My Zhengwu daisho (pics)
Sept 8, 2010 23:08:35 GMT
Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2010 23:08:35 GMT
Blades from Zhengwu forge, a relatively little-known forge that say they're dedicated to re-establishing the reputation of chinese forges.
I thought about writing something here...something of a vitriolic rant, expressing my disappointment (to put it mildly) and what I did to remedy it. But I'm not going to. Thinking about the ordeal over the last 3 years saps my will. Here's the cliff notes version:
- Ordered blades and paid for a custom mounting job from he who shall not be named (yet)
- Waited a long time
-
- Mounting job turned out to be epic fail (I have pics to prove it)
- Sent blades off to my mounter (he has requested that I leave his name out of this post, and that I can provide it only if people PM me)
- Waited 2 weeks from the time he started on them to completion
- Got them and have been very happy with the mounting job and blades
Katana (folded steel, most likely kobuse):
28" nagasa
32mm motohaba
23.5mm sakihaba
7mm motokasane
5.5mm sakikasane
1.85" extended chu kissaki
0.5" sori
Wakizashi (monosteel):
20" nagasa
0.7" sori
blahblahblah (nobody really cares about waks anyway, except me)
Daisho on a rack. The sageo is from Fred Lohman.
Not a very good pic of both tsuka.
Folded steel mokko tsuba with sukashi of a cherry blossom, the pattern looks like the surface of water.
Hamidashi style tsuba, it was originally also a folded steel mokko tsuba like the katana's, you can see where it was filled in with metal. I like the little imperfection there, it adds character.
Kurigata and koiguchi. Hand-carved buffalo horn. Very nice.
Buffalo horn kojiri.
Omote side of the menuki, basket of persimmons.
Ura side of the menuki, 3 freshly caught fish on a stick.
Kissaki of the katana. Quite well shaped, you can feel where the kissaki begins at the yokote. Polish isn't the best, but I don't care, these are actually going to be used, so.. meh.
My attempt at tracing the hamon in the boshi with 'shop. Wish the hamon could be a tad wider, with a better turn-back. Still acceptable.
Wakizashi kissaki, not as well shaped, but still serviceable.
Another view of both swords.
My thoughts...
I chose the theme myself, if there is a story to be told here, it's about a fisherman enjoying his packed lunch of persimmons while cherry blossoms fall into the river. Simple and understated.
The mounting job is excellent, my mounter is very experienced at doing this sort of thing, and it shows. The lacquer is spot-on, all horn parts are fitted perfectly, all metal fittings are tight and suit the mounts, the full wrap of black samegawa is excellent, and the silk ito is very, very tightly wrapped with hishigame underneath. Everything was made to suit the blades, only the blades and metal fittings are original, everything else was custom made. Blades fit very well in the saya... not too tight, not loose at all.
I've been collecting stuff for years, and there is no substitute for quality custom koshirae mounting work. Just so there is no misunderstanding, there are TWO mounters that I'm talking about in this thread. The first one was epic fail. The second one's work is what you see here, and I'm referring to him in my post as 'my mounter'.
If you notice, the kashira on both swords don't match 100%. This is entirely the fault of the first guy whom I had originally placed this order, NOT with my mounter. Still, it's acceptable and not out of place with this daisho.
The katana is light but not overly so, and still has a solid and moderately robust feel to it. It is easily wielded one handed and is well-suited for iai, but still feels like it can do some serious cutting (with proper technique). I like it, though I was expecting it to be a tad blade heavier (it could be because of the slightly longer tsuka, though). The wakizashi is also light and very agile, but that's because it has a 20" nagasa. It feels quite robustly built.
Overall, before anybody asks, I had my reasons for custom mounting this daisho, and I'm happy to have it now. Once again, the quality of the mounting job is excellent, well worth the cost. I can't wait until my Rick Barrett 1075 daisho is completed and mounted by my mounter, it'll be spectacular once finished with Patrick Hastings fittings and a full polish on both blades. Until that happy day, this set will be my workhorse. The polish on the blades is such that I don't care if I scratch or mar the finish, and the custom mounting job makes the blades 100% ready for use without any issue of problems that typically plague most production stuff.
I thought about writing something here...something of a vitriolic rant, expressing my disappointment (to put it mildly) and what I did to remedy it. But I'm not going to. Thinking about the ordeal over the last 3 years saps my will. Here's the cliff notes version:
- Ordered blades and paid for a custom mounting job from he who shall not be named (yet)
- Waited a long time
-
- Mounting job turned out to be epic fail (I have pics to prove it)
- Sent blades off to my mounter (he has requested that I leave his name out of this post, and that I can provide it only if people PM me)
- Waited 2 weeks from the time he started on them to completion
- Got them and have been very happy with the mounting job and blades
Katana (folded steel, most likely kobuse):
28" nagasa
32mm motohaba
23.5mm sakihaba
7mm motokasane
5.5mm sakikasane
1.85" extended chu kissaki
0.5" sori
Wakizashi (monosteel):
20" nagasa
0.7" sori
blahblahblah (nobody really cares about waks anyway, except me)
Daisho on a rack. The sageo is from Fred Lohman.
Not a very good pic of both tsuka.
Folded steel mokko tsuba with sukashi of a cherry blossom, the pattern looks like the surface of water.
Hamidashi style tsuba, it was originally also a folded steel mokko tsuba like the katana's, you can see where it was filled in with metal. I like the little imperfection there, it adds character.
Kurigata and koiguchi. Hand-carved buffalo horn. Very nice.
Buffalo horn kojiri.
Omote side of the menuki, basket of persimmons.
Ura side of the menuki, 3 freshly caught fish on a stick.
Kissaki of the katana. Quite well shaped, you can feel where the kissaki begins at the yokote. Polish isn't the best, but I don't care, these are actually going to be used, so.. meh.
My attempt at tracing the hamon in the boshi with 'shop. Wish the hamon could be a tad wider, with a better turn-back. Still acceptable.
Wakizashi kissaki, not as well shaped, but still serviceable.
Another view of both swords.
My thoughts...
I chose the theme myself, if there is a story to be told here, it's about a fisherman enjoying his packed lunch of persimmons while cherry blossoms fall into the river. Simple and understated.
The mounting job is excellent, my mounter is very experienced at doing this sort of thing, and it shows. The lacquer is spot-on, all horn parts are fitted perfectly, all metal fittings are tight and suit the mounts, the full wrap of black samegawa is excellent, and the silk ito is very, very tightly wrapped with hishigame underneath. Everything was made to suit the blades, only the blades and metal fittings are original, everything else was custom made. Blades fit very well in the saya... not too tight, not loose at all.
I've been collecting stuff for years, and there is no substitute for quality custom koshirae mounting work. Just so there is no misunderstanding, there are TWO mounters that I'm talking about in this thread. The first one was epic fail. The second one's work is what you see here, and I'm referring to him in my post as 'my mounter'.
If you notice, the kashira on both swords don't match 100%. This is entirely the fault of the first guy whom I had originally placed this order, NOT with my mounter. Still, it's acceptable and not out of place with this daisho.
The katana is light but not overly so, and still has a solid and moderately robust feel to it. It is easily wielded one handed and is well-suited for iai, but still feels like it can do some serious cutting (with proper technique). I like it, though I was expecting it to be a tad blade heavier (it could be because of the slightly longer tsuka, though). The wakizashi is also light and very agile, but that's because it has a 20" nagasa. It feels quite robustly built.
Overall, before anybody asks, I had my reasons for custom mounting this daisho, and I'm happy to have it now. Once again, the quality of the mounting job is excellent, well worth the cost. I can't wait until my Rick Barrett 1075 daisho is completed and mounted by my mounter, it'll be spectacular once finished with Patrick Hastings fittings and a full polish on both blades. Until that happy day, this set will be my workhorse. The polish on the blades is such that I don't care if I scratch or mar the finish, and the custom mounting job makes the blades 100% ready for use without any issue of problems that typically plague most production stuff.