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Post by the6thdeadlyvenom on Nov 13, 2015 3:27:33 GMT
Introduction
Now I told St-Nihonto in advance that I would be reviewing this sword on this site so that he would hopefully put his best foot forward, just as I did with Huawei. Huawei definitely did put their best foot forward. St-Hinonto? Well let's just say that if this is his best foot then his other foot must be a wooden peg. I'm unimpressed...
Full Disclosure
I purchased this sword from EBay. I am not affiliated with ST-Nihonto and I paid full price. I made him aware I would be reviewing the final product for this site.
Initial Impressions
Typical China ship job. The styrofoam and tape mummified coffin, usual average silk sword bag and a cheap $5 sword stand that I'll probably toss out.
Blade comes well oiled and wrapped in plastic.
So firstly I asked for a custom job. The blade was to be T10 unfolded mono steel differentially hardened Shinogi Zukuri with Kamasu Kissaki and bo-hi. As seen in this auction:
www.ebay.com/itm/221789769523?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
He got that right. Next I requested a traditional tsuka with a full Same wrap in red Samegawa with Tsukaito wrapped with black leather in Katatemaki style. Custom Fuchi, Kashira and Tsuba and a Cha-isshime Saya with natural Buffalo horn Koiguchi Kurikata and Kojiri. I also asked him to send me pictures BEFORE shipment to verify that my requests were met. Three different times I reminded him about the pictures. No pictures were ever sent and a shipping notice was sent to me after it was already on the way and too late. Aaaah now for the shipping, the delivery time.
This was shipped via EMS from China to America. It arrived today. Exactly 20 days after he shipped it. No it didn't sit in U.S customs for all that time. It arrived in U.S customs 17 days after shipment and was delivered to me 3 days later. Now where it was for those previous 17 days I have no idea. Mind you the sword I ordered from Huawei was also shipped via EMS from China to America and arrived to my door 7 days after shipment.
Now were my requests met? Well some were...
T10 Mono DH Shinogi Zukuri, Kamasu Kissaki with bo-hi? Yes
Full Same wrap in red? Yes (Same looks cheap though)
Tsukaito in black leather? No! (cheap feeling synthetic silk)
Tsukaito wrapped in Katatemaki style? Yes (Very poorly wrapped, more on that in a sec.)
Custom Fuchi Kashira and Tsuba? Yes, not the ones I wanted though and they are cheap poo
Cha-isshime Saya with natural unpainted Koiguchi Kurikata and Kojiri? (Yes and it's cheap, more on that in a few)
Statistics
Condition: Brand-New Blade Sori(Curvature): 0.86 Inch / 2.2Cm
Overall Length: 40.9 Inch /104 Cm Blade Material: Clay Tempered T-10 Steel
Nagasa Length: 28.0inch / 71Cm Blade Shape: SHINOGI-ZUKURI
Handle Length: 10.6 Inch / 27 Cm Blade Edge: Hand Polished
Handle Material: Genuine Ray Skin + Hard Wooden Blade Width (Near Kissaki): 0.91inch / 2.3cm
Tsuba Material: High Quality Copper Fittings Blade Width (Near Habaki): 1.26 Inch / 3.2Cm
Saya Material: Hard Wooden With Natural Lacquer Kissaki Shape: Diamond Shaped Kamasu Zukuri + Bo-hi
Components
Blade
The blade is nice enough. Not spectacular but I am happy with it. You guys can tell me for certain but I believe the hammon is enhanced, acid or some crap, but it's definitely passable and with a better polish could be stunning.. I think.. The hammon is boring and average and although it does not run off blade the greyish area between the softer spine steel and harder edge does. Not crazy about that.
It's average sharpness, slices paper. Haven't swung it yet.
Tsuka
The Tsuka is where this whole deal just derails.. The Tsuka core seems well assembled. Not potato fat but no nice "waist" like Huawei's. It's just kinda straight and average. Everything is tight, no tsuba play at all. The Kashira however is F'ing crooked and it's not quite on all the way.
covered mekugi
The only mekugi not completely covered on just this side
Another covered mekugi
The Same is indeed red and it is a full wrap. It looks a little on the cheap side to me.
Tsukaito is not leather as I had requested and so much the better. This whole deal needs a re-wrap anyhow. It is cheap synthetic silk (at least Huawei's fooled me at first believing it could be authentic silk). It is obviously synthetic because it feels and looks cheap. Crap.. Next it is wrapped in Katatemaki. With uneven poorly folded diamonds and somehow both sides of both Mekugi are almost completely covered by the Tsukaito wrap. I'll likely have to remove the Tsukaito completely to get the Mekugi out to remove Tsuka. Oh and one knot is reversed at Kashira. Just clearly no time or effort or even common sense put into the wrap job at all. Seriously what the hell is going on at the kashira? This is ugly uncomfortable to hold and just lazy.
Seriously?
Lazy..
Are you kidding me??? What the He11 is this??
Fuchi/ Kashira / Tsuba
Custom Fuchi Kashira and Tsuba are not what I had requested. So much the better as the quality or lack thereof is so bad I'd just have been replacing them anyway. They're utter poo. Supposed to be copper but I believe they're some alloy crapola. Ugly... This is lovely. When you order from him at the bottom of page he has customization options. He has fuchi kashira tsuba and menuki sets all grouped together and numbered. You pick a set. What I love is that initially when I was assembling the order I wanted the fuchi kashira and tsuba from one set and the menuki from a different set. He told me that I had to pick all fittings from one set and couldn't mix and match. So I picked one group. He used different fuchi kashira and tsuba than I wanted. Looking at his page the set with the tsuba kashira and fuchi he used would have also included menuki that are dragons. Yet my sword has menuki that are flowers.. So he switched the tsuba fuchi and kashira on me and then used different menuki from that set after telling me he couldn't allow that.. WTF??
Habaki is decent, brass and has a decent gap on both sides. Doesn't fit with Saya well at all.
Another covered Mekugi
Saya
The Saya does not fit the Habaki well.. . At first I thought it fit better but upon really handling it it's ok but not great. It doesn't rattle but if you turn katana upside down blade falls right out! It is Cha-Isshime as requested and the Koiguchi Kurikata and Kojiri are indeed unpainted natural buffalo horn but.... The clear coat on them flakes off if you look at it. It's like the cheapest lightest most un-adhered coat of laquer ever. It literally scratches and flakes off around the area of the scratch from just rubbing on a counter. Ridiculously cheap... Also the Sageo is ok but kind of shoe-lacey as I've heard others describe cheap Sageo. Shoe-lacey is a perfect description.
Hard to see it here but the clear coat is flaked away all over Koiguchi. More comes off every time I handle it. Kurikata is no different..
Conclusion
All in all if I had seen and handled this sword ahead of time I wouldn't want it to begin with. And if I HAD to buy it, the most I'd have paid would be $150 max. So that I could keep blade and Tsuka core, toss everything else and have the Tsuka professionaly wrapped in leather with quality fittings. Instead I paid $350 and will still have to do all those things. Not a happy camper and would not ever risk another sword from St-Nihonto. I'm having SERIOUS buyer's remorse. That said, I've already purchased a second Katana from Huawei however. Truth be told it probably also doesn't help that I just recently got my first sword from Huawei for less money that absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. Had I received this one first and the Huawei second maybe I wouldn't feel as disappointed. I feel like I got a bargain and more than my money's worth with the Huawei and honestly I feel like I got slightly swindled with the St-Nihonto. The Tsuka is what really Chaps my culo. From switching Kashira Fuchi and Tsuba to a different set then switching menuki from a still different set after telling me I couldn't, Switching the leather to cheap synth-silk and the ridiculously lazy freaking "wrap" job and the crooked Koiguchi, reversed knot that sticks out a half inch and uneven diamonds and 1 mekugi covered on both sides by Tsukaito and the other has one side covered and other side almost so. I know that was a horrible run on sentence buts it's late and I'm mad and I don't care. 
** UPDATE
So I had contacted ST-Nihonto and voiced my displeasure with the final product I received. I asked to return for a full refund. He agreed to a return for full refund but asked if I could please consider a partial refund to avoid a return. I have no problem with this as I do like the blade and with a proper wrap and fittings it would be a worthwhile addition to my collection. So I asked him how much he had in mind as a partial refund. He insulted me by offering me $25USD!! LOL! After doing a triple take at my monitor I replied that if that is the most he'd be willing to offer, I'd just rather return for full refund. He apologized and asked how much I thought was fair. Not wanting to be too hard on the guy and blaming myself for placing the order to begin with knowing that I'd likely not get exactly what I wanted I said I'd take $75. Bottom line is that although that will certainly not cover a re-wrap and proper fittings that puts what I received at a price that I don't feel like I got ripped at. So he agreed. Now I find out how he has maintained a 100%+ feedback profile. He responds saying that he will gladly refund only after I have left him 5 star positive feedback and ended this request with "thank you for your help and understanding". Now I don't have a problem doing this. The fact is that even if he's tricking me and not planning on refunding me after I leave feedback (which I don't believe he is doing mind you) I could still file a claim with Paypal and get a full refund anyway. It's just his way of making sure nobody sneaks in - feedback after a refund in a transaction in which the purchaser was dissatisfied by holding said refund $$ hostage. Again I don't care and so long as he was willing to give me $75 back I had no intention of leaving him - feedback (probably just no feedback at all) but it is enlightening as to his ability to maintain a flawless feedback profile. Just goes to show you Ebay feedback doesn't mean as much as you might think. Stick to this forum and other similar ones for the real straight dope! Out!
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Post by Robert in California on Nov 13, 2015 16:45:17 GMT
Sorry for your disappointment.
Though Huawei is a small outfit (I keep wondering if Jacky Chen is the only swordsmith), it is the outfit to compare all others too as in "as good as" or "better than", etc.
And yes, with 3 Huawei's now...I have to say...surprisingly high quality and workmanship for the money.
(and I am trying to persuade Jacky to make me another waki...no yes/no response yet....Jacky can be hard to reach but for another custom of his, I will keep trying...my new 29" wide sughua/straight hamon folded 1085/T10 katana with various whistles and bells cost me about $300usa shipped but is, like my other Huawei's, IMO worth noticeably more...and is one of my "good" swords.
People lacking a large amount of patience though, should buy a "ready to ship" Huawei.
BTW, my last Huawei arrived one week after Jacky said he shipped it.
RinC
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Post by Robert in California on Nov 13, 2015 16:47:24 GMT
Anyway, sorry about your disappointment!
I know the feeling...been there, done that on other stuff.
RinC
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Post by skane on Nov 13, 2015 16:53:51 GMT
Thanks for the review. I would agree for that price point, Huawei sounds like a safer choice.
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Post by gerrye on Nov 13, 2015 17:30:47 GMT
I'm amazed how quickly my Huawei just arrived via EMS (at my sister's, I get it monday). It left Jacky five days ago. China to UK. Maybe he tips the EMS driver a few extra yuan? My order was off the shelf though, I've heard custom jobs can take a while before even getting to EMS. I've got a St Nihonto wak waiting to ship so I guess we shall see. I did change the fittings completely, which has been done in under a week. I wonder what the quality of them will be like? If they're the right ones. I'll let you know. Sorry you've had such a crap retail therapy session  |
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Post by the6thdeadlyvenom on Nov 13, 2015 18:14:34 GMT
I'm amazed how quickly my Huawei just arrived via EMS (at my sister's, I get it monday). It left Jacky five days ago. China to UK. Maybe he tips the EMS driver a few extra yuan? My order was off the shelf though, I've heard custom jobs can take a while before even getting to EMS. I've got a St Nihonto wak waiting to ship so I guess we shall see. I did change the fittings completely, which has been done in under a week. I wonder what the quality of them will be like? If they're the right ones. I'll let you know. Sorry you've had such a crap retail therapy session You know the fact is I'm probably being extra hard on this sword. It's not really BAD per-se. It's just standard and represents to me what I've always imagined an "Ebay China forged" Katana to be. That being a decent/average to good blade with poor tsuka and crappy fittings. Hence I never bought a Ebay China forged Katana.. After finding this forum however and the praises in regards to these 2 sellers (Huawei and ST-Nihonto) I thought I might give it a shot. Funny thing is I ordered the ST-Nihonto first. Took him 2 weeks to do custom work and then 20 days to get it to me. In that time the Huawei arrived and proved to me that everything I had previously supposed about a Ebay China forged Katana wasn't necessarily the case. Then the ST-Nihonto FINALLY arrived after net 34 days (2 weeks to make and 20 days to get here) and reassured to me that my previous suppositions are indeed true, just not in the case of Huawei. I get the idea that Jacky at Huawei actually cares about taking care of his customers and delivering a quality product. It's called pride. Hence he doesn't have 250 current offerings and 500 different customization options for each. He has just a handful of offerings, very sparse customization options and basically primarily only offers to customize the blade itself. Because he doesn't want to get bogged down and spread too thin with too many offerings and too many tiny custom details for too many customers. Then quality of service suffers. He keeps it small and simple. St-Nihonto and other sellers seem primarily interested in getting as much crap out there as possible to sell as much as possible and make as much $$ as possible with their service taking a hit. All well and good for them but not how I like to do business. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind and see what he says before leaving him neutral or negative feedback. He's 100% positive feedback right now (no idea how) and I do feel like I might feel guilty if I blast it. We’ll see… I need to sit and stew on it a bit longer. Hey at least I've got a sword that "Can cut tree". Probably chop that sh*t right the f#ck down just by touching the blade to the trunk!! LOL |
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Post by gerrye on Nov 13, 2015 19:28:35 GMT
I'm really excited to see my huawei now! I fell in love with the blade and barely even noticed the fittings..typical male, my missus might have said... if it's half as good as it looks, I'm laughing. It's shobu, as well, which clinched it. I've always preferred the kissaki on shobu zukuri, as long as it's not just shinogi without a counter-polished yokote that is, something about all the lines coming together that looks more complete to me somehow. Sorry, I'm cracking on like a dating site sucker, all excited because he finally gets to meet soon, but all he goes on about is what a bangin' rack she's got in her profile photo.
Anyway, hope the new blade grows on you once you've spent some quality time with it.
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Post by zabazagobo on Nov 13, 2015 22:47:05 GMT
I'm really sorry to hear about your custom ordering experience. If you're dissatisfied, I'd definitely go for a return;
Ebay may be Ebay (although they are much better in customer service pertaining to returns these days), but Paypal will likely take care of you if the vendor doesn't deliver. There's no sense in keeping an underwhelming product; I've gotten to the point where I just want to get rid of my Hanbon swords because I recognize waaaay too many faults with them to even enjoy swinging them around these days.
Thanks for sharing your findings. I've been floating the idea of ordering a custom production-priced shobu odachi, so it seems that this request will only go towards Jacky.
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Post by the6thdeadlyvenom on Nov 18, 2015 4:58:59 GMT
Review added. Wish I had better things to say.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Nov 18, 2015 5:20:41 GMT
Dang, sorry for the let down. The blade at least is serviceable and has that unique kissaki. It does look like the blade was acid etched, but so are the very vast majority of production blades, and even some high-end custom makes use an etchant. I hope the next blade you get is so rad that it clears the sou taste from this one away.
Also, I've been meaning to compliment you on your exquisite taste in user avatars. One of the best movies ever made. Got a Pork Chop Express sticker on my Jeep.
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Post by the6thdeadlyvenom on Nov 18, 2015 14:28:41 GMT
Dang, sorry for the let down. The blade at least is serviceable and has that unique kissaki. It does look like the blade was acid etched, but so are the very vast majority of production blades, and even some high-end custom makes use an etchant. I hope the next blade you get is so rad that it clears the sou taste from this one away. Also, I've been meaning to compliment you on your exquisite taste in user avatars. One of the best movies ever made. Got a Pork Chop Express sticker on my Jeep. Always delighted to meet another fan. That movie like most of Carpenter's flicks I could watch over and over and over again. No Horse S#!t! I'm quite dreading the prospect of a remake starring the Rock... Why must they continue to defile these 80's gems?
Update** I emailed Sheng expressing my extreme dissatisfaction. He asked for pictures which I quickly overloaded his inbox with. His response seemed genuinely surprised and remorseful. Which leads me to believe one of three things. Either he does not do all of the work and he has employees that he relies on, and they are not always reliable. He does not do any work at all and just sends the complete order to the factory and they ship directly to his customer making him a middleman essentially. Or he was just feigning surprise and remorse to keep from having to admit intentionally sending blatantly subpar and lazy craftsmanship. Maybe he hoped I was just some 16 year old layman using Mom's credit card for a sword to run around the back yard with and try to chop up butterflies and lizards with. Whichever of the three it may be it essentially doesn't matter. None of them would garner repeat business from me. I told him I wanted to return for a refund as this is unusable in it's current state and needs a whole tsuka rewrap and new fittings. He responded offering a partial refund. I'll wait and see how much he's offering and probably go that route as I do like the blade very much. We'll see.
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Post by greatsaiyaman888 on Nov 18, 2015 18:04:06 GMT
Go to Huawei and ask for the same ridiculous fittings you asked for on this sword, and you will get exactly the same crap.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Nov 18, 2015 18:48:17 GMT
I'm still hoping that the Rock version falls through. He's cool and all, and I like him in most other stuff, but the Russell/Carpenter combo is one made in heaven. The Thing remake they did was also as close to perfection as humans can achieve.
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Post by the6thdeadlyvenom on Nov 18, 2015 19:15:43 GMT
Go to Huawei and ask for the same ridiculous fittings you asked for on this sword, and you will get exactly the same crap. I wouldn't. I'll buy another off the shelf Huawei for a superior sword at a crazy reasonable price and get better fittings elsewhere and have Tsuka professionally redone. Hyper-Café in Japan rocks for fittings.
Me too. I also dig the Rock and all but leave the classics alone. Carpenter's The Thing is one of the best horror movies to date. That modern prequel was an insult to it. When will Hollywood learn CGI isn't scary. No matter how well done, how realistic (for CGI) your mind can still perceive that its not really there. Might looks cool, might make you say "wow" but can't scare you. Of course the CGI alone was minor on my list failures that prequel made. |
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Post by greatsaiyaman888 on Nov 18, 2015 20:16:50 GMT
Sure, they look pretty that's all if that's what you are looking for. If I'm going for a blade I like playing roulette with the eBay sellers. Even-sword and ninja-katana are looking real promising at the moment. Better fittings than Huawei offers for cheaper and looks like they do genuine lamination. Something that cost nearly $1000 from other vendors.
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Post by nddave on Nov 18, 2015 22:53:49 GMT
Thanks for the review. If anything these reviews benefit me by slapping my hand back anytime I may be interested in buying a Ebay katana, lol. Man I thought that Shinwa my wife bought was bad, these Ebay vendors really aren't that different and you're paying almost triple for these Ebay swords....
It seems a common saying that you're "playing roulette" with Ebay vendors. Well in a sense roulette at it's simplest is 50/50 red or black, place your bet. It seems like with Ebay the colors on the table are red and black but the colors on the actual roulette are blue and orange so you're never really winning or loosing, just confused or off.
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Post by the6thdeadlyvenom on Nov 19, 2015 17:41:25 GMT
Thanks for the review. If anything these reviews benefit me by slapping my hand back anytime I may be interested in buying a Ebay katana, lol. Man I thought that Shinwa my wife bought was bad, these Ebay vendors really aren't that different and you're paying almost triple for these Ebay swords.... It seems a common saying that you're "playing roulette" with Ebay vendors. Well in a sense roulette at it's simplest is 50/50 red or black, place your bet. It seems like with Ebay the colors on the table are red and black but the colors on the actual roulette are blue and orange so you're never really winning or loosing, just confused or off. LOL! Well stated. I must say that I received my second sword from Huawei, a Choji Hammon blade in Shirasaya (bought a blade in shirasaya because I wans to have a custom tsuka and wrap and use my own fittings that I have already) and it is a breathtaking blade. Just gorgeous and worth every penny.. More even.. IMHO you're not playing roulette with Huawei. Also I updated my first post in this review with the final resolution from ST-Nihonto and a revelation as to how he has maintained 100%+ feedback. |
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Nov 19, 2015 19:54:29 GMT
I won't bother sugar coating anything here but know that I mean no offense. That sword is not worth more than $100 and you let the seller off wayyy too easy imo. I think of this seller as I do Ryansword: deceitful, dishonest and unreliable. At least you know one more seller to avoid in the future  Thanks for the review |
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Post by Cottontail Customs on Nov 19, 2015 19:56:45 GMT
Though Huawei is a small outfit (I keep wondering if Jacky Chen is the only swordsmith)
-Josh
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Post by nddave on Nov 19, 2015 20:05:13 GMT
Thanks for the review. If anything these reviews benefit me by slapping my hand back anytime I may be interested in buying a Ebay katana, lol. Man I thought that Shinwa my wife bought was bad, these Ebay vendors really aren't that different and you're paying almost triple for these Ebay swords.... It seems a common saying that you're "playing roulette" with Ebay vendors. Well in a sense roulette at it's simplest is 50/50 red or black, place your bet. It seems like with Ebay the colors on the table are red and black but the colors on the actual roulette are blue and orange so you're never really winning or loosing, just confused or off. LOL! Well stated. I must say that I received my second sword from Huawei, a Choji Hammon blade in Shirasaya (bought a blade in shirasaya because I wans to have a custom tsuka and wrap and use my own fittings that I have already) and it is a breathtaking blade. Just gorgeous and worth every penny.. More even.. IMHO you're not playing roulette with Huawei. Also I updated my first post in this review with the final resolution from ST-Nihonto and a revelation as to how he has maintained 100%+ feedback. Just read your update and man is that pathetic... $25 dollars to shut you up, that's weak. I've never actually thrown out a blacklist call but this is definitely worthy. $75 isn't even worth keeping the sword. Especially after the feedback bribery. He should be reported and taken off Ebay in my opinion. I'm a pretty mellow guy but you must be even more because if this was me I'd have his ass in a sling. |
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