Motohara Sks3 gen 2 o-kissaki light mat cutter review
Apr 22, 2019 2:55:07 GMT
Post by cross on Apr 22, 2019 2:55:07 GMT
I have done a few reviews on facebook groups but this will be my first here on SBG so bear with me on this one lol..
Newb review here... ๐
Here she is.. my Motohara Sks3 gen 2 light mat cutter o-kissaki from Evolution Blades..
Specs:
Sks3 steel
3 inch O-kissaki
29 inch nagasa
980 gram weight
10.5 inch tsuka
For more detailed specs see Pham Vu's post ๐
It was well packaged in a nice and secure box, well padded to ensure safety, wrapped in styrofoam sheet and plastic cover, the sword came in a very nice good quality black sword bag and a came with good quality japanese black silk sageo.
The saya:
Hot diggity dog! I can say this is the best saya from the swords I have on hand right now (still waiting on a few to arrive that might compare better) as far as weight, lacquering and shaping goes... Koiguchi, kojiri and kurikata all well made and mounted on the saya and nicely polished.. possibly delrin like Pham Vu said but looks just as good if not better than horn.. the shitodome on the kurikata are also very nice.. hand made pieces by the way they look unlike the usual crappy casted ones on most production swords these shitodome are tightly fitted to the kurikata and looks very good and not gaudy... All tight and solid. If you look inside the saya you'll see that not only is the channels carved to fit the blade it is also carved to fit the habaki perfectly then tapers to fit the blade.. absolutely no shakes and rattles... And you can tell how good the quality of wood because it didn't swell up from shipping... that is a very common problem on most production sword saya.. everytime I get one the wood swells up and very hard to pull the sword out of the saya due to changes in temperature and humidity during transit.. well not on this one.. like I said it has the most perfect fit I have seen... Sword will not fall out when held with tsuka towards the ground even if you shake it but you can draw it effortlessly without having to push the tsuba with your thumb to loosen the sword from the koiguchi.. the lacquering on mine is dark brown but changes tone to reddish brown under different lighting which is awesome... and the ishime finish is very fine and feels good to the touch... Textured but not rough like the usual ishime finish.. Saying that is kinda contradicting but you'll understand what I mean when you get to touch one.. Best feature of this saya I think is the shaping and tapering... It has a very slim shape far from the egg shape we usually see on repros... And it gets thinner towards the tip... Making it feel very nice to grip and making this saya feel light as a feather! Absolutely beautifully made saya!
The habaki: beautiful classic look! Well made scratch pattern with patina giving it that elegant traditional look.. fit is perfect! A very well made habaki with which I can see nothing to complain about!
The fuchi and kashira: ๐ I have been drooling over handachi fittings for some time now and I think I have hit the jackpot for the handachi fittings on this sword... Black ishime finish with gold accents... The kashira has a very nice shape to it with nice curves and lines.. both fuchi and kashira are definitely hand made.. no signs of casting at all.. and both have that simple but elegant look and not gaudy like the usual handachi fittings on most repros... Beautiful!
The menuki: aged silver menuki with what I think is a Sanmen Daikokuten theme.. or three faced daikoku which is believed to protect the three buddhist treasures (the buddha, the laws and the community of followers) Also commonly associated with Toyotomi Hideyoshi who always carried a statue of Sanmen Daikokuten with him for good luck.. The three faces of the three-faced Daikokuten are: Daikokuten, the god who brings fortune in the areas of national defense and good harvests; Bishamonten, the god who ensures victory and riches; and Benzaiten, who brings happiness and wealth. While each one is a powerful deva in their own right, together they form an all-powerful trinity of fortune. So I believe these menuki will bring me a lot of good luck like it did for Toyotomi Hideyoshi ๐ very well casted aged silver menuki with very nice details...
The tsuba and seppa: very well made mokko tsuba with a well executed stone finish and reddish brown patina to match the color of the saya.. solid tsuba! Very nice finish and patina.. the seppa with similar patina as the habaki.. nice and thick copper ones with a brushed finish... both tsuba and seppa are top quality and does not look like most stuff on repros... Far better quality than from stuff that I have already gotten my hands on...
The Tsuka: wow! That's the one word that describes it best.. The hand feel of this tsuka is incredible! Might feel different to others but I guess I got lucky as it feels it was tailor made to fit my hand.. this is the most comfortable tsuka I have ever held! The tsuka has haichi shaping.. very nice and slim... Easy and comfortable to grip! The tsukamaki is well done! Well shaped diamonds and very tight.. Very nice and good quality samegawa with very pronounced nodes and a beautiful aged look... i am in love with this tsuka! ๐ For the first time.. with all the swords I bought I do not want to have anything changed on this one!
The blade: very nice clean lines! The kissaki and yokote lines looks sharp and crisp! The mune is symmetrical and straight! Incredibly thin profile.. the thinnest blade I have in my collection.. the suguha hamon and polish is not great but it is good.. very nice contrast but I wish it had more activity in the hamon... But since this blade is made for cutting I guess aesthetics on the blade don't matter much.. it came sharp as a laser! Cuts paper like it's nothing.. this sword is hair splitting sharp! And again I might have gotten lucky... The infamous microbevel isn't very evident on my sword.. it is there but you gotta look at a certain angle to see it but really does not show as much as on the other motoharas I have seen... ๐ The balance and hand feel is awesome! Feels very light and fast! Despite it's length (this is the longest blade I have) I feel like I can run around and swing it all day without feeling fatigue in my arms and hands... I cannot say much more about the blade than what I can see and feel since I have yet to test it and cut with it... and I am not a formally trained practitioner to really comment on performance...
Cons:
Not much to see on the hamon...
Microbevel on the edge... Although not very evident on my sword but it is there...
The mekugi pegs can be made better...
Pros:
a very nice package!
Overall quality is outstanding!
Koshirae is flawless!
Beauty and performance in one package!
In all honesty... I would like to complain about something but really can't find anything to complain about ๐ค
Only thing is that I find the blade lacking in aesthetic qualities but this being a performance blade that is meant to be used for cutting and practice I guess that doesn't really matter much...
I give it a 9/10 kudos to the makers on the koshirae!
More pics on facebook
m.facebook.com/groups/791808580934307?view=permalink&id=2113972125384606
Newb review here... ๐
Here she is.. my Motohara Sks3 gen 2 light mat cutter o-kissaki from Evolution Blades..
Specs:
Sks3 steel
3 inch O-kissaki
29 inch nagasa
980 gram weight
10.5 inch tsuka
For more detailed specs see Pham Vu's post ๐
It was well packaged in a nice and secure box, well padded to ensure safety, wrapped in styrofoam sheet and plastic cover, the sword came in a very nice good quality black sword bag and a came with good quality japanese black silk sageo.
The saya:
Hot diggity dog! I can say this is the best saya from the swords I have on hand right now (still waiting on a few to arrive that might compare better) as far as weight, lacquering and shaping goes... Koiguchi, kojiri and kurikata all well made and mounted on the saya and nicely polished.. possibly delrin like Pham Vu said but looks just as good if not better than horn.. the shitodome on the kurikata are also very nice.. hand made pieces by the way they look unlike the usual crappy casted ones on most production swords these shitodome are tightly fitted to the kurikata and looks very good and not gaudy... All tight and solid. If you look inside the saya you'll see that not only is the channels carved to fit the blade it is also carved to fit the habaki perfectly then tapers to fit the blade.. absolutely no shakes and rattles... And you can tell how good the quality of wood because it didn't swell up from shipping... that is a very common problem on most production sword saya.. everytime I get one the wood swells up and very hard to pull the sword out of the saya due to changes in temperature and humidity during transit.. well not on this one.. like I said it has the most perfect fit I have seen... Sword will not fall out when held with tsuka towards the ground even if you shake it but you can draw it effortlessly without having to push the tsuba with your thumb to loosen the sword from the koiguchi.. the lacquering on mine is dark brown but changes tone to reddish brown under different lighting which is awesome... and the ishime finish is very fine and feels good to the touch... Textured but not rough like the usual ishime finish.. Saying that is kinda contradicting but you'll understand what I mean when you get to touch one.. Best feature of this saya I think is the shaping and tapering... It has a very slim shape far from the egg shape we usually see on repros... And it gets thinner towards the tip... Making it feel very nice to grip and making this saya feel light as a feather! Absolutely beautifully made saya!
The habaki: beautiful classic look! Well made scratch pattern with patina giving it that elegant traditional look.. fit is perfect! A very well made habaki with which I can see nothing to complain about!
The fuchi and kashira: ๐ I have been drooling over handachi fittings for some time now and I think I have hit the jackpot for the handachi fittings on this sword... Black ishime finish with gold accents... The kashira has a very nice shape to it with nice curves and lines.. both fuchi and kashira are definitely hand made.. no signs of casting at all.. and both have that simple but elegant look and not gaudy like the usual handachi fittings on most repros... Beautiful!
The menuki: aged silver menuki with what I think is a Sanmen Daikokuten theme.. or three faced daikoku which is believed to protect the three buddhist treasures (the buddha, the laws and the community of followers) Also commonly associated with Toyotomi Hideyoshi who always carried a statue of Sanmen Daikokuten with him for good luck.. The three faces of the three-faced Daikokuten are: Daikokuten, the god who brings fortune in the areas of national defense and good harvests; Bishamonten, the god who ensures victory and riches; and Benzaiten, who brings happiness and wealth. While each one is a powerful deva in their own right, together they form an all-powerful trinity of fortune. So I believe these menuki will bring me a lot of good luck like it did for Toyotomi Hideyoshi ๐ very well casted aged silver menuki with very nice details...
The tsuba and seppa: very well made mokko tsuba with a well executed stone finish and reddish brown patina to match the color of the saya.. solid tsuba! Very nice finish and patina.. the seppa with similar patina as the habaki.. nice and thick copper ones with a brushed finish... both tsuba and seppa are top quality and does not look like most stuff on repros... Far better quality than from stuff that I have already gotten my hands on...
The Tsuka: wow! That's the one word that describes it best.. The hand feel of this tsuka is incredible! Might feel different to others but I guess I got lucky as it feels it was tailor made to fit my hand.. this is the most comfortable tsuka I have ever held! The tsuka has haichi shaping.. very nice and slim... Easy and comfortable to grip! The tsukamaki is well done! Well shaped diamonds and very tight.. Very nice and good quality samegawa with very pronounced nodes and a beautiful aged look... i am in love with this tsuka! ๐ For the first time.. with all the swords I bought I do not want to have anything changed on this one!
The blade: very nice clean lines! The kissaki and yokote lines looks sharp and crisp! The mune is symmetrical and straight! Incredibly thin profile.. the thinnest blade I have in my collection.. the suguha hamon and polish is not great but it is good.. very nice contrast but I wish it had more activity in the hamon... But since this blade is made for cutting I guess aesthetics on the blade don't matter much.. it came sharp as a laser! Cuts paper like it's nothing.. this sword is hair splitting sharp! And again I might have gotten lucky... The infamous microbevel isn't very evident on my sword.. it is there but you gotta look at a certain angle to see it but really does not show as much as on the other motoharas I have seen... ๐ The balance and hand feel is awesome! Feels very light and fast! Despite it's length (this is the longest blade I have) I feel like I can run around and swing it all day without feeling fatigue in my arms and hands... I cannot say much more about the blade than what I can see and feel since I have yet to test it and cut with it... and I am not a formally trained practitioner to really comment on performance...
Cons:
Not much to see on the hamon...
Microbevel on the edge... Although not very evident on my sword but it is there...
The mekugi pegs can be made better...
Pros:
a very nice package!
Overall quality is outstanding!
Koshirae is flawless!
Beauty and performance in one package!
In all honesty... I would like to complain about something but really can't find anything to complain about ๐ค
Only thing is that I find the blade lacking in aesthetic qualities but this being a performance blade that is meant to be used for cutting and practice I guess that doesn't really matter much...
I give it a 9/10 kudos to the makers on the koshirae!
More pics on facebook
m.facebook.com/groups/791808580934307?view=permalink&id=2113972125384606