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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 29, 2013 14:42:08 GMT
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Wang, I paid the e-bay asking price.
first the tang- note the web blurb claims a "unique number" "Tang: Full tang, signed with unique number" what you get.
"Tsuka (Handle): Real ray skin wrapped with Japanese silk Ito & ornamented with two Menuki "
You get rayon with heat sealed ends, two cheap ray skin panels and non alternating ito and very uneven diamonds -
Tsuka, no cracks - glued fuchi and kashira
Tsuba is upside down in the tachi style, alloy - gold paint is sloppy
Kissaki polish and shape is poor,
Blade is folded and claimed as 1095 - some of the laminations are very obvious and while I can't capture it there are numerous small pits and the like along some of the laminations, suggesting working the billet at low temperature.
Reasonably sharp out of the box along most of the edge with an obvious "wire edge" left after sharpening -
Saya plain black, cotton bag.
Reminds me of an east German Trabant - plain, ugly and with few redeeming features.
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Post by Beowulf on Aug 29, 2013 20:26:43 GMT
Huh. Well, thank you for the review at least. This looks a lot like the various katana that frustrated me so much when I first tried to purchase one... and was too stubborn to spend better money. OTOH it looks good for someone to practice tsukamaki on, and to maybe get some cutting kicks with... provided the ""cracked tsuka ratio" is low enough. I really dislike alloy tsuba. They remind me of cheap cookies you buy with the too-bright and food-coloring-tasting frosting from a grocery store. Then again.. I am in the US. Do nasty cookies exist in Australia? I certainly hope not. May all your cookies be better than this katana!
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Post by Valandur on Aug 30, 2013 0:10:37 GMT
How much was this blade, if you don't mind me asking?
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 30, 2013 2:52:46 GMT
Can be had cheaply if your willing to bid for one here www.ebay.com/itm/full-Tang-knive ... 417651e17b Be aware shipping times are variable right now due to instability in China
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Post by Onimusha on Aug 30, 2013 3:33:36 GMT
It seems to be one of those situations where the sword didn't live up to the advertisement, but it's still worth the money.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 30, 2013 3:57:08 GMT
Almost, while it is hard to photograph there are numerous pits along lamination lines, being 1095 (claimed) hitting anything medium/hard could cause the blade to de-laminate, while not really dangerous having a blade turn into a Japanese fan is a bit of a shock
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Post by Onimusha on Aug 30, 2013 6:02:01 GMT
I wouldn't go so far as to say it would delaminate. It does sound like there are some cold shuts. It also sounds like somebody was pressing on the buffer too hard, smearing away some of the fold lines. At that price though, you can't expect too much out of a sword, especially a folded blade. With all that said, I won't be buying one. There are much better options in the price range, and I wouldn't think about getting a folded sword that costs less than $300. Of course, I'm a function over form guy. Aesthetics are a tertiary consideration for me.
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Post by Maynar on Aug 30, 2013 6:31:48 GMT
With all due respect to the OP, it's time for a "Wang" moment: :lol:
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Post by Turok on Aug 31, 2013 7:58:15 GMT
I'm impressed that the tsuka and saya is not cracked. Do you know what kind of wood it's made of?
I wonder if the seller even is making a profit because he offers free shipping on all his swords. I think it's ironic that Japanese swords are still being produced in China with all the current tension between China and Japan.
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Post by Onimusha on Aug 31, 2013 8:12:37 GMT
Why not? They made the "free Tibet" bumper stickers when that was going on.
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Post by Jussi Ekholm on Aug 31, 2013 9:43:16 GMT
May I ask if this was a 50$, 100$, 150$ or even 300$ sword, with or without the shipping? Because the final price will affect a lot how I would view it. If it's a cheap sword then it doesn't look that bad, if it's more expensive sword, then it is quite bad.
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 31, 2013 11:02:28 GMT
Looks like the retail is around $115
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Aug 31, 2013 11:11:11 GMT
No idea, saya is quite light, likely some kind of pine, the tsuka is a little heavier
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Post by Alan_ESNTNA on Sept 16, 2013 3:05:14 GMT
For what you paid Aussie can't really complain, looks pretty decent for what its worth. Its like a puzzle to me i always try and connect the dots to each ebay seller and try and see which sellers are from the same forge selling under different names.
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Post by Robert in California on Oct 7, 2013 6:33:20 GMT
Hi A-R, Sorry you were disappointed. I'm very happy with my Wang-katana2011 JP02 mono 1095 diff hardened katana. Sells now about $171usa last time I looked. Samegawa is panels though. Full wrap rayskin for an extra $20usa. I think shipping on my JP02 katana was about $70usa.
Ebay sword seller Katana1980 told me that the swords selling now about $200usa were selling for about $300usa around 10 years ago. And that now there are a lot more Longquan sword sellers than there were 10 years ago.
So I might guess a case of competition, even to excess, at least for the less fancy stuff. I think Wangkatana2011 sells a folded 1095 that is diff hardened now?
Thanks for the review. RinC
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Post by Robert in California on Oct 7, 2013 22:41:55 GMT
Hi A-R: Ok, I looked at the shipping box of my Wang-katana2011 JP02 mono 1095 diff-hardened (hamon) katana and the shipping cost the W-K2011 paid was $465yuan (chinese dollars) which converts to $75.62usa. So my $151 (now $171usa) W-k2011 JP02 katana actual price was under $100usa. So, my JP02 katana was actually a lot of sword for the buck. Quality very good for the price. Say A-R, I am surprised you went for a folded blade but not a diff-tempered blade. You just wanted a beater to play with that you didn't have a lot of investment in? I can understand that...been there, done that. In hindsight, for a little under $200usa you could have gotten a diff-hardened folded katana like: www.ebay.com/itm/Folded-steel-cl ... 41778fdbbe I notice that on the Wang-katana2011 ebay store site, they list these various Chinese tamahagane (sp?) katanas but I see they also have a pretty tachi they show as made from Japanese tamahagane...more pricey at $400usa, but they also seem to have put higher grade furniture on it. I am a sap for strong sori blades...looks cool (not that I have $400 to throw at a sword...wife would chew my butt): Here...tachi: www.ebay.com/itm/Folded-steel-ko ... 565820d516 But I would want to do due diligence before buying it. For instance, the text says blade can be bent 30 degrees...and I would be asking more detail on the blade steel, etc. When I was in Missouri, many years ago, practicing behind the apartment raised no concerns. But now, here in California, I would fear doing katana kata in my backyard least the neighbors call the cops re. "crazy sword-wielding terrorist".
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