My wife's sword - A ninja-katana Shinogi-zukuri
Jan 4, 2018 20:16:26 GMT
Post by RaylonTheDemented on Jan 4, 2018 20:16:26 GMT
Hi ladies and gentlemen, happy new year all!
Now, to start 2018, I decided to kick myself and stop procrastinating and get on with my dear wife's Christmas gift, that is, a Katana. Let's say that I've scouted the field and made out that she'd likely apreciate something in the black, red and golden range, also more to look at than cutting, though the blade will be tested against light targets, as soon as weather permit.
Thus I ended choosing an Ebay blade from ninja-katana (aka st-nihonto), given his good reputation camparatelively to more disreputable sellers.
Also, I am getting smarter and decided to use the SBG forum review template for ease of use.
Full Disclosure:
I am not afiliated with any Ebay seller, other sword stores or brands selling swords of any kind. I bought this sword for my wife as a gift and that is that. I am not a martial artist or expert of any kind and am relatively new to sword collecting and at this point I only have handled so many blades, so my comparison points only go so far.
I would also say that I contacted the seller (ninja-katana) to ask a few question and point out that I would make a review of his product on the SBG forum.
Statistics and initial impressions:
-Overall Length: 103cm/40.6inch.
-Blade Length: 71cm/28inch, shinogi-zukuri, no-hi.
-Handle Length: 26cm/10.2inch, real samegawa panels, silk Ito, brass menuki.
-Tang: Full tang.
-Blade Material: 1075 folded steel, clay tempered, water quenched.
-Blade Width (near Habaki): 1.26 inch / 3.2cm
-Blade Width (near Kissaki): 0.91 inch / 2.3cm
-Tsuba (fittings): Made of brass, dragon theme.
-Habaki/seppa: (blade collar/spacer): Made of brass.
-Saya (Scabbard): Made of hard wood, red lacquer, silk sageo.
-P.O.B. 5 1/4 inch.
-Weight: I have no means to exactly weight it, but I would say around 2.7 lbs
The sword was shipped 5 days after ordering and took exactly 2 weeks to get to my door. Could have been shorter maybe, but that was Cristmas period, so. Came in your regular yellow tape wrapped styrofoam box, nice looking red and gold dragon themed sword bag. Blade itself greased and wrapped in plastic, habaki not completely in the saya by, maybe, 1/4 inch. All looked fine.
The saya: Once cleaned and re-sheated I had real trouble unsheating it again, habaki was VERY tight inside the koigushi, but after a few times sheating/unsheating it now fits perfectly, holds very well upside down. And also no saya rattle, at all, was pleasantly surprised.
Shitodome are well fit, sageo is nicely done, I am not knowledgeable enough to see if it is real or synthetic silk. Crisp, shiny red laquered saya, koigushi looks good and well centered, there is no cracks or scuffing.
The nagasa: It has a nice mirror polish, but it also make it very hard to see the folding of the steel, and made the hamon hard to capture on camera, though you can see some hada 'activity' around it. Will likely try some vinegar etching later on to try and get the hamon and hada pop out more. There is no traditional geometric yokote and while I couldn't capture it on camera, the boshi is well defined. There is no niku.
The blade is very straight and paper cutting sharp, the shinogi is well defined and doesn't wander. The kissaki has an ok diamond shape, nothing striking, the mune is slightly wavering all along the blade though.
The tsuka: One of the big point for finally choosing that katana over any other is the wine tainted samegawa, different from what I saw anywhere else. Samegawa could be better quality, there is no emperor's nodes. Ito is tight and alternating, no hishigami, menuki are dragons and don't move at all, the mekugi pins seems ok and don't protrude too much, however one of them is under the ito wrap on one side which may make disasembly more difficult.
The tsuka itself follow the sori of the blade, and it also have a hourglass shape. Menuki could be 1/2 inch each closer to the fuchi and kashira respectively for comfort, so it's not perfect but still nice.
The koshirae: Habaki and seppa are brass and run off the mill production, nothing special there. There is a gap on both sides between the habaki and blade, from shinogi to ha, that could have been done better I guess. Tsuba is a copper burnished brass dragon with golden/silvery head and claws. Fushi and kashira show a golden millipede writhing through silver leaves.
They are all well fitted and tight, showing no gaps between parts.
Handling Characteristics: We have not cut with it yet. Being no-hi it is obiously more tip heavy than my earlier experience with bo-hi and unobuki blades but I have no other shinogi-zukuri blades to compare it with, but I like how it handles. Also able to get a nice, simple tachikaze out of it.
Conclusions: I like the blade and how it handles, and how the saya turned out, as do my wife, which is more important.
She really likes the black and red theme with the golden touches, she's becoming knowledgeable enough to apreciate the hamon and folding and while she find the blade heavier than what she's used to with a bo-hi or unobuki styles, she thinks the weight feels great and will likely wield good cutting sessions. As do I.
As for myself, I liked the communication with the ninja-katana seller, Hu, the fast delivery and overall quality of this katana considering the price tag of 250$ USD. And while the hamon/hada are not as visible as shown in the store's picture, I suspect this has to do with some tricks of light and/or due to some acid etching that helped enhance the original pics.
Pros:
- Saya is well done.
- Well done mirror polish, beautiful straight nagasa, generaly well shaped and sharp with a visible natural hamon. I can see no defect in the folding lines.
- Well balanced.
- Tsuka tightly wrapped, hourglass shaped with alternating ito.
- Good quality for the cost.
Cons:
- Mune is a bit wavy.
- No geometric yokote (but I knew tha before buying).
- Small gaps between the habaki and blade.
- Tsuka: Samegawa could be higher quality. One of the mekugi pins ends under the ito and the menuki should be closer to the fuchi and kashira respectively.
Bottom line, I would recommend this sword. Good value for the money. For those who likes ornamented and colorful, this is a good choice IMHO.
The sword is not perfect by any means but at this price range it is pretty good. Communication with Hu (ninja-katana seller) have been easy and he answers quickly.
Given the product, I am looking forward to get another blade I have eyed from this seller.
o7
P.S I will update the review once cutting has been done. I can take more picture if asked for.
Now, to start 2018, I decided to kick myself and stop procrastinating and get on with my dear wife's Christmas gift, that is, a Katana. Let's say that I've scouted the field and made out that she'd likely apreciate something in the black, red and golden range, also more to look at than cutting, though the blade will be tested against light targets, as soon as weather permit.
Thus I ended choosing an Ebay blade from ninja-katana (aka st-nihonto), given his good reputation camparatelively to more disreputable sellers.
Also, I am getting smarter and decided to use the SBG forum review template for ease of use.
Full Disclosure:
I am not afiliated with any Ebay seller, other sword stores or brands selling swords of any kind. I bought this sword for my wife as a gift and that is that. I am not a martial artist or expert of any kind and am relatively new to sword collecting and at this point I only have handled so many blades, so my comparison points only go so far.
I would also say that I contacted the seller (ninja-katana) to ask a few question and point out that I would make a review of his product on the SBG forum.
Statistics and initial impressions:
-Overall Length: 103cm/40.6inch.
-Blade Length: 71cm/28inch, shinogi-zukuri, no-hi.
-Handle Length: 26cm/10.2inch, real samegawa panels, silk Ito, brass menuki.
-Tang: Full tang.
-Blade Material: 1075 folded steel, clay tempered, water quenched.
-Blade Width (near Habaki): 1.26 inch / 3.2cm
-Blade Width (near Kissaki): 0.91 inch / 2.3cm
-Tsuba (fittings): Made of brass, dragon theme.
-Habaki/seppa: (blade collar/spacer): Made of brass.
-Saya (Scabbard): Made of hard wood, red lacquer, silk sageo.
-P.O.B. 5 1/4 inch.
-Weight: I have no means to exactly weight it, but I would say around 2.7 lbs
The sword was shipped 5 days after ordering and took exactly 2 weeks to get to my door. Could have been shorter maybe, but that was Cristmas period, so. Came in your regular yellow tape wrapped styrofoam box, nice looking red and gold dragon themed sword bag. Blade itself greased and wrapped in plastic, habaki not completely in the saya by, maybe, 1/4 inch. All looked fine.
The saya: Once cleaned and re-sheated I had real trouble unsheating it again, habaki was VERY tight inside the koigushi, but after a few times sheating/unsheating it now fits perfectly, holds very well upside down. And also no saya rattle, at all, was pleasantly surprised.
Shitodome are well fit, sageo is nicely done, I am not knowledgeable enough to see if it is real or synthetic silk. Crisp, shiny red laquered saya, koigushi looks good and well centered, there is no cracks or scuffing.
The nagasa: It has a nice mirror polish, but it also make it very hard to see the folding of the steel, and made the hamon hard to capture on camera, though you can see some hada 'activity' around it. Will likely try some vinegar etching later on to try and get the hamon and hada pop out more. There is no traditional geometric yokote and while I couldn't capture it on camera, the boshi is well defined. There is no niku.
The blade is very straight and paper cutting sharp, the shinogi is well defined and doesn't wander. The kissaki has an ok diamond shape, nothing striking, the mune is slightly wavering all along the blade though.
The tsuka: One of the big point for finally choosing that katana over any other is the wine tainted samegawa, different from what I saw anywhere else. Samegawa could be better quality, there is no emperor's nodes. Ito is tight and alternating, no hishigami, menuki are dragons and don't move at all, the mekugi pins seems ok and don't protrude too much, however one of them is under the ito wrap on one side which may make disasembly more difficult.
The tsuka itself follow the sori of the blade, and it also have a hourglass shape. Menuki could be 1/2 inch each closer to the fuchi and kashira respectively for comfort, so it's not perfect but still nice.
The koshirae: Habaki and seppa are brass and run off the mill production, nothing special there. There is a gap on both sides between the habaki and blade, from shinogi to ha, that could have been done better I guess. Tsuba is a copper burnished brass dragon with golden/silvery head and claws. Fushi and kashira show a golden millipede writhing through silver leaves.
They are all well fitted and tight, showing no gaps between parts.
Handling Characteristics: We have not cut with it yet. Being no-hi it is obiously more tip heavy than my earlier experience with bo-hi and unobuki blades but I have no other shinogi-zukuri blades to compare it with, but I like how it handles. Also able to get a nice, simple tachikaze out of it.
Conclusions: I like the blade and how it handles, and how the saya turned out, as do my wife, which is more important.
She really likes the black and red theme with the golden touches, she's becoming knowledgeable enough to apreciate the hamon and folding and while she find the blade heavier than what she's used to with a bo-hi or unobuki styles, she thinks the weight feels great and will likely wield good cutting sessions. As do I.
As for myself, I liked the communication with the ninja-katana seller, Hu, the fast delivery and overall quality of this katana considering the price tag of 250$ USD. And while the hamon/hada are not as visible as shown in the store's picture, I suspect this has to do with some tricks of light and/or due to some acid etching that helped enhance the original pics.
Pros:
- Saya is well done.
- Well done mirror polish, beautiful straight nagasa, generaly well shaped and sharp with a visible natural hamon. I can see no defect in the folding lines.
- Well balanced.
- Tsuka tightly wrapped, hourglass shaped with alternating ito.
- Good quality for the cost.
Cons:
- Mune is a bit wavy.
- No geometric yokote (but I knew tha before buying).
- Small gaps between the habaki and blade.
- Tsuka: Samegawa could be higher quality. One of the mekugi pins ends under the ito and the menuki should be closer to the fuchi and kashira respectively.
Bottom line, I would recommend this sword. Good value for the money. For those who likes ornamented and colorful, this is a good choice IMHO.
The sword is not perfect by any means but at this price range it is pretty good. Communication with Hu (ninja-katana seller) have been easy and he answers quickly.
Given the product, I am looking forward to get another blade I have eyed from this seller.
o7
P.S I will update the review once cutting has been done. I can take more picture if asked for.