Custom Huawei blade Review
Aug 15, 2012 15:10:49 GMT
Post by Vestri on Aug 15, 2012 15:10:49 GMT
Introduction
So I decided to get my first custom blade that I plan on using for Iaito and Cutting and as a display piece.
Huawei was recomended among others. I chose Huawei only because the ebay store was well organised, and easy to understand. I chose a simple blade design and asked them to keep the fittings (as I really liked them) and just asked for a DH blade so I can have a blade with a a Hamon. I also kept the type of steel as 9260. (I was told that spring steel becomes less bendable when its clay tempered and water quenched apparently.)
Historical overview
I ordered it 2 weeks ago and got it today. Its 1 day old
Full Disclosure
My experience with swords is mainly from Global Gear blades which have been relatively dissapointing for their price.
Living in Australia does not help the fact that shipping is near robbery and the prices GG ask for is robbery too since you can ask for the sme fittings and designs and blade for half their asking price. So I will have a slightly glowier review of this blade than the last review I posted.
The blade itself is $200 plus shipping to Australia + $38
Here is the original page I used to begin my custom blade - please note that its a TH oil quenched blade but I asked for a DH Water/clay tempered blade.
"FUNCTIONAL 9260 SHINOGI ZUKURI FULL TANG BOHI SHINKEN KATANA JAPANESE SWORD"
Initial Impressions
When the Package arrived it was very light, seemed a little too light
The Sword was wrapped in a beautiful bag and the Tsuka was shrink wrapped, and the blade had a sleeve of teflon oil and plastic before it was placed in the saya. Even through the blade was wrapped in plastic, I was able to see the Kisake very well.
The oil was very sticky so when I put it in the saya, a few tiny wood splinters stuck to the blade - well at least the inside of the saya is now clean. So I quickly cleaned and oiled the blade.
Statistics
Give some hard data on the sword's specifications:
Blade Length: 70.5cm or 27.8 Inches
Tsuka Length: 27.5 cm or 10.8 inches
Overall Length: 103 cm or 40.6 inches
Tsuba Width: About 3 inches in Diameter
POB (Point of Balance): 6 inches from the Tsuba
Components
The Blade: Personally, I think a natural hamon is just as unique as a specially designed hamon. There are no defects when I was cleaning and oiling, and the edge was sharpened the way I expected it to be. The base was relatively blunt, the yokote was VERY sharp and the Kisake, although not expertly polished, I did enjoy what they did for it. But I dont know much about what is a good polish or not.
I love the Deep Bohi and how it ends to a point. It made a beautiful Kaze sound - more distint than any of my other blades that I owned.
The Tsuka: I asked for a Battle Wrap and that comes no extra charge - the Menuki is a flower design and matches the other fittings. IT was tightly wrapped wiht genuine White rayskin and 2 bamboo pegs. I tried to dissassemble the Tsuka but it was pretty tight or maybe I just dont know how to dissasemble the pegs properly. Notice that one thread is not wrapped properly. TBH not a huge problem wiht me, but it is dissapointing that it wasnt noticed while it was being wrapped.
The Tsuba - An Iron (I think) Tsuba - simple diamond/square deisgn - I chose it because it has a similar deisgn to the shinto pillars in Japan where the lamps were hung. Its a relatively thin Tsuba, and was fitted well. MY only concern was the Habaki was not flush with the back of the blade and with some considerable pressure (as I learned when I was trying to remove the handle) it moved slightly out of place and back again. But nothing rattled or moved when I swung
Fuchi-Kashira - Beatutiful bright brass fittings. Flower design.
The Saya - A deep red Saya with bull horn fittings. The Laquer is shiny, beautiful and no defects. A lot of care was put into it - and made sense that the price doubled when I asked for this saya. The blade and fittings were $115 originally. As I sad before there was a few splinters inside but the blade, covered in a thick layer of teflon oil picked up a lot of it and now the blade draws cleanly. It has a very strong fit too.
Handling Characteristics
The sword handles very well. Normally my cutting accuracy is very poor. But the blade had a good weight in the blade that made swinging and doing Katas and Iaido practice smooth and clean.
The Kaze made from the Bohi was very distint, loud and satisfying. This sword is easily held in one hand. Im an deeply pleased with this blade.
Test Cutting
I will have Test cutting images and maybe a video listed soon.
Conclusions
While the order was just a blade, and a bag, I feel that for the price, it is the best Katana I have bought. I own 3 Global Gear blades (I own two G-1000 red titanium blades and they were $200 each - I got lucky) but the balance, the weight and the blade itself was not overwhelming. I feel confidence with the Huawei blade I have. Its lighter, stronger than the other blades I have, and has more bang for the buck.
Im not a big fan of Chinese steel, but overall, most blades are comming out of China anyway and for the price, I think its the best compramise. Jacky is really quick to respond (as long as you are a customer - most emails get ignored after the sword is shipped) But it was a hassle free transaction.
Its about 10 Days to forge and took 5 days to ship to Australia.
Pros
- Very affordable Customisation
- Satisfying blade strength and design. Lots of care taken to create the Bohi
- Very strong fitting
- You get a lot of images of the blade sent to you before the blade is shipped.
Cons
- Not a whole lot of customisation options - if you request anything for example, they will do it, but it will require some back and forth as of course it is a Chinese forge and while I am part Chinese myself, you have to keep questions and replies and requests as simple as possible to avoid confusion.
- The Mirror Polish very good, but the Kisake could have used more work. But it still looks really nice.
The Bottom Line
I would recommend getting a Custom from Huawei or any of the premade blades listed on his ebay site. So long as you choose a listing on the site and then send JAcky a question about the blade asking for a custom, they can. You just have to keep the options simple. Its probably the best way to custom wtih Huawei - although I am deeply tempted to just buy one straight.
Very good value blades and yes, they are very functional - but I wouldnt strike metal drums like Paul does for his destruction tests. I still think these blades are very strong from what I have observed already.
I would not recommend this to anyone who is looking for a very unique piece. It would either be very hard to create through the language barrier and that Huawei makes blades in batches according to others on this forum.
So I decided to get my first custom blade that I plan on using for Iaito and Cutting and as a display piece.
Huawei was recomended among others. I chose Huawei only because the ebay store was well organised, and easy to understand. I chose a simple blade design and asked them to keep the fittings (as I really liked them) and just asked for a DH blade so I can have a blade with a a Hamon. I also kept the type of steel as 9260. (I was told that spring steel becomes less bendable when its clay tempered and water quenched apparently.)
Historical overview
I ordered it 2 weeks ago and got it today. Its 1 day old
Full Disclosure
My experience with swords is mainly from Global Gear blades which have been relatively dissapointing for their price.
Living in Australia does not help the fact that shipping is near robbery and the prices GG ask for is robbery too since you can ask for the sme fittings and designs and blade for half their asking price. So I will have a slightly glowier review of this blade than the last review I posted.
The blade itself is $200 plus shipping to Australia + $38
Here is the original page I used to begin my custom blade - please note that its a TH oil quenched blade but I asked for a DH Water/clay tempered blade.
"FUNCTIONAL 9260 SHINOGI ZUKURI FULL TANG BOHI SHINKEN KATANA JAPANESE SWORD"
Initial Impressions
When the Package arrived it was very light, seemed a little too light
The Sword was wrapped in a beautiful bag and the Tsuka was shrink wrapped, and the blade had a sleeve of teflon oil and plastic before it was placed in the saya. Even through the blade was wrapped in plastic, I was able to see the Kisake very well.
The oil was very sticky so when I put it in the saya, a few tiny wood splinters stuck to the blade - well at least the inside of the saya is now clean. So I quickly cleaned and oiled the blade.
Statistics
Give some hard data on the sword's specifications:
Blade Length: 70.5cm or 27.8 Inches
Tsuka Length: 27.5 cm or 10.8 inches
Overall Length: 103 cm or 40.6 inches
Tsuba Width: About 3 inches in Diameter
POB (Point of Balance): 6 inches from the Tsuba
Components
The Blade: Personally, I think a natural hamon is just as unique as a specially designed hamon. There are no defects when I was cleaning and oiling, and the edge was sharpened the way I expected it to be. The base was relatively blunt, the yokote was VERY sharp and the Kisake, although not expertly polished, I did enjoy what they did for it. But I dont know much about what is a good polish or not.
I love the Deep Bohi and how it ends to a point. It made a beautiful Kaze sound - more distint than any of my other blades that I owned.
The Tsuka: I asked for a Battle Wrap and that comes no extra charge - the Menuki is a flower design and matches the other fittings. IT was tightly wrapped wiht genuine White rayskin and 2 bamboo pegs. I tried to dissassemble the Tsuka but it was pretty tight or maybe I just dont know how to dissasemble the pegs properly. Notice that one thread is not wrapped properly. TBH not a huge problem wiht me, but it is dissapointing that it wasnt noticed while it was being wrapped.
The Tsuba - An Iron (I think) Tsuba - simple diamond/square deisgn - I chose it because it has a similar deisgn to the shinto pillars in Japan where the lamps were hung. Its a relatively thin Tsuba, and was fitted well. MY only concern was the Habaki was not flush with the back of the blade and with some considerable pressure (as I learned when I was trying to remove the handle) it moved slightly out of place and back again. But nothing rattled or moved when I swung
Fuchi-Kashira - Beatutiful bright brass fittings. Flower design.
The Saya - A deep red Saya with bull horn fittings. The Laquer is shiny, beautiful and no defects. A lot of care was put into it - and made sense that the price doubled when I asked for this saya. The blade and fittings were $115 originally. As I sad before there was a few splinters inside but the blade, covered in a thick layer of teflon oil picked up a lot of it and now the blade draws cleanly. It has a very strong fit too.
Handling Characteristics
The sword handles very well. Normally my cutting accuracy is very poor. But the blade had a good weight in the blade that made swinging and doing Katas and Iaido practice smooth and clean.
The Kaze made from the Bohi was very distint, loud and satisfying. This sword is easily held in one hand. Im an deeply pleased with this blade.
Test Cutting
I will have Test cutting images and maybe a video listed soon.
Conclusions
While the order was just a blade, and a bag, I feel that for the price, it is the best Katana I have bought. I own 3 Global Gear blades (I own two G-1000 red titanium blades and they were $200 each - I got lucky) but the balance, the weight and the blade itself was not overwhelming. I feel confidence with the Huawei blade I have. Its lighter, stronger than the other blades I have, and has more bang for the buck.
Im not a big fan of Chinese steel, but overall, most blades are comming out of China anyway and for the price, I think its the best compramise. Jacky is really quick to respond (as long as you are a customer - most emails get ignored after the sword is shipped) But it was a hassle free transaction.
Its about 10 Days to forge and took 5 days to ship to Australia.
Pros
- Very affordable Customisation
- Satisfying blade strength and design. Lots of care taken to create the Bohi
- Very strong fitting
- You get a lot of images of the blade sent to you before the blade is shipped.
Cons
- Not a whole lot of customisation options - if you request anything for example, they will do it, but it will require some back and forth as of course it is a Chinese forge and while I am part Chinese myself, you have to keep questions and replies and requests as simple as possible to avoid confusion.
- The Mirror Polish very good, but the Kisake could have used more work. But it still looks really nice.
The Bottom Line
I would recommend getting a Custom from Huawei or any of the premade blades listed on his ebay site. So long as you choose a listing on the site and then send JAcky a question about the blade asking for a custom, they can. You just have to keep the options simple. Its probably the best way to custom wtih Huawei - although I am deeply tempted to just buy one straight.
Very good value blades and yes, they are very functional - but I wouldnt strike metal drums like Paul does for his destruction tests. I still think these blades are very strong from what I have observed already.
I would not recommend this to anyone who is looking for a very unique piece. It would either be very hard to create through the language barrier and that Huawei makes blades in batches according to others on this forum.