|
Post by Cottontail Customs on Sept 13, 2015 22:56:22 GMT
I was working on a blade once drilling a new mekugi hole and it was obvious that the metal of the nakago was way too hard. I'm guessing this could make it more brittle than it should be an could suffer a similar fate. Steel type has much less to do with it than heat treat and tempering.
|
|
|
Post by Kiyoshi on Sept 13, 2015 23:01:38 GMT
I'll be checking on that with my most recent custom since it will be full wrap. Tsuka shaping is difficult and I am always fascinated by craftsman and how much a seemingly minor detail changes their work. I wish there were more videos of you guys doing your thing. Thanks again for the always helpful information.
|
|
|
Post by aussie-rabbit on Sept 14, 2015 0:35:58 GMT
I had sold a Hanbon Unokubi katana to someone a few months ago. He just informed me that he was having his newer students use it in his dojo and the sword snapped under the habaki. He said a student hit the stand and it just broke. I never cut with my swords and so hadn't done anything with it since I bought it. I didn't take it apart to look at it and I am not sure that the person I sold it to did either before using it. I have asked him for pictures and a detailed description of what happened so I could share it on SBG. I have a couple of Hanbon's one is several years old, have not had a problem, but I have not hit a stand with one either, at least you will be able to O-suriage the blade rather than waste it
|
|
|
Post by Croccifixio on Sept 14, 2015 3:03:58 GMT
Josh, does Huawei actually get the tsuka shape right?
|
|
|
Post by Kiyoshi on Sept 14, 2015 3:14:54 GMT
(BTW, do you have any good pics of your ST-Nihonto katana? I always enjoy seeing more sword porn, lol) This is all he has sent me so far.
|
|
|
Post by Cottontail Customs on Sept 14, 2015 4:05:30 GMT
Josh, does Huawei actually get the tsuka shape right? They are making a tightly wrapped tsuka with hishigami, the samegawa is inlaid nicely, the ito is often flush with the fittings and it has a decent profile but they tend to be a little on the thick side and they don't always get the end knots on the correct sides. They aren't the best in the world of production tsuka but they are in the top group of the ebay tsuka category imo. What I like best about them is they flow nicely with the sori of the blade and saya.
|
|
|
Post by Vue on Sept 14, 2015 12:33:16 GMT
|
|
addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
|
Post by addertooth on Sept 14, 2015 13:36:56 GMT
Interesting photos. Some things I noticed: There is a clear change from the (tight, fine, small grain) fully hardened grain at the edge (ha) and the grain (more coarse, blocky, larger structures)at the back of the blade (mune). To the naked eye, nothing seems amiss in the heat treating. A Rockwell test on the mortal remains would settle the issue. If someone could get the broken blade in my hands, I could have it professionally tested locally for hardness at the Ha and Mune. The other factor is, bad strikes, and a habaki which would hide any cracks which may have been started from a bad strike. It is possible a crack could have occurred during the heat-treat process, but it was so fine it avoided being detected in initial visual inspection. There is a reason why a crack which starts from the Ha, and spreads towards the mune is considered a fatal flaw on any blade.
|
|
Greg E
Member
little bit of this... and a whole lot of that
Posts: 1,336
|
Post by Greg E on Sept 14, 2015 17:52:04 GMT
Yes, I posted about this in this thread already. Not good.
|
|
addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
|
Post by addertooth on Sept 16, 2015 19:20:21 GMT
Update: The Ninja-Katana replacement blades arrived today. They were replacing a Maru Damascus Katana and Wakizashi set which had mistakenly been sent, instead of SanMai. Even without the fancy UV light, the lamination line could clearly be seen on both blades, but what the heck, I double checked it under UV. The blades are indeed SanMai laminated construction. I am pretty pleased now; when I get some spare time they will get mounted. Tomorrow, they RyanSword replacement is expected to arrive.
|
|
|
Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 16, 2015 19:34:54 GMT
Ninja-Katana is Sheng from ST-Nihonto, right? A pity that they didn't send the right blades the first time around, but it's also nice to see a Chinese forge that can ACTUALLY laminate a proper Sanmai configuration - nice looking blades ya' got there. :)
|
|
addertooth
Member
Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
Posts: 458
|
Post by addertooth on Sept 16, 2015 19:43:04 GMT
Other than the cosmetic yokote, I am very happy with them. The details in the blade really come to life under the UV light. Both photos are of the exact same spot on the blades, which are set edge to edge facing the middle. I might actually throw on a Hazuya polish on these to bring them further to life. I haven't fully learned the list of who is the equivalent of who on Ebay. I will certainly be on the lookout for this Mei (signature) in the future.
Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 16, 2015 19:47:49 GMT
Sheng operates under five Ebay usernames: ST-Nihonto, Even-Sword, Shinken-Katana, Ninja-Katana and Tsunami-Dragon. From what I understand, he is usually regarded as a trustworthy seller, although I have no experience with buying a laminated blade from him - my custom L6 from his is just DH maru style. See this comment.
|
|
|
Post by nihontocaster on Sept 16, 2015 21:05:24 GMT
What I noticed with Sheng's accounts before...Some of the swords he sells as SanMai show clear lamination lines on the swords auctions photos. Some don't, despite as being offered as SanMai. The difference is often that the ones with a lamination line cost over 400 USD. No clue what others think about that, but I kinda know what I think lol.
|
|
|
Post by nihontocaster on Sept 16, 2015 21:11:20 GMT
|
|
|
Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 16, 2015 22:26:41 GMT
I would chalk that up (mostly) to the fact that Sheng uses an English translator to communicate, as do many Chinese forges. Because they're not fluent English speakers, they likely just throw up popular search choices, like Sanmai or anything else, to grab your eye when browsing the many ebay choices so you're more likely to see them - he definitely IS capable of producing Sanmai, so at least that's what came to mind for me.
|
|
|
Post by nihontocaster on Sept 16, 2015 22:44:52 GMT
Nope, to me it absolutely looks like he is trying to bullsemprini people, sorry^^ In the Swords-Review section is another customer who bought from one of his accounts, and "accidentally" did not get a San Mai blade supposedly because he asked Sheng about another non-laminated sword before. Smells to me like someone does not want to sell San Mai blades below 400 USD, yet has to to gain sales. Then tries to send out Maru to even it out financially.
The swords that have Choji in the auction title all have a Choji Hamon. Of course, because it would be damn obvious to everyone if they wouldn't. With San Mai you can still hope for newbies not knowing San Mai has lamination lines...
Which is pretty much what annoys the heck out of me with most of the ebay-forges. If they could just be honest and say out clear what costs what...
|
|
|
Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 16, 2015 22:58:25 GMT
I definitly think that they kno what they're doing - I'm not claiming that they're ignorant.
As I said, ALL ebay forges have a habit of slapping unjustified descriptions of higher-end products onto their lower-end swords to try and make a sale out of them. And I also agree that they shouldn't do that, and they'd be MUCH better off if they just sold their swords as they are.
The main difference being that some forges either can't or won't do expensive lamination, at ANY cost, and will always send out a Maru Damascus blade - forges like Huawei and ST-Nihonto actually can do such lamination, which is what makes them stand out over other ones.
(Although to be fair, any reasonable katana collector worth their salt knows they could almost NEVER buy a Sanmai blade for under $200 - even ebay forges can't squeeze out products at that price. Though a more novice buyer might indeed be tricked.)
|
|
|
Post by nihontocaster on Sept 17, 2015 0:14:19 GMT
I don't like this whole mantra of blaming the buyer. Seller writes San Mai, seller should deliver San Mai And the non-lamination line bullsemprini goes right up to the 350USD swords too. If we can't trust in the laminations, can we trust in the steel sorts? Sheng also has a bunch of similar looking swords once as T10, once as 1095...Maybe its neither nor? I prefer Huawei to all the other ebay folks for exactly the reason they don't pull off most bullsemprini. Its synthetic Ito. Not silk. Etc. And with Sheng....Im really tempted to buy the cheapest San Mai sword from all his accounts and annoy the $%$§ out of him till he delivers something with a lamination line. Maybe announcing to intend on cutting apart the blade would do the trick?
|
|
|
Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 17, 2015 0:35:33 GMT
I don't like this whole mantra of blaming the buyer. Seller writes San Mai, seller should deliver San Mai :) And the non-lamination line bullsemprini goes right up to the 350USD swords too. If we can't trust in the laminations, can we trust in the steel sorts? Sheng also has a bunch of similar looking swords once as T10, once as 1095...Maybe its neither nor? I prefer Huawei to all the other ebay folks for exactly the reason they don't pull off most bullsemprini. Its synthetic Ito. Not silk. Etc. And with Sheng....Im really tempted to buy the cheapest San Mai sword from all his accounts and annoy the $%$§ out of him till he delivers something with a lamination line. Maybe announcing to intend on cutting apart the blade would do the trick? :p The only way to tell for sure is with a detailed (and expensive) metallurgical analysis, one which I MIGHT do with my L6 katana that he's making for me, if the funds ever appear to do that. However, with questioning of the steel type, you could theoretically do that with ANY sword manufacturer - there's a certain degree of trust necessary with any katana purchase, as you're going on faith about things like the steel type and such. that's why reputation is key - through trial and error, rigorous testing, and even destruction, the strengths and limits of a production katana become apparent. In the end, that's truly the final test; to take the plunge and add your own experience and product to the pool, and to see whether or not it was collectively worth it in the end - that's why we're here, to seek that truth.
|
|