Tomoe wakizashi
Aug 29, 2010 2:06:33 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2010 2:06:33 GMT
Good day to all! Since I discovered this forum about a year ago, the review section was my favorite. I check it daily and have read all the past reviews on Japanese swords. It is a great privilege for me to help out sword enthusiasts the same way I was helped all this time . I'll try to keep the review the way I like my reviews - informative, enthusiastic and full of pictures. So here it goes (hope you enjoy it):
Introduction (pictures from the seller in this part)
It's difficult to acquire swords in my country. I have managed to buy a Hanwei katana last year through my friend in England but, because of some circumstances it's been with him ever since - he did not managed to come to my country like he planed, so my sword is in England and I can not get it for the time being (WEARY frustrating). I wanted a sword so bad, so in the meantime I got some funds and decided to try to buy a second sword from a country closer to home.
I decided to buy a wakizashi - so I have a daisho when / if my katana ever comes from England (steal aches when I think about it ). And I can practice with a wakizashi in the flat without damaging the ceiling (or so I thaught... hehe)... And I wanted a beater - no trills, low price ant though steel - to do cutting with. There have bean problems, but I got it! (obviously )
The price was 150 euro and with that money you can buy here the equivalent of a 100$ sword in USA... (I hate you guys ). I bought it from this place - www.samuraishop.hu/shopp/index.php - the language in question is Hungarian - if somebody wants to googletranslate it. The seller was helpful, speaks English and informed me right a way that this sword line has poor tsuka ito job for the purpose I wanted it (cutting exercises).
I drove to Hungary to get it (shipping was way high for me - about 40 euro + what would our lousy customs charged me...). Seller shipped the sword to one of his friend's shop in the city near my border - no charge!
Good man. On the border on the way back nobody asked me anything so I did not complain ;P . I was as happy as a ... well ... me with my first sword - theres nothing like it ;D.
Historical overview
The wakizashi is a samurai's secondary sword - shorter than a katana. Worn for the purpose of close quoter / indoor combat - where katana length is a disadvantage or for those samurai who just love shorter swords more...
Also can be used for two swords fighting style - nitto ryu - famously used by Miyamoto Musashi. The blade style of a waki is no different from a small katana (to my knowledge).
It was in most cases one handed weapon, but the exceptions where not unheard off. Blade was between 30 and 60 centimeters (12 and 24 in), with an average of 50 cm (20 in) - from wiki.
Tomoe wakizashi has a tsuka big enough for two hands, and i prefer it that way - so i can choose to use it one (for bigger reach) or two handed (for more power). I presume it is made in China, but I did not find out which forge (could be Musashi's samurai special line or something like thtat...). The tings that distinguish it from a real waki (made in Jp) will be mentioned through the review, and in the end I will rate it's overall historical accuracy .
BTW Tomoe is the name of the legit abstract Japanese motif of swirling dots - you can see it all over the sword. As I found out, it is kind of warriors thing... (this is the short version - google it if you would like more info )
Initial Impressions
Well, when I opened the sword box (which is that standard Chinese low budget one), the first impression waaaaaaaas: ...
"Jay, I got me a low-end functional China- made waki ;D". The glitter of the chemical fiber ito, bulky gold colored dragon menuki, plane-black tsuba - it had Chinese written all over it. Did not feel disappointed about
that one bit . The real (but very low budget) same, the solid metal fittings, and the blade where saying - weapon - not a toy! The thing that bothered me a bit was kissaki, but I could not put my finger on the reason
why. More on that later.
Dry handling - it felt heavy - like hurt my wrists to stop it heavy... I had bokkens, shinais even suburitos but this was my first steel sword and I was not prepared for its presence. My technic was ruined with the desire
to wosh it as hard as I can. --- (Now I find it very light). And the tsuka fit felt like it was slightly loose - was not sure then - am sure now .
The blade was covered with oil and a bit of transparent jelly-like substance which was in the saya - to better to preserve the wood / make it water proof on the inside probably(?). It does not hurt the blade it seams, but I still sometimes get it on the blade - 6 months later (in smaller quantity).
The ito job did not look that bad and it felt nice in hand (later I found out it was crap), only the end knot looked kind of squished between tsuka kashira and last dimond... The saya was perfectly lacquered in black.
Statistics
Blade - 53.5 cm
Tsuka - 25 cm
Weight - 860 g (about - little less - 830 - 840)
Steel - 1060 TH (hope so
HRC - 56 (... I read somewhere that a 1060 TH is more likely to be in the low 50's - high 40's... this looks kind of high to me...)
Tsuba - steel (copper plated, then painted black)
Kashira,fuchi - brass (partially painted)
Habaki - (does not say... looks brass)
Samegawa - real
Menkugi - 2x bamboo
Ito - Silk (... but it does not say if it is real... it is not )
Menuki - some golden alloy probably... it's not plastic ;D
POB - about 7 cm from the cuba! Very fast, but not good for Japanese type sword... It should be in 10 - 15 cm range ( 4 - 6 inch ) for those effortless cuts with the weight of the sword alone (people say around 12.5 is the ideal) .
Size near the habaki 0.8 cm
Profile near the habaki 3 cm
Middle od the blade - mune 0.75cm
Profile - 2.7cm
Mune at yokote - 0.6 cm
Profile - 2.3 cm
Parts
It did not disassemble easy - there was this drop of solidified brown goo (about 0.5 cm size) that hold the tang to the tsuka... It cracked during the disassemble and tsuka was even more off then. I took measurements of how off it is: 5 mm on the upper part (neat the tsuba) and just under a 1 cm in the lower part. Its was cut nowhere near the nakago size. Just terrible tsuka job...
I could actually hear the slight bumping of the nakago to the tsuka wood after that. Had to shim it allot to make it feel safe, but still don't feel comfortable with it. I am constantly fighting with the idea to try to make a new tsuka.
In the mean time I made couple of changes to the sword (these are "after" pictures from now on )
Kissaki
Chu-kissaki (medium one). Very rough counter polish - it stands out from the blade that has very nice - mirror like polish... Also has something that looks like hammer marks.
The thing that bothered me about the kissaki is that it loocked and is too fragile. No niku on it what so ever and it hasn't got that diamond shape for support on the mune side. And the tip of it is so sharp and delicate I
thought i could brake the last mm with my hand... That last mm actually bent a little after I caught it accidentally on the wooden door. And chipped it's ha side (something between rolled and chipped edge)... twice... on the celing... Not too bad - it can be polished out fortunatly... I would really like to reshape it to be less sharp and with more niku - maybe make it a ko-kissaki (small one)... Probably in the future because it really bugs me...
To rate it's historical accuracy and functionality I devised a very simple scale: 0 - apsolutly not, 0.5 - not quite there, 1 - accurate
I give it's finish a 0.5, profile a 1, from the mune side 0.5 (it hasn't got that diamond shape), and functionality is a 0.5 (too fragile).
Blade
Very nice polish - mirror like - just a small amount of white haze making it sub perfect... 1060 TH they say... has some niku - which is very nice (you can see the distortion on the pictures). No hamon or hada. It has one of those small - ruptured blister like imperfection on one side, about 2x1 mm - nothing to worry about - just to watch out for the rust. Now has a light scar on the side from tough plastic bottle and a couple of barely
visible smaller than hare-like ones (I do try to cut allot...). No damage on the ha even after quite a few botched cuts. Bo-hi termination is generically machined made. Quite symmetrical.
As for historical accuracy and functionality - 0 historical accuracy (no hamon, no hada, not a tamashegane / mixed type steel), bo-hi 0.5, but functionality and finish 1 .
Habaki
-not too bad of a fit... could be better. It started moving a bit on the ha-mune axes at one time, so I had to shim the mune side a bit. No problems for quite some time now. Brass probably. Finish... hmm, I heard of a antique brass, but this was just dirty... polished it a bit... Some file marks would be a nice touch, but I am afraid of ruining the saya fit...
Historical accuracy - let's say 1, functionality 0.5 (had to shim it).
Tsuba
Did a number on it has more character now I would say... Feels quite solid. The design is beautiful and it does not hurt the hands. The sweat from the hands reacts with copper plating making it a kind of sexy pink...
nice ... But it will loose it's finish and become plain steel color in roughly something like year or two of using.
Historical accuracy 1, functionality 1.
Tsuka
Ooou, the tsuka... I will try to make a new one shurly... It has a very nice shape actually. Follows the curve of the blade... But a bit small for me (I'm above average hight/hand size). And it does not fit with the nakago
without quite a bit of shims... The nakago "hole" is just plane straight. Tsuka ito is some horrible synthetic stretchy material and I will replace it as soon as I get the chance. It was not done in an alternating way and
was quite loose - unusable for serious practice after a week. And when you hands gets sweaty it gets a bit slippery - does not absorb moisture. The kashira felt off very soon. The kashira is very solid and feels heavy.
Nice design.
And the tsuka did not go all the way to the sepa(tsuba) - there was the smallest of gaps... I made extra sepa from aluminum soda can to fill this gap.I re-wrapped the tsuka after two weeks of usage (used cardboard template instead of hisigami and it fatted up the tsuka so much that the ito was too short for end knot - I improvised - its not pretty but it works and fits my hands better). Redone the finish on menukis a bit... No problem with the fuchi - its solid and fits well - just started to discolor from usage...
Ray skin looks real but very thin - so much that it looks pink-ish from the wood underneath. And one side is done from 3 different peaces... cheap, but I don't mind much.
Historical accuracy/functionality :
tsuka shape 1 / 1
ray skin 1 / 0.5 - not much of a support for tsuka
nakogo hole 0 / 0.5
menuki/fuchi/kashira 1 / 1
ito 0/0.5 (not a traditional material, not in alternating manner and not wery tight)
Ou, and sepas are ok brass I think ... 1 / 1
Saya
There was a little bit extra lacquer on the one side of saya mouth so there was a small gap between the other side of saya mouth and the sword. Fixed it with sand paper. The fit is pretty good - you can turn it up side
down and the sword won't fall. Give it a slightest of taps and it falls... maybe could be a little bit tighter, but this is ok too. The black lacquer was perfect - just a bit fragile... And I don't like all black finish, so I gave it the old "Kris Cutlary" job . Like it more this way.
Historical accuracy/functionality : 1 / 1
Handling Characteristics
POB should traditionally be a little bit more down the blade for it to have a better momentum to go through bigger targets... The heavy fuchi, kashira, tsuba, longer tsuka + bo-hi makes it a bit "too light"... It's more then ok for the lighter targets and it's quite a good balance for the beginner. Bo-hi makes a nice woosh .
Test Cutting
Yes! ;D Anything made from plastic with water inside is a easy pray for this wak. Don't need to put any power in it - just keep a good edge alignment and let it drop through it. Does not feel that sharp, but these swords are not meant to. The edge is quite resilient cause of the nice niku behind it - I batted away(home runed ;p) quite a few bottles and botched a few cuts - no edge or sword distorting. (Except for the kissaki as I mentioned before - just too fragile for serious use.)
I tried it on a double roll of xl beach mats (8cm diameter) and it struggled. This is because of my not so good form and it being a little too light. I manage to get one good cut through it with a little more power behind it - so yea, it can be done with a bit of power and a good form. One / one and a half beach mat should be just fine. When I perfect my form I'll probably try a triple mat .
This is a video of me doing some bottle cutting. Nothing fancy, just working on my form...
Conclusions
Just as illustration - if you crunch the numbers of my rating system, it's go a 77% of historical accuracy (23/30) and a 81% for functionality (9/11). In other words it's not quite a historically accurate sword, but you
can definitely say that it's a replica of a wakizashi. And it's not functional right out the box - needs a bit of work on it sooner or later. So call it a project blade. If it was fitted properly, had a bit more functional kissaki and a better ito wrap - you would call it a great little beater. As is - you have to work on it to get there. It should have been cheaper, but this is not America (or Australia for that matter ).
Pros
- blade has "beater" potential - looks well tempered and has nice niku
- nicely sharp (not oversharp, not dull)
- handsome finish - mirror like
- quality fuchi,kashira and tsuba, ok sepas and habaki fit
- tsuka shape
- nice saya (if you like black )
- blade gets thinner (on spine and on profile) as you get closer to kissaki
- in the land of the blind, one eyed man is the king...
Cons
- tsuka fit
- lousy ito wrap
- fragile and badly polished kissaki
- low quality over all fit
- needs work to make it fully functional
The Bottom Line
Would I recommend it? If you can get something better for same money - then no. If it have been fitted properly - then yes. I'm prepared to work on it to make it what I want and can't get anything better for the moment. So I recommend it to myself. ;D
Puff! That's all folks ;D Thank's for reading. Any questions - will be happy to answer... And hope to do another one soon...
edit - added a "Pro" and a cutting video (and fixed a bit of grammar)