Wang-katana2011 DH 1095 Special Version Katana:
Jul 27, 2014 0:37:18 GMT
Post by Robert in California on Jul 27, 2014 0:37:18 GMT
SWORD REVIEW: A LONGER, HEAVIER VERSION OF THE WANG-KATANA2011 (EBAY) CLAY-TEMPERED (DH) MONO-1095 KATANA.
by Robert in California
INTRODUCTION:
About a year ago, I got an Ebay account and bought a Longquan, China sword. A Wang-katana2011 clay-tempered, 1095 mono steel katana, with a black painted saya, iron tsuba, black painted alloy fuchi/kashira, black rayskin paneled tsuka wih bladk ito. It was a well-made budget katana and was on sale for about $153usa with a regular price around $180usa (shipping included).
Here is the link to Wang-Katana2011 site:
stores.ebay.com/wang-katana2011
I liked that standard model DH 1095 katana for the good build quality (good worksmanship) despite the budget sword price. And for the smooth and quick feel of this sword in my hands. It felt a little light for heavy cutting but felt just great for kata and other Dojo practice. A fast sword with medium features.
This was my review of it:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17644&p=213688#p213688
A sword with well-done budget furniture but a good blade, without question.
Now I wanted that same sword but longer and heavier. A little more powerful in feel:
So I asked Wang-katana2011 for another of the same clay-tempered 1095 model but a little longer, a little heavier, with a wider hamon and a full samegawa wrap tsuka. Their sword factory was able to fulfill 3 of my 4 modification requests.
This review is of what Wang-katana2011 (W-K2011) was able to build for me.
The new sword--longer 28 1/2 inches w/o habaki, heavier, thicker blade, full rayskin tsuka wrap:
The new sword, another view:
Wang-katana2011 is a Longquan, China sword maker of traditonal Japanese and Chinese swords.
Longquan has been a center of Chinese sword making and pottery for hundreds of years.
Why buy a Japanese sword made in China?
Simple: Affordability. Value. Features.
I have watched products from China slowly improve for many years.
IMO, many Longquan knives and swords are now of USA build quality.
Of course, Longquan swords are made for a wide range of prices. From wall hangers to some really good quality swords that are costly.
IMO, given time, Longquan swords will rival made-in-Japan swords.
For one thing, swordsmiths in China have more freedom to make swords than do swordsmiths in Japan. And along with that freedom, comes increased opportunity to produce, innovate and ramp up the skill and experience levels.
Think a $200usa Longquan budget katana is a "cheap sword"? Not at all, they are screaming bargains. An equivalent katana made in Japan, the USA or England would cost the buyer much more.
And something I have noticed about $200usa category Longquan "budget" swords:
While the furniture and blade polish may be "budget", the blade quality of a "budget" clay-tempered 1095 or folded or T10 katana can be as good quality in steel and tempering as a more expensive model.
Why?
Because "budget" sword manufacturing costs are kept down via volume, standardization and minumizing as much labor-intensive hand work as feasible.
For example, two swords, same everything but blade polish can have quite different prices due to one sword with a minimal time to do a budget "shiny-all-over" polish using machinery versus the other sword with a time and labor-intensive hazuya/jizuya fingerstones polish. A couple budget katanas I bought had kissakis (tip ends of the swords) with polishes where I could notsee the boshi/hamon. But a few hours with fingerstones and nicely done blade features were revealed.
Especially with the folded sword...budget cost blade but after spending a few days with hazuya/jizuya stones (remember to put a little Arm&Hammer
Washing Soda in the water to prevent rust) a REALLY pretty blade was revealed.
A good polish can make quite a difference.
REAL JAPANESE SWORDS?
A purist would say that only a katana, wakizashi or tanto made in Japan by Japanese swordsmiths is a real Japanese sword.
Is that really true?
Japanese swordsmiths have had a history of forging swords out of tamahaganae, foreign steels, and making mono-steel swords as well as folded.
So too, Chinese.
But Japan is a low volume, small shop sword manufacturer. China is becoming a high volume, large shop manufacturer. And China has created numerous competing sword forges, factories and shops to the point Longquan,
China deserves to be the primary place for a sword student/enthusiast to visit.
Collectors of antique Japanese swords will continue to focus on antique Japanese swords. But for sword enthusiasts and sword students
who do not have the money for Made-in-Japan Japanese swords, there are Made-in-China Japanese swords. Longquan swords especially.
The "budget" Longquan clay-tempered, 1095 high carbon or Chinese folded steel swords of Wang-katana2011's sword factory run $200usa plus or minus.
Though from time to time Wang-katana2011 will offer some fancier swords at higher prices, such as their Kobuse line at about $350usa plus.
For example, a link to a W-K2011 "Chinese tamahaganae" katana:
www.ebay.com/itm/New-samurai-swo ... 5667b3da6b
And a link to a standard Kobuse katana:
www.ebay.com/itm/Handmade-Clay-t ... 5666522ce2
And a more fancy Kobuse katana:
www.ebay.com/itm/Top-quality-Cla ... 5666523b60
But what did I get for myself?
MY BUY:
I have liked the way my standard model Wang-katana2011 clay-tempered (DH) mono 1095 katana feels in my hand so much, I ordered a special version.
I wanted a longer blade. My standard DH 1095 katana was 27 3/4 inches (without habaki). W-K2011's factory made me a 28 5/8 inch blade (without habaki).
I wanted a full samegawa (ray skin) tsuka (hilt) wrap instead of the default samegawa panels. Using raw samegawa.
W-K2011 did a very nice full wrap in white/natural raw samegawa (raw dries rock hard and adds extra strength to the tsuka).
Even has the desirable Emporer Node.
And I wanted a wide hamon. This, W-K2011 tried but was not able to do with the way they clay temper mono 1095 steel. They had problems with blade bending in the quench when making the hamon extra wide.
What were they able to do? They were able to make an interesting hamon of alternating wide and narrow like sharp, narrow waves, and made the blade longer and a little thicker.
And a little heavier at 2.4 pounds without saya and 2.9 pounds with saya. As measured by my cheap and simple cooking scale.
The standard DHp mono-1095 sword w/o saya was 2.2 pounds without saya and 2.7 pounds with saya.
FULL DISCLOSURE:
I paid full price of a standard DH 1095 (about $180usa) plus $20usa for the full ray skin tsuka wrap. W-K2011 was going to charge me an extra $50usa
for a wide hamon version, but did not as the hamon turned out more narrow than hoped for.
I still ended up with a longer, more powerful blade with an interesting hamon.
One other bit of information: The sword arrived with the usual "shiny-all-over" mirror type finish which gave me a lot of trouble photographing the hamon. So I took a couple days and did a hazuya fingerstone polish to make photographing the hamon easier with my camera.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:
Longer blade. Longer saya. W-K2011 had to add an extension to their standard styrafoam shipping box. W-K2011 is able to make good quality budget swords because they try to make their factory swords of standardized dimensions....all about the same length. All about the same sori (blade curvature). All made about the same blade thickness. Etc. And the division of labor which creates a factory of specialists and increased production ability. This benefits us sword buyers by keeping sword making costs down.
The sword came well and securely packed inside the shipping box and arrived in perfect condition.
This special longer and heavier version DH 1095 katana had no bohi but hissed more easily and louder, with less effort, when doing air cuts than my regular DH 1095.
Condition of sword was excellent. Blade perfectly straight. Blade curves all even and symmetrical. Polish good though the typical budget sword "shiny-all-over" polish which my digital camera has trouble photographing, so I did a simple fingerstone (hazuya/jizuya) polish to make photos easier.
Saya and furniture are in perfect condition.
Tsuka ito was even and tight. Diamonds well done. Non-alternating ito wrap but very tight.
Samegawa is above average for budget swords.
Habaki is a perfect fit to blade and tsuka.
Another view of habaki:
I am used to swords that have a good fit of habaki to koguichi (saya opening) but come loose with a bit of effort, that is...are a little tight.
But W-K2011 person who had fitted this sword to its saya, had done the fitting so it gradually gripped the habaki, but lightly. The fit was so nice that the sword notoed (seated fully) into the saya (scabbard) like butter and so good that I could then turn the sword upside down and it stayed in the saya until I gave the sword a slight shake. Whoever did the sword to saya fitting was a Master.
Such a perfect fitting job is a pleasure to use, but should the fit be just a little tighter? Because over time, does not the habaki to saya mouth (koguichi) fit loosen up?
The ray skin used in the tsuka wrap was better than the usual budget ray skin. Not often one sees Emperor node samegawa on a Longquan budget katana.
So, yes, initial impression was very good.
Except for one area.
The nakago edges and some places on the blade had wire edges. I used a small file and a honing stone to remove the wire edges on the nakago (tang) and to smooth the nakago edges so to became more comfortable to hold in the hand.
I used a polish stone to remove the wire edges from the spots on the blade that had them.
So no harm done, but W-K2011 quality control inspectors should have caught that before passing the finished blade on to the furniture specialists.
DETAILS:
Longquan katana made by Wang-katana2011 factory:
Blade steel = mono 1095 (ref. W-K2011)
Blade temper = clay tempered with hamon
Blade hardness = 59/40 (ref. W-K2011)
Sori (blade curvature) = 18 mm (0.71 inches)
Saya = pebbled dull black painted wood
Habaki = brass
Seppa (2) = brass
Tsuba = iron, blackened
Tsuka = hackberry wood with full wrap of real samegawa and black synthetic silk ito, non-alternating criss-cross ito wrap.
Fuchi/Kashira = alloy, gloss-black painted
Menuki = darkened alloy dragons
Weight: sword + saya = 2.7 pounds
Weight: sword = 2.2 pounds
Length: sword + saya = 42 1/4 inches (107.32 centimeters)
Length: sword (blade+habaki+tsuba/seppa+tsuka) = 40 inches (101.6 cm)
Length: sword blade with habaki = 29 3/8 inches (74.61 centimeters)
Length: sword blade without habaki = 28 5/8 inches (72.71 centimeters)
Length: kissaki = 1 5/8 inches (4.13 centimeters)
Width: blade at yokote (start of kissaki) = 15/16 inches (2.38 centimeters)
Width: blade at middle = 1 1/8 inches (2.86 centimeters)
Width: blade next to habaki = 1 1/4 inches (3.18 centimeters)
Thickness: blade at yokote (start of kissaki) = 5 mm (0.20 inches)
Thickness: blade at mid point = 7 mm (0.28 inches)
Thickness: blade next to habaki = 7 mm (0.28 inches)
Length: tsuka = 10 3/8 inches (26.4 centimeters)
Width: tsuka = 1 1/8 inches with wood+samegawa+ito (2.9 centimeters)
Width: tsuka = 3/4 inches with wood+samegawa but no ito (1.9 centimeters)
Length: saya = 31 5/8 inches (80.3 centimeters)
Width: saya = 1 1/2 inches (3.8 centimeters)
Thickness: saya = 13/16 inches (2.1 centimeters)
Saya kurigata and sageo:
Width: shinogi to ha at yokote(start of kissaki) = 15 mm (0.59 inches)
Width: shinogi to ha at mid blade = 18 mm (0.71 inches)
Width: shinogi to ha at habaki = 21 mm (0.83 inches)
CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS:
The buyer has choice of various iron tsubas; tsukaito colors; samegawa colors; sageo colors; and saya paint jobs at no extra charge.
IMO, the best option is the $20usa option for a full samegawa tsuka wrap using the natural, raw samegawa/ray skin. I now have two tsukas with the optional W-K2011 full samegawa wrap and they are both excellently done. Non-alternating tsukaito, but well and tightly wrapped by someone experienced and skilled.
The katana came in a simple two layer (outer black and inner white) unpadded cotton sword bag.
FEEL OF THE SWORD:
My regular W-K2011 DH 1095 katana feels quick and agile. And would be my choice for a Dojo sword. This special version DH 1095 feels more powerful, a stronger cutter. And would be my choice for cutting practice. Both are affordable and well-made Longquan multi-role katanas.
CUTTING RESULTS:
I have sliced paper with this DH 1095 special version.
The sword sliced the paper cleanly and easily where there were no wire edges on the blade. But not where the wire edges were. Where I removed the wire edges on parts of the blade, those places were no longer sharp enough to do clean paper slices, but instead tore the paper.
I have not done cutting of anything else.
PRO AND CON OF THIS SWORD:
PRO: Good value and good quality in a $200usa category katana. Nice lines. Consistent and flowing curves. Good fit and finish for a budget sword.
For the extra modest charge, the Wang-katana2011 full samegawa/ray skin tsuka wrap is very well done, adds looks and strength. A "must have" option.
Customer has multiple "no-extra-charge" options for tsuba, saya, samegawa, ito and sageo.
CON: Blade polish is the usual "shiny-all-over" budget polish. Looks pretty but makes it hard to photograph the hamon. The factory left wire edges on the nakago and at a few spots on the blade edge. And one menuki was slightly non-parallel with the tsuka.
SUMMARY:
Wang-katana2011 makes good quality budget-priced swords. Both mono steel and folded. The fit and finish of both my standard DH 1095 katana and my special version DH 1095 katana are good. I took off the tsukas to check nakago/tsuka fit. Even with the mekugi pin out, the tsuka to nakago/tang fit was tight like new shoes. No wobble or looseness No cracks in the tsuka wood.
This special version of the DH 1095 katana has just one mekugi per my request. Default is two mekugis. Unless you ask for just one. I like one mekugi swords as one mekugi (pin) is more traditional and my concern that two mekugis can be used to hide a loose nakago.
No fear with these Wang-katana2011 swords. While a budget katana can not receive the level of handwork a high priced katana gets, Wang-katana2011 has succeeded in forging standardized dimensions blades and making standardized dimensions furniture to achieve satisfactory fit. And has the skill and experience to make good quality yet budget priced clay-tempered swords.
I am happy enough with my experience with 1095 mono-steel Wang-katana2011 swords, that if I could just buy a sword whenever I wanted, I would buy and review, one of their "Chinese tamahaganae" katanas which in the photos show themselves to be pretty blades and wider hamons than the mono steel swords. Wang-katana2011 told me that making a wider hamon is easier for them with folded steel than mono steel, the way they do it.
But what would I really, really like to see?
I would love to see a wide straight hamon (suguha) katana. (and a wakizashi in a wide suguha hamon as well).
I do strongly recommend the optional full samegawa tsuka wrap. Wang-katana2011 is able to do full ray skin tsuka wraps without making the tsuka "fat". Their tsukas are slim with the default samegawa panels and with the full samegawa wrap, the tsuka is only slightly more full and the feel is very good indeed, without feeling "fat".
So?
WANG-KATANA2011 Clay Tempered 1095 Special Katana:
Good value for the money.
Budget sword, but a quality budget sword.
Robert in California
by Robert in California
INTRODUCTION:
About a year ago, I got an Ebay account and bought a Longquan, China sword. A Wang-katana2011 clay-tempered, 1095 mono steel katana, with a black painted saya, iron tsuba, black painted alloy fuchi/kashira, black rayskin paneled tsuka wih bladk ito. It was a well-made budget katana and was on sale for about $153usa with a regular price around $180usa (shipping included).
Here is the link to Wang-Katana2011 site:
stores.ebay.com/wang-katana2011
I liked that standard model DH 1095 katana for the good build quality (good worksmanship) despite the budget sword price. And for the smooth and quick feel of this sword in my hands. It felt a little light for heavy cutting but felt just great for kata and other Dojo practice. A fast sword with medium features.
This was my review of it:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17644&p=213688#p213688
A sword with well-done budget furniture but a good blade, without question.
Now I wanted that same sword but longer and heavier. A little more powerful in feel:
So I asked Wang-katana2011 for another of the same clay-tempered 1095 model but a little longer, a little heavier, with a wider hamon and a full samegawa wrap tsuka. Their sword factory was able to fulfill 3 of my 4 modification requests.
This review is of what Wang-katana2011 (W-K2011) was able to build for me.
The new sword--longer 28 1/2 inches w/o habaki, heavier, thicker blade, full rayskin tsuka wrap:
The new sword, another view:
Wang-katana2011 is a Longquan, China sword maker of traditonal Japanese and Chinese swords.
Longquan has been a center of Chinese sword making and pottery for hundreds of years.
Why buy a Japanese sword made in China?
Simple: Affordability. Value. Features.
I have watched products from China slowly improve for many years.
IMO, many Longquan knives and swords are now of USA build quality.
Of course, Longquan swords are made for a wide range of prices. From wall hangers to some really good quality swords that are costly.
IMO, given time, Longquan swords will rival made-in-Japan swords.
For one thing, swordsmiths in China have more freedom to make swords than do swordsmiths in Japan. And along with that freedom, comes increased opportunity to produce, innovate and ramp up the skill and experience levels.
Think a $200usa Longquan budget katana is a "cheap sword"? Not at all, they are screaming bargains. An equivalent katana made in Japan, the USA or England would cost the buyer much more.
And something I have noticed about $200usa category Longquan "budget" swords:
While the furniture and blade polish may be "budget", the blade quality of a "budget" clay-tempered 1095 or folded or T10 katana can be as good quality in steel and tempering as a more expensive model.
Why?
Because "budget" sword manufacturing costs are kept down via volume, standardization and minumizing as much labor-intensive hand work as feasible.
For example, two swords, same everything but blade polish can have quite different prices due to one sword with a minimal time to do a budget "shiny-all-over" polish using machinery versus the other sword with a time and labor-intensive hazuya/jizuya fingerstones polish. A couple budget katanas I bought had kissakis (tip ends of the swords) with polishes where I could notsee the boshi/hamon. But a few hours with fingerstones and nicely done blade features were revealed.
Especially with the folded sword...budget cost blade but after spending a few days with hazuya/jizuya stones (remember to put a little Arm&Hammer
Washing Soda in the water to prevent rust) a REALLY pretty blade was revealed.
A good polish can make quite a difference.
REAL JAPANESE SWORDS?
A purist would say that only a katana, wakizashi or tanto made in Japan by Japanese swordsmiths is a real Japanese sword.
Is that really true?
Japanese swordsmiths have had a history of forging swords out of tamahaganae, foreign steels, and making mono-steel swords as well as folded.
So too, Chinese.
But Japan is a low volume, small shop sword manufacturer. China is becoming a high volume, large shop manufacturer. And China has created numerous competing sword forges, factories and shops to the point Longquan,
China deserves to be the primary place for a sword student/enthusiast to visit.
Collectors of antique Japanese swords will continue to focus on antique Japanese swords. But for sword enthusiasts and sword students
who do not have the money for Made-in-Japan Japanese swords, there are Made-in-China Japanese swords. Longquan swords especially.
The "budget" Longquan clay-tempered, 1095 high carbon or Chinese folded steel swords of Wang-katana2011's sword factory run $200usa plus or minus.
Though from time to time Wang-katana2011 will offer some fancier swords at higher prices, such as their Kobuse line at about $350usa plus.
For example, a link to a W-K2011 "Chinese tamahaganae" katana:
www.ebay.com/itm/New-samurai-swo ... 5667b3da6b
And a link to a standard Kobuse katana:
www.ebay.com/itm/Handmade-Clay-t ... 5666522ce2
And a more fancy Kobuse katana:
www.ebay.com/itm/Top-quality-Cla ... 5666523b60
But what did I get for myself?
MY BUY:
I have liked the way my standard model Wang-katana2011 clay-tempered (DH) mono 1095 katana feels in my hand so much, I ordered a special version.
I wanted a longer blade. My standard DH 1095 katana was 27 3/4 inches (without habaki). W-K2011's factory made me a 28 5/8 inch blade (without habaki).
I wanted a full samegawa (ray skin) tsuka (hilt) wrap instead of the default samegawa panels. Using raw samegawa.
W-K2011 did a very nice full wrap in white/natural raw samegawa (raw dries rock hard and adds extra strength to the tsuka).
Even has the desirable Emporer Node.
And I wanted a wide hamon. This, W-K2011 tried but was not able to do with the way they clay temper mono 1095 steel. They had problems with blade bending in the quench when making the hamon extra wide.
What were they able to do? They were able to make an interesting hamon of alternating wide and narrow like sharp, narrow waves, and made the blade longer and a little thicker.
And a little heavier at 2.4 pounds without saya and 2.9 pounds with saya. As measured by my cheap and simple cooking scale.
The standard DHp mono-1095 sword w/o saya was 2.2 pounds without saya and 2.7 pounds with saya.
FULL DISCLOSURE:
I paid full price of a standard DH 1095 (about $180usa) plus $20usa for the full ray skin tsuka wrap. W-K2011 was going to charge me an extra $50usa
for a wide hamon version, but did not as the hamon turned out more narrow than hoped for.
I still ended up with a longer, more powerful blade with an interesting hamon.
One other bit of information: The sword arrived with the usual "shiny-all-over" mirror type finish which gave me a lot of trouble photographing the hamon. So I took a couple days and did a hazuya fingerstone polish to make photographing the hamon easier with my camera.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:
Longer blade. Longer saya. W-K2011 had to add an extension to their standard styrafoam shipping box. W-K2011 is able to make good quality budget swords because they try to make their factory swords of standardized dimensions....all about the same length. All about the same sori (blade curvature). All made about the same blade thickness. Etc. And the division of labor which creates a factory of specialists and increased production ability. This benefits us sword buyers by keeping sword making costs down.
The sword came well and securely packed inside the shipping box and arrived in perfect condition.
This special longer and heavier version DH 1095 katana had no bohi but hissed more easily and louder, with less effort, when doing air cuts than my regular DH 1095.
Condition of sword was excellent. Blade perfectly straight. Blade curves all even and symmetrical. Polish good though the typical budget sword "shiny-all-over" polish which my digital camera has trouble photographing, so I did a simple fingerstone (hazuya/jizuya) polish to make photos easier.
Saya and furniture are in perfect condition.
Tsuka ito was even and tight. Diamonds well done. Non-alternating ito wrap but very tight.
Samegawa is above average for budget swords.
Habaki is a perfect fit to blade and tsuka.
Another view of habaki:
I am used to swords that have a good fit of habaki to koguichi (saya opening) but come loose with a bit of effort, that is...are a little tight.
But W-K2011 person who had fitted this sword to its saya, had done the fitting so it gradually gripped the habaki, but lightly. The fit was so nice that the sword notoed (seated fully) into the saya (scabbard) like butter and so good that I could then turn the sword upside down and it stayed in the saya until I gave the sword a slight shake. Whoever did the sword to saya fitting was a Master.
Such a perfect fitting job is a pleasure to use, but should the fit be just a little tighter? Because over time, does not the habaki to saya mouth (koguichi) fit loosen up?
The ray skin used in the tsuka wrap was better than the usual budget ray skin. Not often one sees Emperor node samegawa on a Longquan budget katana.
So, yes, initial impression was very good.
Except for one area.
The nakago edges and some places on the blade had wire edges. I used a small file and a honing stone to remove the wire edges on the nakago (tang) and to smooth the nakago edges so to became more comfortable to hold in the hand.
I used a polish stone to remove the wire edges from the spots on the blade that had them.
So no harm done, but W-K2011 quality control inspectors should have caught that before passing the finished blade on to the furniture specialists.
DETAILS:
Longquan katana made by Wang-katana2011 factory:
Blade steel = mono 1095 (ref. W-K2011)
Blade temper = clay tempered with hamon
Blade hardness = 59/40 (ref. W-K2011)
Sori (blade curvature) = 18 mm (0.71 inches)
Saya = pebbled dull black painted wood
Habaki = brass
Seppa (2) = brass
Tsuba = iron, blackened
Tsuka = hackberry wood with full wrap of real samegawa and black synthetic silk ito, non-alternating criss-cross ito wrap.
Fuchi/Kashira = alloy, gloss-black painted
Menuki = darkened alloy dragons
Weight: sword + saya = 2.7 pounds
Weight: sword = 2.2 pounds
Length: sword + saya = 42 1/4 inches (107.32 centimeters)
Length: sword (blade+habaki+tsuba/seppa+tsuka) = 40 inches (101.6 cm)
Length: sword blade with habaki = 29 3/8 inches (74.61 centimeters)
Length: sword blade without habaki = 28 5/8 inches (72.71 centimeters)
Length: kissaki = 1 5/8 inches (4.13 centimeters)
Width: blade at yokote (start of kissaki) = 15/16 inches (2.38 centimeters)
Width: blade at middle = 1 1/8 inches (2.86 centimeters)
Width: blade next to habaki = 1 1/4 inches (3.18 centimeters)
Thickness: blade at yokote (start of kissaki) = 5 mm (0.20 inches)
Thickness: blade at mid point = 7 mm (0.28 inches)
Thickness: blade next to habaki = 7 mm (0.28 inches)
Length: tsuka = 10 3/8 inches (26.4 centimeters)
Width: tsuka = 1 1/8 inches with wood+samegawa+ito (2.9 centimeters)
Width: tsuka = 3/4 inches with wood+samegawa but no ito (1.9 centimeters)
Length: saya = 31 5/8 inches (80.3 centimeters)
Width: saya = 1 1/2 inches (3.8 centimeters)
Thickness: saya = 13/16 inches (2.1 centimeters)
Saya kurigata and sageo:
Width: shinogi to ha at yokote(start of kissaki) = 15 mm (0.59 inches)
Width: shinogi to ha at mid blade = 18 mm (0.71 inches)
Width: shinogi to ha at habaki = 21 mm (0.83 inches)
CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS:
The buyer has choice of various iron tsubas; tsukaito colors; samegawa colors; sageo colors; and saya paint jobs at no extra charge.
IMO, the best option is the $20usa option for a full samegawa tsuka wrap using the natural, raw samegawa/ray skin. I now have two tsukas with the optional W-K2011 full samegawa wrap and they are both excellently done. Non-alternating tsukaito, but well and tightly wrapped by someone experienced and skilled.
The katana came in a simple two layer (outer black and inner white) unpadded cotton sword bag.
FEEL OF THE SWORD:
My regular W-K2011 DH 1095 katana feels quick and agile. And would be my choice for a Dojo sword. This special version DH 1095 feels more powerful, a stronger cutter. And would be my choice for cutting practice. Both are affordable and well-made Longquan multi-role katanas.
CUTTING RESULTS:
I have sliced paper with this DH 1095 special version.
The sword sliced the paper cleanly and easily where there were no wire edges on the blade. But not where the wire edges were. Where I removed the wire edges on parts of the blade, those places were no longer sharp enough to do clean paper slices, but instead tore the paper.
I have not done cutting of anything else.
PRO AND CON OF THIS SWORD:
PRO: Good value and good quality in a $200usa category katana. Nice lines. Consistent and flowing curves. Good fit and finish for a budget sword.
For the extra modest charge, the Wang-katana2011 full samegawa/ray skin tsuka wrap is very well done, adds looks and strength. A "must have" option.
Customer has multiple "no-extra-charge" options for tsuba, saya, samegawa, ito and sageo.
CON: Blade polish is the usual "shiny-all-over" budget polish. Looks pretty but makes it hard to photograph the hamon. The factory left wire edges on the nakago and at a few spots on the blade edge. And one menuki was slightly non-parallel with the tsuka.
SUMMARY:
Wang-katana2011 makes good quality budget-priced swords. Both mono steel and folded. The fit and finish of both my standard DH 1095 katana and my special version DH 1095 katana are good. I took off the tsukas to check nakago/tsuka fit. Even with the mekugi pin out, the tsuka to nakago/tang fit was tight like new shoes. No wobble or looseness No cracks in the tsuka wood.
This special version of the DH 1095 katana has just one mekugi per my request. Default is two mekugis. Unless you ask for just one. I like one mekugi swords as one mekugi (pin) is more traditional and my concern that two mekugis can be used to hide a loose nakago.
No fear with these Wang-katana2011 swords. While a budget katana can not receive the level of handwork a high priced katana gets, Wang-katana2011 has succeeded in forging standardized dimensions blades and making standardized dimensions furniture to achieve satisfactory fit. And has the skill and experience to make good quality yet budget priced clay-tempered swords.
I am happy enough with my experience with 1095 mono-steel Wang-katana2011 swords, that if I could just buy a sword whenever I wanted, I would buy and review, one of their "Chinese tamahaganae" katanas which in the photos show themselves to be pretty blades and wider hamons than the mono steel swords. Wang-katana2011 told me that making a wider hamon is easier for them with folded steel than mono steel, the way they do it.
But what would I really, really like to see?
I would love to see a wide straight hamon (suguha) katana. (and a wakizashi in a wide suguha hamon as well).
I do strongly recommend the optional full samegawa tsuka wrap. Wang-katana2011 is able to do full ray skin tsuka wraps without making the tsuka "fat". Their tsukas are slim with the default samegawa panels and with the full samegawa wrap, the tsuka is only slightly more full and the feel is very good indeed, without feeling "fat".
So?
WANG-KATANA2011 Clay Tempered 1095 Special Katana:
Good value for the money.
Budget sword, but a quality budget sword.
Robert in California