Munetoshi Tessen - My 1st Review
Mar 17, 2013 4:04:55 GMT
Post by LG Martial Arts on Mar 17, 2013 4:04:55 GMT
Hello my fellow SBGers! I bought a Munteoshi Tessen Forge Folded Differnetially Hardened T10 Katana a few months ago and thought I'd share some of my thoughts about it with you. Following are the specs from SnA's website: www.swordnarmory.com/Munetoshi-Tessen-Forge-Folded-Differentially-Harde-p/jh-3308gn.htm
-Overall Length: 39.25 "
-Nagasa Length: 27.5 "
-Tsuka Length: 10.5 "
-Balance Point: 5.125 "
-Weight W/O Saya: 2.35 LBS
-Lamination: Folded Steel
-Blade: Very Sharp
-Blade Material: Forge Folded Differentially Hardened T10 Carbon Steel
-Fittings: Iron
-Tsuka Material: Chemical Fiber
-Sori: 0.6 "
-HRC: 58 Degrees
-Accessories: Silk Swords Bag, Display Box, and Certificate of Authenticity
-Condition: Brand New
-Sword Name: Tessen
-Manufacturer: Munetoshi
Since buying it, I decided to do some upgrading, including new fixtures (silk ito and sageo/tsukamaki/silver crane menuki) from Fred Lohman, and some custom work to the saya I did myself.
On to the review!
Fit and Finish: when I first got it, I immediately disassembled it and found the tsuka/tsuba were on super tight. I had to use a rubber mallet, and unfortunately, ended up scratching the blade on my wood work bench (disappointed, seeing as I thought the T10 would stand up to the task without scratching). Anyway, the tsuba was epoxied onto the tang, so it took a while to get it loose. Once disassembled, I decided to clean it up and inspect it: the tsuba had some light rusting on it, but the blade had tons of grease on it too, no rust, but did have a few minor scratches on it. Also, the manufacturers did kind of a sloppy job painting the saya (lots of paint near/on the kurikata), so I decided to sand it down and add rattan from the koiguchi to about 10 inches down the length of the saya (hope you like my personal customization :mrgreen: ). I finished the saya in black lacquer, but think I'm going to redo the lacquering it since it didn't come out as nice as I expected - it's not as smooth as I thought when I sanded it. Oh well, live and learn.
Test Cutting: I did some Iai techniques to get the feel of it, then did some light cutting on a couple of tatami omote mats... most of the scratches on the blade came from the disassembly, but unfortunately, a few scratches were noticeable after cutting the tatami. The blade has light niku, which can aid in cutting, especially if your techniques are a little off. Sorry, I didn't have my camera with me at the time, so no cutting pics.
Performance/Balance: the katana is really well balanced, much better than my steel Iaito my Sensei imported from Japan. It has a nice feel to it, especially now with the tsuka wrapped in silk. It's light enough to go/stop where and when you want it, but beefy enough not to feel like an aluminum Iaito or a cheap throw away piece either, especially when practicing traditional Eishin Ryu/other battou techniques.
Pictures! Beginning with stock photos from SnA (hope they don't mind since I didn't take any pictures of the green saya/green tsuka when I first got it), then going through to the upgraded katana I now have.
original scratch right out of the box
rust on tsuka
more rust
List Price at SnA: $349.98 although it's been out of stock for a while now - BTW, the people at SnA have great customer service... they lowered the price once I let them know the problems I had when I received the katana.
Total cost (including new fittings/saya rattan covering/lacquering: approx $740
Final Thoughts: The Munetoshi Tessen Katana is a nice, nimble katana... now, if I had to buy the Munetoshi Tessen Katana and do all the customization again or just buy a nicer sword to begin with, I think I would opt for the nicer sword. Don't get me wrong, the Tessen Katana is a very nice sword, but think I might have overdone it with customizing it since I wanted a particular look/feel to begin with - if I had come across a katana with most of the features on this sword, but with a better saya finish/nicer fittings, then I would definitely have gone that route.
Well, there you have it, hope you enjoyed my 1st review on SBG!
*Youtube vid of the Tessen and a Soshu Kitae katana going head to head against tatami omote... the Tessen cut better than the soshu kitae katana, most probably due to the fact the soshu kitae katana has a more robust ha niku for harder targets.
-Overall Length: 39.25 "
-Nagasa Length: 27.5 "
-Tsuka Length: 10.5 "
-Balance Point: 5.125 "
-Weight W/O Saya: 2.35 LBS
-Lamination: Folded Steel
-Blade: Very Sharp
-Blade Material: Forge Folded Differentially Hardened T10 Carbon Steel
-Fittings: Iron
-Tsuka Material: Chemical Fiber
-Sori: 0.6 "
-HRC: 58 Degrees
-Accessories: Silk Swords Bag, Display Box, and Certificate of Authenticity
-Condition: Brand New
-Sword Name: Tessen
-Manufacturer: Munetoshi
Since buying it, I decided to do some upgrading, including new fixtures (silk ito and sageo/tsukamaki/silver crane menuki) from Fred Lohman, and some custom work to the saya I did myself.
On to the review!
Fit and Finish: when I first got it, I immediately disassembled it and found the tsuka/tsuba were on super tight. I had to use a rubber mallet, and unfortunately, ended up scratching the blade on my wood work bench (disappointed, seeing as I thought the T10 would stand up to the task without scratching). Anyway, the tsuba was epoxied onto the tang, so it took a while to get it loose. Once disassembled, I decided to clean it up and inspect it: the tsuba had some light rusting on it, but the blade had tons of grease on it too, no rust, but did have a few minor scratches on it. Also, the manufacturers did kind of a sloppy job painting the saya (lots of paint near/on the kurikata), so I decided to sand it down and add rattan from the koiguchi to about 10 inches down the length of the saya (hope you like my personal customization :mrgreen: ). I finished the saya in black lacquer, but think I'm going to redo the lacquering it since it didn't come out as nice as I expected - it's not as smooth as I thought when I sanded it. Oh well, live and learn.
Test Cutting: I did some Iai techniques to get the feel of it, then did some light cutting on a couple of tatami omote mats... most of the scratches on the blade came from the disassembly, but unfortunately, a few scratches were noticeable after cutting the tatami. The blade has light niku, which can aid in cutting, especially if your techniques are a little off. Sorry, I didn't have my camera with me at the time, so no cutting pics.
Performance/Balance: the katana is really well balanced, much better than my steel Iaito my Sensei imported from Japan. It has a nice feel to it, especially now with the tsuka wrapped in silk. It's light enough to go/stop where and when you want it, but beefy enough not to feel like an aluminum Iaito or a cheap throw away piece either, especially when practicing traditional Eishin Ryu/other battou techniques.
Pictures! Beginning with stock photos from SnA (hope they don't mind since I didn't take any pictures of the green saya/green tsuka when I first got it), then going through to the upgraded katana I now have.
original scratch right out of the box
rust on tsuka
more rust
List Price at SnA: $349.98 although it's been out of stock for a while now - BTW, the people at SnA have great customer service... they lowered the price once I let them know the problems I had when I received the katana.
Total cost (including new fittings/saya rattan covering/lacquering: approx $740
Final Thoughts: The Munetoshi Tessen Katana is a nice, nimble katana... now, if I had to buy the Munetoshi Tessen Katana and do all the customization again or just buy a nicer sword to begin with, I think I would opt for the nicer sword. Don't get me wrong, the Tessen Katana is a very nice sword, but think I might have overdone it with customizing it since I wanted a particular look/feel to begin with - if I had come across a katana with most of the features on this sword, but with a better saya finish/nicer fittings, then I would definitely have gone that route.
Well, there you have it, hope you enjoyed my 1st review on SBG!
*Youtube vid of the Tessen and a Soshu Kitae katana going head to head against tatami omote... the Tessen cut better than the soshu kitae katana, most probably due to the fact the soshu kitae katana has a more robust ha niku for harder targets.