Sinosword/JKOO 1095 Sughua Katana-the sword I did not like.
Feb 3, 2019 15:21:16 GMT
Post by Robert in California on Feb 3, 2019 15:21:16 GMT
Sword Review: Custom JKOO/Sinosword 29” 1095 Sughua Katana - The Sword I Did Not Like. 3Feb2019
Above: JKOO 1095 sughua katana and JKOO 1095 sughua wakizashi (katana reviewed now, wakizashi to be reviewed later) reh
This is a review of a JKOO (www.sinosword.com) sword. This one, an almost 29 inch, forged mono-1095 steel, sughua hamon katana. I did not like this sword from the moment I drew it out of the saya.
Above: The JKOO swords came in a single box.
I used the www.sinosword.com custom ordering menu and JKOO met most of my specifications. Normally, JKOO meets every specification. This time was unusual. Anyway, from the custom ordering menu, I asked for a 29 inch blade (30 inches including habaki). I could have ordered a longer blade or shorter. I have swords ranging from 27 ½ inches to 29 inches. Being a bit over six feet tall, 28 to 29 inch blades feel best to me. Although I find it is easier for me to do noto’s (putting the blade back into the saya/scabbard) with shorter blades.
Above: TheJKOO 1095 sughua katana.
Above: Similar furniture on both
I already had a JKOO T10 tool steel katana of almost the same specifications. So, why did I order basically the same in 1095 steel? Because John Walter Pope, a high level USA swordsman, mentioned he thought a 1095 blade might be more bend-resistant than a T10 blade. And he had a liking for 1095 blades. Mr. Pope does sword testing (www.youtube.com videos) and I have found wisdom in listening to him. And admiration in watching his style and technique in his YouTube videos. I have seen videos of Japanese swordsmen who do not come close when compared to Mr. Pope’s smooth style. Here is a sample Pope video:
This 1095 sword without saya, was 2 1/2 pounds. In my hands, this sword felt fairly light and quick, yet with enough feeling of weight to give power to the cut.
I did not ask for any custom options not listed on JKOO’s www.sinosword.com custom sword design menu. But I could have, using the “what else do you want / what do you want different?” sections of the menus for that.
On to the sword specifications. This sword is now a “beater” sword for backyard cutting of bottles and such. My other JKOO swords have been too nice, despite being only $300USA category swords, for me to want to use as “beaters”.
This particular sword came with specification changes I had not wanted and do not like, so though a good performer, I am willing to risk damaging this JKOO.
JKOO / Sinosword 1095 steel katana with suguha (straight) hamon Specifications:
The Sword:
Cost: $304usa + $51usa shipping (China to USA)
Weight: 2.5 pounds (sword only)
Weight: 3.25 pounds (sword + saya)
Total Length (sword + saya) = 43.5 inches
Total sword length = 41 1/8 inches
Sword Point of Balance: 4 ½ inches ahead of the tsuba.
Sword sharpness: Not sharp for the first 1 ½ inches ahead of habaki
(to reduce chance of koguichi damage)
Paper-slicing sharp elsewhere, despite the niku.
Above: Different view of the katana
The Habaki:
Above: JKOO menu has a number of habaki choices, this just one of them.
Habaki: dulled gold color brass with diagonal file scratches
Habaki length = 1 inch
Habaki fit: too loose vertically and laterally for the nakago.
(I asked for a “shaved” nakago, which likely thinned the nakago too much, since none of my other JKOO’s have had this problem)
The Seppa:
Above: Brass seppa next to the brass habaki
Seppa: brass
The Tsuba:
Above: JKOO Brass tsuba
Above: another view
Tsuba: darkened brass oval with flowers design
Tsuba thickness: 3/16”
Tsuba length (ha to mune direction): 3 1/4 inches
Tsuba width side to side): 3 inches
Above: Punch used to better fit the tsuba to the nakago
Abover: Other side
The Tsuka:
Above: Tsukas done similarly
Tsuka length: 11 ¼ inches
Tsuka: full wrap of raw, white, small nodules ray skin
Tsuka ito: dark brown Chinese cotton
Tsuka ito wrap: traditional “criss-cross”. Very tight. Diamonds even.
Tsuka Mekugi: one bamboo mekugi
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at fuchi: 1 10/16 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (half way between fuchi & kashira): 1 9/16 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at kashira: 1 8/16” inches (with ito)
Tsuka thickness (side to side) at fuchi: 1 inch (with ito)
Tsuka thickness (side to side) at kashira: 1 inch (with ito)
Above: better view
Above: View of tsuka wrap "diamonds"
Above: Kashira end of tsuka
Above: Tsuka ito was brown, cotton .... even and tight wrap.
Above: Straight tsuka with slight taper
The Fuchi:
Above: Brass fuchi...one of many available choices from the Sinosword custom sword menu at www.sinosword.com
Fuchi: darkened brass with flowers designs
Fuchi length: 1 ½ inches
Fuchi width: ¾ inches
Above: Fuchi side view
Above: Surface of top of fuchi
The Kashira:
Above: Flowers design.
Kashira: darkened brass with flowers designs
Kashira length: 1 3/8 inches
Kashira width: ¾ inches
Above: close up of fuchi
The Menuki:
Above: Brass menuki
Menuki: darkened brass flowers
Above: Saya with brown buffalo horn fittings (koguichi, kurigata, kojiri)
Cotton black & white sageo. Japanese silk was available for an extra $50usa.
The Saya:
Saya length: 31 3/4 inches
Saya width (sideways) at kojiri: 1 8/16 inches
Saya width (thickness) at kojiri: 13/16 inches
Saya width (sideways) at koguichi: 1 11/16 inches
Saya width (thickness) at koguichi: 15/16 inches
Saya furniture (kojiri, kurigata, koguichi): brown buffalo horn
Saya color: gloss black
Saya shito-done: brass (gold)
Saya sageo: black & white cotton
Saya weight: ½ pound
Above: Saya exterior of gloss black.
Above: Black buffalo horn on left and brown on right.
Above: Koguichi of brown buffalo horn
Above: Koguichi
Above: Kojiri
Above: Wood to koguichi fit was good
Above: Another view of koguichi
Above: Kojiri of brown buffalo horn
Above: Brown buffalo horn kurigata
Above: Another view
Above: The black and white Chinese cotton sageo
The Blade:
Above: Kissaki end of single bohi
Blade polish: mirror
Blade (with niku) sharpness: slices paper
Blade sori: 11/16 inches
Blade thickness at yokote: 3/16 inches
Blade thickness ½ way down blade: 3.5/16 inches
Blade thickness at habaki: 5/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at yokote: 14/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) ½ way down: 17/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at habaki: 19/16 inches
Bohi width: 5/16 inches
Kissaki length: 1 3/16 inches (short chu (medium) kissaki)
Blade hamon: suguha (straight, wide)
Blade boshi (hamon of kissaki): suguha (straight, narrow)
Above: Top sword has JKOO "cosmetic" polish and mirror polish on bottom.
Above: Narrow boshi
Above: Blade at habaki end
Above: Bohi
Above: one mekugi hole nakago
Above: Mirror polish does not show the hamon clearly.
Above: "Cosmetic" polish on wakizashi - hamon stands out better than with a mirror polish.
Above: Mirror polish of katana blade.
Above: It is difficult to photograph mirror polished blades.
My Thoughts:
On tsuka length:
I am 6 feet 2 inches and have found that an 11 inch tsuka feels best for me. Shorter and my left hand little finger is gripping the kashira when it should be gripping the ito of the tsuka in front of the kashira. Not so comfortable when the kashira is not smooth and rounded. A case of larger hands liking longer tsuka. With a shorter tsuka, my two handed grip has the rear hand covering the kashira. I have not tried a 12 inch tsuka. Maybe I would like a 12 even better than an 11?
On kashira shapes:
A rounded kashira is more comfortable than a kashira with a flat top and edges. The edges dig into my hand, in the case of a tsuka shorter than my hands like.
Summary and nit picking:
Let’s see, so far now I have bought a JKOO tamahagane katana, a JKOO T10 katana, a JKOO 1095 katana, a JKOO T10 wakizashi and a JKOO 1095 wakizashi, and one or two more are being made.
Yes, I like the swords JKOO makes. For a basic $300USA category sword, they have been of higher level workmanship than my other swords, other than my two nihontos.
All my JKOO’s have single bohi’s. Why? Because my hearing is not as good as when I was young, and in air cuts especially, the sound the blade makes tells me how my cut is. Bohi blades are easier to hear. JKOO seems to know to make my bohi blades a little heavier, so after steel is removed in the making of the bohi, the end result is a bohi blade with enough weight to cut well.
I have trusted JKOO’s ability to make me good quality, solid performing, multi-use blades and have not been disappointed. A blade that holds up despite poor technique, is important to me. And is a reason JKOO blades attract me. I would likely ding and bend my long, slender, folded T10/1085 Huawei katana if I used it for cutting.
Overall, this JKOO katana is neither light nor heavy, neither lightning fast nor slow. Like my other JKOO katanas, it has a pretty good feeling for being a jack-of-all-trades, medium weight sword. Not for cleaving water buffalo in two. Not a thin, specialized mat cutter. Rather a multi-tasking, general use sword. A good $300usa category sword and good value for the money.
I did not like this sword, because I did not get all my specifications. I still do not like it. In fact, I was quite unhappy. So much so, JKOO offered me an attractive discount on a replacement 1095 sword and I accepted (review planned).
The Good:
Above: Before cutting bottles and after cutting bottles.....razor sharp....slicing paper was easy.
Good: Same comments that I made for my JKOO T10 katana review: Nice blade. Good balance. Enough heft to cut well. Not enough heft to slow it noticeably. A good looking sword offering good value for the money. A blade made at JKOO’s very own forge, not a blade bought elsewhere and then mounted and sold. The JKOO custom menu allows a buyer to order a personally-designed sword, blade specifications and furniture choices.
Which blade steel is better, T10 or 1095? I don’t know. Looking at both, the JKOO T10 blade looks a little whiter and brighter than the 1095, but both steels come out attractive with a good JKOO “cosmetic” aka “whitening” polish. I recommend the JKOO “cosmetic” polish over the JKOO “mirror” polish, for looks.
I did not ask for a non-standard blade design in either sword. I figured that JKOO has a lot of experience with a certain blade design and has refined a certain default blade design to have all around good features and performance. So I, not being a sword expert, am happy to go with the blade design, that JKOO likes enough to make commonly.
The Bad:
Bad: My specifications were not all met. The blade was slightly shorter than I asked for. I asked for 29 inches. I got 28 ¾ inches. I wanted a fairly wide sughua (straight) hamon. I got that all the way from habaki to yokote. But not for the kissaki. The kissaki hamon (“boshi”) was a narrow sughua about 1/8 inch wide. I wanted a wider boshi, like ¼ to 1/3 inch. Admittedly, I failed to ask for a wider boshi. I just “assumed” that a wider hamon guaranteed a wider boshi.
Above: Left: Wakizashi wide boshi. Right: Katana narrow boshi
Nothing wrong with a narrow sughua boshi. Historic nihonto katanas, from even very good smiths, have had narrow boshi’s, and even narrow hamons. But I wanted the boshi to be wider, like was done on my other JKOO swords.
Other bad was that the spare saya was not of as good a blade2saya fit as the primary saya. It is a good idea to order two sayas for the sword. So there is a spare in case of need. Quite affordable if done at same time as the primary saya. Also, samurai of old sometimes had more than one saya for a sword. An “every day carry” saya and a fancier formal occasion’s saya.
JKOO was happy to make two sayas. But while there was zero “blade in saya rattle” in the primary saya, there was noticeable blade rattle (down near the kissaki) with the spare saya. I did end up pushing a few, oiled cotton balls down inside to the kojiri end (bottom) of the saya. That fixed the blade rattle in the spare saya. But still……
Photo is of only one of my two sayas for this sword. Both were identical features. In hindsight, I think it would have been fun to have had one the simple, gloss black of a no-nonsense workaday saya and the other more ornate and colorful, just as we have simple clothes for around the house and fancier clothes for more formal occasions. I wish I had done that.
Next bad? Holding the sword in both hands and shaking it up and down and side to side, I felt a very, very slight bit of “blade in tsuka wobble”. True, this sword only had one mekugi. But my other JKOO swords were solid. No feeling of nakago movement inside the tsuka. Very slight, maybe a ½ millimeter vertical wobble. Almost at the “Am I imagining things?” level.
Above: I asked for and received a "shaved" nakago.
Why the wobble? I had the nakago shaved down slightly. The blade nakago became slightly too small for the standard, mass-produced brass habaki. In an expensive sword, a custom-made habaki will be handmade to be an exact fit to that exact sword’s nakago (tang). That takes time and costs extra.
Above: katana file-shaved nakago
But in a $200 to $300 dollar category sword, sword fittings will be mass-produced, production fittings. It is not reasonable to expect these more budget-minded swords to have hand-made, custom fitted habaki’s.
Above: Excellent performance obtained with this special epoxy.
Solution? I bought some 5 minute, steel-impregnated JBWeld, the version so strong as to be for auto engine repairs. Putty style (not as strong as “pudding style” but does not “run” so easier to work with, and it cures faster). After degreasing the habaki, I molded a long, thin “string” of JBWeld to the inside of the narrow, bottom of the habaki interior. Then I carefully put the habaki with the long, thin bead of steel-impregnated JBWeld onto the Vaseline- greased nakago. Waited about 15 minutes and carefully removed and let cure overnight. Upon sword re-assembly, results? Great habaki to nakago fit. No more tiny wobble. Nice and solid. The steel-impregnated JBWeld, being probably stronger than the brass of the habaki. Same can be done with a too loose tsuba.
Before I did this, I ordered another dozen or so assorted production brass habaki’s off Ebay. But none were perfect fits either. So I went with the JBWeld fix.
Last but not least, the polish. While maybe a mirror polish is the most low friction polish and so perhaps makes the blade a very slightly better cutter, still I personally don’t like mirror polishes. Not as pretty. Makes the hamon hard to photograph for a review. JKOO can do a really nice “cosmetic” polish that is almost as nice as the more expensive, finger stones polish, such as JKOO did on my $500USA category tamahagane katana (made from chucks of pig iron, not from iron sands). Really nice!
More bad?
No. A good sword. Full wrap 11 inch tsuka that felt good in the hands. Good balance, medium heft giving power without much slowing down of the cut. Attractive looks. Good fit and finish for a $300 dollar category sword. Very tight tsuka ito wrap on a full samegawa wrapped, wood tsuka that had no cracks and fit the nakago (tang) well. A very good $300 category sword that has been great as a backyard fun-stuff cutter sword. A classy “beater” of above average workmanship. But not my favorite sword due to the mirror polish and the narrow boshi.
I would add the loose habaki as a “bad” here, but it was such an easy fix with the automotive engine grade JBWeld . And most folks would not likely have noticed an est. ½ mm vertical play. I could barely notice it and I work in quality control and am a detail obsessive person.
Performance: How did this JKOO katana perform?
It felt good in my hands, just holding it and doing air cuts. Not light. Not heavy. A middle weight sword with all-around ability. Out of the box, this 1095 niku blade sliced paper ok. Not “Laser through butter!” Not “This sword does not want to slice paper.” No, the sword sliced paper just fine, up and down the blade. The niku was well done. I had to use a straight edge to verify the niku. Nice, subtle, expertly done niku.
Above: The cutting session
Next the “torture test”. I had saved about 60 various milk and water containers, all filled with water. Mostly one gallon plastic milk jugs. And also some half gallon, some quart size and a number of 16 ounce clear plastic drinking water bottles. The bottles were put on top a 4”x4” wood fence post, and cut one at a time.
The goal was to cut the bottle in two, so cleanly that the top half would fall almost straight down to the ground, while the bottom half remained sitting on the fence post, still water-filled.
How can cutting soft or thin plastic bottles and jugs of water be a “torture test” for a sword?
Because even on my best days, I am only a third or fourth rate swordsman. Too little free time in my life for practice.
Above: Made a few good cuts and many bad cuts, but the blade had no problems.
Notice the cut bottles scattered so far and wide. Good cutting would have them all falling almost straight down and close to the post. Some of my cuts were so bad that someone watching would wonder if I was using a baseball bat. Twice I missed the entire bottle and swung the JKOO into the fence post. There were frequently bottles flying off on the hit, without being cut all the way through. A couple flying off, not even cut enough to leak water. For sure I need more practice. A lot more! I have even bent nihonto, cutting one inch diameter and soft, green bamboo (not available where I live now).
But despite the many botched cuts, at the end of a couple hours, the blade was still paper-slicing sharp. No dull spots. No bends. No edge rolling. This blade was well heat treated. No surprise. Matthew Jensen did a destructive test on a JKOO katana and found the blade to be pretty damage resistant.
JKOO makes pretty good blades. Sure, upon request, they can make a real thin blade….but is such a good choice for a non-expert prone to bad cuts? I play it safe and trust JKOO to do a good job for the kinds of blades they are experienced with, and only ask for stuff like blade length changes and bohi.
Above: JKOO-Sinosword daisho of two 1095, sughua swords....katana and wakizashi
Robert Hamilton, California
February 2019
p.s. January 2020 followup:
I am liking this sword more and more. Definitely it deserves a better (more traditional) polish. This has been my primary backyard bottle cutter for some time and has held up without damage. In a bottle cutting session last week, I did a particularly bad cut. I completely missed the plastic milk jug on a high angle cut and lopped of a good piece of the top of the 4"x4" treated wood post, I put the bottles on top. Took off about a quarter of the top of the 4x4 post. The Jkoo/Sinosword DH 1095 blade? No nicks, no rollovers, no dull spots, no bends, and it still slices paper. Definitely someone there at Jkoo/Sinosord knows how to properly temper a blade.
Above: JKOO 1095 sughua katana and JKOO 1095 sughua wakizashi (katana reviewed now, wakizashi to be reviewed later) reh
This is a review of a JKOO (www.sinosword.com) sword. This one, an almost 29 inch, forged mono-1095 steel, sughua hamon katana. I did not like this sword from the moment I drew it out of the saya.
Above: The JKOO swords came in a single box.
I used the www.sinosword.com custom ordering menu and JKOO met most of my specifications. Normally, JKOO meets every specification. This time was unusual. Anyway, from the custom ordering menu, I asked for a 29 inch blade (30 inches including habaki). I could have ordered a longer blade or shorter. I have swords ranging from 27 ½ inches to 29 inches. Being a bit over six feet tall, 28 to 29 inch blades feel best to me. Although I find it is easier for me to do noto’s (putting the blade back into the saya/scabbard) with shorter blades.
Above: TheJKOO 1095 sughua katana.
Above: Similar furniture on both
I already had a JKOO T10 tool steel katana of almost the same specifications. So, why did I order basically the same in 1095 steel? Because John Walter Pope, a high level USA swordsman, mentioned he thought a 1095 blade might be more bend-resistant than a T10 blade. And he had a liking for 1095 blades. Mr. Pope does sword testing (www.youtube.com videos) and I have found wisdom in listening to him. And admiration in watching his style and technique in his YouTube videos. I have seen videos of Japanese swordsmen who do not come close when compared to Mr. Pope’s smooth style. Here is a sample Pope video:
This 1095 sword without saya, was 2 1/2 pounds. In my hands, this sword felt fairly light and quick, yet with enough feeling of weight to give power to the cut.
I did not ask for any custom options not listed on JKOO’s www.sinosword.com custom sword design menu. But I could have, using the “what else do you want / what do you want different?” sections of the menus for that.
On to the sword specifications. This sword is now a “beater” sword for backyard cutting of bottles and such. My other JKOO swords have been too nice, despite being only $300USA category swords, for me to want to use as “beaters”.
This particular sword came with specification changes I had not wanted and do not like, so though a good performer, I am willing to risk damaging this JKOO.
JKOO / Sinosword 1095 steel katana with suguha (straight) hamon Specifications:
The Sword:
Cost: $304usa + $51usa shipping (China to USA)
Weight: 2.5 pounds (sword only)
Weight: 3.25 pounds (sword + saya)
Total Length (sword + saya) = 43.5 inches
Total sword length = 41 1/8 inches
Sword Point of Balance: 4 ½ inches ahead of the tsuba.
Sword sharpness: Not sharp for the first 1 ½ inches ahead of habaki
(to reduce chance of koguichi damage)
Paper-slicing sharp elsewhere, despite the niku.
Above: Different view of the katana
The Habaki:
Above: JKOO menu has a number of habaki choices, this just one of them.
Habaki: dulled gold color brass with diagonal file scratches
Habaki length = 1 inch
Habaki fit: too loose vertically and laterally for the nakago.
(I asked for a “shaved” nakago, which likely thinned the nakago too much, since none of my other JKOO’s have had this problem)
The Seppa:
Above: Brass seppa next to the brass habaki
Seppa: brass
The Tsuba:
Above: JKOO Brass tsuba
Above: another view
Tsuba: darkened brass oval with flowers design
Tsuba thickness: 3/16”
Tsuba length (ha to mune direction): 3 1/4 inches
Tsuba width side to side): 3 inches
Above: Punch used to better fit the tsuba to the nakago
Abover: Other side
The Tsuka:
Above: Tsukas done similarly
Tsuka length: 11 ¼ inches
Tsuka: full wrap of raw, white, small nodules ray skin
Tsuka ito: dark brown Chinese cotton
Tsuka ito wrap: traditional “criss-cross”. Very tight. Diamonds even.
Tsuka Mekugi: one bamboo mekugi
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at fuchi: 1 10/16 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (half way between fuchi & kashira): 1 9/16 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at kashira: 1 8/16” inches (with ito)
Tsuka thickness (side to side) at fuchi: 1 inch (with ito)
Tsuka thickness (side to side) at kashira: 1 inch (with ito)
Above: better view
Above: View of tsuka wrap "diamonds"
Above: Kashira end of tsuka
Above: Tsuka ito was brown, cotton .... even and tight wrap.
Above: Straight tsuka with slight taper
The Fuchi:
Above: Brass fuchi...one of many available choices from the Sinosword custom sword menu at www.sinosword.com
Fuchi: darkened brass with flowers designs
Fuchi length: 1 ½ inches
Fuchi width: ¾ inches
Above: Fuchi side view
Above: Surface of top of fuchi
The Kashira:
Above: Flowers design.
Kashira: darkened brass with flowers designs
Kashira length: 1 3/8 inches
Kashira width: ¾ inches
Above: close up of fuchi
The Menuki:
Above: Brass menuki
Menuki: darkened brass flowers
Above: Saya with brown buffalo horn fittings (koguichi, kurigata, kojiri)
Cotton black & white sageo. Japanese silk was available for an extra $50usa.
The Saya:
Saya length: 31 3/4 inches
Saya width (sideways) at kojiri: 1 8/16 inches
Saya width (thickness) at kojiri: 13/16 inches
Saya width (sideways) at koguichi: 1 11/16 inches
Saya width (thickness) at koguichi: 15/16 inches
Saya furniture (kojiri, kurigata, koguichi): brown buffalo horn
Saya color: gloss black
Saya shito-done: brass (gold)
Saya sageo: black & white cotton
Saya weight: ½ pound
Above: Saya exterior of gloss black.
Above: Black buffalo horn on left and brown on right.
Above: Koguichi of brown buffalo horn
Above: Koguichi
Above: Kojiri
Above: Wood to koguichi fit was good
Above: Another view of koguichi
Above: Kojiri of brown buffalo horn
Above: Brown buffalo horn kurigata
Above: Another view
Above: The black and white Chinese cotton sageo
The Blade:
Above: Kissaki end of single bohi
Blade polish: mirror
Blade (with niku) sharpness: slices paper
Blade sori: 11/16 inches
Blade thickness at yokote: 3/16 inches
Blade thickness ½ way down blade: 3.5/16 inches
Blade thickness at habaki: 5/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at yokote: 14/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) ½ way down: 17/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at habaki: 19/16 inches
Bohi width: 5/16 inches
Kissaki length: 1 3/16 inches (short chu (medium) kissaki)
Blade hamon: suguha (straight, wide)
Blade boshi (hamon of kissaki): suguha (straight, narrow)
Above: Top sword has JKOO "cosmetic" polish and mirror polish on bottom.
Above: Narrow boshi
Above: Blade at habaki end
Above: Bohi
Above: one mekugi hole nakago
Above: Mirror polish does not show the hamon clearly.
Above: "Cosmetic" polish on wakizashi - hamon stands out better than with a mirror polish.
Above: Mirror polish of katana blade.
Above: It is difficult to photograph mirror polished blades.
My Thoughts:
On tsuka length:
I am 6 feet 2 inches and have found that an 11 inch tsuka feels best for me. Shorter and my left hand little finger is gripping the kashira when it should be gripping the ito of the tsuka in front of the kashira. Not so comfortable when the kashira is not smooth and rounded. A case of larger hands liking longer tsuka. With a shorter tsuka, my two handed grip has the rear hand covering the kashira. I have not tried a 12 inch tsuka. Maybe I would like a 12 even better than an 11?
On kashira shapes:
A rounded kashira is more comfortable than a kashira with a flat top and edges. The edges dig into my hand, in the case of a tsuka shorter than my hands like.
Summary and nit picking:
Let’s see, so far now I have bought a JKOO tamahagane katana, a JKOO T10 katana, a JKOO 1095 katana, a JKOO T10 wakizashi and a JKOO 1095 wakizashi, and one or two more are being made.
Yes, I like the swords JKOO makes. For a basic $300USA category sword, they have been of higher level workmanship than my other swords, other than my two nihontos.
All my JKOO’s have single bohi’s. Why? Because my hearing is not as good as when I was young, and in air cuts especially, the sound the blade makes tells me how my cut is. Bohi blades are easier to hear. JKOO seems to know to make my bohi blades a little heavier, so after steel is removed in the making of the bohi, the end result is a bohi blade with enough weight to cut well.
I have trusted JKOO’s ability to make me good quality, solid performing, multi-use blades and have not been disappointed. A blade that holds up despite poor technique, is important to me. And is a reason JKOO blades attract me. I would likely ding and bend my long, slender, folded T10/1085 Huawei katana if I used it for cutting.
Overall, this JKOO katana is neither light nor heavy, neither lightning fast nor slow. Like my other JKOO katanas, it has a pretty good feeling for being a jack-of-all-trades, medium weight sword. Not for cleaving water buffalo in two. Not a thin, specialized mat cutter. Rather a multi-tasking, general use sword. A good $300usa category sword and good value for the money.
I did not like this sword, because I did not get all my specifications. I still do not like it. In fact, I was quite unhappy. So much so, JKOO offered me an attractive discount on a replacement 1095 sword and I accepted (review planned).
The Good:
Above: Before cutting bottles and after cutting bottles.....razor sharp....slicing paper was easy.
Good: Same comments that I made for my JKOO T10 katana review: Nice blade. Good balance. Enough heft to cut well. Not enough heft to slow it noticeably. A good looking sword offering good value for the money. A blade made at JKOO’s very own forge, not a blade bought elsewhere and then mounted and sold. The JKOO custom menu allows a buyer to order a personally-designed sword, blade specifications and furniture choices.
Which blade steel is better, T10 or 1095? I don’t know. Looking at both, the JKOO T10 blade looks a little whiter and brighter than the 1095, but both steels come out attractive with a good JKOO “cosmetic” aka “whitening” polish. I recommend the JKOO “cosmetic” polish over the JKOO “mirror” polish, for looks.
I did not ask for a non-standard blade design in either sword. I figured that JKOO has a lot of experience with a certain blade design and has refined a certain default blade design to have all around good features and performance. So I, not being a sword expert, am happy to go with the blade design, that JKOO likes enough to make commonly.
The Bad:
Bad: My specifications were not all met. The blade was slightly shorter than I asked for. I asked for 29 inches. I got 28 ¾ inches. I wanted a fairly wide sughua (straight) hamon. I got that all the way from habaki to yokote. But not for the kissaki. The kissaki hamon (“boshi”) was a narrow sughua about 1/8 inch wide. I wanted a wider boshi, like ¼ to 1/3 inch. Admittedly, I failed to ask for a wider boshi. I just “assumed” that a wider hamon guaranteed a wider boshi.
Above: Left: Wakizashi wide boshi. Right: Katana narrow boshi
Nothing wrong with a narrow sughua boshi. Historic nihonto katanas, from even very good smiths, have had narrow boshi’s, and even narrow hamons. But I wanted the boshi to be wider, like was done on my other JKOO swords.
Other bad was that the spare saya was not of as good a blade2saya fit as the primary saya. It is a good idea to order two sayas for the sword. So there is a spare in case of need. Quite affordable if done at same time as the primary saya. Also, samurai of old sometimes had more than one saya for a sword. An “every day carry” saya and a fancier formal occasion’s saya.
JKOO was happy to make two sayas. But while there was zero “blade in saya rattle” in the primary saya, there was noticeable blade rattle (down near the kissaki) with the spare saya. I did end up pushing a few, oiled cotton balls down inside to the kojiri end (bottom) of the saya. That fixed the blade rattle in the spare saya. But still……
Photo is of only one of my two sayas for this sword. Both were identical features. In hindsight, I think it would have been fun to have had one the simple, gloss black of a no-nonsense workaday saya and the other more ornate and colorful, just as we have simple clothes for around the house and fancier clothes for more formal occasions. I wish I had done that.
Next bad? Holding the sword in both hands and shaking it up and down and side to side, I felt a very, very slight bit of “blade in tsuka wobble”. True, this sword only had one mekugi. But my other JKOO swords were solid. No feeling of nakago movement inside the tsuka. Very slight, maybe a ½ millimeter vertical wobble. Almost at the “Am I imagining things?” level.
Above: I asked for and received a "shaved" nakago.
Why the wobble? I had the nakago shaved down slightly. The blade nakago became slightly too small for the standard, mass-produced brass habaki. In an expensive sword, a custom-made habaki will be handmade to be an exact fit to that exact sword’s nakago (tang). That takes time and costs extra.
Above: katana file-shaved nakago
But in a $200 to $300 dollar category sword, sword fittings will be mass-produced, production fittings. It is not reasonable to expect these more budget-minded swords to have hand-made, custom fitted habaki’s.
Above: Excellent performance obtained with this special epoxy.
Solution? I bought some 5 minute, steel-impregnated JBWeld, the version so strong as to be for auto engine repairs. Putty style (not as strong as “pudding style” but does not “run” so easier to work with, and it cures faster). After degreasing the habaki, I molded a long, thin “string” of JBWeld to the inside of the narrow, bottom of the habaki interior. Then I carefully put the habaki with the long, thin bead of steel-impregnated JBWeld onto the Vaseline- greased nakago. Waited about 15 minutes and carefully removed and let cure overnight. Upon sword re-assembly, results? Great habaki to nakago fit. No more tiny wobble. Nice and solid. The steel-impregnated JBWeld, being probably stronger than the brass of the habaki. Same can be done with a too loose tsuba.
Before I did this, I ordered another dozen or so assorted production brass habaki’s off Ebay. But none were perfect fits either. So I went with the JBWeld fix.
Last but not least, the polish. While maybe a mirror polish is the most low friction polish and so perhaps makes the blade a very slightly better cutter, still I personally don’t like mirror polishes. Not as pretty. Makes the hamon hard to photograph for a review. JKOO can do a really nice “cosmetic” polish that is almost as nice as the more expensive, finger stones polish, such as JKOO did on my $500USA category tamahagane katana (made from chucks of pig iron, not from iron sands). Really nice!
More bad?
No. A good sword. Full wrap 11 inch tsuka that felt good in the hands. Good balance, medium heft giving power without much slowing down of the cut. Attractive looks. Good fit and finish for a $300 dollar category sword. Very tight tsuka ito wrap on a full samegawa wrapped, wood tsuka that had no cracks and fit the nakago (tang) well. A very good $300 category sword that has been great as a backyard fun-stuff cutter sword. A classy “beater” of above average workmanship. But not my favorite sword due to the mirror polish and the narrow boshi.
I would add the loose habaki as a “bad” here, but it was such an easy fix with the automotive engine grade JBWeld . And most folks would not likely have noticed an est. ½ mm vertical play. I could barely notice it and I work in quality control and am a detail obsessive person.
Performance: How did this JKOO katana perform?
It felt good in my hands, just holding it and doing air cuts. Not light. Not heavy. A middle weight sword with all-around ability. Out of the box, this 1095 niku blade sliced paper ok. Not “Laser through butter!” Not “This sword does not want to slice paper.” No, the sword sliced paper just fine, up and down the blade. The niku was well done. I had to use a straight edge to verify the niku. Nice, subtle, expertly done niku.
Above: The cutting session
Next the “torture test”. I had saved about 60 various milk and water containers, all filled with water. Mostly one gallon plastic milk jugs. And also some half gallon, some quart size and a number of 16 ounce clear plastic drinking water bottles. The bottles were put on top a 4”x4” wood fence post, and cut one at a time.
The goal was to cut the bottle in two, so cleanly that the top half would fall almost straight down to the ground, while the bottom half remained sitting on the fence post, still water-filled.
How can cutting soft or thin plastic bottles and jugs of water be a “torture test” for a sword?
Because even on my best days, I am only a third or fourth rate swordsman. Too little free time in my life for practice.
Above: Made a few good cuts and many bad cuts, but the blade had no problems.
Notice the cut bottles scattered so far and wide. Good cutting would have them all falling almost straight down and close to the post. Some of my cuts were so bad that someone watching would wonder if I was using a baseball bat. Twice I missed the entire bottle and swung the JKOO into the fence post. There were frequently bottles flying off on the hit, without being cut all the way through. A couple flying off, not even cut enough to leak water. For sure I need more practice. A lot more! I have even bent nihonto, cutting one inch diameter and soft, green bamboo (not available where I live now).
But despite the many botched cuts, at the end of a couple hours, the blade was still paper-slicing sharp. No dull spots. No bends. No edge rolling. This blade was well heat treated. No surprise. Matthew Jensen did a destructive test on a JKOO katana and found the blade to be pretty damage resistant.
JKOO makes pretty good blades. Sure, upon request, they can make a real thin blade….but is such a good choice for a non-expert prone to bad cuts? I play it safe and trust JKOO to do a good job for the kinds of blades they are experienced with, and only ask for stuff like blade length changes and bohi.
Above: JKOO-Sinosword daisho of two 1095, sughua swords....katana and wakizashi
Robert Hamilton, California
February 2019
p.s. January 2020 followup:
I am liking this sword more and more. Definitely it deserves a better (more traditional) polish. This has been my primary backyard bottle cutter for some time and has held up without damage. In a bottle cutting session last week, I did a particularly bad cut. I completely missed the plastic milk jug on a high angle cut and lopped of a good piece of the top of the 4"x4" treated wood post, I put the bottles on top. Took off about a quarter of the top of the 4x4 post. The Jkoo/Sinosword DH 1095 blade? No nicks, no rollovers, no dull spots, no bends, and it still slices paper. Definitely someone there at Jkoo/Sinosord knows how to properly temper a blade.