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Post by Kiyoshi on Sept 17, 2015 0:47:39 GMT
Sheng has faked sanmai on a custom blade of mine that I thought to be real. He faked it really well. It appeared to have a lamination line even after a little bit of polishing but after a second and third pass-over, it disappeared and the folds became visible all the way to to edge. When I told him I thought it was a fake he did not deny it was. I specifically ordered sanmai and he called it that as well. To be honest, whether a sword is T10 or 1095, I don't really care much since they aren't too different.
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Sept 17, 2015 0:50:55 GMT
The shavings from drilling the mekugi-ani (bamboo peg hole for the tsuka/handle)would be more than enough to do a mass spectrometer, or a gas chromatograph test of the metal. No need to talk about the destruction of the blade, just drill an extra hole in the nakago/tang, ship off the shavings for test.
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Sept 17, 2015 4:39:55 GMT
Nope, to me it absolutely looks like he is trying to bullsemprini people I agree completely. They'll assure you it's sanmai unless you find out it isn't and then they'll tell you it was an accident. Total BS. For every one person who catches them, many more never know the difference. It makes financial sense for them to continue doing business this way. 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. I have to disagree with this statement. I don't think all ebay sellers do this.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 17, 2015 5:55:26 GMT
Nope, to me it absolutely looks like he is trying to bullsemprini people I agree completely. They'll assure you it's sanmai unless you find out it isn't and then they'll tell you it was an accident. Total BS. For every one person who catches them, many more never know the difference. It makes financial sense for them to continue doing business this way. 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. I have to disagree with this statement. I don't think all ebay sellers do this. My pardons then - you see, I was stereotyping and generalizing, something that I myself don't like - obviously, I can't say that ALL Chinese forges do it, as I simply don't know. However, unscrupulous behavior, much like this, seems to be a (relatively) common issue when dealing with many eBay forges. I do apologize for the way I casually lumped them all together, I was very tired as I wrote that, and still am now. lol (it wsn;t my intention, I can assure you.)
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Sept 17, 2015 14:16:08 GMT
I am still waiting on the final delivery today. I will likely weigh in on the current topic when I have the full picture. I would like to take a moment to say Ebay seller "Ninja-Katana" has bent over backwards (and taken a financial loss) to make right the error in his sale. I have decided to keep/purchase the two original blades as they are, and simply mount the two replacement blades (which have a really nice hamon line) on different fittings.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 17, 2015 15:40:40 GMT
Ninja-katana is Sheng, or another version of ST-Nihonto, at least. It's nice to hear that he'll actually take the time to go and send a PROPER replacement blade, instead of feigning ignorance and insisting it's laminated when it's just maru damascus, like some have done in the past.
Again though, I wish that they had sent a proper blade the first time out, but it is nice to hear that you'll still get what you were promised. :)
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Sept 17, 2015 19:36:09 GMT
RyanSword update. The replacement sword is here. The lamination line can be seen in visible light and UV. Keep in mind the line only shows lamination. I still need to do more testing to see if it is Sanmai or Shihozume. The toothpick in the image is for scale, and it also forced the focus of the camera to the correct depth.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 17, 2015 20:27:14 GMT
I'm back w/ another update from Sheng (Even-Sword/ST-Nihonto etc): I just recieved two more pictures that Sheng sent me showing the complete tsuka wrap assembly, sans any ito or menuki: I must admit, it looks quite nice so far - it is indeed a complete same wrap, as requested, the tsuka has a nice shape to it, even though some of Sheng's other examples were a bit Hanwei/(dild0)-shaped. (There is also only one mekugi, as I asked - much more Nihonto-esque.) The habaki, silver, has a custom rain-scratch pattern, as I also requested. So far, so good - I'm actually quite impressed with Sheng so far, as more often than not, he's the one contacting me first, instead of me pestering him until I get a reply. The saya is currently being painted, but I'll post another post when I get the next update. ^_^
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Post by nihontocaster on Sept 18, 2015 3:43:05 GMT
I like the Habaki, or at least how it looks (no clue how it fits haha) I kinda see that Sheng can come up with kinda nice stuff, which is why it angers me especially with his offers that he still has that bullsemprini-esque about his descriptions. addertooth Glad you received laminated blades in the end Really amusing even Ryan-Swords managed to send out something laminated in the end (whatever it might be in the end). So yet another one who has access to laminated blades, but does not really want to send them out I guess.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 18, 2015 4:35:00 GMT
I like the Habaki, or at least how it looks (no clue how it fits haha) :) I kinda see that Sheng can come up with kinda nice stuff, which is why it angers me especially with his offers that he still has that bullsemprini-esque about his descriptions. addertooth Glad you received laminated blades in the end :) Really amusing even Ryan-Swords managed to send out something laminated in the end (whatever it might be in the end). So yet another one who has access to laminated blades, but does not really want to send them out I guess. Yeah, the custom habaki that Sheng offers: www.ebay.com/itm/High-quality-Handmade-japanese-katana-sword-Double-habaki-/111754276468?hash=item1a0512ee74is a nice step-up from the normal brass or copper habaki that you see on many blades nowadays - I believe that Sheng will make you a custom one to fit your sword if you provide him a complete list of your nakago's dimensions for the habaki to fit.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 23, 2015 13:34:31 GMT
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Sept 23, 2015 14:40:23 GMT
What is the Sori on that sword, it looks deeper than your typical Longquan fare. BTW, I like the "rain" habaki. I plan on making a few of those in the future.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 23, 2015 15:17:51 GMT
What is the Sori on that sword, it looks deeper than your typical Longquan fare. BTW, I like the "rain" habaki. I plan on making a few of those in the future. The sori was a requested 3/4 of an inch, but I requested it as Koshi Zori, as opposed to the typical Toriizori on most katana. And the rain habaki was a custom design request on a silver habaki, instead of a brass or copper one - I think scratched habaki grip the saya a little better, tbh. :)
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Sept 23, 2015 19:20:18 GMT
The Koshi Zori curve should make the Saya fit interesting. Is the Habaki Silver plated, or solid?
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Greg E
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little bit of this... and a whole lot of that
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Post by Greg E on Sept 23, 2015 19:35:47 GMT
I love koshi sori. Might have to hit him up. Especially when I could get a geometric yokote too.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 23, 2015 22:21:31 GMT
The Koshi Zori curve should make the Saya fit interesting. Is the Habaki Silver plated, or solid? Solid silver, at least I hope - it still shows the silvr in the scratches that he did, as I already saw a pic of it before the scratches were added - it was a custom request, so I know it's not an off-the-shelf habaki like a lot of them. But we'll see once I get it - it's almost looking like a tachi with the sori, so I'm really hoping that it's comfortable in the hand. :)
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Post by Derzis on Sept 24, 2015 1:33:17 GMT
But we'll see once I get it - it's almost looking like a tachi with the sori, so I'm really hoping that it's comfortable in the hand. :) Looks very nice. Don't worry with koshi sori, it will be comfortable. My old LL shinken is koshi sori and feels great to me. You might need a minimum adjustment when you do noto, but other than that, it will not be a problem.
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Sept 24, 2015 3:13:38 GMT
Well the replacement Sanmai blade is getting some Edo fittings. Some ordered Habaki arrived, and they were a close fit for the blade. A bit of trimming on the habaki and it pressed into place. A bit more careful filing work got the Fuchi and Tsuba slid over the tang, nice and firmly. I am thinking of carving up a nice oak tsuka to do a full wrap on it.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Sept 24, 2015 3:17:09 GMT
Well the replacement Sanmai blade is getting some Edo fittings. Some ordered Habaki arrived, and they were a close fit for the blade. A bit of trimming on the habaki and it pressed into place. A bit more careful filing work got the Fuchi and Tsuba slid over the tang, nice and firmly. I am thinking of carving up a nice oak tsuka to do a full wrap on it.
Already looking pretty nice - I've always wanted to glam up a modern katana with some antique Koshirae myself, so I guess I need some motivation to get off my $emprini. This is the replacement blade from Ryanswords, right? (And the only tsuka I ever carved for myself was yellow poplar, carved out of a nicely-sized hammer handle from Lowes - about $5, if I remember right XD)
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Sept 24, 2015 3:37:43 GMT
Actually, it is the Sanmai Wakizashi replacement blade sent by Ninja-Katana. It will get a Hazuya polish before it is done.
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