Review: Munetoshi Mokko (Updated 10 August 2012)
Aug 9, 2012 3:29:12 GMT
Post by Kuya on Aug 9, 2012 3:29:12 GMT
I normally don't have lots of pictures in my reviews, since everyone else who have the swords as well as the manufacturers post tons of them all over the place, but this time I took a decent amount. Why? Because all of the pictures from Slayerofdarkness's review died, and the ones on SNA's site are pretty low quality. They were all set at 1K pixels after cropping for a uniform look with a decent amount of detail (not sure if you have to click on them to get the full 1K). Enjoy!
Introduction
WARNING: Skip the Introduction if you don't want to read a ridiculous and long-winded story of how I ended up with this sword.
This sword was originally purchased by a friend, but ended up in my possession. Said friend wanted to get a katana of her own after a bunch of us were hanging out and cutting stuff with my Cheness SGC (my Kris Cutlery 29-II was at Cottontail Customs for a new handle at the time, and I don't let anyone else touch my Dynasty Forge O-Katana), but wanted one that wasn't so big and heavy. I suggested the Munetoshi Mokko, as I'd done some research on it, and the statistics on SNA's site made it seem like an ideal candidate. I was interested in getting the sword too... so maybe a small part of my reason for suggestion was so I could actually see one in person myself.
Well, she got her sword and felt that it was still too long for her. I was certain that it would have been a good fit, since 27" is considered as being on the short-side of the katana spectrum, but I was wrong. She said that the weight was what she wanted, though. She ended up giving me the sword, saying I could have it as a late birthday present since I said I wanted to get one for myself someday as well. I felt guilty for suggesting the wrong kind of sword, so I gave her my Wii in return, since I don't really play it, and her kid always liked playing it whenever he was over.
So here I am with a Munetoshi Mokko, therefore a review must be done!
Full Disclosure
I'm still a rookie when it comes to the sword scene. This review may not agree with the majority of established veteran sword enthusiasts.
Initial Impressions
As I do with every sword I get my hands on... just in case... I held it aloft and said, "By the power of Gray Skull, I have the power!"
Fabulous secrets were not revealed to me, and neither I, nor my bunny rabbit, went through magical transformations. Hopefully it'll happen... someday...
The first thing I noticed was it was light, lighter than I expected. The scabbard was also very light feeling. The balance, however wasn't as light and "agile" as I thought it would be. Looking over it for the first time, I noticed the temper line, of course. Munetoshi has a reputation for their temper lines, and this lived up to the reputation.
Statistics
I'm going to copy/paste what SNA has listed, but make corrections as I've found them.
Overall Length:39.25" (My tape measure says 39.5")
Nagasa Length:27.25" (My tape measure says 27.5")
Blade Material:Differentially Hardened T10
Tsuka Length:10.75"
Niku:Light
Sori:0.604 "
Kissaki Length:1.691 "
Blade Width @ Habaki:1.239 "
Blade Construction:Mono Steel
Blade Width @ Kissaki:0.827 "
Hamon:Midare
Weight W/O Saya:2.35 lbs (I got 2.0 and 2.1 lbs on my scales)
Balance Point:4.25 " (Came out to 5.25" when put on a fulcrum)
Tsuba Material:Steel
Hardness:60 HRC
Ito & Sageo Material:Cotton
Fuchigashira Material:Copper
Sword Name:Mokko
Mekugi:Smoked Bamboo Double Mekugi
Manufacturer:Munetoshi
The reason behind the sword not being as short enough for her as I thought was because I made the mistake of thinking that the "Nagasa Length" was measured from the guard (like how blade lengths are measured with other types of swords, and how the Point of Balance is also measured), and not the blade collar. Big oopsie on my part. Oh well, she got a Wii and over two dozen games for her kid. I still feel bad, though... so embarrassing.
It seems that they measured the balance point from the blade collar instead of from the guard when they listed the balance point. As for the weight, I couldn't believe it at first, but on both my scales it came out to either 2.0 or 2.1 lbs. I measured over and over, and double and triple tested with my friends to make sure that the scales weren't weirding out and messing up on weight calculations since I'm fat and the sword only adds so little weight compared to what I weigh. Over 20 times being measured, the sword came out as either 2.0 or 2.1 lbs.
The Blade
The blade is pretty shiny, and I would say the polish is decent for something that cost $169 (was purchased from SNA's eBay Store, which has some things cheaper than their online store). The bo-hi is clean and ends in a point, rather than the rounded fade of cheap katanas in the same price range. The only thing wrong with it is an incredibly minor "bump/dip" in the slant line at the end of the bo-hi. I only noticed it, because I was comparing it to the bo-hi on my Dynasty Forge O-Katana.
The kissaki looks really clean and doesn't have a rough counter-polish (it's there, but it's very fine, like the lines/grain on the main part of the blade), or an overly deep scratch where it begins. It's a pretty smooth transition. I'd say it's as good as the kissaki on the O-Katana mentioned above. That's a very big plus.
An issue was that like in Slayerofdarkness's Review, there were also some very fine light scratches unning perpendicular to the blade. In his review, he said it looked like they came from someone using it for cutting. I don't think that was the case with this sword, as the scratches were along the closer half of the blade as well as the main cutting area. They are also TOO uniform and too perfectly straight to be from multiple cuts. What I think is that it came from the manufacturing and shaping process, or maybe are left over from an earlier low grit polishing step where they were running the machine/stones/whatever in the perpendicular direction. They're really fine and no one else noticed them at first, since they have to be in just the right light to show up. I managed to get them on camera, though.
As I mentioned in the initial impressions, the hamon is there in good form as per usual Munetoshi standards. I'm not a fan of hamons that aren't a straight along the curve of the blade, but this one doesn't annoy me so much. The funky misty stuff rising from the line make it kinda look like the Aurora Borealis.
The Handle
The handle itself was your standard fare for this price range, unfortunately. The collar and end-cap are nice with their raised crane designs, and the handle did taper (isn't that normal now for everything over $100, though?). But the wrap was made from cheap fuzzy cotton, the spacers had a slight clink/rattle when the sword was swung, one of the spacers had a bent edge, there's what looks like an impact mark on the ray-skin next to one of the mekugi holes, the collar isn't fit on properly (there's a visible gap between it and the ray-skin), and the worst part is that there's a little click coming from the bottom area of the handle when a swing is stopped abruptly or there's a direction changing follow-up cut.
My guess is that the tang moves around a tiny bit during the stops and directional changes, as this handle probably wasn't meticulously prepared and made for this particular blade. When I disassembled the blade to add the extra spacer to stop the clink/rattle, I saw that the tang only goes an inch or so further than the second peg hole, and there's quite a bit of handle left over.
I used the extra spacer SNA provided with the sword and that solved the clink/rattle. The little bit of tang movement in the handle won't go away, though. I've tried taking it apart and reinstalling the pegs, and also tried to use the extra peg set that SNA sent, but still no luck.
The Guard
The gaurd feels to be of good quality. It's nice and heavy, and has a textured surface. The design is a raised surface (counter-engraving, I guess?) style with a crane. I like that it's not the "flat surface with cutouts" style that robs the guard of much needed balancing weight. I really wish it didn't have the two holes on each side of the blade, though. That could have been more mass to pull the balance back further and make the sword more agile.
A curved top adorns the blade collar, which makes it look much better than the basic flat top collars. The collar also fits the blade very very well. It's a snug fit without big ugly gaps around the blade. BUT... the base of the blade collar does have an uneven edge/surface and has gaps between it and the spacer.
The Scabbard
The scabbard is very light (like the blade!), and has a smooth even paint/lacquer finish. The extra cord wrap on the scabbard is made of cotton, but seems to be in better shape than what was used on the handle wrap. There isn't any rattle when the sword is shook, but it's not a very tight fit. If you turn the sword upside down and give it a shake, or even just having a bit of pressure grip on it while wiping off fingerprints, the sword will come out. It's made of nice clean and smooth wood, though!
Handling Characteristics
Despite some of the low quality issues, the sword handles pretty well. Even thought the point of balance isn't as close as I'dve liked it to be, the low overall weight still makes it very agile. The "tachi-kaze" sound it makes is good. It's easy to invoke too. But it's not quite as crisp and easy to make as with my Dynasty Forge O-Katana.
Test Cutting
It turns out that the Mokko doesn't come very sharp out of the box. Cutting through milk jugs and soda bottles was easy. But against soaked beach mats, the Mokko didn't do as well as I would have liked. There was no "shock" when cutting through, thanks to the narrower geometry, but there were several failed cuts against the beach mats. It was strange, because when the cut went through it was smooth as silk and effortless, but about 1/3 of the time it didn't cut all the way through the mats. I figured it was maybe my edge alignment being really inconsistent, so I brought out the Cheness SGC to see how I did with that as well today. I figured if it was my edge alignment, I'd totally fail and screw up as much if not more cuts with the wider blade. Nope, the Cheness made it through almost every cut, only failing 1/10 cuts.
After a couple more mats with the Mokko, I figured out what the problem was. The cuts that were failing or knocking the stand over despite going through, were cuts I was making on the outer half of the blade. The cuts that were I stood closer and used the 25-60% out from the guard area were the ones that were sailing through. This weirded me out, since I thought the furthest 50% of the blade is supposed to be the main cutting area. So I checked out the sharpness over the different areas of the blade, and it turns out that the last 40% or so to the tip wasn't as sharp as the first 60%. The sword wasn't used for cutting by my friend before she gave it to me, and even if it was... a differentially hardened T10 is supposed to be able to hold an edge for a bit, isn't it?
When I tested slicing paper the night I got the sword (two days before the beach mat and bottle testing was done), I started at the area of the blade closer to me and pulled along the paper, so I guess it seemed that it could cut paper well since by the time I had it to the no-so-sharp area, it has already bit into the paper and had an easier time. Now that I tried again starting at the farther end of the sword, it's definitely not "paper slicing" sharp.
Conclusions
At first, the Munetoshi Mokko seemed like it was a great bargain for its price, but overall it's probably as good as you should expect from a katana in this price range. Since the actual specs of this particular Mokko (as with all "hand forged" swords, slight variations happen) seem closer to that of a Munetoshi Akitsushima, it's as if it were a "factory second" of that sword given the price difference and quality issues. Compared to Munetoshi's bargain basement "Jubei" line, your extra $90 or so dollars gets you a much better "bo-hi" groove, T10 instead of 1060, and a shinier polish.
I was disappointed in the fit and finish. I mean, for this price range, you can't expect high quality and expensive materials and features (silk, folded construction, special lamination, gold fittings, geometric yokote, etc.), but I don't think it's too much to expect things to at least fit right and work properly.
As for the vast discrepancy between SNA's listings and what I measured for the weight and balance point, my theories are either they made a mistake, or the forge made a mistake and made the tang on this sword too short and the blade a bit too long. But this wasn't sold as a factory second, so I have to hold it to the same standard as a normal piece.
Pros
+ Some nice features for a low priced sword.
(Sharp bo-hi termination on a $169 sword.)
(Solid and heavy guard and fittings on a $169 sword.)
(Shiny well-polished tip on a $169 sword.)
+ Very light and agile.
+ Good tachi-kaze.
+ (For most people) The well-done temper line.
Cons
- Standard pitfalls of a low priced sword.
(Fit and finish on components is spotty.)
(Low quality handle/tang fit.)
- Scratched up "new" blade.
- Loose scabbard.
- Uneven sharpness.
The Bottom Line
This katana doesn't really have a niche to fit into. If you want a starter katana to beat on and learn with, there are the ones that are in the $100 range. If you want better, then take the next step to the $250-300 range. This "middle-ground" area doesn't really fit. The Mokko won't make the people looking for a cheap starter/beater happy, since it's twice as much. And it won't make the people wanting more than a starter/beater, because the fit and finish isn't well done.
I would not recommend this sword, and I apologize to anyone I suggested to check this sword out when they asked for a good starter katana.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Introduction
WARNING: Skip the Introduction if you don't want to read a ridiculous and long-winded story of how I ended up with this sword.
This sword was originally purchased by a friend, but ended up in my possession. Said friend wanted to get a katana of her own after a bunch of us were hanging out and cutting stuff with my Cheness SGC (my Kris Cutlery 29-II was at Cottontail Customs for a new handle at the time, and I don't let anyone else touch my Dynasty Forge O-Katana), but wanted one that wasn't so big and heavy. I suggested the Munetoshi Mokko, as I'd done some research on it, and the statistics on SNA's site made it seem like an ideal candidate. I was interested in getting the sword too... so maybe a small part of my reason for suggestion was so I could actually see one in person myself.
Well, she got her sword and felt that it was still too long for her. I was certain that it would have been a good fit, since 27" is considered as being on the short-side of the katana spectrum, but I was wrong. She said that the weight was what she wanted, though. She ended up giving me the sword, saying I could have it as a late birthday present since I said I wanted to get one for myself someday as well. I felt guilty for suggesting the wrong kind of sword, so I gave her my Wii in return, since I don't really play it, and her kid always liked playing it whenever he was over.
So here I am with a Munetoshi Mokko, therefore a review must be done!
Full Disclosure
I'm still a rookie when it comes to the sword scene. This review may not agree with the majority of established veteran sword enthusiasts.
Initial Impressions
As I do with every sword I get my hands on... just in case... I held it aloft and said, "By the power of Gray Skull, I have the power!"
Fabulous secrets were not revealed to me, and neither I, nor my bunny rabbit, went through magical transformations. Hopefully it'll happen... someday...
The first thing I noticed was it was light, lighter than I expected. The scabbard was also very light feeling. The balance, however wasn't as light and "agile" as I thought it would be. Looking over it for the first time, I noticed the temper line, of course. Munetoshi has a reputation for their temper lines, and this lived up to the reputation.
Statistics
I'm going to copy/paste what SNA has listed, but make corrections as I've found them.
Overall Length:39.25" (My tape measure says 39.5")
Nagasa Length:27.25" (My tape measure says 27.5")
Blade Material:Differentially Hardened T10
Tsuka Length:10.75"
Niku:Light
Sori:0.604 "
Kissaki Length:1.691 "
Blade Width @ Habaki:1.239 "
Blade Construction:Mono Steel
Blade Width @ Kissaki:0.827 "
Hamon:Midare
Weight W/O Saya:2.35 lbs (I got 2.0 and 2.1 lbs on my scales)
Balance Point:4.25 " (Came out to 5.25" when put on a fulcrum)
Tsuba Material:Steel
Hardness:60 HRC
Ito & Sageo Material:Cotton
Fuchigashira Material:Copper
Sword Name:Mokko
Mekugi:Smoked Bamboo Double Mekugi
Manufacturer:Munetoshi
The reason behind the sword not being as short enough for her as I thought was because I made the mistake of thinking that the "Nagasa Length" was measured from the guard (like how blade lengths are measured with other types of swords, and how the Point of Balance is also measured), and not the blade collar. Big oopsie on my part. Oh well, she got a Wii and over two dozen games for her kid. I still feel bad, though... so embarrassing.
It seems that they measured the balance point from the blade collar instead of from the guard when they listed the balance point. As for the weight, I couldn't believe it at first, but on both my scales it came out to either 2.0 or 2.1 lbs. I measured over and over, and double and triple tested with my friends to make sure that the scales weren't weirding out and messing up on weight calculations since I'm fat and the sword only adds so little weight compared to what I weigh. Over 20 times being measured, the sword came out as either 2.0 or 2.1 lbs.
The Blade
The blade is pretty shiny, and I would say the polish is decent for something that cost $169 (was purchased from SNA's eBay Store, which has some things cheaper than their online store). The bo-hi is clean and ends in a point, rather than the rounded fade of cheap katanas in the same price range. The only thing wrong with it is an incredibly minor "bump/dip" in the slant line at the end of the bo-hi. I only noticed it, because I was comparing it to the bo-hi on my Dynasty Forge O-Katana.
The kissaki looks really clean and doesn't have a rough counter-polish (it's there, but it's very fine, like the lines/grain on the main part of the blade), or an overly deep scratch where it begins. It's a pretty smooth transition. I'd say it's as good as the kissaki on the O-Katana mentioned above. That's a very big plus.
An issue was that like in Slayerofdarkness's Review, there were also some very fine light scratches unning perpendicular to the blade. In his review, he said it looked like they came from someone using it for cutting. I don't think that was the case with this sword, as the scratches were along the closer half of the blade as well as the main cutting area. They are also TOO uniform and too perfectly straight to be from multiple cuts. What I think is that it came from the manufacturing and shaping process, or maybe are left over from an earlier low grit polishing step where they were running the machine/stones/whatever in the perpendicular direction. They're really fine and no one else noticed them at first, since they have to be in just the right light to show up. I managed to get them on camera, though.
As I mentioned in the initial impressions, the hamon is there in good form as per usual Munetoshi standards. I'm not a fan of hamons that aren't a straight along the curve of the blade, but this one doesn't annoy me so much. The funky misty stuff rising from the line make it kinda look like the Aurora Borealis.
The Handle
The handle itself was your standard fare for this price range, unfortunately. The collar and end-cap are nice with their raised crane designs, and the handle did taper (isn't that normal now for everything over $100, though?). But the wrap was made from cheap fuzzy cotton, the spacers had a slight clink/rattle when the sword was swung, one of the spacers had a bent edge, there's what looks like an impact mark on the ray-skin next to one of the mekugi holes, the collar isn't fit on properly (there's a visible gap between it and the ray-skin), and the worst part is that there's a little click coming from the bottom area of the handle when a swing is stopped abruptly or there's a direction changing follow-up cut.
My guess is that the tang moves around a tiny bit during the stops and directional changes, as this handle probably wasn't meticulously prepared and made for this particular blade. When I disassembled the blade to add the extra spacer to stop the clink/rattle, I saw that the tang only goes an inch or so further than the second peg hole, and there's quite a bit of handle left over.
I used the extra spacer SNA provided with the sword and that solved the clink/rattle. The little bit of tang movement in the handle won't go away, though. I've tried taking it apart and reinstalling the pegs, and also tried to use the extra peg set that SNA sent, but still no luck.
The Guard
The gaurd feels to be of good quality. It's nice and heavy, and has a textured surface. The design is a raised surface (counter-engraving, I guess?) style with a crane. I like that it's not the "flat surface with cutouts" style that robs the guard of much needed balancing weight. I really wish it didn't have the two holes on each side of the blade, though. That could have been more mass to pull the balance back further and make the sword more agile.
A curved top adorns the blade collar, which makes it look much better than the basic flat top collars. The collar also fits the blade very very well. It's a snug fit without big ugly gaps around the blade. BUT... the base of the blade collar does have an uneven edge/surface and has gaps between it and the spacer.
The Scabbard
The scabbard is very light (like the blade!), and has a smooth even paint/lacquer finish. The extra cord wrap on the scabbard is made of cotton, but seems to be in better shape than what was used on the handle wrap. There isn't any rattle when the sword is shook, but it's not a very tight fit. If you turn the sword upside down and give it a shake, or even just having a bit of pressure grip on it while wiping off fingerprints, the sword will come out. It's made of nice clean and smooth wood, though!
Handling Characteristics
Despite some of the low quality issues, the sword handles pretty well. Even thought the point of balance isn't as close as I'dve liked it to be, the low overall weight still makes it very agile. The "tachi-kaze" sound it makes is good. It's easy to invoke too. But it's not quite as crisp and easy to make as with my Dynasty Forge O-Katana.
Test Cutting
It turns out that the Mokko doesn't come very sharp out of the box. Cutting through milk jugs and soda bottles was easy. But against soaked beach mats, the Mokko didn't do as well as I would have liked. There was no "shock" when cutting through, thanks to the narrower geometry, but there were several failed cuts against the beach mats. It was strange, because when the cut went through it was smooth as silk and effortless, but about 1/3 of the time it didn't cut all the way through the mats. I figured it was maybe my edge alignment being really inconsistent, so I brought out the Cheness SGC to see how I did with that as well today. I figured if it was my edge alignment, I'd totally fail and screw up as much if not more cuts with the wider blade. Nope, the Cheness made it through almost every cut, only failing 1/10 cuts.
After a couple more mats with the Mokko, I figured out what the problem was. The cuts that were failing or knocking the stand over despite going through, were cuts I was making on the outer half of the blade. The cuts that were I stood closer and used the 25-60% out from the guard area were the ones that were sailing through. This weirded me out, since I thought the furthest 50% of the blade is supposed to be the main cutting area. So I checked out the sharpness over the different areas of the blade, and it turns out that the last 40% or so to the tip wasn't as sharp as the first 60%. The sword wasn't used for cutting by my friend before she gave it to me, and even if it was... a differentially hardened T10 is supposed to be able to hold an edge for a bit, isn't it?
When I tested slicing paper the night I got the sword (two days before the beach mat and bottle testing was done), I started at the area of the blade closer to me and pulled along the paper, so I guess it seemed that it could cut paper well since by the time I had it to the no-so-sharp area, it has already bit into the paper and had an easier time. Now that I tried again starting at the farther end of the sword, it's definitely not "paper slicing" sharp.
Conclusions
At first, the Munetoshi Mokko seemed like it was a great bargain for its price, but overall it's probably as good as you should expect from a katana in this price range. Since the actual specs of this particular Mokko (as with all "hand forged" swords, slight variations happen) seem closer to that of a Munetoshi Akitsushima, it's as if it were a "factory second" of that sword given the price difference and quality issues. Compared to Munetoshi's bargain basement "Jubei" line, your extra $90 or so dollars gets you a much better "bo-hi" groove, T10 instead of 1060, and a shinier polish.
I was disappointed in the fit and finish. I mean, for this price range, you can't expect high quality and expensive materials and features (silk, folded construction, special lamination, gold fittings, geometric yokote, etc.), but I don't think it's too much to expect things to at least fit right and work properly.
As for the vast discrepancy between SNA's listings and what I measured for the weight and balance point, my theories are either they made a mistake, or the forge made a mistake and made the tang on this sword too short and the blade a bit too long. But this wasn't sold as a factory second, so I have to hold it to the same standard as a normal piece.
Pros
+ Some nice features for a low priced sword.
(Sharp bo-hi termination on a $169 sword.)
(Solid and heavy guard and fittings on a $169 sword.)
(Shiny well-polished tip on a $169 sword.)
+ Very light and agile.
+ Good tachi-kaze.
+ (For most people) The well-done temper line.
Cons
- Standard pitfalls of a low priced sword.
(Fit and finish on components is spotty.)
(Low quality handle/tang fit.)
- Scratched up "new" blade.
- Loose scabbard.
- Uneven sharpness.
The Bottom Line
This katana doesn't really have a niche to fit into. If you want a starter katana to beat on and learn with, there are the ones that are in the $100 range. If you want better, then take the next step to the $250-300 range. This "middle-ground" area doesn't really fit. The Mokko won't make the people looking for a cheap starter/beater happy, since it's twice as much. And it won't make the people wanting more than a starter/beater, because the fit and finish isn't well done.
I would not recommend this sword, and I apologize to anyone I suggested to check this sword out when they asked for a good starter katana.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.