ST-Swords Tungsten Adsorb Shobu ("eBay Forges," Part 3)
Oct 5, 2012 16:22:07 GMT
Post by Kuya on Oct 5, 2012 16:22:07 GMT
Introduction
After seeing so many new people ask and post about eBay sellers, I decided to do a head to head comparison from the three most frequently asked about during my short time here: Hua Wei, ST-Swords (AKA ST-Nihonto), and another seller that goes by multiple accounts named "Yao" that has his own website named "Hanbon Swords." I am not a rich person, so I decided to keep the price range under $250, which is an expected price for a decent functional starter katana that isn't your plain super cheap beater. This sword was the most expensive, coming in at $247.99.
The first sword sent to me from ST-Swords had a defect in that the saya was too tight at the end of the blade (rubbing against it and wearing away at the special coating), and too loose at the habaki (it would come out when turned upside down and a few steps were taken). Sheng (ST-Swords's owner/representative) sent me a replacement, which is the sword pictured here.
Full Disclosure
I'm a rookie when it comes to the sword scene. This review may not agree with the majority of established veteran sword enthusiasts. I don't get free swords sent to me, so my reviews are from a more realistic buyer's viewpoint. If you've read the previous two parts in this comparison, you know that Marc Kaden Ridgeway was kind enough to offer his Hua Wei as a loan to compare. Unfortunately, I had to decline, because the sword was 20-25% more expensive than the ones in this price range. Still, his generosity deserves mention in every part, as it was a huge act of kindness.
Initial Impressions
Same nasty old polystyrene I haven't seen used in the USA since the 1980s wrapped in yellow packing tape. This seems to be the standard of eBay Forge shipping. The first feeling I had after cutting open the packaging and seeing the sword was that of disappointment. ST-Swords had made a mistake on the samegawa and sageo choices. Even more disappointment was to follow when unsheathing the sword. I felt and heard the blade rubbing up against the saya, same problem with the initial sword sent to me...
I was so disappointed, that I didn't even try to hold it aloft and say, "By the power of Grayskull..."
Statistics
Blade Geometry: Shobu Zukuri
Overall Length (without saya): ~99.6 cm, ~39.2"
Nagasa Length: ~69.6 cm, ~27.4"
Handle Length: ~26.9 cm, ~10.6"
Blade Material: T10 Steel w/ Tungsten Adsorb Coating
Tsuba: Brass
Fuchi/Kashira: Brass
Menuki: Brass
Blade Width (at Habaki): ~32 mm, ~1.25"
Blade Width (at 5 cm, 2" from the tip): ~23 mm, ~0.9"
Blade Thickness (at Habaki): ~8.5 mm, ~0.33"
Blade Thickness (at 5 cm, 2" from the tip): ~6 mm, ~0.25"
Weight (without Saya): ~1.05 kg, ~2.3 lbs
Point of Balance: ~14.5 cm, ~5.7
The Blade
Like the Hua Wei's blade, this one is also rather thick and meaty. While the thickest part of this blade is just a tiny bit thicker, the Hua Wei's has a little more niku along the ji plane. The Tungsten Adsorb coating makes the blade feel smoother, but also less slippery somehow (it can make that squeaky sound wet sneakers make on floortiles when being sheathed), and gives it a very dark brown color. The choji hamon is very well done, even amazing to my less-experienced eyes. It looks a lot like flames, and even has a few floating/flying "flame licks," but unfortunately the saya rubbing made much of the hamon in the affected area either faded out and barely visible, or just scuffed over. You can see the area affected in the "header" picture of the review, but here's another with the sword facing the other way and of the other side of the blade to show that it isn't just the way the light angle reflection.
Out of all three, this blade felt the sharpest when running your hand/fingers across and along the edge. There was more "bite" to it. The polish is very even and lustrous. While it's not as easy to see the mirror effect due to its dark color, the light source reflections and sharpness of the silhouette outlines are the clearest of the bunch. The shobu shape is the "scalpel tip" shape with the shinogi ridge line ending a bit further back from the tip the way a Shinogi-Zukuri shinogi would, as opposed to the "needle tip" shape that the Hua Wei has.
The Handle
Dark-ish red synthetic silk over white samegawa. The diamonds aren't very even in size, and there's a little bit of fraying at one of the crisscrosses. The end knots are the cleanest and neatest of the three, though. I don't know if it's normal for this "model" of fuchi and kashira, but they seem to be more substantial than the other Artsfeng fuchi and kashira on the Hua Wei's handle. The mekugi were ground down like on the Hanbon Swords tsuka, but since the samegawa on this is white, any casualties there may be would be invisible. For what it's worth, I didn't see any casualties. Whoever did the grinding must have stopped before hitting the samegawa.
It looks like the samegawa was put on unevenly (only one side of the handle has the "ridge-line" is raised underneath showing through the fabric). It's not curved, but still has a comofrtable shape for me. It's less wide like the Hanbon's, but a touch thicker with a more rounded shape.
A more serious problem with it is that it seems just a little bit "twisted off center" in angle when compared to the blade's ha-to-mune line. This could be because of the uneven samegawa paneling, and not the actual shape of the wood.
The Guard
The tsuba is the more ornate version of the Musashi "double ring" in that it has some dragon motifs added onto it. I rather like it, as it's not quite as crazy as the other Artsfeng styled tusba. The tsuba is thick, though, and despite having the big hollow holes, I think it may serve as a decent enough counterweight. I'll be getting another sword with this tsuba, fuchi, kashira, and menuki theme in the future. Hopefully that sword will be put together better.
The Scabbard
It ruined the blade's finish and coating. I hate ST-Swords's saya maker, whoever it is.
That out of the way, the saya is dark red with black highlights in the "scaly" or "old leather" pattern. The paint job is quite good. The pattern doesn't have any runs or splotches, the surface has a nice even texture with no bumps or dips. It would be a great saya if it wasn't for the fact that its interior shape is terrible and rubs up against the blade so much. I know that it's impossible to sheath a sword without it touching the inside of the saya at all, but with this saya, if you want to put the sword in all the way, there is no avoiding the rub. It truly is just too tight. I really like the design and paint job on the saya, but like with people, it's what's on the inside that's more important.
This is the only one that came with a "real" sageo, one that wasn't just made with the same material as the ito. It wasn't the sageo I ordered, though.
Handling Characteristics
Like the Hua Wei, this sword has a more weighty feel than the Hanbon, but it's not "blade-heavy." It really feels the same as the Hua Wei as far as balance and agility goes. The handle having less of a circumference makes it easier for me to adjust and switch my grip, and twirl the sword. So yeah, it's just on the "blade present" side of what I would consider "normal." As a scale for those who may have had experience with other swords that I have to, from the most agile to the most blade heavy:
Kris Cutlery 26-II
Kris Cutlery 26-A
Munetoshi Mokko
Hanbon Shinogi
Dynasty Forge O-Katana
ST-Swords Shobu
Kris Cutlery 29-II
Hua Wei Shobu
Shinwa Zatoichi
Cheness SGC
Test Cutting
All swords in the comparison were put up against the same type of targets, for an as close as possible performance comparison as I could manage.
First target was a 2-liter soda bottle. It performed the same as the Hua Wei, but sent the bottle halves flying even further. This may be because of edge-alignment, though. Couldn't get a second cut in on the bottome half.
Second target was a single roll 36" x 60" beach mat rolled along the 60" length to make the roll 36" tall and as thick as possible. No failed cuts, but I actually felt some resistance/shock that I didn't feel with the other comparison swords.
Third target was a double roll of 36" x 60" beach mats rolled the same direction for thickness as the single roll beach mat. No failures on normal cuts. A pleasant surprise, however, was that I was able to get some "pickle slices."
Final target was the Sunday New York Times w/ Advertisements soaked and rolled up. The feedback I felt was a bit unexpected as in there was not nearly as much compared to the Hua Wei. This sword being of the thicker variety, like the Hua Wei, I expected to feel about the same amount of resistance/shock when trying to cut through the soaked newspaper, but I didn't.
Conclusions
Pros
+ Well-made blade.
+ Awesome hamon.
+ Unique Features.
+ Actual sageo.
Cons
- Mistakes on order choices.
- Terrible saya fit.
- Uneven tsukamaki.
- Uneven samegawa.
The first sword sent to me had a pretty big issue of the saya not fitting well and ruining the main draw and reason of purchase of the blade type. Customer service was great and a second sword was sent to me, but that sword not only had the same problem, but even additional issues that the first sword didn't have. Cutting performance was much better than I thought it would be. It really is sad that such a good blade was brought down by bad fittings. It's really like the blade maker, sharpener, and polisher gave it their best, but the rest of the team dropped the ball.
The Bottom Line
ST-Swords has A LOT of variety when it comes to blade types, novelties, fittings, sayas, and geometries if you check out their site and eBay store. The quality of the blade itself was better than I expected for the price paid. The customer service was also rather good. But many points are lost on the quality control and "fit 'n' finish."
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Rating w/out Customer Service: 2 out of 5 stars
Comparison Conclusion
With these "eBay Forges," you get what you pay for. They don't seem to be as bad as others make them out to be, but if you aren't willing to spend a lot of money, you can't really expect perfection and excellence in the katana scene. Each forge/brand had their ups and downs, excelling in certain things and failing in others. I've come to the following conclusions regarding these three forges compared to each other.
If you want more flash for your buck, I would go with Hanbon Swords for katana that are aesthetically pleasing and still work well in cutting. They have a lot of theme and tsuba choices, and they offer the catchphrase goodies (Differentially Hardened, Folded Steel, etc.) for less. For . Their customer relations are also on another level compared to the other two forges.
If you want more quality in construction, and are willing to pay for it, go with Hua Wei. They are (currently) the only of the three that can do proper termination on bo-hi, and with the right communication, they can make you a quality custom blade if you want something different than what they have in stock.
If you want something unique and different, I would go with ST-Swords. They have all kinds of different blade styles available without having to do a custom order. They also have some fittings that aren't available with the other two forges (black habaki, handachi/hondachi style, white frosted/webbed/silver-polished koshirai, etc.) and if you browse their "higher end" they have a LOT more saya choices, and some of them are really nice looking. My luck with their saya fit was abysmal, though. ST-Swords also had very good customer service, but unfortunately the mistakes weighed them down. To me, their blade quality is as good as Hua Wei's (if not a tiny bit better, but their bo-hi can't touch Hua Wei's), but the fit and finish on everything else wasn't quite up to par.
When taking into account what I have observed the community and new people inquiring about the eBay forges want, the overall winner in this comparison is Hua Wei. They're not as good looking, and they cost more, but they seem to be put together better and people in this price range and new to the scene want something to cut with. However, out of the three swords, I'm only keeping the one from Hanbon Swords. That sounds like a win to me too.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3