RDS katana review
Jan 8, 2011 17:39:05 GMT
Post by grmnsplx on Jan 8, 2011 17:39:05 GMT
OK, so here is my review of my custom katana from RDS.
First I'll give a quick overview with some basic specs, then I'll get into detail about different apsects of the sword. At the end I'll talk about specific issues I have with this sword and a quick pro/con.
This is going to be pretty pic heavy.
I think this is a really great sword. It's definitely the best sword I've ever handled made outside of Japan. It's by no means perfect and I'll expand on that later. But all of the components are of very high quality and for the most part everything is well executed.
I had asked Jason for a robust sword with a lot of niku, nagasa about 78cm, strong fumbari, no bohi, torizori (deep), Red & Black Ishime saya, red wine silk, non-sukashi tsuba. I left the coice of other fittings to him.
Basic Specs:
Nagasa - 78.5cm
Tsuka - 26cm
Sori - 2.4cm
Mihaba - 3.4cm ~ 2.5cm
Kasane - hard to measure, no calipers but it does gradually taper
Shinogi Zukuri with chu kissaki and lots of niku.
Blade:
This blade is not a folded blade as you can clearly see the mujihada. I quite like the gunome hamon. It's very well executed. The sori is moderate for a blade of this length. There is no hi so combined with the width, thickness and length, it makes for a heavy sword. There is also a lot of niku which is great.
What's missing here is the fumbari. It's pretty minimal. As well, the sori is just over an inch which is pretty normal for a blade of this length. I would have like something around 3cm or maybe more.
measuring sori:
Bushido sori compare:
Niku:
Kissaki:
This sword exhibits a chu kissaki. It's well formed and well polished. It's geometric and the niku extends perfectly from the blade through it. One small point is that there are some micro chips on one small portion of thre kissaki which should have been polished out.
Tsuba:
This is a nice little matsu sukashi tsuba. It's also well done and looks nicely patinated. Is a cast iron copy of course but I am impressed at how well they've captured all the details and scratches and bumps on the original. There are a few places where you can see the seam from the mold but it's not obvious.
Fuchi/kashira:
These are nice silver cast fittings. I quite like the tsuru (crane) theme, and, as with the tsuba, the casting has captured the detail of the original.
Menuki:
More cranes. Very nice, pretty simple.
Tsuka/tsukamaki:
I really like the tsuka shape. Really, It's perfect. The samegawa are panels. I had originally inquired about t full wrap and Jason said that he could do it, but recommended the panels. I took that as a discomfort due to lack of experience with a full wrap so I though it best to stick with the panels. I'm not sure what they did but the same came out with an ivory tone rather than white. I really like it. The only thing that could have made it better would have been some emperor nodes.
The tsuka maki is the best that I've ever seen. But for a few blemishes, it's wonderful. The ito is a beautiful wine coloured silk. The weave is tight and of high quality (I think) and very comfortable in the hand.
What I like most of all is the lack of an obvious ridge. Now I'll have to explain that. On many, most really, production swords there is an obvious ridge line along the tsuka in the ito. That's always bothered me. This is caused by the same panel not being well fitted/sunk into the wood tsuka core. I think thick hishigami can also exasserbate this problem. Anyway, no obvious ridges here so that makes me very happy.
There are a few places where you can see that the ito has frayed. I'm not sure how that happened, but it is annoying. As well, there are a few places where you can see some glue had been used. Using a bit of glue is pretty norma and good practice, but one shouldn't see it.
Frays:
Glue:
Habaki:
I quite like the habaki. I'm not really sure what it is though. Nickle silver? It has a slight yellowish tone to it. I'm not sure how they made it. I don't see any soldering so I'm guessing that it's cast small on the inside and then they file it to spec.
Saya:
The red and black ishime saya is a bit flashy, but it is very cool. It looks really well made to me.
I can see that the two pieces of wood are set so that the grain is going the opposite way. I suppose it's standard, but it shows that they care. The koiguchi fit is perfect and the way the blade and habaki ramp up into the saya is excellent as well. The kurigata is well placed - fairly high on the saya, about 7.5cm from the koiguchi. This is important for iai.
The only problem is that there is saya rattle. It's heartbreaking. And I was shocked, SHOCKED, to see that there was some wood shavings that were still attached and not completely removed. I just
don't get it. It's easy for me to fix, but the oversight is just inexcusable.
Sageo:
I was happy to see that the sword came with an extra sageo. A simple, but nice touch. I was not a fan of the original azuki sageo so swapped it for the black one. I think, though, I'll order an ivory one. While I can't be sure, I think these sageo are a synthetic silk. Synthetic or not, they're great. It's the weave that is most important and the weave is excellent.
Balance:
As I mentioned, this is a heavy sword, which is what I wanted. I wanted a tip heavy sword, but this is too tip heavy. I had originally asked for a solid tsuba. I guess Jason forgot and/or thought the matsu tsuba would better fit the fittings. I think that if the tsuba were a bit heavier, the balance would be better. A bit more fumbari may have also helped. Unfortunate.
Conclusion:
All in all this is a very good sword. It's the best made sword I've handled outside of Japan.
Could it have been better? Definitely.
Pro/Con;
+ Exceptional craftsmenship - blade, saya, polish, tsuka, tsukamaki
+ nice fittings, excellent quality ito, good sageo
- minor blemishes which don't make sense - frays in the ito, shaving in saya, micro chips on kissaki
- not quite to spec - sukashi tsuba, no fumbari, not quite enough sori
- balance is a bit too tip heavy
First I'll give a quick overview with some basic specs, then I'll get into detail about different apsects of the sword. At the end I'll talk about specific issues I have with this sword and a quick pro/con.
This is going to be pretty pic heavy.
I think this is a really great sword. It's definitely the best sword I've ever handled made outside of Japan. It's by no means perfect and I'll expand on that later. But all of the components are of very high quality and for the most part everything is well executed.
I had asked Jason for a robust sword with a lot of niku, nagasa about 78cm, strong fumbari, no bohi, torizori (deep), Red & Black Ishime saya, red wine silk, non-sukashi tsuba. I left the coice of other fittings to him.
Basic Specs:
Nagasa - 78.5cm
Tsuka - 26cm
Sori - 2.4cm
Mihaba - 3.4cm ~ 2.5cm
Kasane - hard to measure, no calipers but it does gradually taper
Shinogi Zukuri with chu kissaki and lots of niku.
Blade:
This blade is not a folded blade as you can clearly see the mujihada. I quite like the gunome hamon. It's very well executed. The sori is moderate for a blade of this length. There is no hi so combined with the width, thickness and length, it makes for a heavy sword. There is also a lot of niku which is great.
What's missing here is the fumbari. It's pretty minimal. As well, the sori is just over an inch which is pretty normal for a blade of this length. I would have like something around 3cm or maybe more.
measuring sori:
Bushido sori compare:
Niku:
Kissaki:
This sword exhibits a chu kissaki. It's well formed and well polished. It's geometric and the niku extends perfectly from the blade through it. One small point is that there are some micro chips on one small portion of thre kissaki which should have been polished out.
Tsuba:
This is a nice little matsu sukashi tsuba. It's also well done and looks nicely patinated. Is a cast iron copy of course but I am impressed at how well they've captured all the details and scratches and bumps on the original. There are a few places where you can see the seam from the mold but it's not obvious.
Fuchi/kashira:
These are nice silver cast fittings. I quite like the tsuru (crane) theme, and, as with the tsuba, the casting has captured the detail of the original.
Menuki:
More cranes. Very nice, pretty simple.
Tsuka/tsukamaki:
I really like the tsuka shape. Really, It's perfect. The samegawa are panels. I had originally inquired about t full wrap and Jason said that he could do it, but recommended the panels. I took that as a discomfort due to lack of experience with a full wrap so I though it best to stick with the panels. I'm not sure what they did but the same came out with an ivory tone rather than white. I really like it. The only thing that could have made it better would have been some emperor nodes.
The tsuka maki is the best that I've ever seen. But for a few blemishes, it's wonderful. The ito is a beautiful wine coloured silk. The weave is tight and of high quality (I think) and very comfortable in the hand.
What I like most of all is the lack of an obvious ridge. Now I'll have to explain that. On many, most really, production swords there is an obvious ridge line along the tsuka in the ito. That's always bothered me. This is caused by the same panel not being well fitted/sunk into the wood tsuka core. I think thick hishigami can also exasserbate this problem. Anyway, no obvious ridges here so that makes me very happy.
There are a few places where you can see that the ito has frayed. I'm not sure how that happened, but it is annoying. As well, there are a few places where you can see some glue had been used. Using a bit of glue is pretty norma and good practice, but one shouldn't see it.
Frays:
Glue:
Habaki:
I quite like the habaki. I'm not really sure what it is though. Nickle silver? It has a slight yellowish tone to it. I'm not sure how they made it. I don't see any soldering so I'm guessing that it's cast small on the inside and then they file it to spec.
Saya:
The red and black ishime saya is a bit flashy, but it is very cool. It looks really well made to me.
I can see that the two pieces of wood are set so that the grain is going the opposite way. I suppose it's standard, but it shows that they care. The koiguchi fit is perfect and the way the blade and habaki ramp up into the saya is excellent as well. The kurigata is well placed - fairly high on the saya, about 7.5cm from the koiguchi. This is important for iai.
The only problem is that there is saya rattle. It's heartbreaking. And I was shocked, SHOCKED, to see that there was some wood shavings that were still attached and not completely removed. I just
don't get it. It's easy for me to fix, but the oversight is just inexcusable.
Sageo:
I was happy to see that the sword came with an extra sageo. A simple, but nice touch. I was not a fan of the original azuki sageo so swapped it for the black one. I think, though, I'll order an ivory one. While I can't be sure, I think these sageo are a synthetic silk. Synthetic or not, they're great. It's the weave that is most important and the weave is excellent.
Balance:
As I mentioned, this is a heavy sword, which is what I wanted. I wanted a tip heavy sword, but this is too tip heavy. I had originally asked for a solid tsuba. I guess Jason forgot and/or thought the matsu tsuba would better fit the fittings. I think that if the tsuba were a bit heavier, the balance would be better. A bit more fumbari may have also helped. Unfortunate.
Conclusion:
All in all this is a very good sword. It's the best made sword I've handled outside of Japan.
Could it have been better? Definitely.
Pro/Con;
+ Exceptional craftsmenship - blade, saya, polish, tsuka, tsukamaki
+ nice fittings, excellent quality ito, good sageo
- minor blemishes which don't make sense - frays in the ito, shaving in saya, micro chips on kissaki
- not quite to spec - sukashi tsuba, no fumbari, not quite enough sori
- balance is a bit too tip heavy