Unokubi zukuri katana from Ebay seller Badtrack
Apr 26, 2010 0:35:06 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2010 0:35:06 GMT
This is my review of a 1095 unokubi zukuri style blade from the ebay seller Badtrack. A search on ebay for "clay tempered" in the japanese swords section should yield examples of similar blades from a variety of sellers in China like Ryansword, Dgspirit, Katana1980, etc. (Edit: this is not actually a Ryansword; the sellers are not affiliates but are in two different cities. Thanks for the heads up Ichiban, Yes, I beleive this one did indeed ship from Shanghai). I originally thought I got it from Dgspirit, but I checked my old ebay feedback and is was Badtrack blade. Why do they call themselves that? I'm sure just the word "bad" has cost them many sales; it's like a subliminal message!
- Introduction -
I bought this sword a couple of years ago, when clay-tempered katanas were still pretty hard to come by and/or expensive. I wanted to have at least one differentially hardened sword in my collection, even if it was a lower-end one. Since then, many low-priced, high quality swords have hit the market, while these swords have remained pretty stable in price.
- Historical Overview -
The unokubi zukuri style was most popular as a naginata blade, but also used in katana and wakizashi. It starts similar to a shinogi zukuri, but then tapers into a diamond shape with a false edge on top (well, mine has a false edge), then rewidens near the kissaki. Some have double bo-hi, one terminating where the shinogi begins to reprofile, the other going the length of the blade up to the kissaki.
A historical example can be seen here: www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Naohiro1.html
- Initial Impressions -
The sword took just under a month to get to me from China, secured in a styrofoam block wrapped in yellow tape. I ordered it customized with green silk ito/sageo and a blackened copper tsuba. In retrospect, I shouldn't have done that... customization has it's own dangers.
- Statistics -
Blade/nagasa length : 28" from tip to habaki
Handle/Tsuka length : 10.5"
Overall length : 40.5" (with saya)
Guard/Tsuba width : 3.00"
Weight : just over 2 pounds
- Components -
Blade :
Okay, now this sword has a pretty nice blade! The lines are clean, there is no waviness to be felt. It has an o-kissaki, which I REALLY like... too bad it's rather roughly counter-polished... they should have left it alone, it would have been more historically accurate anyway.
I really like the bo-hi, I think they are done quite well. How sharp is it? Meh... could be sharper.
Initially, I was really disappointed with the hamon. Since this was my first differentially hardened sword, I wanted a distinct and attractive hamon; this one just doesn't deliver in that department. Oh, the hamon is definitely there... in fact, it actually makes it to the end of the kissaki! But, it's quite faint and needs to be looked for in order to be seen. It's possible a little etchant might bring it out more, but there aren't that many places of activity to show off anyway. In this pic you can just see the hamon visible where the kissaki begins, as a clear slightly wavy line...
Regardless, this is a pretty impressive blade, and I think the bare blade alone is worth the price I paid for the sword.
Tsuka :
Here's where the bad begins, but you knew that. Minor seam split when I took it apart, very cheap and light wood ($45 handmadesword's tsuka wood was much better, if that tells you anything), lots of glue residue, and pretty badly spaced same panels. The rewrap I had done with the green (chemical) silk was kinda sloppy as well. No, of course the ito does not alternate. And the menuki are cheap. This is a standard low to medium-end Chinese ebay tsuka job.
The good side:
The bad side:
Several mm of exposed wood there. Am I nitpicking?
And... the samegawa has black dirt spots near the kashira.
Tsuba:
Well, here it is: the tsuba I had custom put onto the sword. I guess it would have been ok... if it had fit the blade! It was too big, and they did not try to shim it or anything to fit. It was not horrendously bad, but not really suited to functionality. The main reason I'm reviewing this today is I changed the tsuba out for a cheap iron one which fit much better, and I figured since I have it out I'll review it for the board.
Fuchi/Kashira
They are cheap zinc(?) alloy painted gold... I think. (Edit: They may be brass, but if so it's the lightest, cheapest most unnattractive brass available ). The habaki is similar, and it imitates some of the old nihonto styled habakis (rather poorly). Huawei's habaki is an example of the same style, but looks better. The seppa are copper and are sufficient.
Saya :
Standard black piano-laquered saya, about like a cheap musashi. As I type this I notice a small crack about midway down the saya ( damn). The sword does not rattle, though... a pleasant surprise.
- Handling Characteristics -
Now we're getting somewhere! This is a very pleasant sword to dry-handle. When I first got it, I could feel a slight give in the tsuka when it was swung, like the nakago was moving half a mm or so inside the tsuka. Also, the tsuba moved noticeably. I replaced the tsuba and wrapped the middle of the nakago in electrical tape, and reassembled the tsuka with homemade chopstick mekugi. Huge difference! This sword is light and sweet now. I'm not sure I should trust this cheap tsuka for cutting though, so I'll have to postpone test cutting for the time being.
Do all Unokubi zukuri katanas have a loud, cool tachikaze like this one? It's very high pitched, like swinging a willow switch... and almost any dry cut is noisy! I think too much dry handling with this one will give me false confidence in my form!
- Conclusions -
These cheap 1095 chinese forge katanas can be a good deal as long as you don't expect good fittings. This blade is quite nice! Also, be careful with the custom options. If you buy one of these, I recommend telling them that you don't care which tsuba they put on as long as it fits the blade properly! It's probably pretty much luck of the draw whether your wrap job is any good, but anyway you should plan on remounting these swords if you want to use them for any real practical cutting IMHO.
One last pic of the o-kissaki:
Pros:
1095 DH for just over $100
Cool blade styles for cheap prices
Cons
Fittings are of low quality
Assembly work is rather shoddy
Customization often is not a good idea, fit and finish may suffer
- Bottom line -
If you must have a differentially hardened katana in 1095 but are on a budget of under $150, this is a good option. Also, it's probably the cheapest Unokubi zukuri out there at the moment. Remounted, it would be a really cool sword.
Thanks for reading!
- Introduction -
I bought this sword a couple of years ago, when clay-tempered katanas were still pretty hard to come by and/or expensive. I wanted to have at least one differentially hardened sword in my collection, even if it was a lower-end one. Since then, many low-priced, high quality swords have hit the market, while these swords have remained pretty stable in price.
- Historical Overview -
The unokubi zukuri style was most popular as a naginata blade, but also used in katana and wakizashi. It starts similar to a shinogi zukuri, but then tapers into a diamond shape with a false edge on top (well, mine has a false edge), then rewidens near the kissaki. Some have double bo-hi, one terminating where the shinogi begins to reprofile, the other going the length of the blade up to the kissaki.
A historical example can be seen here: www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/Naohiro1.html
- Initial Impressions -
The sword took just under a month to get to me from China, secured in a styrofoam block wrapped in yellow tape. I ordered it customized with green silk ito/sageo and a blackened copper tsuba. In retrospect, I shouldn't have done that... customization has it's own dangers.
- Statistics -
Blade/nagasa length : 28" from tip to habaki
Handle/Tsuka length : 10.5"
Overall length : 40.5" (with saya)
Guard/Tsuba width : 3.00"
Weight : just over 2 pounds
- Components -
Blade :
Okay, now this sword has a pretty nice blade! The lines are clean, there is no waviness to be felt. It has an o-kissaki, which I REALLY like... too bad it's rather roughly counter-polished... they should have left it alone, it would have been more historically accurate anyway.
I really like the bo-hi, I think they are done quite well. How sharp is it? Meh... could be sharper.
Initially, I was really disappointed with the hamon. Since this was my first differentially hardened sword, I wanted a distinct and attractive hamon; this one just doesn't deliver in that department. Oh, the hamon is definitely there... in fact, it actually makes it to the end of the kissaki! But, it's quite faint and needs to be looked for in order to be seen. It's possible a little etchant might bring it out more, but there aren't that many places of activity to show off anyway. In this pic you can just see the hamon visible where the kissaki begins, as a clear slightly wavy line...
Regardless, this is a pretty impressive blade, and I think the bare blade alone is worth the price I paid for the sword.
Tsuka :
Here's where the bad begins, but you knew that. Minor seam split when I took it apart, very cheap and light wood ($45 handmadesword's tsuka wood was much better, if that tells you anything), lots of glue residue, and pretty badly spaced same panels. The rewrap I had done with the green (chemical) silk was kinda sloppy as well. No, of course the ito does not alternate. And the menuki are cheap. This is a standard low to medium-end Chinese ebay tsuka job.
The good side:
The bad side:
Several mm of exposed wood there. Am I nitpicking?
And... the samegawa has black dirt spots near the kashira.
Tsuba:
Well, here it is: the tsuba I had custom put onto the sword. I guess it would have been ok... if it had fit the blade! It was too big, and they did not try to shim it or anything to fit. It was not horrendously bad, but not really suited to functionality. The main reason I'm reviewing this today is I changed the tsuba out for a cheap iron one which fit much better, and I figured since I have it out I'll review it for the board.
Fuchi/Kashira
They are cheap zinc(?) alloy painted gold... I think. (Edit: They may be brass, but if so it's the lightest, cheapest most unnattractive brass available ). The habaki is similar, and it imitates some of the old nihonto styled habakis (rather poorly). Huawei's habaki is an example of the same style, but looks better. The seppa are copper and are sufficient.
Saya :
Standard black piano-laquered saya, about like a cheap musashi. As I type this I notice a small crack about midway down the saya ( damn). The sword does not rattle, though... a pleasant surprise.
- Handling Characteristics -
Now we're getting somewhere! This is a very pleasant sword to dry-handle. When I first got it, I could feel a slight give in the tsuka when it was swung, like the nakago was moving half a mm or so inside the tsuka. Also, the tsuba moved noticeably. I replaced the tsuba and wrapped the middle of the nakago in electrical tape, and reassembled the tsuka with homemade chopstick mekugi. Huge difference! This sword is light and sweet now. I'm not sure I should trust this cheap tsuka for cutting though, so I'll have to postpone test cutting for the time being.
Do all Unokubi zukuri katanas have a loud, cool tachikaze like this one? It's very high pitched, like swinging a willow switch... and almost any dry cut is noisy! I think too much dry handling with this one will give me false confidence in my form!
- Conclusions -
These cheap 1095 chinese forge katanas can be a good deal as long as you don't expect good fittings. This blade is quite nice! Also, be careful with the custom options. If you buy one of these, I recommend telling them that you don't care which tsuba they put on as long as it fits the blade properly! It's probably pretty much luck of the draw whether your wrap job is any good, but anyway you should plan on remounting these swords if you want to use them for any real practical cutting IMHO.
One last pic of the o-kissaki:
Pros:
1095 DH for just over $100
Cool blade styles for cheap prices
Cons
Fittings are of low quality
Assembly work is rather shoddy
Customization often is not a good idea, fit and finish may suffer
- Bottom line -
If you must have a differentially hardened katana in 1095 but are on a budget of under $150, this is a good option. Also, it's probably the cheapest Unokubi zukuri out there at the moment. Remounted, it would be a really cool sword.
Thanks for reading!