Mixed Ronin Katana Dojo Pro Review+ Test log
Jun 10, 2011 19:33:32 GMT
Post by Crimsoned on Jun 10, 2011 19:33:32 GMT
Pictures to be added later today. The ones I took are not very good.
This katana came it's to me in a rather odd way. I had purchased a Huawei T10 Shinogi Zukuri from E-bay (Huawei-Sword), mostly because of all the Huawei threads, and the hyper surrounding them. Unfortunately, the sword I got was a defective one. It nicked on bamboo. Huawei has offered of course to replace it!
What did come about however was a unexpected and very generous offer from Ronin Katana. He was willing to ship me a Mixed Dojo Pro (Mixed in terms of saya I believe), all I had to do was pay for shipping! I of course accepted immediately.
He shipped it Monday 6/6/2011 this week, and I received it Tuesday 6/7/2011 due to the short distance traveled in the same state.
Warning
I spoke with Chris@ Ronin Katana:
This is a MIXED Dojo Pro that was used extensively in testing by Chris to ensure the koiguchi/kojiri did not split if the katana fell. Also this is mixed so it uses a different Saya/Dojo Blade. From my understanding the saya is from a discountinued model.
This is a decent representation of the quality of a Dojo Pro, minus damage from tests (you will get a pristine katana if you buy new, obviusly). Keep in mind the Saya is from a discontinued model however.
Full Disclosure
I received this katana as a generous offer from Chris. I only paid shipping on this katana due to Chris saying it was too roughed up even for Scratch and Dent. I am not under any obligation to write review, or to post results on the katana I am doing this out of my own accord. I am going to make a conscious effort to not show bias on the review, however I apologize if I do.
Arrival
I honestly was expecting a hella banged saya, and even some blade damage, however what I got stunned me was the condition.
Saya has only 6 dings, 2 are very visible and show a little wood, 2 are visible but do not show wood, and 2 are hardly visible.
Even the two worst dings are not too bad. Overall the katana remains very beautiful.
The Saya
The saya is a real hardwood saya lacquered in deep piano gloss, with bullhorn koiguchi kurikata and kojiri. The mouth, and saya are properly carved, in two saya's I own furnished with bullhorn koiguchi, there is always some gaps between the wood and bullhorn fittings, on my Munetoshi T10 Take it is especially bad since some of the wood has chipped off.
However this Dojo Pro has shimmings in the gaps, which is a huge plus. This helps keep some friction on the bullhorn as well as provide an pleasant aesthetic look..
The bullhorn koiguchi is also very evenly carved throughout the mouth, unlike my munetoshi T10. This definitely looks like it may have been individually fitted to the blade, or perhaps mass produced with very tight specifications.
The saya is very well made. In fact even in the Dojo budget series, the saya wood and lacquer are far superior to anything I've seen so far apart from Hanwei. I think Hanwei may be the only one that has rivaled this type of saya wood/lacquer to be honest. This remains true in the Dojo Pro, the lacquer certainly has held up very well against all dings. For a comparison the Musashi 1060 Shikawara saya chips easily, the WSS Ko-Katana chips easily as well (little tougher then Musash), and the Munetoshi also chips easily like the Shikarawa series.
My Hanwei has held against a few bumps.
The Sageo on the saya is nice, however I will warn that end users that they should check the knot at the end of the sageo and be sure it is good enough to prevent the sageo from splitting. I have tried a second strand at the ends to be sure. This is not a manufacturer defect to be honest, after all the sageo is a nice touch, added to the package not the package itself in my own opinion.
It is very tough, and I have attempted to snap the Dojo budget sageo with absolutely no success and very red hands
Tsuka/Koshirae
The tsuka is real hard wood, it is nicely waisted and shaped. and the slot for the nakago is decently carved. The samegawa on this particular piece is crisp white with quite small but even nodes, and the tsuka is well channeled for the same panels. It is almost the same quality as the samegawa on the Dojo budget series that I purchase. YMMV in the samegawa area, overall though it is nice due to the cleanliness of the same.
The tsuka maki is done very well with relatively even diamonds, and crips~ shape.. The brown silk ito does alternate, and it is nice and tight. Hishigami was not used, or at least I didn't spot any albeit it was a bit tough to move the ito to even get a small glance. I am unsure if the end knots are done properly however I did spot some glue to prevent loosening as a safety precaution.
The Tsuba is iron or steel, and it is the same tsuba as on the Dojo Pro #3. It does not rattle, nor does it move. It sits on the nakago very very tightly. The top seppa sits fairly snug on the nakago. The bottom seppa fits well. The fuch and kashira both fit very well
The habaki sits quite tightly on the blade, and is quite well fitted with only tiny gaps on the ha side. It is done in a two piece style and is quite attractive. The blade is centered on the habaki.
Blade
The shinogi is of course finished with higher grit, not like a mirror but only a few grits away, while the ha is more of a smoky some-what satin/shiny finish. It has crisp lines, and the ha does show niku. The kissaki is counter polished, and is very well done. It actually looks nice. The only flaw I found was about 3/5ths of the way to the end, the shinogi has what appears to be a small hump on the shinogi/ha. It very minor actually.
Overall a pretty kick ass blade, I can't comment on durability yet as I have yet to test it. However it is quite sharp and the katana itself is well balanced..
Overall even though Chris said it could not be sold in the Scratch and Dent it is still a beautiful katana with PLENTY of life in it.
This katana came it's to me in a rather odd way. I had purchased a Huawei T10 Shinogi Zukuri from E-bay (Huawei-Sword), mostly because of all the Huawei threads, and the hyper surrounding them. Unfortunately, the sword I got was a defective one. It nicked on bamboo. Huawei has offered of course to replace it!
What did come about however was a unexpected and very generous offer from Ronin Katana. He was willing to ship me a Mixed Dojo Pro (Mixed in terms of saya I believe), all I had to do was pay for shipping! I of course accepted immediately.
He shipped it Monday 6/6/2011 this week, and I received it Tuesday 6/7/2011 due to the short distance traveled in the same state.
Warning
I spoke with Chris@ Ronin Katana:
This is a MIXED Dojo Pro that was used extensively in testing by Chris to ensure the koiguchi/kojiri did not split if the katana fell. Also this is mixed so it uses a different Saya/Dojo Blade. From my understanding the saya is from a discountinued model.
This is a decent representation of the quality of a Dojo Pro, minus damage from tests (you will get a pristine katana if you buy new, obviusly). Keep in mind the Saya is from a discontinued model however.
Full Disclosure
I received this katana as a generous offer from Chris. I only paid shipping on this katana due to Chris saying it was too roughed up even for Scratch and Dent. I am not under any obligation to write review, or to post results on the katana I am doing this out of my own accord. I am going to make a conscious effort to not show bias on the review, however I apologize if I do.
Arrival
I honestly was expecting a hella banged saya, and even some blade damage, however what I got stunned me was the condition.
Saya has only 6 dings, 2 are very visible and show a little wood, 2 are visible but do not show wood, and 2 are hardly visible.
Even the two worst dings are not too bad. Overall the katana remains very beautiful.
The Saya
The saya is a real hardwood saya lacquered in deep piano gloss, with bullhorn koiguchi kurikata and kojiri. The mouth, and saya are properly carved, in two saya's I own furnished with bullhorn koiguchi, there is always some gaps between the wood and bullhorn fittings, on my Munetoshi T10 Take it is especially bad since some of the wood has chipped off.
However this Dojo Pro has shimmings in the gaps, which is a huge plus. This helps keep some friction on the bullhorn as well as provide an pleasant aesthetic look..
The bullhorn koiguchi is also very evenly carved throughout the mouth, unlike my munetoshi T10. This definitely looks like it may have been individually fitted to the blade, or perhaps mass produced with very tight specifications.
The saya is very well made. In fact even in the Dojo budget series, the saya wood and lacquer are far superior to anything I've seen so far apart from Hanwei. I think Hanwei may be the only one that has rivaled this type of saya wood/lacquer to be honest. This remains true in the Dojo Pro, the lacquer certainly has held up very well against all dings. For a comparison the Musashi 1060 Shikawara saya chips easily, the WSS Ko-Katana chips easily as well (little tougher then Musash), and the Munetoshi also chips easily like the Shikarawa series.
My Hanwei has held against a few bumps.
The Sageo on the saya is nice, however I will warn that end users that they should check the knot at the end of the sageo and be sure it is good enough to prevent the sageo from splitting. I have tried a second strand at the ends to be sure. This is not a manufacturer defect to be honest, after all the sageo is a nice touch, added to the package not the package itself in my own opinion.
It is very tough, and I have attempted to snap the Dojo budget sageo with absolutely no success and very red hands
Tsuka/Koshirae
The tsuka is real hard wood, it is nicely waisted and shaped. and the slot for the nakago is decently carved. The samegawa on this particular piece is crisp white with quite small but even nodes, and the tsuka is well channeled for the same panels. It is almost the same quality as the samegawa on the Dojo budget series that I purchase. YMMV in the samegawa area, overall though it is nice due to the cleanliness of the same.
The tsuka maki is done very well with relatively even diamonds, and crips~ shape.. The brown silk ito does alternate, and it is nice and tight. Hishigami was not used, or at least I didn't spot any albeit it was a bit tough to move the ito to even get a small glance. I am unsure if the end knots are done properly however I did spot some glue to prevent loosening as a safety precaution.
The Tsuba is iron or steel, and it is the same tsuba as on the Dojo Pro #3. It does not rattle, nor does it move. It sits on the nakago very very tightly. The top seppa sits fairly snug on the nakago. The bottom seppa fits well. The fuch and kashira both fit very well
The habaki sits quite tightly on the blade, and is quite well fitted with only tiny gaps on the ha side. It is done in a two piece style and is quite attractive. The blade is centered on the habaki.
Blade
The shinogi is of course finished with higher grit, not like a mirror but only a few grits away, while the ha is more of a smoky some-what satin/shiny finish. It has crisp lines, and the ha does show niku. The kissaki is counter polished, and is very well done. It actually looks nice. The only flaw I found was about 3/5ths of the way to the end, the shinogi has what appears to be a small hump on the shinogi/ha. It very minor actually.
Overall a pretty kick ass blade, I can't comment on durability yet as I have yet to test it. However it is quite sharp and the katana itself is well balanced..
Overall even though Chris said it could not be sold in the Scratch and Dent it is still a beautiful katana with PLENTY of life in it.