Kris Cutlery 28
Dec 16, 2011 6:01:26 GMT
Post by gerbopyl on Dec 16, 2011 6:01:26 GMT
I bought this sword a little over 6 months ago but due to having a newborn, a broken camera, and an ever increasing work load I slacked on getting this review up.
I was looking for a project katana to put together for my wife and I knew KC had rather plain fittings on their katanas but excellent blades. I wasnt looking to make the tsuka from scratch and I didnt originally plan on rewrapping the ito either. When I got to their site the only thing they had in stock was the 26iii and I planned on buying it for her until I came across the scratch and dent section. Where I found this 28 inch version which was folded and featured a water theme. It was in the scratch and dent because the sword could go all the way into the saya but it rubbed against the side for the last third. This seemed perfect to me because she would love the way the folds looked and I was planning on buying her bamboo or water themed hardware anyawys. I had heard great things about his other katanas but never about the 28's. So after some research I found that many people questioned their quality since they were made by a different forge. I figured they couldnt be too bad if KC was willing to put their name on it so for an incredibly cheap $120 I went for it.
Historical Overview
The blade is made in the shinogi zukuri style.
Full Disclosure
I am in no way affiliated with Kris Cutlery and the only bias I may have is that I love swords and detest plastic bottles full of water.
It arrived 3 days later wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap and snugly in a box.
After popping all the bubbles and cleaning off the grease I got my first look at it.
The hada is hard to make out at a distance but up close was beautiful
A few quick statistics
Blade length-28 1/4 inches
Tuska length-12 5/8 inches
Weight- Just a little over 2lbs 8oz
Initial Impressions
After looking it over I could tell that the ito did not alternate, no hishigami was used, the samegawa was panels not a full wrap, the yokote was not geometric, and the ito was really rough on the hands. Then I started into a few different cuts. It handled amazingly, I was able to quickly transition from one cut to the next. It felt incredibly light to me so I let my wife swing it a few times while I went to grab my munetoshi akitsushima for comparison. She also believed it to be lighter when it weighs in almost a half pound heavier. I couldnt wait to start cutting with it.
The katana has a water theme with a blue synthetic ito. The kashira resembles swirling water. The menuki appear to be sea dragons. The tsuba has swirls of water around a dragon. I had detailed pictures of these but they were on my now destroyed camera.
The first thing I tried was the good old paper test. It failed pretty miserably. It would start to cut but quickly just start tearing. Disappointed I moved onto bottles and jugs.
It handled the milk jugs no problem. Each cut was effortless and I was able to shave off as small of a piece as I wanted to. Now onto harder bottles.
I stacked the small bottle on top of the larger one. Im unfamiliar with the proper terms for the cuts with a katana but I will do my best to describe. I began with a rising cut from my right side to my left to cut the small bottle then a downward cut from my left to my right. The small bottle remained on top of the large bottle until I cut the large bottle much to my surprise. A few days later I moved onto beach mats and pool noodles unfortunately the camera I used for that was destroyed by my daughter. This sword had no problem with them though making clean cuts every time.
After a couple of days of cutting that ito did terrible things to my hands and had to go. So I looked into rewrapping the handle. I got some real silk ito and began wrapping it in the hineri style. I already had 2 other katans with this style so just before I finished I decided to go with something else. I found it tedious to do all the turns in the hineri style so I thought the katate or battle wrap seemed interesting. Then I also came across the tsumami style and I thought combining the two would be interesting. Sadly I could not find any info on how to do the tsumami style so I settled for the hira style. I thought it would be easier anyways and boy was I wrong. It took me almost twice as long to wrap it. I took pictures of the whole process but they were also on the broken camera. I do however have a picture of how it looks now after 6 months of use.
As you can see most of the diamonds have shifted and one on the bottom has disappeared. Also the wood and hishigami I used is starting to peek through. Next time I will have to wrap it tighter I guess.
Pros
Excellent cutter
Most folded blades are beautiful and this one imo is as well
Easily customizable
No cracked tuska
Cons
Synthetic ito that does not alternate
No hishigami was used
Samegawa wasnt a full wrap
Yokote was not geometric
Bottom line
I would absolutely recommend this katana to anyone. Its an amazing cutter and a great display piece as well. While it does have its problems most are cosmetic and can be cheaply and easily fixed. I have not seen any of these on the KC website since but if you happen across one I think they are definitely worth the money.
Feel free to ask any questions im sure im leaving out something.
I was looking for a project katana to put together for my wife and I knew KC had rather plain fittings on their katanas but excellent blades. I wasnt looking to make the tsuka from scratch and I didnt originally plan on rewrapping the ito either. When I got to their site the only thing they had in stock was the 26iii and I planned on buying it for her until I came across the scratch and dent section. Where I found this 28 inch version which was folded and featured a water theme. It was in the scratch and dent because the sword could go all the way into the saya but it rubbed against the side for the last third. This seemed perfect to me because she would love the way the folds looked and I was planning on buying her bamboo or water themed hardware anyawys. I had heard great things about his other katanas but never about the 28's. So after some research I found that many people questioned their quality since they were made by a different forge. I figured they couldnt be too bad if KC was willing to put their name on it so for an incredibly cheap $120 I went for it.
Historical Overview
The blade is made in the shinogi zukuri style.
Full Disclosure
I am in no way affiliated with Kris Cutlery and the only bias I may have is that I love swords and detest plastic bottles full of water.
It arrived 3 days later wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap and snugly in a box.
After popping all the bubbles and cleaning off the grease I got my first look at it.
The hada is hard to make out at a distance but up close was beautiful
A few quick statistics
Blade length-28 1/4 inches
Tuska length-12 5/8 inches
Weight- Just a little over 2lbs 8oz
Initial Impressions
After looking it over I could tell that the ito did not alternate, no hishigami was used, the samegawa was panels not a full wrap, the yokote was not geometric, and the ito was really rough on the hands. Then I started into a few different cuts. It handled amazingly, I was able to quickly transition from one cut to the next. It felt incredibly light to me so I let my wife swing it a few times while I went to grab my munetoshi akitsushima for comparison. She also believed it to be lighter when it weighs in almost a half pound heavier. I couldnt wait to start cutting with it.
The katana has a water theme with a blue synthetic ito. The kashira resembles swirling water. The menuki appear to be sea dragons. The tsuba has swirls of water around a dragon. I had detailed pictures of these but they were on my now destroyed camera.
The first thing I tried was the good old paper test. It failed pretty miserably. It would start to cut but quickly just start tearing. Disappointed I moved onto bottles and jugs.
It handled the milk jugs no problem. Each cut was effortless and I was able to shave off as small of a piece as I wanted to. Now onto harder bottles.
I stacked the small bottle on top of the larger one. Im unfamiliar with the proper terms for the cuts with a katana but I will do my best to describe. I began with a rising cut from my right side to my left to cut the small bottle then a downward cut from my left to my right. The small bottle remained on top of the large bottle until I cut the large bottle much to my surprise. A few days later I moved onto beach mats and pool noodles unfortunately the camera I used for that was destroyed by my daughter. This sword had no problem with them though making clean cuts every time.
After a couple of days of cutting that ito did terrible things to my hands and had to go. So I looked into rewrapping the handle. I got some real silk ito and began wrapping it in the hineri style. I already had 2 other katans with this style so just before I finished I decided to go with something else. I found it tedious to do all the turns in the hineri style so I thought the katate or battle wrap seemed interesting. Then I also came across the tsumami style and I thought combining the two would be interesting. Sadly I could not find any info on how to do the tsumami style so I settled for the hira style. I thought it would be easier anyways and boy was I wrong. It took me almost twice as long to wrap it. I took pictures of the whole process but they were also on the broken camera. I do however have a picture of how it looks now after 6 months of use.
As you can see most of the diamonds have shifted and one on the bottom has disappeared. Also the wood and hishigami I used is starting to peek through. Next time I will have to wrap it tighter I guess.
Pros
Excellent cutter
Most folded blades are beautiful and this one imo is as well
Easily customizable
No cracked tuska
Cons
Synthetic ito that does not alternate
No hishigami was used
Samegawa wasnt a full wrap
Yokote was not geometric
Bottom line
I would absolutely recommend this katana to anyone. Its an amazing cutter and a great display piece as well. While it does have its problems most are cosmetic and can be cheaply and easily fixed. I have not seen any of these on the KC website since but if you happen across one I think they are definitely worth the money.
Feel free to ask any questions im sure im leaving out something.