Masurao Wakizashi by Destinyblade.com
Oct 1, 2010 13:28:44 GMT
Post by TomK on Oct 1, 2010 13:28:44 GMT
Review: Masurao 1095 dragon themed wakizashi from www.destinyblade.com
By: Tom Kinder of Seaside Oregon
While wandering around on the net one day I happened upon a website called Destiny Blade.com. the swords they had were right around our $300 price limit and looked really good. I did a few searches and the only info I could find on them was one vague comment on the SBG main site that simply said they delivered what they promised and the transaction was a positive experience. Before I knew it I had that new sword hunger and was excited about the prospect of breaking the news on a relatively unknown vendor. I got a phone number off the website and gave it a call to see what I could learn about the company. A very pleasant man who introduced himself as “David” answered the phone and I began to ask him questions about his swords and business. It didn’t take long for me to feel comfortable with David as an honest man and I liked his ideas on swords too. He told me he liked tough swords with slightly more niku than your standard production sword and no-hi. He did not tell me the name of his forge and I didn’t press too hard, but he did tell me that it was a Chinese production forge (no surprise there) and that it was NOT (as had been speculated at one point here on SBG) Master Cutlery. The forge that he uses makes his swords to his specification and he has given his product line the name MASURAO. He is, therefore, the one and only source for Masurao swords. After several conversations with David I was sold by his positive attitude and honesty and I also liked the style of his swords as he described them so I told him I wanted to buy a wakizashi. Unfortunately, he was out of stock at the time but had a new batch in production at the forge so it would be a little while before he would have them in but he would keep in touch and let me know when they are ready. Over the next few months David did indeed keep in touch regularly even when it was just to tell me once in a while that the Olympics or holidays or what-have-you was slowing things down. I called him several times also to let him know I was still interested and he was always very polite and informative and I always enjoyed talking to him. Not too long ago he sent me word that the swords were in customs and would be arriving soon. It was at that time that he finally told me it was time to pay. Before, he had only informed me of what he expected the price to be and had left it at that with no pressure to commit. I gladly sent in payment and in a few weeks the swords had cleared customs and my sword arrived.
When I first opened up the box I was struck right away by how much stuff was in it. There was a cleaning kit, sword bag, kake stand, certificate, some business cards, a discount coupon for 5% off a future purchase and a personal hand-written note thanking me for my purchase.
I piled the goodies up to the side to look at later and proceeded to examine the real prize; the sword itself. Immediately I noticed that the fittings were not exactly as expected, but I wasn’t too upset about that. It was nice looking anyway and I didn’t have my heart set on any one style. It felt good in the hand too. Not too heavy but possessing some noticeable heft and authority. It responded quickly and tracked well in dry handling. I liked it.
First things second, I figured I had better take it down to parade rest and give it a good safety inspection. The Tsuka was moderately hard to get off but certainly not the hardest I’ve had. The fit wasn’t great and I was getting a little disgruntled by it when I found the fatal flaw: a cracked Tsuka core.
Once I came upon this show stopper, I immediately took a break, calmed down and gave David a call. When I told him what I had found he was very upset and apologized profusely. He asked that I send the sword back to him and he would be glad to replace it with a new sword that he personally would inspect before shipping to me. I was a bit sad that I would have to wait a little longer to get my sword but I didn’t have any tatami at that time so it would have to wait anyway. I boxed it up and shipped it off and before too long I had an email from David saying that he had received it and was going to send me a new one and would I like different fittings or the same, what could he do for me? In the end I told him to just find me a good one and I will be happy with the fittings since everything he had seemed to be decent quality and I don’t admire the koshirae while I’m cutting. He said no problem and he would ship out promptly. It didn’t take him long to get the new sword to me and I could tell the first time I took it apart that it was both solid and that he had been true to his word and inspected it before shipping.
Now that I have the sword I will be keeping let’s take a look at the parts:
PARTS IS PARTS:
The Tsuba is steel or iron that has been painted while the fuchi and kashira are painted copper. I don’t know how the parts were made but if they were cast they were done very well because I cannot find any cast marks or mold lines like the ones that are so obvious on so many other production swords. The first sword I got had a different tsuba. It was plain, simple blackened steel or iron with a simple pattern of holes drilled/carved into it. I liked it better than the fancy dragon one the new sword has but the new one fits better and that’s more important to me.
A couple of Oriental dragons coil around the nakago ana to form the tsuba. The tsuba has a definite front and back with the heads of the dragons only being on the side that faces your enemy when the sword is in hand.
There’s an interesting mark on the back of the tsuba that I just can’t make out what it is.
The fuchi struck me as a bit odd at first but the more I look at it the more I like it. It has a real wabisabi thing going on. In the third picture above you can see a mark of some fancy kanji that is hidden by the seppa when assembled. Seems to me an odd place to put such an interesting mark, perhaps it is a maker’s mark or supposed to look like one. Whatever it is, I like it. It adds character to the sword and I like character.
The Tsuka:
The new tsuka is in a lot better shape than the last one. It is very solid with no cracks or splits. There is a visible seam but it appears to be quite sturdy. The tsuka maki is nice and tight and difficult to move even on purpose. There is just a little bit of wiggle in kashira and ura and omote knots but nothing I’m worried about coming loose. The tsuka is quite long though and I wonder if its length makes this sword more of a kokatana or chisagatana than a wakizashi, but I’m no authority on that.
The menuki are dragons and appear decently cast, sorry but I haven’t got a good picture of them. Honestly I would be happy with a sword with no menuki at all. The tsuka is double pegged and sits very snugly on the nakago with no shifting or rattling. The furniture on this sword has been well done though I must admit I was a little sad to see the standard gear-toothed seppa typical of production katana instead of the much nicer beveled “Hanwei-style” ones David’s last batch had but in the end this is small potatoes. They do their job, I’m satisfied.
In this shot you can see the curvature of the tsuka as it follows the sori and flows nicely with the whole sword.
The tsuka is nicely contoured, not too thick, not too thin, an has a bit of waisting to it. I'm very happy with the shape. the ito is pretty standard cotton, not fuzzy or yucky, just good quality kind of plain and nicely tight. the diamond pattern in the tsukamaki is not very even around the menuki.
THE SAYA:
The saya is your typical glossy black lacquered job; it seems solid and has crisp lines. Where the saya stands out is in fit, it holds the blade with almost no rattle and the koiguchi is well carved and not sloppy like so many production katana I’ve seen. I’ve only seen better koiguchi on Hanwei and Kensei swords and even those aren’t a lot better.
The kurikata is black like the rest and has a shitidome of some unknown material. It looks pretty good to me though so I’m not concerned about what it’s made of. Probably some aluminum composite maybe even brass. It looks nice.
Ok I’ve teased and put you all off long enough, let’s talk about
THE BLADE:
The blade is made of 1095 steel differentially hardened with a real and natural hamon.
The Kissaki is a Chu Kissaki that is cross polished with a cosmetic yokote. There is a noticeable swelling and something that feels almost like a ridge at the yokote but I’m pretty sure I’m just feeling the polish line so I’m going to continue to call this a cosmetic yokote, although a nice looking one that is also well placed. The plane of the Kissaki is at a different angle than the plane of the ji which makes this the closest thing I have to a geometric yokote.
The habaki fits snugly and with just a very small gap between it and the ji on one side and almost none at all on the opposite side.
The hamon is quite visible and very pretty. Even though I had a hard time getting a good picture of it, to the naked eye the hamon jumps out from almost every angle easy to be seen. This sword’s hamon is even more pronounced and easy to see than the SBG Kokoro Ichi.
this was the hamon on the first one the rest are from the second
The nakago is nicely shaped and has kanji on both sides. One side appears to be a date (I haven’t translated it yet) and the opposite appears to be the mei. Also on the side with the mei is a stamped “002” presumably marking this as the second sword of the batch.
The edge isn’t exactly sharp but neither is it dull. It won’t take much to make this sword really sharp with a little sand paper and elbow grease, while a few minutes on my belt sander will make it amazingly sharp.
Handling characteristics and cutting:
Being a wakizashi (or maybe a kokatana) it is very fast and agile. Being just shy of 2 pounds gives it the weight to cut with authority despite its speed and grace. Swinging this sword is a joy even with the mild case of tendonitis I have kicking in my elbows right now. I think that says something. I was a bit worried that this sword wasn’t quite sharp enough right out of the box but I wanted to cut with it anyway. I figured it would cut well but it wouldn’t be as easy as I was used to. As you will see in the video below I need not have worried at all.
Vital Stastics:
Nagasa: 20.5”
Weight 1 pound 13 oz (2lbs 4oz w/saya)
Width @ habaki 1.25” @yokote .75”
Thickness: 1/4” @habaki to just <3/16 @ yokote
POB 3 3/8”
Length of tsuka: 9 ¾”
Conclusions:
David Fox seems to be putting together some pretty good swords over at www.destinyblade.com I’d say his Masurao swords are extremely good cutters that can take a lot of heavy cutting without even flinching. David has impressed me with his honesty and customer service. It seems to me that David is still working out a few minor glitches with his forge but is coming along very well. He has two new lines of swords out that look very interesting: the Special 120 are swords with a 1+ inch sori and interesting hamon and the choji hamon series is a higher end sword with a historically accurate choji hamon. I think David's Masurao swords will appeal to anyone who likes the Cheness Kaze and Tenchi katanas but wants to step up the quality of the fittings. These swords should be right at home in the dojo, back yard, or on the mantel place just looking good.
Pros: appearance/good looking, great cutting ability, higher quality fittings, beautiful hamon, great customer service.
Cons: tsuka maki does not alternate crosses (this bugs some people), tsuka maki diamonds are not even, no option for bo-hi (some will see this as a pro), gear style seppa,
NOTE: I wanted to do some more cutting before posting this review but I have decided that since I need to let my tendonitis heal a bit more before I’m 100% I’m going to just hold off
By: Tom Kinder of Seaside Oregon
While wandering around on the net one day I happened upon a website called Destiny Blade.com. the swords they had were right around our $300 price limit and looked really good. I did a few searches and the only info I could find on them was one vague comment on the SBG main site that simply said they delivered what they promised and the transaction was a positive experience. Before I knew it I had that new sword hunger and was excited about the prospect of breaking the news on a relatively unknown vendor. I got a phone number off the website and gave it a call to see what I could learn about the company. A very pleasant man who introduced himself as “David” answered the phone and I began to ask him questions about his swords and business. It didn’t take long for me to feel comfortable with David as an honest man and I liked his ideas on swords too. He told me he liked tough swords with slightly more niku than your standard production sword and no-hi. He did not tell me the name of his forge and I didn’t press too hard, but he did tell me that it was a Chinese production forge (no surprise there) and that it was NOT (as had been speculated at one point here on SBG) Master Cutlery. The forge that he uses makes his swords to his specification and he has given his product line the name MASURAO. He is, therefore, the one and only source for Masurao swords. After several conversations with David I was sold by his positive attitude and honesty and I also liked the style of his swords as he described them so I told him I wanted to buy a wakizashi. Unfortunately, he was out of stock at the time but had a new batch in production at the forge so it would be a little while before he would have them in but he would keep in touch and let me know when they are ready. Over the next few months David did indeed keep in touch regularly even when it was just to tell me once in a while that the Olympics or holidays or what-have-you was slowing things down. I called him several times also to let him know I was still interested and he was always very polite and informative and I always enjoyed talking to him. Not too long ago he sent me word that the swords were in customs and would be arriving soon. It was at that time that he finally told me it was time to pay. Before, he had only informed me of what he expected the price to be and had left it at that with no pressure to commit. I gladly sent in payment and in a few weeks the swords had cleared customs and my sword arrived.
When I first opened up the box I was struck right away by how much stuff was in it. There was a cleaning kit, sword bag, kake stand, certificate, some business cards, a discount coupon for 5% off a future purchase and a personal hand-written note thanking me for my purchase.
I piled the goodies up to the side to look at later and proceeded to examine the real prize; the sword itself. Immediately I noticed that the fittings were not exactly as expected, but I wasn’t too upset about that. It was nice looking anyway and I didn’t have my heart set on any one style. It felt good in the hand too. Not too heavy but possessing some noticeable heft and authority. It responded quickly and tracked well in dry handling. I liked it.
First things second, I figured I had better take it down to parade rest and give it a good safety inspection. The Tsuka was moderately hard to get off but certainly not the hardest I’ve had. The fit wasn’t great and I was getting a little disgruntled by it when I found the fatal flaw: a cracked Tsuka core.
Once I came upon this show stopper, I immediately took a break, calmed down and gave David a call. When I told him what I had found he was very upset and apologized profusely. He asked that I send the sword back to him and he would be glad to replace it with a new sword that he personally would inspect before shipping to me. I was a bit sad that I would have to wait a little longer to get my sword but I didn’t have any tatami at that time so it would have to wait anyway. I boxed it up and shipped it off and before too long I had an email from David saying that he had received it and was going to send me a new one and would I like different fittings or the same, what could he do for me? In the end I told him to just find me a good one and I will be happy with the fittings since everything he had seemed to be decent quality and I don’t admire the koshirae while I’m cutting. He said no problem and he would ship out promptly. It didn’t take him long to get the new sword to me and I could tell the first time I took it apart that it was both solid and that he had been true to his word and inspected it before shipping.
Now that I have the sword I will be keeping let’s take a look at the parts:
PARTS IS PARTS:
The Tsuba is steel or iron that has been painted while the fuchi and kashira are painted copper. I don’t know how the parts were made but if they were cast they were done very well because I cannot find any cast marks or mold lines like the ones that are so obvious on so many other production swords. The first sword I got had a different tsuba. It was plain, simple blackened steel or iron with a simple pattern of holes drilled/carved into it. I liked it better than the fancy dragon one the new sword has but the new one fits better and that’s more important to me.
A couple of Oriental dragons coil around the nakago ana to form the tsuba. The tsuba has a definite front and back with the heads of the dragons only being on the side that faces your enemy when the sword is in hand.
There’s an interesting mark on the back of the tsuba that I just can’t make out what it is.
The fuchi struck me as a bit odd at first but the more I look at it the more I like it. It has a real wabisabi thing going on. In the third picture above you can see a mark of some fancy kanji that is hidden by the seppa when assembled. Seems to me an odd place to put such an interesting mark, perhaps it is a maker’s mark or supposed to look like one. Whatever it is, I like it. It adds character to the sword and I like character.
The Tsuka:
The new tsuka is in a lot better shape than the last one. It is very solid with no cracks or splits. There is a visible seam but it appears to be quite sturdy. The tsuka maki is nice and tight and difficult to move even on purpose. There is just a little bit of wiggle in kashira and ura and omote knots but nothing I’m worried about coming loose. The tsuka is quite long though and I wonder if its length makes this sword more of a kokatana or chisagatana than a wakizashi, but I’m no authority on that.
The menuki are dragons and appear decently cast, sorry but I haven’t got a good picture of them. Honestly I would be happy with a sword with no menuki at all. The tsuka is double pegged and sits very snugly on the nakago with no shifting or rattling. The furniture on this sword has been well done though I must admit I was a little sad to see the standard gear-toothed seppa typical of production katana instead of the much nicer beveled “Hanwei-style” ones David’s last batch had but in the end this is small potatoes. They do their job, I’m satisfied.
In this shot you can see the curvature of the tsuka as it follows the sori and flows nicely with the whole sword.
The tsuka is nicely contoured, not too thick, not too thin, an has a bit of waisting to it. I'm very happy with the shape. the ito is pretty standard cotton, not fuzzy or yucky, just good quality kind of plain and nicely tight. the diamond pattern in the tsukamaki is not very even around the menuki.
THE SAYA:
The saya is your typical glossy black lacquered job; it seems solid and has crisp lines. Where the saya stands out is in fit, it holds the blade with almost no rattle and the koiguchi is well carved and not sloppy like so many production katana I’ve seen. I’ve only seen better koiguchi on Hanwei and Kensei swords and even those aren’t a lot better.
The kurikata is black like the rest and has a shitidome of some unknown material. It looks pretty good to me though so I’m not concerned about what it’s made of. Probably some aluminum composite maybe even brass. It looks nice.
Ok I’ve teased and put you all off long enough, let’s talk about
THE BLADE:
The blade is made of 1095 steel differentially hardened with a real and natural hamon.
The Kissaki is a Chu Kissaki that is cross polished with a cosmetic yokote. There is a noticeable swelling and something that feels almost like a ridge at the yokote but I’m pretty sure I’m just feeling the polish line so I’m going to continue to call this a cosmetic yokote, although a nice looking one that is also well placed. The plane of the Kissaki is at a different angle than the plane of the ji which makes this the closest thing I have to a geometric yokote.
The habaki fits snugly and with just a very small gap between it and the ji on one side and almost none at all on the opposite side.
The hamon is quite visible and very pretty. Even though I had a hard time getting a good picture of it, to the naked eye the hamon jumps out from almost every angle easy to be seen. This sword’s hamon is even more pronounced and easy to see than the SBG Kokoro Ichi.
this was the hamon on the first one the rest are from the second
The nakago is nicely shaped and has kanji on both sides. One side appears to be a date (I haven’t translated it yet) and the opposite appears to be the mei. Also on the side with the mei is a stamped “002” presumably marking this as the second sword of the batch.
The edge isn’t exactly sharp but neither is it dull. It won’t take much to make this sword really sharp with a little sand paper and elbow grease, while a few minutes on my belt sander will make it amazingly sharp.
Handling characteristics and cutting:
Being a wakizashi (or maybe a kokatana) it is very fast and agile. Being just shy of 2 pounds gives it the weight to cut with authority despite its speed and grace. Swinging this sword is a joy even with the mild case of tendonitis I have kicking in my elbows right now. I think that says something. I was a bit worried that this sword wasn’t quite sharp enough right out of the box but I wanted to cut with it anyway. I figured it would cut well but it wouldn’t be as easy as I was used to. As you will see in the video below I need not have worried at all.
Vital Stastics:
Nagasa: 20.5”
Weight 1 pound 13 oz (2lbs 4oz w/saya)
Width @ habaki 1.25” @yokote .75”
Thickness: 1/4” @habaki to just <3/16 @ yokote
POB 3 3/8”
Length of tsuka: 9 ¾”
Conclusions:
David Fox seems to be putting together some pretty good swords over at www.destinyblade.com I’d say his Masurao swords are extremely good cutters that can take a lot of heavy cutting without even flinching. David has impressed me with his honesty and customer service. It seems to me that David is still working out a few minor glitches with his forge but is coming along very well. He has two new lines of swords out that look very interesting: the Special 120 are swords with a 1+ inch sori and interesting hamon and the choji hamon series is a higher end sword with a historically accurate choji hamon. I think David's Masurao swords will appeal to anyone who likes the Cheness Kaze and Tenchi katanas but wants to step up the quality of the fittings. These swords should be right at home in the dojo, back yard, or on the mantel place just looking good.
Pros: appearance/good looking, great cutting ability, higher quality fittings, beautiful hamon, great customer service.
Cons: tsuka maki does not alternate crosses (this bugs some people), tsuka maki diamonds are not even, no option for bo-hi (some will see this as a pro), gear style seppa,
NOTE: I wanted to do some more cutting before posting this review but I have decided that since I need to let my tendonitis heal a bit more before I’m 100% I’m going to just hold off