ScratchNDent Ronin#14 (Pic Heavy)
Jun 4, 2014 8:38:41 GMT
Post by Aldartith Thinntrew on Jun 4, 2014 8:38:41 GMT
Non-Scratch and Dent purchase page
Introduction
Deciding to watch a classic movie (one fateful day at the University), I looked upon my swords in the corner and thought:
"Yesss precious, it is this day in particular that I shall endeavor to watch Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, 1954!"
It would prove to be a meeting of fate. Immediately following the film I found myself questioning how I could ever have thought "I'll only collect western swords". Realizing my wallet was fairly well empty due to my tuition , I waited for something proportionally priced to show itself in the Classifieds section. When nothing was forthcoming within a few days I set about looking for something else and, arriving at the Ronin Katana Scratch and Dent page, found my savior.
"Chris Scoggins," said I. "Which Katana should a newcomer to the world of oriental swords pick from the S&D page? I would like something that will serve me well despite suffering problems cosmetic, though not geometric or horrific!"
"Seth," said Chris. "The stock is already packaged and so I cannot say for certain which is best, but the #14s come to mind as being in the best shape overall." (Conversation paraphrased at my whim).
And so it was done - I ordered the #14 and had it shipped to my Lady-Friend's house that it might be enjoyed not exclusively by myself.
Full Disclosure
I paid the full price of this sword, approximately $230 Canadian after shipping and currency conversion.
This review is not endorsed nor requested nor solicited by Mr. Scoggins and contains my own experiences with his product.
Historical overview
I'm really not up to snuff on the history of the Nihonto in general, so my views and observations must be considered as those of a sword enthusiest and backyard cutter. I've just seen a bunch of period movies!
As best I know, all swords made by Ronin are in the Dōtanuki style. To me this seems appropriate, as Dōtanuki swords are known as "Torso Cutters" - seems to fit the bill for we of the backyard cutting breed.
Unboxing
The sword arrived on a Wednesday early in May and after a morning of toil I was certainly ready to unwind by breaking in a new sword.
First though, some photos of the horse it rode in on:
I thought the smushed ends might be cause for some worry - they weren't.
Inside this box was another smaller box, totally undamaged.
Inside the smaller box was my quarry, safely situated with styrofoam spacers to prevent it from being thrown about inside the box.
The bag is a cheap black cotton thing with some white polyester at the top, a spartan affair. Cat hair sticks to it like nobody would believe. It does it's job well though, and prevents a lot of annoying and easily acquired scratches.
At last - The sword! It looked fantastic when I pulled it out, couldn't believe it could possibly be a scratch and dent sword, looked fine to me at first!
A Quick First Impression
It wasn't heavy, but the sword and saya were solid feeling. I felt like I was holding something with a lot of potential and was keenly aware that I had hyped my own expectations quite a bit while waiting for my parcel. I had attemped to temper excitement by reminding myself this was a S&D purchase, there's bound to be something wrong. I couldn't see anything at this point, though.
External Components
Sageo seemed well tied. The week before last, though, the little keeper string that stops the end from fraying fell off the side closest to the mouth of the Saya. Watch out for these if you pick up a ronin, and put a dab of clear nail varnish on them to keep it in place.
The Tsuba was well formed and without issue except for some black hairy stuff for which I cannot come up with a reasonable estimation as to how it got there. Must be demon hair from the little Oni guy on there.
The Fuchi and Kashira are nicely executed and fairly plain and functional (which I admire). This is the sole decoration on the Kashira:
Some of the core exposed there, under the wrap. This probably contributed to it's S&D Status.
The wrap seemed tight at first, though a little inspection revealed I could shift the menuki about. I'm quite fond of the little monster on these menuki, some sort of Piglike Dragon.
Some bulge and spaceing in the same around the mekugi. It's an inexpensive rayskin but feels like plastic to my inexperienced hands.
Removing the sword from the Saya, I found it liberally coated with oil and the customary Saya crumbumblies.
Habaki is really nicely flush with the blade, not loose though a little grimey. I won't worry too much about cleaning it.
After wiping the blade clean:
It was very very tidy and handsome, and noticabley free of damage! Obviously the blade was not the reason this sword is a scratch n' dent.
Unfortunately I don't know enough about Katana geometry to speculate about whether or not this conforms in general, but I do want to bring the blade termination to your attention:
The tip is well reinforced and, overall, has somewhat of an aura of a barbed tail about it. Very menacing and a wonder to look at. The pictures really can't do this feature justice.
Surveying the Saya:
Peering into the koiguchi I noticed the first sign of damage - there is a chip gouged out by someone who was careless either removing the blade or replacing it. No big deal, easily fixed by some layered wood glue to fill the space. At first the Habaki fitted nicely, but 2 weeks of removing and replacing the sword and it became so loose as to allow the sword fall out easily. Now, post-wood glue, it fits perfectly fine with no slipping.
There was some mild rattling which has gotten moderately worse. It's still not horrid though, and the sword hasn't sustained any damage from it to date that I've noticed.
Continuing to look over the saya, I found some further issue:
Aha! Cracks in the laquer! This is surely a major reason this didn't make it into the regular inventory, along with some very minor chips to the koiguchi and kojiri (very, VERY minor - not even capturable by camera lens)
Statistics (From RK, NON-S&D PAGE)
Steel: Through hardened 1060
Saya: Hand cut and polished buffalo horn Kurikata, Koguchi and Kojiri.
Weight: 2.65 pounds
POB: 4 3/4 - 5 inches
Length in saya: 44 inches
Tsuka: 11 inches
Blade: 30 inches
Habaki to tip: 29 inches
Ito: Silk
Sageo: Synthetic silk
Fuchi: Backened iron
Kashira: Blackened iron
Menuki: Brass
Handling Characteristics
At first I thought the sword felt heavy and ungainly. I had never had an encounter with a Katana that wasn't on display until this point. Now (one month later) I feel completely comfortable with the sword and it feels well balanced. I no longer have issues gripping and manipulating it, though I do wish I could come to a consensus with my hands about which I prefer to lead with. I found an excellent way to familiarize myself with the new blade and how to cut with it was to throw a plastic grocery bag aloft on a blustery day and at first just practice various strokes, keeping it aloft. If you can actually manage to cut the bag (in any way, shape or form) you're doing something very right.
Eventually after enough of this activity, you'll become Forest Whitaker,
at which point it is safe to move on to the
Test Cutting
The sword passed the standard paper test well. Poor alignment initially led me to beleive it wouldn't pass, but my fears were assuaged once I got the edge lined up properly.
On to bottles.
I brought out the sword stand and gave the sword an inaugural bottle-cutting session. Here are some miscellaneous photos from the main event:
The victims:
It handled all comers easily and reduced them to waste. Multiple cuts were simple and resulted in some lovely plastic rings to be collected by the local recycling plant. I was really amazed by the ease with which this sword cut, especially with my amateur form and general unfamiliarity with the type.
The blade post-cut was perfectly fine. I whacked the stand once by accident (due to my unfamiliarity) and it removed a serious portion from the top of the stand. The edge of the blade didn't roll or chip, it merely became somewhat less sharp in a very small area due to the bad angle. No harm done, really.
The bottles weren't enough for me, and so I escalated to
A harder target:
Last winter a particularily hard storm felled about 10 sizeable branches from my large pine in the back yard. It left a widowmaker up there for 4+ months and right around the time the sword arrived the last massive branch finally fell. It was time to take some small-scale revenge on the tree for holding part of the yard hostage. After rounding up tree-debris I picked a few medium branches to put the sword to the test and propped them up with a milk crate and some bricks.
Here are the results:
It handled the pine easily and surprisingly - cleanly! there wasn't really much splintering and every cut went stright through without a hitch. Wow! Pine may be a relatively soft wood, but this impressed me!
Surveying the blade for potential damage, I found little.
There were a few spots where the edge was dulled, as well as a little bit up by the kissaki where there was some slightly more serious dulling. Absolutely nothing permanent and unfixable, so I cleaned the pine-gunk off with a little peanut butter and tested it's edge after the hard targets.
It still cut like a dream! No issues whatsoever.
Here's what the nakago of a Ronin looks like, for those curious but wise enough not to needlessly pry their own Tsuka off.
I have been informed by a friend that the characters read "Ronin Dōtanuki". These seem more organizational than ceremonial, as they've been quickly executed with a hand engraver and are not very deep.
2 weeks later the knots began to come undone and the Ito began to fray, and the wrap began to lose shape.
After a couple more cutting sessions (of about 200 water bottles apiece) I began to notice the tsuka felt a little loose throughout the swing, and especially if I pushed it from side to side (this was lateral looseness, not up and down looseness). Popping the tsuka off I observed tha there was a crack or two on the spine of the tsuka. These didn't seem too bad or unfixable, but I removed the Ito to be sure and found 2 more major cracks underneath (I don't have photos of these). At this point I have decided to keep the tsuka off and repair/replace it before using the sword anymore. I have currently owned the sword for slightly over 1 month. Here's the Tsuka just prior to dismantling.
Conclusions
I felt that the sword was a good value for the money. At $230 for a solid production blade with a good reputation I cannot say that I find any fault with the overall package that wasn't par for the course. This was a scratch and dent sword, remember. As such the issues with the fit-and-finish on the saya and the brittleness of the tsuka are really to be expected.
Where at first I was disoriented by the sword, I now feel that it is well balanced. The initial discombobulation may have been excacerbated by the length of the sword. In my experience there has been a learning curve for how to wield a Katana and the methods required for comfort while cutting took time to acquire. Since I have begun with a slightly long Katana I look forward to exploring how other slightly shorter Katanas feel in the hand.
I will omit any speculation about improvements, as this is not representative of what a full-priced Ronin will have to offer.
Suffice to say that as a scratch and dent piece this sword has met and exceeded most of my expectations and I will definitely be exploring the Ronin line again in the future. Chris was helpful and responded within one day to each e-mail, often sharing multiple correspondences with me in a single day.
The desire I will express here is that one day Ronin might be able to offer a modicum of customization on their swords. Perhaps they already do this on one level or another, and if so I am unfamiliar with it. It would be a cool feature, though, and they would be the first production company to offer it outside the SBG custom katana project and the eBay sellers that I am familiar with.
Pros
- Beautiful simplistic fuchi and kashira
- Sharp cutter out of the box
- Very affordable price point
- Quality far exceeded expectation of a scratch and dent item
Cons
- Tsuka proved to be on the weak side
- Wrap was not stable, came apart and will need replacing
- Ugly samethat feels plasticy
- Rusts quickly if not cleaned immediately after cutting
-(Personal observation) The demon tsuba easily hurts the hand by scraping and gouging it
The Bottom Line
I would certainly reccomend the Ronin Scratch and Dent line to anyone seeking to try their first Katana, or anyone seeking a low-cost, high-yield beater. This is because of the high overall level of quality despite being a scratch-and-dent, the value for the cost seems to be more than reasonable.
Thank you for reading, I hope this will be helpful to you!
In the future I will be contrasting this scratch-and-dent purchase with an eBay Katana purchase with an eye to ascertaining which might be the better option for a beginner looking for a low-cost starting sword.
A preview of the subject:
Introduction
Deciding to watch a classic movie (one fateful day at the University), I looked upon my swords in the corner and thought:
"Yesss precious, it is this day in particular that I shall endeavor to watch Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, 1954!"
It would prove to be a meeting of fate. Immediately following the film I found myself questioning how I could ever have thought "I'll only collect western swords". Realizing my wallet was fairly well empty due to my tuition , I waited for something proportionally priced to show itself in the Classifieds section. When nothing was forthcoming within a few days I set about looking for something else and, arriving at the Ronin Katana Scratch and Dent page, found my savior.
"Chris Scoggins," said I. "Which Katana should a newcomer to the world of oriental swords pick from the S&D page? I would like something that will serve me well despite suffering problems cosmetic, though not geometric or horrific!"
"Seth," said Chris. "The stock is already packaged and so I cannot say for certain which is best, but the #14s come to mind as being in the best shape overall." (Conversation paraphrased at my whim).
And so it was done - I ordered the #14 and had it shipped to my Lady-Friend's house that it might be enjoyed not exclusively by myself.
Full Disclosure
I paid the full price of this sword, approximately $230 Canadian after shipping and currency conversion.
This review is not endorsed nor requested nor solicited by Mr. Scoggins and contains my own experiences with his product.
Historical overview
I'm really not up to snuff on the history of the Nihonto in general, so my views and observations must be considered as those of a sword enthusiest and backyard cutter. I've just seen a bunch of period movies!
As best I know, all swords made by Ronin are in the Dōtanuki style. To me this seems appropriate, as Dōtanuki swords are known as "Torso Cutters" - seems to fit the bill for we of the backyard cutting breed.
Unboxing
The sword arrived on a Wednesday early in May and after a morning of toil I was certainly ready to unwind by breaking in a new sword.
First though, some photos of the horse it rode in on:
I thought the smushed ends might be cause for some worry - they weren't.
Inside this box was another smaller box, totally undamaged.
Inside the smaller box was my quarry, safely situated with styrofoam spacers to prevent it from being thrown about inside the box.
The bag is a cheap black cotton thing with some white polyester at the top, a spartan affair. Cat hair sticks to it like nobody would believe. It does it's job well though, and prevents a lot of annoying and easily acquired scratches.
At last - The sword! It looked fantastic when I pulled it out, couldn't believe it could possibly be a scratch and dent sword, looked fine to me at first!
A Quick First Impression
It wasn't heavy, but the sword and saya were solid feeling. I felt like I was holding something with a lot of potential and was keenly aware that I had hyped my own expectations quite a bit while waiting for my parcel. I had attemped to temper excitement by reminding myself this was a S&D purchase, there's bound to be something wrong. I couldn't see anything at this point, though.
External Components
Sageo seemed well tied. The week before last, though, the little keeper string that stops the end from fraying fell off the side closest to the mouth of the Saya. Watch out for these if you pick up a ronin, and put a dab of clear nail varnish on them to keep it in place.
The Tsuba was well formed and without issue except for some black hairy stuff for which I cannot come up with a reasonable estimation as to how it got there. Must be demon hair from the little Oni guy on there.
The Fuchi and Kashira are nicely executed and fairly plain and functional (which I admire). This is the sole decoration on the Kashira:
Some of the core exposed there, under the wrap. This probably contributed to it's S&D Status.
The wrap seemed tight at first, though a little inspection revealed I could shift the menuki about. I'm quite fond of the little monster on these menuki, some sort of Piglike Dragon.
Some bulge and spaceing in the same around the mekugi. It's an inexpensive rayskin but feels like plastic to my inexperienced hands.
Removing the sword from the Saya, I found it liberally coated with oil and the customary Saya crumbumblies.
Habaki is really nicely flush with the blade, not loose though a little grimey. I won't worry too much about cleaning it.
After wiping the blade clean:
It was very very tidy and handsome, and noticabley free of damage! Obviously the blade was not the reason this sword is a scratch n' dent.
Unfortunately I don't know enough about Katana geometry to speculate about whether or not this conforms in general, but I do want to bring the blade termination to your attention:
The tip is well reinforced and, overall, has somewhat of an aura of a barbed tail about it. Very menacing and a wonder to look at. The pictures really can't do this feature justice.
Surveying the Saya:
Peering into the koiguchi I noticed the first sign of damage - there is a chip gouged out by someone who was careless either removing the blade or replacing it. No big deal, easily fixed by some layered wood glue to fill the space. At first the Habaki fitted nicely, but 2 weeks of removing and replacing the sword and it became so loose as to allow the sword fall out easily. Now, post-wood glue, it fits perfectly fine with no slipping.
There was some mild rattling which has gotten moderately worse. It's still not horrid though, and the sword hasn't sustained any damage from it to date that I've noticed.
Continuing to look over the saya, I found some further issue:
Aha! Cracks in the laquer! This is surely a major reason this didn't make it into the regular inventory, along with some very minor chips to the koiguchi and kojiri (very, VERY minor - not even capturable by camera lens)
Statistics (From RK, NON-S&D PAGE)
Steel: Through hardened 1060
Saya: Hand cut and polished buffalo horn Kurikata, Koguchi and Kojiri.
Weight: 2.65 pounds
POB: 4 3/4 - 5 inches
Length in saya: 44 inches
Tsuka: 11 inches
Blade: 30 inches
Habaki to tip: 29 inches
Ito: Silk
Sageo: Synthetic silk
Fuchi: Backened iron
Kashira: Blackened iron
Menuki: Brass
Handling Characteristics
At first I thought the sword felt heavy and ungainly. I had never had an encounter with a Katana that wasn't on display until this point. Now (one month later) I feel completely comfortable with the sword and it feels well balanced. I no longer have issues gripping and manipulating it, though I do wish I could come to a consensus with my hands about which I prefer to lead with. I found an excellent way to familiarize myself with the new blade and how to cut with it was to throw a plastic grocery bag aloft on a blustery day and at first just practice various strokes, keeping it aloft. If you can actually manage to cut the bag (in any way, shape or form) you're doing something very right.
Eventually after enough of this activity, you'll become Forest Whitaker,
at which point it is safe to move on to the
Test Cutting
The sword passed the standard paper test well. Poor alignment initially led me to beleive it wouldn't pass, but my fears were assuaged once I got the edge lined up properly.
On to bottles.
I brought out the sword stand and gave the sword an inaugural bottle-cutting session. Here are some miscellaneous photos from the main event:
The victims:
It handled all comers easily and reduced them to waste. Multiple cuts were simple and resulted in some lovely plastic rings to be collected by the local recycling plant. I was really amazed by the ease with which this sword cut, especially with my amateur form and general unfamiliarity with the type.
The blade post-cut was perfectly fine. I whacked the stand once by accident (due to my unfamiliarity) and it removed a serious portion from the top of the stand. The edge of the blade didn't roll or chip, it merely became somewhat less sharp in a very small area due to the bad angle. No harm done, really.
The bottles weren't enough for me, and so I escalated to
A harder target:
Last winter a particularily hard storm felled about 10 sizeable branches from my large pine in the back yard. It left a widowmaker up there for 4+ months and right around the time the sword arrived the last massive branch finally fell. It was time to take some small-scale revenge on the tree for holding part of the yard hostage. After rounding up tree-debris I picked a few medium branches to put the sword to the test and propped them up with a milk crate and some bricks.
Here are the results:
It handled the pine easily and surprisingly - cleanly! there wasn't really much splintering and every cut went stright through without a hitch. Wow! Pine may be a relatively soft wood, but this impressed me!
Surveying the blade for potential damage, I found little.
There were a few spots where the edge was dulled, as well as a little bit up by the kissaki where there was some slightly more serious dulling. Absolutely nothing permanent and unfixable, so I cleaned the pine-gunk off with a little peanut butter and tested it's edge after the hard targets.
It still cut like a dream! No issues whatsoever.
Here's what the nakago of a Ronin looks like, for those curious but wise enough not to needlessly pry their own Tsuka off.
I have been informed by a friend that the characters read "Ronin Dōtanuki". These seem more organizational than ceremonial, as they've been quickly executed with a hand engraver and are not very deep.
2 weeks later the knots began to come undone and the Ito began to fray, and the wrap began to lose shape.
After a couple more cutting sessions (of about 200 water bottles apiece) I began to notice the tsuka felt a little loose throughout the swing, and especially if I pushed it from side to side (this was lateral looseness, not up and down looseness). Popping the tsuka off I observed tha there was a crack or two on the spine of the tsuka. These didn't seem too bad or unfixable, but I removed the Ito to be sure and found 2 more major cracks underneath (I don't have photos of these). At this point I have decided to keep the tsuka off and repair/replace it before using the sword anymore. I have currently owned the sword for slightly over 1 month. Here's the Tsuka just prior to dismantling.
Conclusions
I felt that the sword was a good value for the money. At $230 for a solid production blade with a good reputation I cannot say that I find any fault with the overall package that wasn't par for the course. This was a scratch and dent sword, remember. As such the issues with the fit-and-finish on the saya and the brittleness of the tsuka are really to be expected.
Where at first I was disoriented by the sword, I now feel that it is well balanced. The initial discombobulation may have been excacerbated by the length of the sword. In my experience there has been a learning curve for how to wield a Katana and the methods required for comfort while cutting took time to acquire. Since I have begun with a slightly long Katana I look forward to exploring how other slightly shorter Katanas feel in the hand.
I will omit any speculation about improvements, as this is not representative of what a full-priced Ronin will have to offer.
Suffice to say that as a scratch and dent piece this sword has met and exceeded most of my expectations and I will definitely be exploring the Ronin line again in the future. Chris was helpful and responded within one day to each e-mail, often sharing multiple correspondences with me in a single day.
The desire I will express here is that one day Ronin might be able to offer a modicum of customization on their swords. Perhaps they already do this on one level or another, and if so I am unfamiliar with it. It would be a cool feature, though, and they would be the first production company to offer it outside the SBG custom katana project and the eBay sellers that I am familiar with.
Pros
- Beautiful simplistic fuchi and kashira
- Sharp cutter out of the box
- Very affordable price point
- Quality far exceeded expectation of a scratch and dent item
Cons
- Tsuka proved to be on the weak side
- Wrap was not stable, came apart and will need replacing
- Ugly samethat feels plasticy
- Rusts quickly if not cleaned immediately after cutting
-(Personal observation) The demon tsuba easily hurts the hand by scraping and gouging it
The Bottom Line
I would certainly reccomend the Ronin Scratch and Dent line to anyone seeking to try their first Katana, or anyone seeking a low-cost, high-yield beater. This is because of the high overall level of quality despite being a scratch-and-dent, the value for the cost seems to be more than reasonable.
Thank you for reading, I hope this will be helpful to you!
In the future I will be contrasting this scratch-and-dent purchase with an eBay Katana purchase with an eye to ascertaining which might be the better option for a beginner looking for a low-cost starting sword.
A preview of the subject: