CHEAP Online Katana 1980, Iaido review
Feb 3, 2011 14:13:41 GMT
Post by George on Feb 3, 2011 14:13:41 GMT
Ok guys i need you to bear with me here. Im simply doing this review as i asked the question if anyone had brought swords from this online seller: Katana 1980 stores.ebay.com.au/katana1980
The answer was NO. No-one knew if they were good or bad. So i needed an Iaido Katana and they were cheap so i took the plunge. I am 100% new to the sword game SO i will write what i've found and nothing more.
This is my FIRST sword review EVER!
This review is simply for the people like me (n00b's) that are starting into sword collecting or sword martial arts (like me!) and want to get a sword thats cheap and will do what they need while they start learning. It is in no way a $200 sword so you can make your own assumptions from there
So i needed an Iaido sword. The website seemed to tick all the right boxes for a good quality blade. Hand forged, 1050 High Carbon Steel, full tang, 2 mekugi pegs, real rayskin, real silk ito wrap, handmade habaki and mixed metal Tsuba, seppa and Fuchi/Kashira.
It was also fully customizable which i liked, so you choose the Ito colour and material and the Tsuba for free.
You can also pick different Saya's and Fuchi/Kashira but at extra cost. Then they offer sharpened, clay tempered and folded (if wanting a sharp Katana) So the customization is a good plus.
So i picked Black 'REAL' silk Ito (they say real but lets get into more detail later) and the Tsuba i wanted.
The specs are (from website):
Overall length: 102cm
Blade length: 72cm
Tsuka length: 27cm
Weight: 2kg Approx
A week later it arrived on my door (Australia) Very fast, but i may have gotten lucky?
First impressions
So it arrived in a nice polystyrene box. It came just as a sword in the box for transport, so no bag or wooden box etc, which is good cause at the price it was i wouldnt want money wasted on a box or bag.
The Tsuka was wrapped in tight plastic and the blade (inside the Saya) was also wrapped in plastic (i thought it was a bit odd??) Anyway the blade was well oiled maybe thats why it was wrapped up inside the Saya??? Still hmmm?
Then the whole sword itself was wrapped again.
Initial impressions i was, well impressed. I expected it to look 'cheaper' Here are some pics:
The blade
Ok so apparently its handmade. Personally i cant see how, OR what part of it is. I mean for it to be handmade im sure they would make no profit. Its is blunt (Iaido sword obviously) and it has been 'grinded' or machined to blunt it from what i can see. Obviously no cutting tests can be carried out.
It has an 'aesthetic hamon' which obviously looks better than nothing (i think anyway)
They claim 1050 Carbon and i cant test obviously but it is defiantly not 'soft'
The blade is very straight with no bends or distortion visible to the eye.
It is very slightly flexiable, and retains its shape.
The Kissaki is horrible. I say this in a nice way too! Ive looked at pictures of other swords they have and they all seem to be (Kissaki) 'rushed' and out of shape. No two look alike even on the same sword. But really for the price i cant complain!
Im not cutting or stabbing so its fine.
The Fittings
Here i am quiet impressed and also a bit hmmmm...
The Tsuba looks great. NO MOVEMENT WHAT-SO-EVER!! Solid as a rock and the choice of customization for free OR pay a little bit extra and get solid brass or copper was GREAT! The one i picked was a free one and i can tell its either mixed metal or Alloy which they state 'mixed metal' (i tested and no magnetism)
The Fuchi and Kashira are lacking. They feel very 'plasticy' (Feel like painted plastic) Altho there is no movement what-so-ever. They claim mixed metal and i cant disprove it. Id say very thin mixed metal. Still they look nice anyway.
The Menuki are the same, that 'plasticy' feel, but really for the price what can you expect? They dont make a claim as to what they are made of so its all speculation.
The Seppa's are claimed to be handmade but ive seen these type (the gear cog look) on mostly all production swords. Still they are tight and well fitted.
The Habaki is brass and looks ok, but is also misaligned (a common problem so ive seen from Paul's pics)
The Tsuka
Im impressed with this. The ray skin sure does look and feel genuine.
The Ito wrap is 'supposedly' Real Silk ito. Hmmm. Im not sure about this as the Sageo ends are burned to stop fraying and it looks very much synthetic to me. I mean real silk wont melt nice and clean like that will it? I find it had to believe at this price its real silk. Anyway that aside the Ito is wrapped very tight but it still retains nearly perfect diamonds. It feels very nice and like it wont come undone or get loose. Perfect for Iaido! Altho if it is synthetic time, and sweat will tell....
The 2 mekugi pegs are well aligned and you can see they are made of bamboo as stated. There is no movement at all in the Tsuka and it all feels very strong and solid.
I would disassemble it and check everything out but being such a n00b i dont want to stress things i dont have to. Ive never pulled one apart or put it back together for that matter. So ill leave that to the pros.
The balance point is around 6 inches from Tsuba? Im cant compare this to a better blade as im yet to get mine
Practice first then the real thing hahaha
The Saya
I like the Saya. You can pick your own and there are lots to choose from at a small increase in price. Mine was standard for the model and is black with red cracks. Im not sure what this is called, egg shells maybe? Anyway the texture is nice and it looks good. It feels very light compared to my other katana. It is wood internal, wrapped with that PVC plastic stuff. My other Katana's Saya looks exactly the same but is slightly heavier? Maybe this one is 'gutted' more.
The fit in the Saya when i first got it was extremely tight. After a few draws and re sheathes it seems to have loosened a tiny bit to where, id say, is near perfect. Will last for Iaido anyway, before i have to adjust it.
PROS
- Cheap for what it is
- Fully Customizable
- Very solid and well put together. Everything is tight and there are no rattles or looseness of anything.
CONS
- Some aesthetic bits are horrible, mainly the Menuki, Fuchi/Kashira and Kissaki
- Poor alignment of Habaki
- Some discrepancies in the description: REAl silk ito and FULLY Handmade??
Well i think thats it. Let me know if you have questions, and im sure to have missed something!
I mean personally i rekon if this was sharpened, it would make a good heavy duty basher, altho they charge an extra $30 for 12 step sharpening or an extra $50 for sharpened clay tempered, so by that time its probably better to go with Musashi? Even then i think these Katana's could 'just' hold there own.
That and i think it will be very well suited well to Iaido (about 70% of their swords are Iaido swords anyway)
Im thinking of getting a sharp Wakizashi from these guys, so if i do ill be sure to include cutting tests to check their blades out
Thanks guys! Man these reviews take more time than i thought! Haha
George
The answer was NO. No-one knew if they were good or bad. So i needed an Iaido Katana and they were cheap so i took the plunge. I am 100% new to the sword game SO i will write what i've found and nothing more.
This is my FIRST sword review EVER!
This review is simply for the people like me (n00b's) that are starting into sword collecting or sword martial arts (like me!) and want to get a sword thats cheap and will do what they need while they start learning. It is in no way a $200 sword so you can make your own assumptions from there
So i needed an Iaido sword. The website seemed to tick all the right boxes for a good quality blade. Hand forged, 1050 High Carbon Steel, full tang, 2 mekugi pegs, real rayskin, real silk ito wrap, handmade habaki and mixed metal Tsuba, seppa and Fuchi/Kashira.
It was also fully customizable which i liked, so you choose the Ito colour and material and the Tsuba for free.
You can also pick different Saya's and Fuchi/Kashira but at extra cost. Then they offer sharpened, clay tempered and folded (if wanting a sharp Katana) So the customization is a good plus.
So i picked Black 'REAL' silk Ito (they say real but lets get into more detail later) and the Tsuba i wanted.
The specs are (from website):
Overall length: 102cm
Blade length: 72cm
Tsuka length: 27cm
Weight: 2kg Approx
A week later it arrived on my door (Australia) Very fast, but i may have gotten lucky?
First impressions
So it arrived in a nice polystyrene box. It came just as a sword in the box for transport, so no bag or wooden box etc, which is good cause at the price it was i wouldnt want money wasted on a box or bag.
The Tsuka was wrapped in tight plastic and the blade (inside the Saya) was also wrapped in plastic (i thought it was a bit odd??) Anyway the blade was well oiled maybe thats why it was wrapped up inside the Saya??? Still hmmm?
Then the whole sword itself was wrapped again.
Initial impressions i was, well impressed. I expected it to look 'cheaper' Here are some pics:
The blade
Ok so apparently its handmade. Personally i cant see how, OR what part of it is. I mean for it to be handmade im sure they would make no profit. Its is blunt (Iaido sword obviously) and it has been 'grinded' or machined to blunt it from what i can see. Obviously no cutting tests can be carried out.
It has an 'aesthetic hamon' which obviously looks better than nothing (i think anyway)
They claim 1050 Carbon and i cant test obviously but it is defiantly not 'soft'
The blade is very straight with no bends or distortion visible to the eye.
It is very slightly flexiable, and retains its shape.
The Kissaki is horrible. I say this in a nice way too! Ive looked at pictures of other swords they have and they all seem to be (Kissaki) 'rushed' and out of shape. No two look alike even on the same sword. But really for the price i cant complain!
Im not cutting or stabbing so its fine.
The Fittings
Here i am quiet impressed and also a bit hmmmm...
The Tsuba looks great. NO MOVEMENT WHAT-SO-EVER!! Solid as a rock and the choice of customization for free OR pay a little bit extra and get solid brass or copper was GREAT! The one i picked was a free one and i can tell its either mixed metal or Alloy which they state 'mixed metal' (i tested and no magnetism)
The Fuchi and Kashira are lacking. They feel very 'plasticy' (Feel like painted plastic) Altho there is no movement what-so-ever. They claim mixed metal and i cant disprove it. Id say very thin mixed metal. Still they look nice anyway.
The Menuki are the same, that 'plasticy' feel, but really for the price what can you expect? They dont make a claim as to what they are made of so its all speculation.
The Seppa's are claimed to be handmade but ive seen these type (the gear cog look) on mostly all production swords. Still they are tight and well fitted.
The Habaki is brass and looks ok, but is also misaligned (a common problem so ive seen from Paul's pics)
The Tsuka
Im impressed with this. The ray skin sure does look and feel genuine.
The Ito wrap is 'supposedly' Real Silk ito. Hmmm. Im not sure about this as the Sageo ends are burned to stop fraying and it looks very much synthetic to me. I mean real silk wont melt nice and clean like that will it? I find it had to believe at this price its real silk. Anyway that aside the Ito is wrapped very tight but it still retains nearly perfect diamonds. It feels very nice and like it wont come undone or get loose. Perfect for Iaido! Altho if it is synthetic time, and sweat will tell....
The 2 mekugi pegs are well aligned and you can see they are made of bamboo as stated. There is no movement at all in the Tsuka and it all feels very strong and solid.
I would disassemble it and check everything out but being such a n00b i dont want to stress things i dont have to. Ive never pulled one apart or put it back together for that matter. So ill leave that to the pros.
The balance point is around 6 inches from Tsuba? Im cant compare this to a better blade as im yet to get mine
Practice first then the real thing hahaha
The Saya
I like the Saya. You can pick your own and there are lots to choose from at a small increase in price. Mine was standard for the model and is black with red cracks. Im not sure what this is called, egg shells maybe? Anyway the texture is nice and it looks good. It feels very light compared to my other katana. It is wood internal, wrapped with that PVC plastic stuff. My other Katana's Saya looks exactly the same but is slightly heavier? Maybe this one is 'gutted' more.
The fit in the Saya when i first got it was extremely tight. After a few draws and re sheathes it seems to have loosened a tiny bit to where, id say, is near perfect. Will last for Iaido anyway, before i have to adjust it.
PROS
- Cheap for what it is
- Fully Customizable
- Very solid and well put together. Everything is tight and there are no rattles or looseness of anything.
CONS
- Some aesthetic bits are horrible, mainly the Menuki, Fuchi/Kashira and Kissaki
- Poor alignment of Habaki
- Some discrepancies in the description: REAl silk ito and FULLY Handmade??
Well i think thats it. Let me know if you have questions, and im sure to have missed something!
I mean personally i rekon if this was sharpened, it would make a good heavy duty basher, altho they charge an extra $30 for 12 step sharpening or an extra $50 for sharpened clay tempered, so by that time its probably better to go with Musashi? Even then i think these Katana's could 'just' hold there own.
That and i think it will be very well suited well to Iaido (about 70% of their swords are Iaido swords anyway)
Im thinking of getting a sharp Wakizashi from these guys, so if i do ill be sure to include cutting tests to check their blades out
Thanks guys! Man these reviews take more time than i thought! Haha
George