Two Sword Review of Ronin Katanas
Jul 29, 2008 0:04:13 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2008 0:04:13 GMT
Hello everyone. This is my first review. Please let me know if I have left anything out.
I read a review a few months ago on the Fujiwara katana from Ronin Katanas, and decided to buy one. I contacted the seller, but was told that sword line had been replaced and was no longer available. After exchanging a few emails I decided to purchase two katana from him.
Here is who I bought from:
search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZroninQ2dkatanas
also
www.roninkatanas.com
EDIT: There was some confusion below about the seller. These are not from Ronin Swords. Completely different company.
Both of the katana came in 4x4x48 cardboard shipping boxes. Inside was a generic sword box with the katana floating in styrofoam. I paid a total of $17 shipping for both swords, which I thought was a good deal. Each sword also came with a black cotton sword bag.
The first katana had two samurai fighting on the tsuba. I’ve seen the same version from Masashio and a few other sword sellers, but the rest of the fittings on this one looked a lot better.
Tsuba and tsuka
Katana in saya
Katana
Saya with black silk and lacquered rattan. It looks like the saya wood was trimmed down underneath to make the rattan almost flush with the rest of the sword.
Here’s a look inside the saya. I don’t know what kind of wood it is, but I could not detect any sap or residue.
The next sword is the Rising Sun Katana (seller’s name for it.) The tsuba is solid iron and pretty well made.
Here is the sword in the saya. The saya is golden brown with gold colored flecks under the lacquer. Black lacquer bands at the bottom and the top are a nice accent.
Katana out of it’s saya
At this point I stopped taking pictures and decided to cut things. However, after looking over some more reviews I noticed that more pictures of the fittings would be important, so I took some. The rest of the pictures are all post cutting, so any dirt or smudges are a result of my use.
The ray skin is really nice and white. The wrap is silk, and even after cutting boards and tree limbs there was no movement. The silk is really thick, and comfortable to grip. The dragon under the wrap is metal, and seems to be brass. I am not sure. It goes well with the color scheme.
The tsuba is made from iron, which looks like it was somehow cut from a blank rather than cast. In the sellers blog on my space he has pictures of the antique tsuba this came from. I liked the design, but I really liked the fact that it came from a historical piece.
The blade fits into the brass piece here very well. Everything is still nice and tight, even after chopping boards and tree limbs. The brass spacer looks different than the kind my Masahiro and other katana have. Much nicer look to them.
The saya is golden brown with golden flecks under the lacquer. The wrap is nice thick brown think. It was billed as being high quality, and is in fact very nice. The metal piece is not plastic, but it is not brass either. The metal looks like it was intentionally dulled to give it an older look. Doesn’t look bad (or too cheap), and goes with the theme of the sword.
The blade (this is the blade of the Rising Sun katana) was used to cut wood and branches from my trees. No damage anywhere. Just some minor scratches which I almost completely buffed out using just my shirt. I decided to take pictures of this one, since the other katana only cut water bottles, and there wasn’t a mark on it.
The blade is advertised as being hand polished 1045 through hardened steel with a hardness of 50 on the edge. There is no secondary bevel. The sharpened edge transitions smoothly from the edge into the non-sharpened part.
I had asked the seller if the hamon was real prior to buying it. He said it was not real, as the sword was through hardened and not differentially hardened. The hamon is wire brushed, and no acid etched. It looks a lot different than other wire brushed hamons I have seen as it appears less shiny and overbearing. Still, it is wire brushed, which does not look as good as acid etched (in my opinion). At least he was honest about it.
Here are a few pictures of what I was cutting. I didn’t have any problems with the various plastic jugs full of water at all. I used the katana with the two samurai on these, and it went through all of them like butter.
Thick plastic bottle.
Three milk jugs at once.
Apple juice bottle.
2.5 gallon water bottle (very heavy).
After cutting those targets, I really didn’t feel I had really tested the sword, so I decided to get a fence board out of the shed and cut that.
I didn’t have a cutting stand ready, as I had not intended to cut wood, so that limited my testing a little, as I could not anchor the wood as well as I would have liked. I decided to go against the grain, as that presented the hardest target.
Cut number one went about half way through. Had the board been properly secured, it would have gone all the way through.
I wasn’t really satisfied with the first cut, so I anchored the fence board on the saw horses and put a load of bricks on the other end. I cut against the grain again. It had no problem cutting over a huge slice which left the wood feeling very smooth.
Other than smudges, there was no damage to the blade at all. Not even the slightest bend. Actually I was very happy about that, as I really wanted to display the sword in my den, and didn’t want it bent or chipped.
Feeling pretty confident that the blade could actually take some punishment, I decided to do a little yard work I had been putting off. Again, the blade had no trouble cutting though live green wood. No damage or bending on the blade.
A vanity photo of the swords and their victims.
Since there are two swords, I am breaking the last part up a bit.
Battling Samurai Katana:
Historical accuracy: 3.5/5 The no-bohi blade and wrappings on the saya look pretty historical, but the tsuba is certainly not.
Fit and Finish: 4/5 The ray skin was very white and nice. The silk wrap was awesome. Love the saya. Taking off for the fake hamon.
Structural Integrity: 5/5 here. This thing is built like a hand cannon.
Value for money: 5/5 Paid $154.99 and $8.5 shipping ($17 divided by 2). He also gave me two free shogun style stands (the upright ones) as a bonus for buying two swords.
Overall: I give this a 4/5 taking off for the historical accuracy part and the fake hamon. I love the saya though!
The Rising Sun Katana:
Historical Accuracy: 4/5 largely due to the tsuba. I like the saya, but not as much as the rattan wrapped one. I really liked the fact that this tsuba came from a historical piece.
Fit and Finish: 4/5 The only complaint on this one is the fake hamon. I would have preferred an acid etched hamon. It doesn’t look that bad however, and the rest of the sword more than makes up for it.
Structural Integrity: 5/5. Just like the other one. Very solid and capable. No movement at all on the wrap even after cutting the board and tree limbs.
Value for Money: 5/5 Same price as the other one, and I feel that I more than got my money’s worth. Chopping on boards and trees while still having it look close to box fresh afterwards was a surprise. It is going on display, but it is nice to know I could use for cutting if I wanted to. Silk wrap is really nice. I much prefer it to cotton now.
Overall: 4.5/5 Other than the fake hamon, I have no complaints.
I appreciate any comments that will help me give a better review in the future. I really enjoy reading them here, and can honestly say I have been saved from at least one bad purchase because of them.
Cheers,
Charlie
I read a review a few months ago on the Fujiwara katana from Ronin Katanas, and decided to buy one. I contacted the seller, but was told that sword line had been replaced and was no longer available. After exchanging a few emails I decided to purchase two katana from him.
Here is who I bought from:
search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZroninQ2dkatanas
also
www.roninkatanas.com
EDIT: There was some confusion below about the seller. These are not from Ronin Swords. Completely different company.
Both of the katana came in 4x4x48 cardboard shipping boxes. Inside was a generic sword box with the katana floating in styrofoam. I paid a total of $17 shipping for both swords, which I thought was a good deal. Each sword also came with a black cotton sword bag.
The first katana had two samurai fighting on the tsuba. I’ve seen the same version from Masashio and a few other sword sellers, but the rest of the fittings on this one looked a lot better.
Tsuba and tsuka
Katana in saya
Katana
Saya with black silk and lacquered rattan. It looks like the saya wood was trimmed down underneath to make the rattan almost flush with the rest of the sword.
Here’s a look inside the saya. I don’t know what kind of wood it is, but I could not detect any sap or residue.
The next sword is the Rising Sun Katana (seller’s name for it.) The tsuba is solid iron and pretty well made.
Here is the sword in the saya. The saya is golden brown with gold colored flecks under the lacquer. Black lacquer bands at the bottom and the top are a nice accent.
Katana out of it’s saya
At this point I stopped taking pictures and decided to cut things. However, after looking over some more reviews I noticed that more pictures of the fittings would be important, so I took some. The rest of the pictures are all post cutting, so any dirt or smudges are a result of my use.
The ray skin is really nice and white. The wrap is silk, and even after cutting boards and tree limbs there was no movement. The silk is really thick, and comfortable to grip. The dragon under the wrap is metal, and seems to be brass. I am not sure. It goes well with the color scheme.
The tsuba is made from iron, which looks like it was somehow cut from a blank rather than cast. In the sellers blog on my space he has pictures of the antique tsuba this came from. I liked the design, but I really liked the fact that it came from a historical piece.
The blade fits into the brass piece here very well. Everything is still nice and tight, even after chopping boards and tree limbs. The brass spacer looks different than the kind my Masahiro and other katana have. Much nicer look to them.
The saya is golden brown with golden flecks under the lacquer. The wrap is nice thick brown think. It was billed as being high quality, and is in fact very nice. The metal piece is not plastic, but it is not brass either. The metal looks like it was intentionally dulled to give it an older look. Doesn’t look bad (or too cheap), and goes with the theme of the sword.
The blade (this is the blade of the Rising Sun katana) was used to cut wood and branches from my trees. No damage anywhere. Just some minor scratches which I almost completely buffed out using just my shirt. I decided to take pictures of this one, since the other katana only cut water bottles, and there wasn’t a mark on it.
The blade is advertised as being hand polished 1045 through hardened steel with a hardness of 50 on the edge. There is no secondary bevel. The sharpened edge transitions smoothly from the edge into the non-sharpened part.
I had asked the seller if the hamon was real prior to buying it. He said it was not real, as the sword was through hardened and not differentially hardened. The hamon is wire brushed, and no acid etched. It looks a lot different than other wire brushed hamons I have seen as it appears less shiny and overbearing. Still, it is wire brushed, which does not look as good as acid etched (in my opinion). At least he was honest about it.
Here are a few pictures of what I was cutting. I didn’t have any problems with the various plastic jugs full of water at all. I used the katana with the two samurai on these, and it went through all of them like butter.
Thick plastic bottle.
Three milk jugs at once.
Apple juice bottle.
2.5 gallon water bottle (very heavy).
After cutting those targets, I really didn’t feel I had really tested the sword, so I decided to get a fence board out of the shed and cut that.
I didn’t have a cutting stand ready, as I had not intended to cut wood, so that limited my testing a little, as I could not anchor the wood as well as I would have liked. I decided to go against the grain, as that presented the hardest target.
Cut number one went about half way through. Had the board been properly secured, it would have gone all the way through.
I wasn’t really satisfied with the first cut, so I anchored the fence board on the saw horses and put a load of bricks on the other end. I cut against the grain again. It had no problem cutting over a huge slice which left the wood feeling very smooth.
Other than smudges, there was no damage to the blade at all. Not even the slightest bend. Actually I was very happy about that, as I really wanted to display the sword in my den, and didn’t want it bent or chipped.
Feeling pretty confident that the blade could actually take some punishment, I decided to do a little yard work I had been putting off. Again, the blade had no trouble cutting though live green wood. No damage or bending on the blade.
A vanity photo of the swords and their victims.
Since there are two swords, I am breaking the last part up a bit.
Battling Samurai Katana:
Historical accuracy: 3.5/5 The no-bohi blade and wrappings on the saya look pretty historical, but the tsuba is certainly not.
Fit and Finish: 4/5 The ray skin was very white and nice. The silk wrap was awesome. Love the saya. Taking off for the fake hamon.
Structural Integrity: 5/5 here. This thing is built like a hand cannon.
Value for money: 5/5 Paid $154.99 and $8.5 shipping ($17 divided by 2). He also gave me two free shogun style stands (the upright ones) as a bonus for buying two swords.
Overall: I give this a 4/5 taking off for the historical accuracy part and the fake hamon. I love the saya though!
The Rising Sun Katana:
Historical Accuracy: 4/5 largely due to the tsuba. I like the saya, but not as much as the rattan wrapped one. I really liked the fact that this tsuba came from a historical piece.
Fit and Finish: 4/5 The only complaint on this one is the fake hamon. I would have preferred an acid etched hamon. It doesn’t look that bad however, and the rest of the sword more than makes up for it.
Structural Integrity: 5/5. Just like the other one. Very solid and capable. No movement at all on the wrap even after cutting the board and tree limbs.
Value for Money: 5/5 Same price as the other one, and I feel that I more than got my money’s worth. Chopping on boards and trees while still having it look close to box fresh afterwards was a surprise. It is going on display, but it is nice to know I could use for cutting if I wanted to. Silk wrap is really nice. I much prefer it to cotton now.
Overall: 4.5/5 Other than the fake hamon, I have no complaints.
I appreciate any comments that will help me give a better review in the future. I really enjoy reading them here, and can honestly say I have been saved from at least one bad purchase because of them.
Cheers,
Charlie