SBG Pro Custom Katana
Oct 1, 2010 7:33:53 GMT
Post by Brett Whinnen on Oct 1, 2010 7:33:53 GMT
Shugosha (日本語)
Introduction
This is my first real sword, I've had a few SLO's in my time, including a stainless 440 katana I used for martial arts training, as well as a bokken. I did a lot of research looking for something that wasn't going to blow my budget and still had a good reputation.
I ordered this SBG Pro-Custom Katana in early December 2009 as it was to be my Christmas present from the family. The making of this took a little longer than the stated 3 months, almost 6 months but after receiving it the wait was well worth it, and kudos to Paul who kept on top of things and kept me up to date along every step of the way.
Historical Overview
The blade style is historical in the fact that it is one of the most common styles, that being shinogi-zukuri. That is about as far as it goes, katana throughout history have had one or two mekugi so this doesn't make much difference, the ito and sageo came in various colours as well depending on the period, so the emerald green fits well.
Initial Impressions
Packaging was great, the katana was mounted in a polystyrene and then a cardboard box. The katana was then wrapped in plastic (sounds like some catch line for a cheesy tv series from the '80's), The whole thing loosely wrapped and the tsuka shrink wrapped.
The weight felt good, the tsuka was on the thin side, but conforms nicely to the hand. Ito was tightly wrapped and the koshirae was as pictured. Saya was nicely gloss lacquered and looked good.
Revealing the blade showed it to be well greased and protected for its trip from China to me. The fit to the saya is very tight and a good thumb push was required to initially draw it.
Statistics
Overall Length: 41 5/8"
Nagasa: 29 1/4"
Tsuka: 11 1/4"
Sori: 4/5"
POB: 6" forward from stub
Blade: T10 and paper cutting sharp
The Blade (Nagasa)
The blade is made of T10 a high speed tool steel, it is mono steel construction differential hardened. The shinogi-ji is polished to a mirror finish and is nicely parallel to the mune. The mune has a lovely peaked shape that is nicely uniform for the whole length of the nagasa.
The hamon appears to be Notare and has some lovely activity with a beautiful white line that really distinguishes the hamon from the rest of the nagasa.
The kissaki is well formed and appears to be cosmetic, although well done, the yokote is not quite straight but defined. The boshi hooks back well on both sides of the kissaki.
The sori at 4/5" is quite small but enough to give the katana a nice curve, which continues through to the tsuka.
The habaki fits very well and is made of brass, there is no pattern on it just the marks from the koiguchi.
The Tang (Nakago)
The Nakago is well formed with no signature. The mekugi-ana were well drilled and relatively clean. As you can see from the following photos the nakago is almost the entire length of the tsuka which is really good to see. As the steel is unfinished you can see the grain and it looks to be nice and tight as you would expect from a mono-steel blade.
The Hilt (Tsuka)
The tsuka as reported earlier is quite narrow, but well shaped and formed. The ito is very very tight and quite even giving some very nice looking diamonds. The mekugi are well placed and the mekugi-ani are drilled on an angle.
The same is made of of very small nodules but the panels are full and there is no core of the tsuka showing through all the way from the fuchi to the kashira.
I've not been able to get the tsuka off of the nakago yet as it is VERY tight, but I will make a tool to help 'force' it off at a later date to fully check the tsuka core out. There doesn't feel like any cracks and it feels very whole but only a proper check will ensure that.
EDIT: The tsuka has been off and the tsuka core shows no cracks and has an even and symmetrical amount of material that will go on each side of the nakago. You can see the mekugi in the following photo.
The Guard (Tsuba)
The tsuba depicts three lion dogs or shishi playing about in clouds, seems to be made of an alloy as are the fuchi and kashira. It is finished well and suits the glossy saya well.
EDIT: The tsuba with the seppa and habaki.
The Scabbard (Saya)
The saya is finished in glossy black, there seems to be a bluish tinge underneath that looks quite nice. The shitodome is finished with gold, this is probably the one part of the whole katana that seems a little out of place with the rest of my choices.
The kojiri is black as is the koiguchi and both finished to the same level as the rest of the saya giving a nice even overall look.
Fuchi & Kashira
The fuchi depicts some struggling oni (demons) and the kashira a samurai with a fan. The menuki are dragons. All are crafted quite well actually, I especially like how the fuchi comes up over the ito and how aged the kashira looks.
Handling Characteristics
With a POB of 6" forward of the tsuba it feels a little tip heavy to me, my bokken is a little balanced further back as is my 440 stainless katana. But a few test swings have confirmed this feels very lively in the hand. I haven't had much chance to swing it yet…
Test Cutting
I've not cut with it yet, I have a large collection of 2L milk containers to chop to bits when I get the chance, I am hoping to have a bit of a swinging session this weekend followed by a nice cutting session in a week or so once I get used to the feel.
EDIT: After being able to remove the tsuka and check the core and be happy with it I decided to have a bit of a quick cutting session. The katana feels great to swing and I've spent a couple of hours over the last few days getting used to it.
Note: This is the first time I've actually cut anything with a katana, and a sword for that matter, about the only swinging and hitting of things done previously are baseball and cricket oh and of course chopping wood with an axe This is of course way different to cutting with a sword.
So here is a small video I've made up. There were a couple of blunders in there, one with a way mis-aligned edge, the other almost a complete miss I did take the tip of the red cap off in the almost miss... I have a lot of work to do but was happy with the handling and relative ease of cutting.
Conclusions
As mentioned the wait was a long one, due to a lot of unforeseen circumstances but Paul did keep me up to date at each step of the way. But the wait was well worth it after receiving the katana. I'll fill in more conclusions once I have done some more handling with it and some test cutting.
The blade is just beautiful to look at and is well done it definitely is the best aspect of the katana.
Pros
- beautiful blade
- stunning hamon
- reasonable price
- well shaped tsuka
- tight, tight ito, alternating
Cons
- the wait, sorry Paul but this was a con
- the koshirae is a little on the cheaper side but still better than most I've seen.
The Bottom Line
If you've got the cash for a custom level one, save the extra for the pro-custom, the blade alone is worth it, and with the extra customisations that Paul offers the options are endless. The hamon is just delightful and full of life, the katana feels lively in hand, and the fit and finish is very good.
Above all Paul's attention to detail and his after sales service is really good. He always got back to me within 24 hrs of me sending an email and always took the time to answer my queries.
Cheers
Brett
Introduction
This is my first real sword, I've had a few SLO's in my time, including a stainless 440 katana I used for martial arts training, as well as a bokken. I did a lot of research looking for something that wasn't going to blow my budget and still had a good reputation.
I ordered this SBG Pro-Custom Katana in early December 2009 as it was to be my Christmas present from the family. The making of this took a little longer than the stated 3 months, almost 6 months but after receiving it the wait was well worth it, and kudos to Paul who kept on top of things and kept me up to date along every step of the way.
Historical Overview
The blade style is historical in the fact that it is one of the most common styles, that being shinogi-zukuri. That is about as far as it goes, katana throughout history have had one or two mekugi so this doesn't make much difference, the ito and sageo came in various colours as well depending on the period, so the emerald green fits well.
Initial Impressions
Packaging was great, the katana was mounted in a polystyrene and then a cardboard box. The katana was then wrapped in plastic (sounds like some catch line for a cheesy tv series from the '80's), The whole thing loosely wrapped and the tsuka shrink wrapped.
The weight felt good, the tsuka was on the thin side, but conforms nicely to the hand. Ito was tightly wrapped and the koshirae was as pictured. Saya was nicely gloss lacquered and looked good.
Revealing the blade showed it to be well greased and protected for its trip from China to me. The fit to the saya is very tight and a good thumb push was required to initially draw it.
Statistics
Overall Length: 41 5/8"
Nagasa: 29 1/4"
Tsuka: 11 1/4"
Sori: 4/5"
POB: 6" forward from stub
Blade: T10 and paper cutting sharp
The Blade (Nagasa)
The blade is made of T10 a high speed tool steel, it is mono steel construction differential hardened. The shinogi-ji is polished to a mirror finish and is nicely parallel to the mune. The mune has a lovely peaked shape that is nicely uniform for the whole length of the nagasa.
The hamon appears to be Notare and has some lovely activity with a beautiful white line that really distinguishes the hamon from the rest of the nagasa.
The kissaki is well formed and appears to be cosmetic, although well done, the yokote is not quite straight but defined. The boshi hooks back well on both sides of the kissaki.
The sori at 4/5" is quite small but enough to give the katana a nice curve, which continues through to the tsuka.
The habaki fits very well and is made of brass, there is no pattern on it just the marks from the koiguchi.
The Tang (Nakago)
The Nakago is well formed with no signature. The mekugi-ana were well drilled and relatively clean. As you can see from the following photos the nakago is almost the entire length of the tsuka which is really good to see. As the steel is unfinished you can see the grain and it looks to be nice and tight as you would expect from a mono-steel blade.
The Hilt (Tsuka)
The tsuka as reported earlier is quite narrow, but well shaped and formed. The ito is very very tight and quite even giving some very nice looking diamonds. The mekugi are well placed and the mekugi-ani are drilled on an angle.
The same is made of of very small nodules but the panels are full and there is no core of the tsuka showing through all the way from the fuchi to the kashira.
I've not been able to get the tsuka off of the nakago yet as it is VERY tight, but I will make a tool to help 'force' it off at a later date to fully check the tsuka core out. There doesn't feel like any cracks and it feels very whole but only a proper check will ensure that.
EDIT: The tsuka has been off and the tsuka core shows no cracks and has an even and symmetrical amount of material that will go on each side of the nakago. You can see the mekugi in the following photo.
The Guard (Tsuba)
The tsuba depicts three lion dogs or shishi playing about in clouds, seems to be made of an alloy as are the fuchi and kashira. It is finished well and suits the glossy saya well.
EDIT: The tsuba with the seppa and habaki.
The Scabbard (Saya)
The saya is finished in glossy black, there seems to be a bluish tinge underneath that looks quite nice. The shitodome is finished with gold, this is probably the one part of the whole katana that seems a little out of place with the rest of my choices.
The kojiri is black as is the koiguchi and both finished to the same level as the rest of the saya giving a nice even overall look.
Fuchi & Kashira
The fuchi depicts some struggling oni (demons) and the kashira a samurai with a fan. The menuki are dragons. All are crafted quite well actually, I especially like how the fuchi comes up over the ito and how aged the kashira looks.
Handling Characteristics
With a POB of 6" forward of the tsuba it feels a little tip heavy to me, my bokken is a little balanced further back as is my 440 stainless katana. But a few test swings have confirmed this feels very lively in the hand. I haven't had much chance to swing it yet…
Test Cutting
I've not cut with it yet, I have a large collection of 2L milk containers to chop to bits when I get the chance, I am hoping to have a bit of a swinging session this weekend followed by a nice cutting session in a week or so once I get used to the feel.
EDIT: After being able to remove the tsuka and check the core and be happy with it I decided to have a bit of a quick cutting session. The katana feels great to swing and I've spent a couple of hours over the last few days getting used to it.
Note: This is the first time I've actually cut anything with a katana, and a sword for that matter, about the only swinging and hitting of things done previously are baseball and cricket oh and of course chopping wood with an axe This is of course way different to cutting with a sword.
So here is a small video I've made up. There were a couple of blunders in there, one with a way mis-aligned edge, the other almost a complete miss I did take the tip of the red cap off in the almost miss... I have a lot of work to do but was happy with the handling and relative ease of cutting.
Conclusions
As mentioned the wait was a long one, due to a lot of unforeseen circumstances but Paul did keep me up to date at each step of the way. But the wait was well worth it after receiving the katana. I'll fill in more conclusions once I have done some more handling with it and some test cutting.
The blade is just beautiful to look at and is well done it definitely is the best aspect of the katana.
Pros
- beautiful blade
- stunning hamon
- reasonable price
- well shaped tsuka
- tight, tight ito, alternating
Cons
- the wait, sorry Paul but this was a con
- the koshirae is a little on the cheaper side but still better than most I've seen.
The Bottom Line
If you've got the cash for a custom level one, save the extra for the pro-custom, the blade alone is worth it, and with the extra customisations that Paul offers the options are endless. The hamon is just delightful and full of life, the katana feels lively in hand, and the fit and finish is very good.
Above all Paul's attention to detail and his after sales service is really good. He always got back to me within 24 hrs of me sending an email and always took the time to answer my queries.
Cheers
Brett