Huawei DH Shinogi Zukuri Katana
Jan 28, 2014 8:23:07 GMT
Post by skane on Jan 28, 2014 8:23:07 GMT
Huawei DH Shinogi Zukuri Katana
Note: photos are 1000 pixels wide and may be truncated depending on your screen size and forum style choice...
FULL DISCLOSURE
I’m not affiliated with Huawei swords in any way. I ordered the katana in this review through their ebay store and paid full price. I’m just a backyard cutter and imho I have an intermediate level of experience and knowledge of production kats. I own other katanas from Bugei, Ronin, Dynasty Forge, Cold Steel, and a vendor that cannot be mentioned on this forum.
I’ve read good things about Huawei swords on multiple forums, and was interested in getting another differential hardened katana. Decided to try a Huawei ($399 delivered).
Ordered on 1/17/14, received on 1/25/14.
Here’s link to the listing: www.ebay.com/itm/High-Quality-Sh ... 4179726801
Sword was shipped in the usual form-fit Styrofoam box wrapped in yellow packing tape. Nice black/grey sword bag. Tsuka was wrapped with heat shrink plastic. Blade was moderately oiled and wrapped in plastic.
Statistics/Description from the vendor listing. I also took my own measurements where noted in individual sections below.
START QUOTE FROM VENDOR LISTING
“Nagasa /blade length- 71cm
Motohaba- 3.2cm
Motokasane - 0.78cm
Sakihaba - 2.4cm
Sakikasane - 0.5cm
Nakago Length -26cm
Sori/curvature - tori sori 1.8cm
Chu kissaki -4.5cm
Tsuka Length - 27.5cm
Mekugi-ana- 2
Description:
Hand Forged(QiRen),Clay tempered high carbon steel ,Water Quenched, DH, high
level Hand polished full length
Tameshigiri Polish, Visible Natural Prominent Hamon
Shinogi Zukuri with Geometric Yokote
Full tang, Very tightly alternate & HISHIGAMI TSUKAMAKI
Bamboo two Mekugi Peg
Authentic black same tsuka
Black Ring Lacquered saya (Inro saya)
Buffalo horn kojiri,koiguchi and kurikata”
END QUOTE FROM VENDOR LISTING
TSUKA
Note: photos are 1000 pixels wide and may be truncated depending on your screen size and forum style choice...
FULL DISCLOSURE
I’m not affiliated with Huawei swords in any way. I ordered the katana in this review through their ebay store and paid full price. I’m just a backyard cutter and imho I have an intermediate level of experience and knowledge of production kats. I own other katanas from Bugei, Ronin, Dynasty Forge, Cold Steel, and a vendor that cannot be mentioned on this forum.
I’ve read good things about Huawei swords on multiple forums, and was interested in getting another differential hardened katana. Decided to try a Huawei ($399 delivered).
Ordered on 1/17/14, received on 1/25/14.
Here’s link to the listing: www.ebay.com/itm/High-Quality-Sh ... 4179726801
Sword was shipped in the usual form-fit Styrofoam box wrapped in yellow packing tape. Nice black/grey sword bag. Tsuka was wrapped with heat shrink plastic. Blade was moderately oiled and wrapped in plastic.
Statistics/Description from the vendor listing. I also took my own measurements where noted in individual sections below.
START QUOTE FROM VENDOR LISTING
“Nagasa /blade length- 71cm
Motohaba- 3.2cm
Motokasane - 0.78cm
Sakihaba - 2.4cm
Sakikasane - 0.5cm
Nakago Length -26cm
Sori/curvature - tori sori 1.8cm
Chu kissaki -4.5cm
Tsuka Length - 27.5cm
Mekugi-ana- 2
Description:
Hand Forged(QiRen),Clay tempered high carbon steel ,Water Quenched, DH, high
level Hand polished full length
Tameshigiri Polish, Visible Natural Prominent Hamon
Shinogi Zukuri with Geometric Yokote
Full tang, Very tightly alternate & HISHIGAMI TSUKAMAKI
Bamboo two Mekugi Peg
Authentic black same tsuka
Black Ring Lacquered saya (Inro saya)
Buffalo horn kojiri,koiguchi and kurikata”
END QUOTE FROM VENDOR LISTING
TSUKA
[*]Tsuka length: 10.8"[/*:m]
[*]Tsuka profile flows well with saya and blade curvature. Tsuka sides are slightly more rounded and thicker than I prefer.[/*:m]
[*]Small to medium size nodes on samegawa, Black-lacquered, with very smooth clean finish; looks almost plastic.[/*:m]
[*]Tsuka ito wrap is very tight. Alternating. Has hishigami. No movement on wrap or crossovers. Diamonds are quite consistent. There is some pinching and overlap at the end knots to accommodate tsuka core length and ito width, but again, wrap is very tight with no movement.[/*:m]
[*]Ito is probably synthetic silk. Looks/feels nice, no fuzzies.[/*:m]
[*]Gold colored menuki in a floral design. No movement under wrap.[/*:m]
[*]Two mekugi, rounded ends, angled and easily accessible between the wrap.[/*:m][/list:u]
FITTINGS
[*]Nice understated black fittings.[/*:m]
[*]Habaki and Seppa are copper or copper finished.[/*:m]
[*]Tsuba is iron or steel (magnetic). 3.125” diameter, 1/8” thick.[/*:m]
[*]Fuchi and Kashira are some alloy finished in black. Material appears to be thick/substantial (non magnetic).[/*:m]
[*]Fuchi, Kashira, Seppa, Tsuba, Habaki are tight, aligned, and centered with blade. No movement.[/*:m]
[*]Habaki had some rough raised burrs at blade joint on mune side. I smoothed the burr down with a jewelers file.[/*:m]
[*]There are slim gaps between habaki and blade sides (shinogi to ha).[/*:m][/list:u]
BLADE
[*]Blade length: 29" (including habaki)[/*:m]
[*]Mune thickness: 7.8mm tapering to 5mm (as advertised)[/*:m]
[*]The listing mentions “QiRen” associated with the forging. In Huawei’s other listings, it sounds like this person (?) works on some of their higher priced blades.[/*:m]
[*]Blade geometry is nice; I didn’t notice any obvious glitches. No ripple or machine marks. Smooth polish, not a mirror finish, but reflective. The pictures of the blade show a lot of environment reflections that can be distracting and appear as scratches or defects… sorry about that.[/*:m]
[*]The steel type was not specified in the listing, just says “clay tempered high carbon steel”.[/*:m]
[*]Easily cuts paper out of box along entire blade length.[/*:m]
[*]Slight hira niku.[/*:m]
[*]Hamon is wide, like the pictures on the ebay listing; hamon rises up to shinogi in some areas.[/*:m]
[*]Yokote line has a short crooked section on one side. I can't see a boshi; rough grind obscures it.[/*:m][/list:u]
SAYA
[*]Inro style.[/*:m]
[*]Koiguchi has fairly rough finish at opening.[/*:m]
[*]Habaki/koiguchi fit is tight. It holds firm with a 1.5mm gap between seppa and koiguchi face.[/*:m]
[*]No saya rattle. None. No sticking, digging, dragging, or misalignment. Nice.[/*:m]
[*]Sageo is thin/light material; more like ito than sageo. Will be replaced.[/*:m]
[*]Shitodome were unsecured. I’ll glue them in later when I replace the sageo.[/*:m][/list:u]
Handles well (subjective). POB is 5.75" from tsuba. Doesn’t feel radically different from any other production kat with a 28”-29” blade and 11” tsuka. I didn’t weigh it; but the weight is somewhere between a Ronin Dojo Pro and a Dynasty Forge Musha w/out bohi (yes, quite a range there, haha). It handles very similar to a 9260 offering from a vendor that can’t be mentioned on this forum.
Have not disassembled it yet.
Have not cut with it yet. I still need to disassemble, inspect the tsuka core, glue down the end knot, and lacquer the tsuka before it gets used (like my other cutters).
For this model, there was only an option for ito color. I would have preferred white samegawa and a plain black lacquered saya. But I decided to order the katana as-is with no changes. Just guessing here, but I think this particular model is pre-mounted as pictured with a little more care/attention on the tsuka core and fittings, and changing anything on the order just increases chances for issues. I’ll just use it for a while, then rewrap it with Japanese cotton or silk in a different color and maybe replace the samegawa. I can live with the inro saya
CONCLUSIONS
I’m satisfied with the purchase and would do it again. This is my 6th sub-$400 production kat. The cons mentioned below are somewhat minor to me. Main things to me are solid components that are fit together well for safety and performance. I’m not too picky about cosmetic stuff, although it is a good looking katana for the price point.
PROS:
[*]Blade geometry and finish (relative to price point).[/*:m]
[*]Excellent tsuka wrap. Tight, alternating, with hishigami and nice diamonds.[/*:m]
[*]Plain looking flat black fittings. Fittings are tight and aligned on tsuka and blade.[/*:m]
[*]Well built and well fit saya (with exception of unsecured shitodome).[/*:m][/list:u]
CONS:
[*]Yokote line is kinda mushy with a short crooked/smeared section on one side.[/*:m]
[*]Shitodome on kurikata not secured.[/*:m]
[*]Sageo is flimsy and short.[/*:m]
[*]Inro saya. Personal preference… I like plain black lacqured saya.[/*:m]
[*]Black samegawa. Personal preference… I like white samegawa.[/*:m][/list:u]
Thanks for reading, hope this provides more info on the Huawei DH blades in this price range ($399) for anyone interested.