Hanwei Orchid Katana
Oct 1, 2010 13:39:24 GMT
Post by Wes on Oct 1, 2010 13:39:24 GMT
Introduction
Ever since I first saw this sword nearly ten years ago now, I’ve wanted it. I personally feel that the fittings on the Orchid are some of the most beautiful of any production katana on the market. I would go so far as to say they are my favorite. Way back then this sword was selling everywhere for near MSRP which is nearly $1,600.00. In recent years the ‘street value’ of the sword had dropped to around $800 yet I was still rather hesitant to buy a sword no mater how pretty without having first heard from other owners, but finding a review for this sword is nigh impossible, and this one that I’m writing here will be the first full review that I’ve seen for it. What eventually prompted me to buy was an ebay sale. Seller rantoulpawn a pawn shop in Illinois, had the Orchid listed as previously owned but new condition and wanted $700 or best offer. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity so I offered them $500 and they accepted. Shipping was free, they mailed it the same day, and it arrived in less than a week. If anyone has the opportunity to buy from them, I highly recommend this seller. Now. On to the sword.
Historical overview
The Hanwei Orchid is a katana in the Shinogi Zukuri blade style with a chu kissaki (medium-length). This style of blade is the most common in Japanese swords both ancient and modern. The Orchid is folded steel and clay tempered to create a nice simple hamon, but I don’t know enough about hamon styles to accurately tell what style it is.
Initial Impressions
Being sold by an ebay seller and knowing that the sword was previously owned I had no idea what to expect upon my initial inspection of the sword. The sword was packaged extremely well with enough bubble-wrap to ship my bedroom when I get ready to move next year. The sword had it’s original sword bag which is a deep burgundy color and a velvety cotton. Upon disrobing the Orchid from its sword bag my first thought was ‘light’ the sword, even sheathed, feels too light to be real. I was stunned when I wrapped my hand around the tsuka, it’s so small and thin, as if the sword was designed for small women or children, but more on that later. Further close inspection revealed a little rust on the blade along the edge in the ‘sweet spot’ it had obviously been used for cutting by its previous owner(s). Also I wish I had inspected the kashira a little more closely before cutting, but I was overeager. I’ll explain in that section.
Statistics
These statistics are pulled straight off Hanwei’s website as I can’t seem to find my tape measure:
Nagasa Length: 28”
Tsuka Length: 11.5”
Overall Length: 40.5”
Tsuba Width: 3”
POB (Point of Balance): 6” from tsuba
COP (Center of Percussion): I don’t know how to locate this measurement
Weight: 2lbs 3oz
Tsuka width: 1.5” at tsuba tapering to 1.25” at Kashira
Tsuka thickness: just under 1”
ComponentsI kept my images small for those with slower connections, but underneath each image is a link to a much larger version of the image for those who want to study a component closeup.
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Nagasa
The blade of the Orchid is very well constructed. Hanwei’s product page says it is folded K120C steel. It lacks bo-hi, which is probably a good thing considering how light the sword feels in your hand. The Sori is .75” which gives the sword a nice elegant curve. The hamon is simple, and consistent, flowing all the way through the kisake without fading, and reveals the layers within the hada. The kisake is a medium-length “Chu” design, and has a geometric yokote. My blade shows signs of rust from its previous owner.
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Tsuka
This is one of the few “bad” points of this sword. The tsuka feels incredibly small in my hands. I’ve handled many katana, and this is by far the smallest tsuka I’ve ever seen. It feels delicate, but I find that with swords with small handles if I wear leather gloves while cutting that it offsets the small feel and actually feels quite good in hand. The orchid was no exception. I tried cutting initially bare handed which you will see in the video, but quickly opted for gloves for a… multitude of reasons. More on that topic in the Kashira section. This tsuka would be perfect for someone with small hands. The sword overall seems to be geared towards a feminine frame which I, standing 6’ 3” and wearing XL gloves, do not have. The tsuka-ito is a stiff cotton in deep navy blue, and covers two very interesting Menuki. The left side menuki is a black grasshopper on a golden leaf, and the right side menuki is similar, but all black. The tsuka has white samegawa panels, not full-wrapped (as far as I can tell), and is double pinned to the nakago with bamboo mekugi. I have not disassembled the sword to see if there is any writing on the nakago.
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Tsuba
The tsuba of the orchid is stunningly beautiful. Like all of the fittings on the Orchid, it is bronzed iron, finished in glossy black laquer with gold and silver inlay. The design on the tsuka side of the tsuba is the orchid flower that the sword is named for. On the blade side are a pair of butterflies tasteful and simple. The overall feeling I get from the artwork on the Tsuba is “Serene”. When I got it the tsuba was a little loose and there is a slight gap between the bottom seppa and the fuchi. I could probably slide a small shim under the fuchi and everything would tighten up nicely.
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Fuchi-Kashira
The fuchi is gorgeous. Again the glossy black finished iron with the gold and silver orchid inlaid on the left side (I can’t remember the terminology for that) The kashira is a dome shape and also has the gold and silver orchid flowers inlaid on it. This was the only other bad thing I have to say about the Orchid katana. The kashira-shitodome were loose, and sliced up my hand a little when I first cut with the sword. I am not sure how common this flaw is in this model, but I suggest if you buy this sword to check this area thoroughly before and during cutting.
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Saya
The saya is gorgeous. It’s of a style not often seen in production katana with a tapering desing that follows the edge of the blade terminating in a point rather than a squared off end. The tip of the saya is capped with an iron kojiri decorated like all of the other fittings of the sword and despite the flash on my camera butchering the color, it is much more like the official pictures a deep navy blue. The left the Kurikata and Koiguchi black which makes a nice offset from the blue. Knowing the shitodome on the kashira were loose I checked the ones on the kurikata, but they seem to be well in place. The Sageo is the same color as the tsuka-ito, a navy blue and made of stiff cotton. The sword is loose in the saya. Being as this is second-hand I have no idea if this is because of wear or if it has always been like this, but the saya doesn’t hold the Orchid with any sort of grip, and the sword rattles pretty bad inside of it.
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Handling Characteristics
The Orchid is light and lively. Easy to control. When I first cut with it I overcompensated being used to a heavier blade and swung with much more force than was necessary (you’ll see in the video) but after a few cuts I began to get used to the more elegant style needed to wield this blade effectively. The small tsuka didn’t even matter much during cutting (especially after I got my gloves on.)
Test Cutting
I did some test cutting on light targets. Forgive my silence in the video I had just got back from the dentist where I had a tooth extracted. I was (and still am) in pain and quite moody. I opted not to test the sword against heavier targets for now. I’ll wait until I’m all healed up and then I won’t be swinging angry.
Conclusions
Overall I like this sword a lot. Do I think it’s worth $800? Not a chance. You can get a comparable performing sword for less than $300, but performance isn’t why you buy this sword. You buy the orchid for its beauty which it excels at. It has its faults, but I’m not sure if it’s this one sword or if the faults are persistant in the line.
Pros
- Most beautiful katana fittings I’ve ever seen in a production katana
- Agile and graceful
Cons
- Small tsuka
- Faulty kashira-shitodome
- loose tsuba
- loose saya
The Bottom Line
My recommendation? If you can find this sword, like I did, for around the $500 mark? Pick it up. It’s worth that much, but not a penny more.