ZhiSword Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri Review
May 24, 2009 10:19:27 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 24, 2009 10:19:27 GMT
ZhiSword Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri ZH0122 Review - Larry
Introduction
Everyone buys a particular sword for a reason; what compelled me to buy this sharp ‘toy’ from (then) relatively unknown Chinese online store ‘Zhisword’ was the combination of the below-mentioned reasons:
(1) Unique blade design – Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri, aka Kogarasu-Maru
(2) Price
(3) Options to customize, many without additional cost
It is my personal quest to add different types & forms of edged weapons, primarily swords, into my collection. So when I come across this Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri type katana, I was delighted.
The cost of this sword prior to customization was 119.99 USD; with customization such as, 10 Stages Traditional Hand Polishing & Sharpening (+40 USD) and upgrading to Deluxe Synthetic Silk Ito-Sageo (+10 USD), the total price of this sword amounts to only 169.99 USD. International shipping to CONUS - add 45 USD.
Other customization such as lengthening of the nagasa (blade length), battle wrapped tsukamaki and dual-mekugi come free of charge. I was overjoyed and immediately put down my order to ZhiSword.
Brief Historical Overview– Extracts from The Connoisseur’s Book of Japanese Swords
The kissaki, or tip of Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri type sword, is sharpened on both edges, while the lower portion of the blade is shaped differently from the kissaki. This style originated at the end of the Nara period (708-781) and was imitated by later sword smiths. The famed “Kogarasu-Maru” (a family treasure of the Heike, the largest warrior family of the Heian period”) is of this type; it has shallow sori, and the edge of the mune is sharpened only along the upper half of the blade. Swords of this type are also known as Kogarasu-Maru-Zukuri, after this particular blade.”
Initial Impression
The sword package arrived in a relatively compact styrofoam carton, wrapped (sealed) with a layers of yellow plastic wrappers & transparent tapes. It’s quite a pain to extract the item from within such kind of packaging because once you cut open the package, the Styrofoam quickly disintegrated and flew all over the house! In my eagerness to examine the sword, I had forgotten to snap some photo of the packaging to share what I meant about messy, but believe me, it IS messy!
The sword came contained in a pinkish ‘silk’ sword bag of reasonable quality. When I pulled the sword out of its sword bag, I was pleasantly surprised by its lightness! The scabbard is nicely texturized which made handling and maintenance a lot easier. I am also delighted with the tsuka size and shape – the slim, contoured tsuka make handling with my small hands very comfortable and secure as I am able to wrapped my fingers completely around the grip. The alloy tsuba is also very elegantly cast and not overdone. The traditional pattern on it is very suitable of this form of sword and, for display purposes.
All in all, this sword gave a very impressive first impression to me. Very nice.
Statistics
Overall Length (in scabbard): 43”
Nagasa: 30 ¼” *Custom, No Charge
Tsuka: 11 ¼”
Hamon: Notare Artificial
Hardness: 53–55 HRC
Kissaki: Chu
Kasane: ~0.276”
Mihaba: ~1.22”
Mune: Ihori
Weight: 2 lb
The Blade
The blade of the Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri is constructed in 1060 High Carbon Steel, heat treated, hardened, tempered, annealed and underwent the custom requested ’10 stages traditional polishing by hand and sharpening’ to mirror finish.
The blade is surprisingly light and as such, very quick! The dual Bo-Hi are very nicely and evenly executed; However, impression given me is that this blade is only suitable to counter light targets and would not be able to stand up to heavy abuses that my other Kris Cutlery KC-29A potentially could. Nonetheless, I have no intention to cut with this sword (as usual), so this does not bother me a bit.
The ‘hamon’ on the cutting edge looks very real - visible only if one tilts the blade at a certain angle against some light - but those on the ‘false-edge’ side of the blade is obviously artificial.
The Hilt
Apart from the blade, the tsuka is another unique feature of this katana amongst my collection – battle-wrapped using black deluxe synthetic silk offerings from ZhiSword upon my request. This is the only battle-wrapped katana in my possession, besides the yet-to-deliver SBG Kokoro-Ichi.
The tsuka is slim in design and tapered (which is the direct opposite to my body shape ^^). This, in my personal opinion, is much nicer than most of those found in the market, even those in the higher-priced range. Upon my request, ZhiSword readily added a second mekugi as an added security in retaining the blade. The tsuka also come with matching Fuchi and Kashira, and I personally like the rounded/curved Kashira very much.
The Same-kawa is done in genuine white sea ray skin and nicely fitted on to the tsuka. Great workmanship, I’d say, especially for such affordable range products. Careful thoughts were also given to the placement of the Menuki, as I later realized, to facilitate the position of the hands on the tsuka.
The Tsuba
The guard is made of cast alloy, and matches the Fuchi and Kashira thematically. ZhiSword did not clarify what sort of alloy the tsuba is made of, but the casting work is nicely executed and the lines are clean and neat.
The Saya
The saya is painted in matt black with textures on its surface; the matt finish prevented leaving of finger print marks on its surface and, the texturized surface prevented one’s hand from slipping and dropping the saya accidentally. A very thoughtful design indeed.
The blade fits snugly into the saya, such that it will not drop even if the saya is held upside-down, and requires a light jerk before it can be unsheathed from the saya. A very good fitting job.
Handling Characteristics
As mentioned before, the blade is very light and well-balanced (P.O.B.: 4 ¾” below tsuba), which makes it an exceptionally fast sword. I could imagine the samurai could quickly cut down a few of his adversaries with this sword, before they could draw or bring down theirs!
I especially like the slim shape tsuka which offers a very comfortable fit to my small hands!
The sword emits a very short but crisp ‘whoosh’ kaze when swung with correct speed and intensity! The characteristic of this kaze is somewhat very different those of my other katanas in my possession… and beyond my limited vocab of description….
Conclusion
Overall, I am very pleased with the Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri purchase from ZhiSword. Not only was the blade type something quite rare in the production market, it’s also quite affordable and most importantly, rather well-made with everything tight and well-fitted.
Pros
- Nice grip
- Varied and affordable range of customization allowed catered for
- Nice surface finishes
- Well-balanced
- Superb fitting of blade in saya
Cons
- Artificial hamon on blade
- False-edge of the upper half of blade not sharp enough though I had requested for their ’10 stages traditional hand polishing & sharpening’
- Possibly zinc alloy fittings (judging from the lightweight)
- *Possibly a light-cutter and unable to tackle heavy cutting jobs (*my personal opinion only)
Bottomline
I would recommend this to anyone who’s looking for an affordable katana with some degree of customization for occasional light cutting purposes.
Introduction
Everyone buys a particular sword for a reason; what compelled me to buy this sharp ‘toy’ from (then) relatively unknown Chinese online store ‘Zhisword’ was the combination of the below-mentioned reasons:
(1) Unique blade design – Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri, aka Kogarasu-Maru
(2) Price
(3) Options to customize, many without additional cost
It is my personal quest to add different types & forms of edged weapons, primarily swords, into my collection. So when I come across this Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri type katana, I was delighted.
The cost of this sword prior to customization was 119.99 USD; with customization such as, 10 Stages Traditional Hand Polishing & Sharpening (+40 USD) and upgrading to Deluxe Synthetic Silk Ito-Sageo (+10 USD), the total price of this sword amounts to only 169.99 USD. International shipping to CONUS - add 45 USD.
Other customization such as lengthening of the nagasa (blade length), battle wrapped tsukamaki and dual-mekugi come free of charge. I was overjoyed and immediately put down my order to ZhiSword.
Brief Historical Overview– Extracts from The Connoisseur’s Book of Japanese Swords
The kissaki, or tip of Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri type sword, is sharpened on both edges, while the lower portion of the blade is shaped differently from the kissaki. This style originated at the end of the Nara period (708-781) and was imitated by later sword smiths. The famed “Kogarasu-Maru” (a family treasure of the Heike, the largest warrior family of the Heian period”) is of this type; it has shallow sori, and the edge of the mune is sharpened only along the upper half of the blade. Swords of this type are also known as Kogarasu-Maru-Zukuri, after this particular blade.”
Initial Impression
The sword package arrived in a relatively compact styrofoam carton, wrapped (sealed) with a layers of yellow plastic wrappers & transparent tapes. It’s quite a pain to extract the item from within such kind of packaging because once you cut open the package, the Styrofoam quickly disintegrated and flew all over the house! In my eagerness to examine the sword, I had forgotten to snap some photo of the packaging to share what I meant about messy, but believe me, it IS messy!
The sword came contained in a pinkish ‘silk’ sword bag of reasonable quality. When I pulled the sword out of its sword bag, I was pleasantly surprised by its lightness! The scabbard is nicely texturized which made handling and maintenance a lot easier. I am also delighted with the tsuka size and shape – the slim, contoured tsuka make handling with my small hands very comfortable and secure as I am able to wrapped my fingers completely around the grip. The alloy tsuba is also very elegantly cast and not overdone. The traditional pattern on it is very suitable of this form of sword and, for display purposes.
All in all, this sword gave a very impressive first impression to me. Very nice.
Statistics
Overall Length (in scabbard): 43”
Nagasa: 30 ¼” *Custom, No Charge
Tsuka: 11 ¼”
Hamon: Notare Artificial
Hardness: 53–55 HRC
Kissaki: Chu
Kasane: ~0.276”
Mihaba: ~1.22”
Mune: Ihori
Weight: 2 lb
The Blade
The blade of the Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri is constructed in 1060 High Carbon Steel, heat treated, hardened, tempered, annealed and underwent the custom requested ’10 stages traditional polishing by hand and sharpening’ to mirror finish.
The blade is surprisingly light and as such, very quick! The dual Bo-Hi are very nicely and evenly executed; However, impression given me is that this blade is only suitable to counter light targets and would not be able to stand up to heavy abuses that my other Kris Cutlery KC-29A potentially could. Nonetheless, I have no intention to cut with this sword (as usual), so this does not bother me a bit.
The ‘hamon’ on the cutting edge looks very real - visible only if one tilts the blade at a certain angle against some light - but those on the ‘false-edge’ side of the blade is obviously artificial.
The Hilt
Apart from the blade, the tsuka is another unique feature of this katana amongst my collection – battle-wrapped using black deluxe synthetic silk offerings from ZhiSword upon my request. This is the only battle-wrapped katana in my possession
The tsuka is slim in design and tapered (which is the direct opposite to my body shape ^^). This, in my personal opinion, is much nicer than most of those found in the market, even those in the higher-priced range. Upon my request, ZhiSword readily added a second mekugi as an added security in retaining the blade. The tsuka also come with matching Fuchi and Kashira, and I personally like the rounded/curved Kashira very much.
The Same-kawa is done in genuine white sea ray skin and nicely fitted on to the tsuka. Great workmanship, I’d say, especially for such affordable range products. Careful thoughts were also given to the placement of the Menuki, as I later realized, to facilitate the position of the hands on the tsuka.
The Tsuba
The guard is made of cast alloy, and matches the Fuchi and Kashira thematically. ZhiSword did not clarify what sort of alloy the tsuba is made of, but the casting work is nicely executed and the lines are clean and neat.
The Saya
The saya is painted in matt black with textures on its surface; the matt finish prevented leaving of finger print marks on its surface and, the texturized surface prevented one’s hand from slipping and dropping the saya accidentally. A very thoughtful design indeed.
The blade fits snugly into the saya, such that it will not drop even if the saya is held upside-down, and requires a light jerk before it can be unsheathed from the saya. A very good fitting job.
Handling Characteristics
As mentioned before, the blade is very light and well-balanced (P.O.B.: 4 ¾” below tsuba), which makes it an exceptionally fast sword. I could imagine the samurai could quickly cut down a few of his adversaries with this sword, before they could draw or bring down theirs!
I especially like the slim shape tsuka which offers a very comfortable fit to my small hands!
The sword emits a very short but crisp ‘whoosh’ kaze when swung with correct speed and intensity! The characteristic of this kaze is somewhat very different those of my other katanas in my possession… and beyond my limited vocab of description….
Conclusion
Overall, I am very pleased with the Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri purchase from ZhiSword. Not only was the blade type something quite rare in the production market, it’s also quite affordable and most importantly, rather well-made with everything tight and well-fitted.
Pros
- Nice grip
- Varied and affordable range of customization allowed catered for
- Nice surface finishes
- Well-balanced
- Superb fitting of blade in saya
Cons
- Artificial hamon on blade
- False-edge of the upper half of blade not sharp enough though I had requested for their ’10 stages traditional hand polishing & sharpening’
- Possibly zinc alloy fittings (judging from the lightweight)
- *Possibly a light-cutter and unable to tackle heavy cutting jobs (*my personal opinion only)
Bottomline
I would recommend this to anyone who’s looking for an affordable katana with some degree of customization for occasional light cutting purposes.
