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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2008 21:22:47 GMT
Well she finally arrived! Came packed tightly in styrofoam (no pics of it, we've all seen it before). Here she is next to my reference sword, the cheness Kaze. Blades exposed. When I placed the order I requested 30" blade, red ito and sageo, black same, reversed menuki, o-kissaki, super-polish and midare-choji hamon (provided sample pics). Results are 29.5" blade (close enough), check, check, check, check (counter polished), check, suguha hamon (patterned hamon is counter polished). Positives: Even though it's longer, it feels much lighter than the Kaze. When not examined closely, the fake hamon looks sempriniin. Super polish resulted in very smooth, mirror finish. Negatives: Long wait for blade. Counter polish over plain hamon. Fit of saya, if inverted, sword falls out. Couple of marks on the shinogi where the polisher slipped. I will try to get some pics of the flaws, but they don't show up on pics too easy because of the high polish. Here are some of the blade itself, you can see the way the inner core steel is exposed along the edge and the real hamon is visable along with it. The way this blade was made was by sandwiching higher carbon steel between 2 layers of lower carbon steel. Different from the jacketing that nihonto go through. Let me know your thoughts on it. Overall, I'm pleased, but would recommend the following if you order from them; Request no counter polish. Request yakote. Don't opt for the super polish.
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Post by randomnobody on Jan 9, 2008 21:44:32 GMT
The conflicting hamons are rather awkward, and the counterpolish looks horrid up close, especially against the super polish. On the other hand, the pattern of the steel looks smooth, the kissaki well formed albeit longer than I'd go for (it'd be nice if the yokote were real); almost looks like a wicked shobu zukuri, and overall you seem to have a fine blade. Maybe you can remove the fake hamon and find some way to enhance the real one, despite it not being the kind you wanted... The fittings look great, shame about the loose saya, but what the heck there are countless ways to fix that, though one shouldn't have to, eh? Of course, the important thing isn't what I think, but what you think. So when are we going to see some cutting tests? I don't think anybody who's bought from these guys has posted any videos yet...I could be forgetting somebody, though...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2008 21:55:31 GMT
The only problem I have with doing cutting tests is I live in MN, it hard to soak my mats when the temp is below freezing. Will have to wait till the snow melts. Then I plan on doing a mass test with the following blades;
JWHOTSTEElFORGE Kaze Ayame Last Legend Zhi Folded
Should make for a nice comparison.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2008 22:02:59 GMT
The more I think about it, I think I will repolish it. Once I'm done with the Last Legend I'm repolishing now, that one I'm restarting at 220 grit and moving up. To get rid of the counterpolish could i just start at ~800 and move up from there then etch? Geometry seems fine, I don't want to reinvent the wheel, just remove the fake hamon.
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Post by randomnobody on Jan 9, 2008 22:24:02 GMT
I think you're just afraid of the cold. I don't know the first thing about polishing a sword, so I'll leave that to the resident experts. Good luck finding warmth out there.
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admin
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Post by admin on Jan 10, 2008 0:58:20 GMT
Great review Hastur. Not a bad looking piece, though I too am not so sure about the hamon - the pattern underneath of the inner core by itself would looked better IHMO. Couple a quick questions - what is the weight and POB? Also, what was the total cost and lead time? +1
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2008 5:24:45 GMT
Thanks a bunch for the info. I've been thinking about buying one from these guys for a while now. I've always been interested in san-mei katana and that one would look fairly decent nix the counter polish. The real hamon actually looks pretty lively to me as is. I really would like to know how it cuts and what the HRC is. Maybe test a few watter bottles/milk jugs?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2008 7:06:11 GMT
Paul, I'll get the weight and POB when I reassemble it. I am working on repolishing it now. I paid ~375 for it, but that included the super polish and the hamon work which added $100 onto it. If you got it plain, it would be under the $300 cap we have here.
Right now it's looking more like a shobu. It'll end up looking better.
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Post by randomnobody on Jan 10, 2008 7:17:26 GMT
Not that shobu is a bad thing, right? This is probably where asking for a real yokote comes in handy; you won't have to counterpolish your own back on once you clean up the rest of the mess. I'll probably buy from these guys once I get back up and going, and clear some room...but I'll be adding yokote, subtracting counterpolish, and probably sticking with the standard hamon. The REAL hamon. One day~
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Post by salvatore on Jan 10, 2008 7:40:53 GMT
Nothing weong with shobu-zukuri! lol, I get you though, it is cold where I am at now. Sadly, if I cut with my kaze, it begins to frost. Oh wells, we will gave to all wait for winter to end. But, regarding the sword, I think it does not loook too bad. That is my opinion due to the fact that the hamon is not....common. Cannot wait until I start to forge, no counter polishing! lol
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2008 19:11:34 GMT
Man how come i noticed this only now?;p Don't have the time lately. Hmmm i understand perfectly why you advise on no counter polishing and real yokote but what's about super polish? What's bad about it? Seems like a really fine piece to me, too bad about the hamon, indeed it looks rather bad close up ( however from distance it looks great ). Damn i soo want my blade already:p One more thing i wonder about, how's the ito? Quality? How tight it is? Anyway +1 for your review i waited for^^
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2008 19:32:28 GMT
How does the edge compare to the Kaze with respect to sharpness?
I've heard these things are even sharper than Cheness blades (which is suprising).
+1K for a good review. Thanks.
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Post by salvatore on Jan 11, 2008 5:31:12 GMT
How does the edge compare to the Kaze with respect to sharpness? I've heard these things are even sharper than Cheness blades (which is suprising). +1K for a good review. Thanks. A win, lose situation. The pirce it comes with is....A bad hamon, and a counter polish.
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Post by nemesis on Jan 11, 2008 19:24:33 GMT
hastur, I just want to say that I think that katana looks amazing. From certain lights that counter polish kinda looks cool, however.....I can make out the real hamon and let me tell you bro, you really got a gem there. A little elbow grease and that real hamon is going to pop right out. If indeed you end up taking off the counter polish, be sure to show pics of the real hamon, because I can't wait to see that.
Now, I want a jw hotsteel forge katana .
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Post by swordboy bringer of chaos on Jan 11, 2008 19:29:40 GMT
is it posible to do a flame design for the hamon (break from tradition)or would the points stress the blade
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2008 20:43:02 GMT
I don't see why there should be any problem. Hamon line is more of an aesthetic value than anything important. However i suppose it'd cost you quite dearly to get one with this kind of desing. From my talk with them about hamon options they were willing to do most of stuff but for rather huge money. Honestly speaking for this kind of stuff i'd stick to their "production hamon". It seems good and doesn't cost you anything. Pretty much any changes would cost you price of the sword itself or more so there's no point if you ask me.
One thing i'd consider is asking them if they do any other fittings? Cause their stock stuff is kinda simple.
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Post by themaster293 on Jan 12, 2008 5:43:40 GMT
That fake hamon looks terrible. But the tsuka is wonderful.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2008 9:21:57 GMT
Love the blade but absolutely freaking hate that crappy acid etch thing. The super polish looks great and the actual hamon is quite understated and nice. Great sword and omg! You have a last legend? What kind? I want one of those but I think they are out of stock. The one inch sori is what draws me to the last legend swords,
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Post by salvatore on Jan 12, 2008 9:48:00 GMT
I think I would stick with cheness. I like the blades, but not the counter polishing. They make terrible saya too, I have an iaito from them, it falls out by being on it's side. It is pathetic. If you could get rid of the nasty hamon, it would be a wonderful weapon of beauty and strength!
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Post by slav on Jan 13, 2008 19:02:47 GMT
I don't know if you have already seen my JW tanto, but I re-polished it, removing the fake hamon and yokote. The results were quite beautiful.
Take a look: /index.cgi?board=swordcustom&action=display&thread=1193980296
I would suggest doing this to your katana. You could leave the yokote, or polish it out and make it a shobu. The hybrid polish that I used brought the surface back to an almost mirror-finish.
With your's super polished, I think that it would look awesome if you confined your polishing work to the ji, leaving it somehwat less than mirror; and leaving your shinogi-ji at its super polish. Thus having a sort of two-tone look as found on some Hanwei blades.
BTW, how is the saya? My tanto's saya was less than great.
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