Hanbon Sword review - Custom Katana
Jun 5, 2015 23:20:37 GMT
Post by campoli on Jun 5, 2015 23:20:37 GMT
Hey guys! I've been following SBG Forums for the past four months and finally thought to register.
I was introduced to the world of the katana after watching the Last Samurai, and it all began with a simple thought, "Man, it would be cool to own a katana." Never in a million years did I think I would. But then I pursued it. And it became such a big part of my recent life so much that I even wrote a research paper on the katana for an Ancient Sciences and Technology class at university and received an A-. Needless to say it was the first essay I ever enjoyed writing. I came to know what the sword meant in Japanese culture: spirituality, dedication, perfection, art, and beauty, but so much more also. After many, many, many... many... long months of research and late nights considering the features I wanted in my first (of only a few, hopefully) katana, I came to the decision to invest in Hanbon Swords, or "swordsmith668".
I had heard quite a few good things about this particular sword smith so named Yao, and I could be wrong but it appears among the eBay production katana, he's right under Huawei.
I am in no way affiliated with Hanbon Swords, just a beginner enthusiast, with a student budget unfortunately. I paid the full asking price of the sword.
Deciding factors for Hanbon Sword were: 100% consumer feedback on eBay, something like 2000 + positive reviews, 3 or so neutral reviews, and 0 negative reviews, free shipping to Canada (I was surprised also to find that Canada Post mentioned nothing about any duty tax, unless there's a big fat charge waiting somewhere that I don't know about, I haven't heard any threats yet and it's been almost a month), and finally the price of a differentially hardened blade for something like $270 CAD that I certainly couldn't find elsewhere at the time. I have no knowledge as to whether negative reviews can be screened, but it seems Yao is willing to do anything to satisfy his customers if they approach him before bashing him in a review.
THE REVIEW:
The package arrived in what appears to be a relatively safe package made entirely of styrofoam and tape, it was difficult to open carefully what with my excitement and the fact that there is just so much tape.
After finally opening the parcel there was quite a charming, gold silk (or synthetic, I don't know) sword bag with my custom katana in it, bearing features that I had very, very carefully chosen. Within the sword bag, the tsuka is wrapped safely in shrink wrap plastic.
I was worried that perhaps I wouldn't receive the correct customization because upon sending a detailed email to the smith after placing my order, I didn't receive confirmation from him personally, and then suddenly a couple of days later, my sword shipped, and so I had a bad feeling I may have received the sword in the picture that was advertised on eBay, rather than the custom katana I wanted. I should disclaim that communication with Yao is usually consistent, and he or one of his associates reply ASAP during their business hours. TIP: for anyone interested in ordering from Hanbon Swords, if you want customization, I'm pretty sure you can pick any sword in their inventory, and change the features of it to virtually anything you want. Whatever sword you decide to add to your cart and proceed to checkout with may just depend on the type of steel whether its 1060 or 1095. After placing your order, you just need to send an incredibly detailed email or eBay message to Yao, stating what you want, and being sure to use the product codes for the desired ito or tsuba or whatever.
To my great delight, they nailed the customization. Every single detail I had asked for was correct, not that it's any surprise, but I had heard stories of customization gone wrong due to some things being lost in translation.
My aim was for a slightly autumnal theme, as I was born late October, receiving my soul in the heart of autumn, and I wanted this sword to bear that significance.
I chose the imported, higher quality sageo from Japan, brown.
I chose a leaf themed iron tsuba (which I found out recently was based on an antique, and I appreciate it exponentially now). I believe it is cast iron, as some casting lines can be seen, but it really doesn't bother me. And the finish of the iron is what I like: it's a matte, rough iron, not that unattractive glossy black (painted) iron.
I chose what I believed at the time to be an acorn menuki, but later found out it is a chrysanthemum menuki, which coincidentally is the flower of those born in November. I was born October 28th, close enough for me. The menuki seems to be of fairly nice quality brass, and not that unattractive, extremely reflective gold plated stuff that looks like plastic. Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks of handling the menuki rattle a little bit, and shift below the ito rather easily when prodded. So I question the ito's constraining integrity.
I told Yao that it would be fine for him to choose matching fuchi and kashira for the tsuba and menuki I chose. I believe he chose a plum theme fuchi and kashira, which is fine with me for now. They are slightly small for my liking, however, and they're a tad rough around the edges due to Yao having to fit them to the tsuka, I assume.
I wanted this katana to lend more to the authentic, antique Japanese sword with a more traditional tsuka. So I decided to choose black leather (Yao told me the black leather is genuine, and all other colours are synthetic. I don't know that I am convinced however). The black leather (or pleather?) ito is quite stiff, and is glossy rather than matte unfortunately. To my relief, the diamonds are quite even, and nice and big, pronounced like. The side corners of the diamonds, however, tend to pull apart slightly rather than being flush with each other, but that's not a huge issue for me. All in all, the ito is quite tight, it gives very little when prodded. The samegawa is paneled and of mediocre quality I believe with small nodes. Unfortunately, the shape of tsuka I got is not as pleasing as I would have hoped. There is no waist or "hourglass" shape (rikko), it is straight down, and it slightly turns and changes direction toward the mune side of the sword. This seemingly follows the shape of the tang, but as far as I remember upon disassembly, the tang is straight, so it's slightly counter-intuitive, accomplishing very little. The tsuka is also on the slim side. I think I would have preferred some bulk in my hands when handling the sword. But that is only me!
I requested a plain brass habaki, rather than the habaki advertised (with some sort of giraffe design, I'm not a fan). The habaki fit to the koiguchi of the saya is very tight (but the blade still slightly rattles when sheathed), so much that I simply don't like to push it in all the way due to the effort it requires to draw the sword again (I leave about 2 milometers before the tsuba, trust me, it's plenty tight at that point). It's so very tight that I believe it to have even pulled apart the fittings slightly, because after a few draws, the top seppa became loose. So upon disassembling, I created a thin wooden shim to insert with the loose seppa as a temporary fix, as you can see below.
I haven't decided just how to fix the tight fit to the koiguchi yet. Any ideas guys? Maybe I will take some higher grit sand paper to the koiguchi and carefully remove some wood.
I requested a lacquered black saya (I know, I'm a sucker for the traditional), with buffalo horn fittings (I love the mysterious shimmer of the horn under direct light, see below). There was no such combination as an option, but Yao made the saya for me at my request, which I thought was very kind. Ask and you shall receive, right? The koiguchi could have a little bit more wood on the ha side if it were up to me however. Other than that, I am completely happy with the saya.
As for the blade, this is where I am very satisfied for what I paid. The hamon is very prominent even though the blade isn't traditionally polished. The hamon even extends into the kissaki as a boshi. The kissaki is cross polished much better than I thought it would be, completely acceptable. The blade's shape is very crisp, it's shinogi and shinogi-ji running consistently from the habaki to the kissaki. It's sori is just right for my liking, not too curved, and not too linear. I chose a blade with no bo hi, as I was more interested in power than speed if I ever attempt test cutting, and there's something more aesthetically pleasing to me about that solid shinogi-ji surface. The blade is in the shinogi-zukuri style, and measures in at 27.8 inches long according to Hanbon's item description. The kissaki is of the chu-kissaki shape.
The blade is sharp, perhaps not razor sharp, I haven't the experience to know just what razor sharp is. It is sharper at the last 10 or so inches as this is the monouchi, the cutting portion of the blade. Let's put it this way, I can run my finger along it (lightly, mind you) and go unscathed. Finally, the blade is slightly set to the left. I am going to attempt cushioning it into a vice grip and gently correcting it. But for now, it's nothing to get bent out of shape over (...) The sword is slightly blade heavy due to the lack of bo hi but that is as expected. I like the extra weight.
I had also requested that the tang of my blade be engraved with my name in Japanese. That was done correctly. However, it's more of a pyrographic (looks burned into the steel) than an engraving, but that's okay, it was free. The tang is of medium thickness, nothing bulky, and certainly not rat tail.
Disassembly proved to be difficult, only because of the stubborn mekugi pins I happened to receive. They are bamboo, but beginning to shred a little bit, and I don't even believe they are tapered, as they should be. So I am going to find suitable replacements via chopsticks or ordering something better online. There are no cracks in the tsuka.
TO SUM UP:
Pros:
- Good communication with sword smith Yao
- All customization was done properly
- High quality brass menuki
- Great, evenly and cleanly lacquered saya with horn fittings and high quality sageo
- Crisp and nicely shaped blade with a charming hamon
- Free shipping and no duty fees
Cons:
- Some casting lines in the iron tsuba (Very minor issue)
- Fuchi is slightly rough around the edges due to shaping, fuchi and kashira both slightly small (Another very minor issue)
- Black leather (or pleather) ito is rather stiff, slightly loose, and incidentally so are the menuki (Another minor issue, for now)
- Samegawa has small nodes and is of mediocre quality
- Lack of shape to the tsuka (A personal preference for me would have been some curves)
- Extremely tight fit of the habaki to the koiguchi (Is this even a con? Safety first after all, I'm thankful that it won't fall out)
- Seppa came loose (Something that can be fixed)
- Slightly bent blade (Something that can also be fixed with caution)
- Not exactly "razor sharp"
- Mekugi pins are not tapered, proving for a more forceful disassembly
As for the tsuka, I plan on crafting a new one with my old man who has around thirty years of woodworking experience, which will prove to be a challenging and interesting project. This is to rectify the "production katana problem" of ill-fitting tsuka to nakago, by creating one to fit my katana's tang.
I have initiated some correspondence with Josh at Cottontail Customs to inquire about my options for dressing the custom tsuka. Exciting things to look forward to!
I figured a new review for Hanbon Swords was necessary, as Yao appears to be of growing popularity among the production katana lines.
Thanks for reading guys, I know, it's a long one. But I'd rather you be well informed than ill-informed.
Regards,
Dan
I was introduced to the world of the katana after watching the Last Samurai, and it all began with a simple thought, "Man, it would be cool to own a katana." Never in a million years did I think I would. But then I pursued it. And it became such a big part of my recent life so much that I even wrote a research paper on the katana for an Ancient Sciences and Technology class at university and received an A-. Needless to say it was the first essay I ever enjoyed writing. I came to know what the sword meant in Japanese culture: spirituality, dedication, perfection, art, and beauty, but so much more also. After many, many, many... many... long months of research and late nights considering the features I wanted in my first (of only a few, hopefully) katana, I came to the decision to invest in Hanbon Swords, or "swordsmith668".
I had heard quite a few good things about this particular sword smith so named Yao, and I could be wrong but it appears among the eBay production katana, he's right under Huawei.
I am in no way affiliated with Hanbon Swords, just a beginner enthusiast, with a student budget unfortunately. I paid the full asking price of the sword.
Deciding factors for Hanbon Sword were: 100% consumer feedback on eBay, something like 2000 + positive reviews, 3 or so neutral reviews, and 0 negative reviews, free shipping to Canada (I was surprised also to find that Canada Post mentioned nothing about any duty tax, unless there's a big fat charge waiting somewhere that I don't know about, I haven't heard any threats yet and it's been almost a month), and finally the price of a differentially hardened blade for something like $270 CAD that I certainly couldn't find elsewhere at the time. I have no knowledge as to whether negative reviews can be screened, but it seems Yao is willing to do anything to satisfy his customers if they approach him before bashing him in a review.
THE REVIEW:
The package arrived in what appears to be a relatively safe package made entirely of styrofoam and tape, it was difficult to open carefully what with my excitement and the fact that there is just so much tape.
After finally opening the parcel there was quite a charming, gold silk (or synthetic, I don't know) sword bag with my custom katana in it, bearing features that I had very, very carefully chosen. Within the sword bag, the tsuka is wrapped safely in shrink wrap plastic.
I was worried that perhaps I wouldn't receive the correct customization because upon sending a detailed email to the smith after placing my order, I didn't receive confirmation from him personally, and then suddenly a couple of days later, my sword shipped, and so I had a bad feeling I may have received the sword in the picture that was advertised on eBay, rather than the custom katana I wanted. I should disclaim that communication with Yao is usually consistent, and he or one of his associates reply ASAP during their business hours. TIP: for anyone interested in ordering from Hanbon Swords, if you want customization, I'm pretty sure you can pick any sword in their inventory, and change the features of it to virtually anything you want. Whatever sword you decide to add to your cart and proceed to checkout with may just depend on the type of steel whether its 1060 or 1095. After placing your order, you just need to send an incredibly detailed email or eBay message to Yao, stating what you want, and being sure to use the product codes for the desired ito or tsuba or whatever.
To my great delight, they nailed the customization. Every single detail I had asked for was correct, not that it's any surprise, but I had heard stories of customization gone wrong due to some things being lost in translation.
My aim was for a slightly autumnal theme, as I was born late October, receiving my soul in the heart of autumn, and I wanted this sword to bear that significance.
I chose the imported, higher quality sageo from Japan, brown.
I chose a leaf themed iron tsuba (which I found out recently was based on an antique, and I appreciate it exponentially now). I believe it is cast iron, as some casting lines can be seen, but it really doesn't bother me. And the finish of the iron is what I like: it's a matte, rough iron, not that unattractive glossy black (painted) iron.
I chose what I believed at the time to be an acorn menuki, but later found out it is a chrysanthemum menuki, which coincidentally is the flower of those born in November. I was born October 28th, close enough for me. The menuki seems to be of fairly nice quality brass, and not that unattractive, extremely reflective gold plated stuff that looks like plastic. Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks of handling the menuki rattle a little bit, and shift below the ito rather easily when prodded. So I question the ito's constraining integrity.
I told Yao that it would be fine for him to choose matching fuchi and kashira for the tsuba and menuki I chose. I believe he chose a plum theme fuchi and kashira, which is fine with me for now. They are slightly small for my liking, however, and they're a tad rough around the edges due to Yao having to fit them to the tsuka, I assume.
I wanted this katana to lend more to the authentic, antique Japanese sword with a more traditional tsuka. So I decided to choose black leather (Yao told me the black leather is genuine, and all other colours are synthetic. I don't know that I am convinced however). The black leather (or pleather?) ito is quite stiff, and is glossy rather than matte unfortunately. To my relief, the diamonds are quite even, and nice and big, pronounced like. The side corners of the diamonds, however, tend to pull apart slightly rather than being flush with each other, but that's not a huge issue for me. All in all, the ito is quite tight, it gives very little when prodded. The samegawa is paneled and of mediocre quality I believe with small nodes. Unfortunately, the shape of tsuka I got is not as pleasing as I would have hoped. There is no waist or "hourglass" shape (rikko), it is straight down, and it slightly turns and changes direction toward the mune side of the sword. This seemingly follows the shape of the tang, but as far as I remember upon disassembly, the tang is straight, so it's slightly counter-intuitive, accomplishing very little. The tsuka is also on the slim side. I think I would have preferred some bulk in my hands when handling the sword. But that is only me!
I requested a plain brass habaki, rather than the habaki advertised (with some sort of giraffe design, I'm not a fan). The habaki fit to the koiguchi of the saya is very tight (but the blade still slightly rattles when sheathed), so much that I simply don't like to push it in all the way due to the effort it requires to draw the sword again (I leave about 2 milometers before the tsuba, trust me, it's plenty tight at that point). It's so very tight that I believe it to have even pulled apart the fittings slightly, because after a few draws, the top seppa became loose. So upon disassembling, I created a thin wooden shim to insert with the loose seppa as a temporary fix, as you can see below.
I haven't decided just how to fix the tight fit to the koiguchi yet. Any ideas guys? Maybe I will take some higher grit sand paper to the koiguchi and carefully remove some wood.
I requested a lacquered black saya (I know, I'm a sucker for the traditional), with buffalo horn fittings (I love the mysterious shimmer of the horn under direct light, see below). There was no such combination as an option, but Yao made the saya for me at my request, which I thought was very kind. Ask and you shall receive, right? The koiguchi could have a little bit more wood on the ha side if it were up to me however. Other than that, I am completely happy with the saya.
As for the blade, this is where I am very satisfied for what I paid. The hamon is very prominent even though the blade isn't traditionally polished. The hamon even extends into the kissaki as a boshi. The kissaki is cross polished much better than I thought it would be, completely acceptable. The blade's shape is very crisp, it's shinogi and shinogi-ji running consistently from the habaki to the kissaki. It's sori is just right for my liking, not too curved, and not too linear. I chose a blade with no bo hi, as I was more interested in power than speed if I ever attempt test cutting, and there's something more aesthetically pleasing to me about that solid shinogi-ji surface. The blade is in the shinogi-zukuri style, and measures in at 27.8 inches long according to Hanbon's item description. The kissaki is of the chu-kissaki shape.
The blade is sharp, perhaps not razor sharp, I haven't the experience to know just what razor sharp is. It is sharper at the last 10 or so inches as this is the monouchi, the cutting portion of the blade. Let's put it this way, I can run my finger along it (lightly, mind you) and go unscathed. Finally, the blade is slightly set to the left. I am going to attempt cushioning it into a vice grip and gently correcting it. But for now, it's nothing to get bent out of shape over (...) The sword is slightly blade heavy due to the lack of bo hi but that is as expected. I like the extra weight.
I had also requested that the tang of my blade be engraved with my name in Japanese. That was done correctly. However, it's more of a pyrographic (looks burned into the steel) than an engraving, but that's okay, it was free. The tang is of medium thickness, nothing bulky, and certainly not rat tail.
Disassembly proved to be difficult, only because of the stubborn mekugi pins I happened to receive. They are bamboo, but beginning to shred a little bit, and I don't even believe they are tapered, as they should be. So I am going to find suitable replacements via chopsticks or ordering something better online. There are no cracks in the tsuka.
TO SUM UP:
Pros:
- Good communication with sword smith Yao
- All customization was done properly
- High quality brass menuki
- Great, evenly and cleanly lacquered saya with horn fittings and high quality sageo
- Crisp and nicely shaped blade with a charming hamon
- Free shipping and no duty fees
Cons:
- Some casting lines in the iron tsuba (Very minor issue)
- Fuchi is slightly rough around the edges due to shaping, fuchi and kashira both slightly small (Another very minor issue)
- Black leather (or pleather) ito is rather stiff, slightly loose, and incidentally so are the menuki (Another minor issue, for now)
- Samegawa has small nodes and is of mediocre quality
- Lack of shape to the tsuka (A personal preference for me would have been some curves)
- Extremely tight fit of the habaki to the koiguchi (Is this even a con? Safety first after all, I'm thankful that it won't fall out)
- Seppa came loose (Something that can be fixed)
- Slightly bent blade (Something that can also be fixed with caution)
- Not exactly "razor sharp"
- Mekugi pins are not tapered, proving for a more forceful disassembly
As for the tsuka, I plan on crafting a new one with my old man who has around thirty years of woodworking experience, which will prove to be a challenging and interesting project. This is to rectify the "production katana problem" of ill-fitting tsuka to nakago, by creating one to fit my katana's tang.
I have initiated some correspondence with Josh at Cottontail Customs to inquire about my options for dressing the custom tsuka. Exciting things to look forward to!
I figured a new review for Hanbon Swords was necessary, as Yao appears to be of growing popularity among the production katana lines.
Thanks for reading guys, I know, it's a long one. But I'd rather you be well informed than ill-informed.
Regards,
Dan