Fred Lohman SBG Kuramono remount
Feb 26, 2011 1:32:31 GMT
Post by Lobster Hunter on Feb 26, 2011 1:32:31 GMT
I had been daydreaming about getting a good differentially hardened, solid body blade katana and having it professionally remounted in a style that would pay tribute to a long dead and much admired pet rat of mine.
Sometime last winter, I noticed that Paul had a scratch & dent Kuramono up for sale (poor tsuka fit, scratched saya) at the SBG store for $200 and I knew that this was my chance. I snatched it up faster than my wife can say, "I can't believe you're even thinking about buying another sword. I'm leaving you.".
When I received the sword, I examined it carefully. The blade itself was in great condition but something was amiss. The site had mentioned that the tsuka made a "knocking sound" when the sword was wielded. I noticed that there was about a half mm gap between the munemachi (notch at the base of the back of the blade) and habaki (collar). This poor habaki fit was the culprit and it was easily fixed by filing down the hamachi (notch at the base of the blade cutting edge) a bit to allow the blade to seat securely in the habaki.
The only flaw left was that the blade edge/habaki alignment was slightly off center. Oh well, I figured it was more like a minor cosmetic issue than something that could adversely affect performance, so I packed it up and sent it off to Fred Lohman Co. for their restoration package #3, complete handle replacement service.
www.japanese-swords.com/pages/restore.htm
A month later, it arrived at my door.
First, the bad news. The sword arrived with a chipped blade tip. I contacted Fred about it and he graciously offered to fix it. I opted to touch up the kissaki myself, using a file and eventually a set of Lanskey sharpening stones. I don't know how this accident happened but it was reassuring to know that if something like this were to happen again to a sword under his care, Fred would take care of it.
I managed to file it down to a less than perfect but functional tip.
Okay, so that was the only bummer. They did a fantastic job of remounting this kat.
Here it is next to the original Kuramono fittings.
Fred Lohman Co. did the tsuka. I replaced the tsuba, saya, and sageo.
Here's some stats.
Blade/Nagasa Length: 29"
Handle/Tsuka Length: 12" (originally 11")
Point of Balance: 6" from guard (originally 6.5")
Weight: around 2 lbs, 9oz (originally 2 lbs, 7 oz)
Blade: T10 steel, beautiful natural hamon, finer than average polish.
Blade sits slightly off center of the habaki. No big deal.
Tsuka: 12" rikko style tsuka core, full same wrap, brown silk ito. The Lohman tsuka feels great. At first, the super tight silk ito felt almost painfully hard but after months of handling, it's softened up a bit and now feels supple and perfect. The tsukamaki is as rock solid and tight as ever. I now see why silk was traditionally the ito material of choice.
Omote side. You'll notice that the ito is stained with months worth of hand oil & sweat. When it first arrived, it was immaculate, of course. It's starting take on that "nihontoesque" look.
Ura side. I like how the tsuka shape follows the gentle curvature of the blade.
Menuki: Blackened silver mouse menuki (polished by me to resemble a hooded rat) on omote side.
My old pet rat used to battle a rubber lobster when he was young. I'd sometimes refer to him as the lobster hunter (hence my user name).
Check it out... blackened silver lobster menuki on ura side.
Fuchi-kashira: Blackened steel #035 hi-dome fine dragon. I was immediately drawn to the unusually "tall" dome-shaped kashira.
Crap. These came out blurry.
Tsuba: I eventually swapped out the Kuromono tomoe tsuba for this simpler and heavier steel Maru Kogai tsuba from Nihonzashi.
Saya: The original Kuramono saya was rather flimsy with a poor finish. I bought a Hanwei PPro saya from a fellow forumite but it didn't fit. I think the Practical Pro blade might be tapered more with a slightly shallower sori. I recently bought a replacement 30" nagasa saya from Cheness and it fits!
The sageo is from the forumite who sold me the PPro saya.
A custom made saya would've cost an arm and a leg. Hurray for Cheness and their slightly roomier than average sayas!
www.chenessinc.com/parts.htm
Handling & Cutting performance:
This is a rather tip heavy sword, made slightly less so by the longer tsuka and heavier tsuba. In January, I had a chance to test its mettle on some tatami omote at Hyoujinsama & Midori's West Coast Meet-up party. This sword does all of the work. It cuts through single mats smoothly and easily. This was the first time I had cut tatami and it was a very educational experience. I used to generally prefer lighter and more agile bo-hi blades but for cutting power, the Kuramono beats my Hanwei 47 Ronin by a mile. I'm starting to appreciate solid body blades more these days.
Well, in conclusion, I've discovered that the ol' Kuramono is a great cutter and that Fred Lohman's service is outstanding. I couldn't be more satisfied with the superb craftsmanship that went into remounting this katana. Thanks Paul, for creating such a high performance sword for such an affordable price! Thanks Fred, for accommodating my unusual requests and the beautiful work! Thanks for reading!