SwordNArmory JD-4420RD Kami Look-Alike Review
Apr 20, 2013 13:08:18 GMT
Post by jblakey on Apr 20, 2013 13:08:18 GMT
Hi Guys,
this isn't going to be a long review (I'm supposed to be working...), but I just picked up my new katana from the UPS store, and I'm pretty pleased with it.
www.swordnarmory.com/ProductDeta ... D%2D4420RD
Saw it available on www.swordnarmory.com about a year ago, and I thought "Wow - that's a really close copy of the Hanwei Kami!". I was curious to see what it really looked like, and so, with $129 dollars burning a hole in my pocket, I finally ordered one.
Shipping was fast (and free). Sword was triple-boxed, and arrived undamaged.
I was worried as I started opening the boxes - so many things could go wrong with a sword like this. It's got a lot of details, extra fittings, and transitions. Lots of room to screw things up.
Once I got it out of it's shipping coffins, I was pleasently suprised. The thing is really well put together for $129! The kojiri is well fitted. The horn koigouchi is well done. The saya is slim, and flows nicely with the blade curvature. The finish on the saya looks flawless (so far). The tsuka is nicely shaped, and the rayskin, while not high quality, is laid in a carved channel. The wrap is relativly tight and even. The wrap starts on the correct side, and ends on the correct side. The two-part habaki lines up nicely with the mune and ha of the blade. Everything is tight and solid. Mekugi are centered on the tsuka. Fuchi and kashira line up nicely with the sides of the tsuka.
The blade is pretty nicely done for a low-end sword. The hamon, while wire-brushed, is slightly better than some other wire-brush hamons I've seen. The kissaki-shaping is strange, but better polished than a lot of other ones I've come across. It's at least as sharp as any other blade I've handled, and shaves paper easily. Nice distal taper to the blade. Nice overall balance to the thing.
The fittings are solid, and seem well secured, but the high-light painting could have been better done. I'm going to strip the fittings down and re-paint them (easy enough to do). The blade catches slightly when slid into the saya, if it's not lined up correctly, but that's not a big deal for me. I'm not planning on using this sword for iaido practice:) The saya / sword fit is excellent, other than that. Look how nicely the koigouchi mates up with the seppa on the blade side of the tsuka. Pretty near perfect. And I'm impressed with how the sides of the saya line up with the sides of the tsuka, flowing from one to the other...pretty rare in a production sword.
The tsuba looks to be an exact copy of the Kami Wakizashi tsuba. The Kami on it seem to have lost their noses somewhere along the way, though. Looks to be made of a copper alloy (no magnet activity). Fuchi / kashira also seem to be non-magnetic, but nice-clean casts, and free of casting lines. The sageo is awful, some synthetic, stiff material. Has nicely tied-off ends, though.
Anyhow, you can probably tell I'm happy with my purchase. I don't know if it's a durable cutter, and it's supposed to be through-hardened 1045,so it's not a super steel. But someone spent quite a bit of time getting the details right on this one. With some new rayskin, a re-wrap with better quality ito, a new sageo, and some paint work, this is going to be a nice one:)
Thanks,
jason
this isn't going to be a long review (I'm supposed to be working...), but I just picked up my new katana from the UPS store, and I'm pretty pleased with it.
www.swordnarmory.com/ProductDeta ... D%2D4420RD
Saw it available on www.swordnarmory.com about a year ago, and I thought "Wow - that's a really close copy of the Hanwei Kami!". I was curious to see what it really looked like, and so, with $129 dollars burning a hole in my pocket, I finally ordered one.
Shipping was fast (and free). Sword was triple-boxed, and arrived undamaged.
I was worried as I started opening the boxes - so many things could go wrong with a sword like this. It's got a lot of details, extra fittings, and transitions. Lots of room to screw things up.
Once I got it out of it's shipping coffins, I was pleasently suprised. The thing is really well put together for $129! The kojiri is well fitted. The horn koigouchi is well done. The saya is slim, and flows nicely with the blade curvature. The finish on the saya looks flawless (so far). The tsuka is nicely shaped, and the rayskin, while not high quality, is laid in a carved channel. The wrap is relativly tight and even. The wrap starts on the correct side, and ends on the correct side. The two-part habaki lines up nicely with the mune and ha of the blade. Everything is tight and solid. Mekugi are centered on the tsuka. Fuchi and kashira line up nicely with the sides of the tsuka.
The blade is pretty nicely done for a low-end sword. The hamon, while wire-brushed, is slightly better than some other wire-brush hamons I've seen. The kissaki-shaping is strange, but better polished than a lot of other ones I've come across. It's at least as sharp as any other blade I've handled, and shaves paper easily. Nice distal taper to the blade. Nice overall balance to the thing.
The fittings are solid, and seem well secured, but the high-light painting could have been better done. I'm going to strip the fittings down and re-paint them (easy enough to do). The blade catches slightly when slid into the saya, if it's not lined up correctly, but that's not a big deal for me. I'm not planning on using this sword for iaido practice:) The saya / sword fit is excellent, other than that. Look how nicely the koigouchi mates up with the seppa on the blade side of the tsuka. Pretty near perfect. And I'm impressed with how the sides of the saya line up with the sides of the tsuka, flowing from one to the other...pretty rare in a production sword.
The tsuba looks to be an exact copy of the Kami Wakizashi tsuba. The Kami on it seem to have lost their noses somewhere along the way, though. Looks to be made of a copper alloy (no magnet activity). Fuchi / kashira also seem to be non-magnetic, but nice-clean casts, and free of casting lines. The sageo is awful, some synthetic, stiff material. Has nicely tied-off ends, though.
Anyhow, you can probably tell I'm happy with my purchase. I don't know if it's a durable cutter, and it's supposed to be through-hardened 1045,so it's not a super steel. But someone spent quite a bit of time getting the details right on this one. With some new rayskin, a re-wrap with better quality ito, a new sageo, and some paint work, this is going to be a nice one:)
Thanks,
jason