Hattori 'Functional Art Folded Katana' Model 2204 (p2 picts)
Apr 16, 2011 16:10:55 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2011 16:10:55 GMT
Edit: Added pictures to Page 2
A little mini review of the Hattori "Folded" Katana sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/product162.html
I had high hopes for this sword, when It came I was very excited, opened the box and was only able to look at it for a few minutes before putting it away for the next day.
The decription has a lot of fluff in the ad, but I trust SBG and know they will never lead me wrong...
(Most of what I'm looking at I'm compairing to my other sword, a Ronin Dojo Pro model 005...
that sword was exactly as decribed and I love it)
Ronin also had this sword on their site, and I felt that their decription of my dojo pro model was right on, so I figured it would make a great display sword.
First the nice wooden box was cracked and looks like it started at a screw hole for the middle latch (that they mounted crooked) and then goes to the right lower middle side... no big deal, just a box and a little wood glue can fix that up...
the sword bag was pretty but did not feel like silk at all, clearly a polyester fake silk.
no big deal, don't care...
Pulled the sword from the saya, and took some effort... pretty tight...
First thing I noticed was how pretty the blade was and how uniform the wrap on the tsuka was, but noticed a good ding on the edge about 2-3in up from the tsuba, and another on the tip with a little roll over, and another on the back of the blade rolling a bit of metal back...
No big deal I can buff that out with my stone, pretty minor damage really.
The blade was sharp, but not shaving sharp as my Ronin was.
And I know it was Not SBG's fault as the sword shipped from canada from DSA (wish they mentioned this in the ad), but it is clear nobody looked at the sword before shipping it.
so I put it away to look at it the next day with more attention
Yesterday I pull it out again for some clean up ect, and the first thing that catches my eye was the so called ray skin
it is the worst looking fake ray skin I have ever seen on a sword over $100... :evil:
and even worse, the "Silk" wrap is not silk but clearly some polyester blend... obviously not silk, as silk does not get that polyester sparkle in the light.
(I truly believe the Ronin dojo pro sword tsuka wrap is silk, and if not a really good fake)
I check the description again from the ad, it says "The tsuka is wrapped in real (brown) silk over real rayskin with a design to be both stylish yet also practical and functional."
The "rayskin" smells of very cheap vinyl with that pungent petroleum smell...
So I move on to the next parts of the sword, blade is pretty but has an odd satin finish to the blade, almost like they etched the grain onto the blade.
I pulled the handle off to look at the sword better, the tsuka slid off with little effort and seemed to have a nice fit with no movement, once the handle came off some sawdust spilled out...
the tsuka did not have any cracks in the wood, and looked to be well done. but it did smell like rubber glue...
I pulled the top cap off of the handle (Kashira?) and see rubber glue that looks like it was used as a spacer to keep it from wiggling...
the bottom cap (fuchi?) is loose and can almost be pulled off and put on the side...
I did not see any signs of the "folding" under the handle but I also did not pull the Nakago off as it was very tight, and did not want to damage anything...
I loved the shape and the feel of the Tsuba, but it looks to be copper or brass with a black paint or other finish that was not uniform and showing a bit of gold through in spots all over, and with very strong cast marks.
I could be wrong about the blade, but the folding marks do not look real, they look etched on there...
For $250 I'm not happy, I can live with the etched hammon, and the folding real or not, is pretty.
The killer is the tsuka, and the false advertising
I replied back to the email with my order information with the main issue that has me upset, the rayskin and await a response, I would be happy with a proper tsuka.
but I may return or exchange for something else, maybe put it twards a SBG sword or one of the Cheness 9260 Cutters
A little mini review of the Hattori "Folded" Katana sbg-sword-store.sword-buyers-guide.com/product162.html
I had high hopes for this sword, when It came I was very excited, opened the box and was only able to look at it for a few minutes before putting it away for the next day.
The decription has a lot of fluff in the ad, but I trust SBG and know they will never lead me wrong...
(Most of what I'm looking at I'm compairing to my other sword, a Ronin Dojo Pro model 005...
that sword was exactly as decribed and I love it)
Ronin also had this sword on their site, and I felt that their decription of my dojo pro model was right on, so I figured it would make a great display sword.
First the nice wooden box was cracked and looks like it started at a screw hole for the middle latch (that they mounted crooked) and then goes to the right lower middle side... no big deal, just a box and a little wood glue can fix that up...
the sword bag was pretty but did not feel like silk at all, clearly a polyester fake silk.
no big deal, don't care...
Pulled the sword from the saya, and took some effort... pretty tight...
First thing I noticed was how pretty the blade was and how uniform the wrap on the tsuka was, but noticed a good ding on the edge about 2-3in up from the tsuba, and another on the tip with a little roll over, and another on the back of the blade rolling a bit of metal back...
No big deal I can buff that out with my stone, pretty minor damage really.
The blade was sharp, but not shaving sharp as my Ronin was.
And I know it was Not SBG's fault as the sword shipped from canada from DSA (wish they mentioned this in the ad), but it is clear nobody looked at the sword before shipping it.
so I put it away to look at it the next day with more attention
Yesterday I pull it out again for some clean up ect, and the first thing that catches my eye was the so called ray skin
it is the worst looking fake ray skin I have ever seen on a sword over $100... :evil:
and even worse, the "Silk" wrap is not silk but clearly some polyester blend... obviously not silk, as silk does not get that polyester sparkle in the light.
(I truly believe the Ronin dojo pro sword tsuka wrap is silk, and if not a really good fake)
I check the description again from the ad, it says "The tsuka is wrapped in real (brown) silk over real rayskin with a design to be both stylish yet also practical and functional."
The "rayskin" smells of very cheap vinyl with that pungent petroleum smell...
So I move on to the next parts of the sword, blade is pretty but has an odd satin finish to the blade, almost like they etched the grain onto the blade.
I pulled the handle off to look at the sword better, the tsuka slid off with little effort and seemed to have a nice fit with no movement, once the handle came off some sawdust spilled out...
the tsuka did not have any cracks in the wood, and looked to be well done. but it did smell like rubber glue...
I pulled the top cap off of the handle (Kashira?) and see rubber glue that looks like it was used as a spacer to keep it from wiggling...
the bottom cap (fuchi?) is loose and can almost be pulled off and put on the side...
I did not see any signs of the "folding" under the handle but I also did not pull the Nakago off as it was very tight, and did not want to damage anything...
I loved the shape and the feel of the Tsuba, but it looks to be copper or brass with a black paint or other finish that was not uniform and showing a bit of gold through in spots all over, and with very strong cast marks.
I could be wrong about the blade, but the folding marks do not look real, they look etched on there...
For $250 I'm not happy, I can live with the etched hammon, and the folding real or not, is pretty.
The killer is the tsuka, and the false advertising
I replied back to the email with my order information with the main issue that has me upset, the rayskin and await a response, I would be happy with a proper tsuka.
but I may return or exchange for something else, maybe put it twards a SBG sword or one of the Cheness 9260 Cutters