Cons:
-Managed to get by 2 quality control checks
-every part of the sword has minor to major issues
-Wait time, now to be extended for correcting issues
-Can't even cut with it.
*****
Major Cory J.~