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Post by shishinn on Dec 20, 2012 2:35:41 GMT
Just ordered a Kogarasu Maru Zukuri katana from Huawei sword. Have to say that their response is super fast and the service is very accommodating. Can't wait the arrival of this katana.
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Post by chrisperoni on Dec 20, 2012 3:15:54 GMT
service is pretty good - better than many on ebay. I have found contact with Jacky is less consistent once the sword has shipped. Still, with my last order from huawei I was left with mixed feelings. I would buy again but likely a ready made blade rather than custom order. If i went custom again I would be more specific and incude more pics.
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Post by aaronfranzen on Dec 20, 2012 4:21:27 GMT
I have ordered a few blades from Hauwei and I only order ready made blades now.
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Post by shishinn on Dec 20, 2012 4:31:57 GMT
Luckily, I ordered a katana that's made already with a few minor changes on tsuka. I personally is rather tolerant in that I would leave the smith do their own job once major specifications are given. I am curious as to what was your mixed feelings, if you care to tell.
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Post by chrisperoni on Dec 20, 2012 5:25:31 GMT
My order was for a jian/ken: Jacky was very helpful and communicated with replies right away each time I contacted him before and during making my last sword. I asked for copper habaki with a particular shape but got brass with the right shape... 50/50 result and I guess it's pretty common for the metal mix up to happen with habaki. The bullhorn koiguchi, koijiri and kashira I requested was done but not in the colour I asked for- in fact it is so light and see through I can see the smear of glue through it holding it into place. During my ordering Jacky did say it's hard to get the colour exactly right though-- again 50/50 results (I asked for honey brown, got translucent white- seems to me to be too much of a difference- I think some kind of brown would have been possible, but maybe I'm being unreasonable- idon'tknow) The blade is perfect! Love it and got exactly what I wanted- folded t10 with hamon. I asked for extra mekugi pegs and Jacky gave me two 4inch pieces for free- cool . I asked about some unique menuki and he tried to get them but couldn't- good effort. The sword came shipped in a hard pvc tube with a bit of foam stuffed into each end (and the sword shrink wrapped), but the sword was able to shake all around in the tube and the saya came with cracks down both seams for about half the length. the koiguchi was cracked as well. The rosewood used is very nice though... :roll: Jacky offered to give me a refund if I returned it, or asked if I could fix it. I asked if he would pay return shipping, he offered to split it with me. I asked about fixing it and using rayskin around the top of the saya, Jacky offered to send me a piece and tutor me on applying it. I accepted. I never received the rayskin and since then have not heard back from Jacky. Sometimes I think I should have gone for the split cost return but then I look at the blade and know I want to customize it anyway, then I look at the habaki and think I have to learn to make a copper one, then look at the saya and think about repairing it, then handle the sword and love how it feels even in it's current state.... back and forth you see? If I had just ordered a bare blade I would have been better off- saved money and been able to put that towards the work I now have to do anyway.
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Post by ineffableone on Dec 20, 2012 5:50:55 GMT
Welcome to the Kissaki Morha Zukuri club, they are great swords. I love my ST Morha blade. Just remember no noto with a double edge.
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Post by Rafael on Dec 20, 2012 15:33:09 GMT
My Unokubi zukuri katana arrived Monday with the correct menuki I asked to be changed. The koshirae, entire handle assembly, is the best I have seen so far compared to Cheness and munetoshi, as far as the tightness of the fittings. However Ito wrap is glued or otherwise stuck on with some sort of adhesive, and there is a distinct although not particularly strong Dead Sea life odor coming from the ray skin panels. I'm not sure if that just means that my MuneToshi and cheness are not genuine rayskin or if maybe they have been cured or dried more properly or something. All I can say for sure is that the handle of the sword kind of smells bad whereas the others do not have any noticeable odor.
Unfortunately the Fuller is slightly uneven on one side of the sword, or more correctly I guess it is the line which begins the thinner portion of the blade. I'm planning to do a more complete review with pictures later. I am going to be contacting Jacky, who is I think female, to ask her about some sort of partial refund.
Prior to noticing the uneven line though I was really very happy with the sword because it looks and feels very sturdy and well-made, even if it doesn't smell very good.
It's interesting to note that the sword ships sealed inside a Styrofoam block and with the handle shrink-wrapped, I can only assume that they shrink wrap the handle to prevent me from getting a blast of dead fish smell when I cut open the box
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Post by Rafael on Feb 18, 2013 21:54:02 GMT
an update about my huawei sword. I was feeling sort of like I wanted to sell it because of the uneven line, but I didn't feel like explaining about the problem over and over so I decided I would go ahead and see what sort of abuse a unokubi zukuri could handle before bending because of the thin mune towards tip. I put on some eye protection and started out doing cuts using mostly the middle of the sword vs 2-3" thick hardwood tree branches, angled to pass about 3 inches through the wood. This damn sword is a beast, one or two and then even almost three branches (third stopped blade)in one cut and nothing even noticeable on the edge.. Messy from sap but no nicks or even scratches in the edge. I was impressed so i decided to try the same thing standing farther back and just slashing with the tip of the sword, thinking okay now I am going to see the tip break off.. Seeing the hardwood sliced using only the tip, still with no edge damage, was like a religious experience. I have done the same kind of stuff with my cheness TH 9260 no-bo-hi and gotten little rolls on the edge of the kissaki. I'm here to tell you, I don't care anymore if the shinogi has an uneven line on one side. The trees I cut with this "no hard targets please zukuri" all had nice even lines... on their cuts lol. Meanwhile the sword edge and tip look brand new....lazy-eyed shinogi and all. This sword is like a lazy eyed girl with a 10/10 body that enjoys cleaning up after you. marry her and adopt! I hate to say it but I would order from huawei again. The quality of the tempering on my sword is really very impressive. I should sell my cheness instead. St-nihonto does have way better email communication, but wow It seems like the huawei tempering, at least on this sword, rocks. Ironically I have a nice looking Naginata from stnihonto with no uneven lines, but I am reluctant to mess it up finding out if it can do the same thing. This navigates to thread with some pics of the uneven line in question, in case of interest: viewtopic.php?f=32&t=14417&start=200
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