Custom 1095 Sanmai sughua hamon 28" JKoo / Sinosword katana
May 4, 2019 23:16:13 GMT
Post by Robert in California on May 4, 2019 23:16:13 GMT
Sword Review: Custom JKOO/Sinosword 28” 1095 Sughua Sanmei Katakana. 4May19
pic: Top sword is this sanmai katana. Bottom katana is a standard JKOO katana. Notice the difference in tsuka shapes.
This is a review of a JKOO (www.sinosword.com) sword. This one, a 28 inch, 1050/1095/1050 sanmai, sughua hamon katana. A $385 dollar sword, plus about $51 shipping from China to USA.
pic: The sword shipped in this package. Arrived fine.
This JKoo katana is different from the normal JKoo katana in that specifications different from normal expectations were requested. Some were beyond JKOO's ability and had to be changed. And for some JKOO was given artistic license to do tweaks of their own. I not being a sword expert, have never had problems listening to advice from those who are.
pic: The sanmai katana came with sword bag.
pic: attractive sword bag
I had the specification’s of a Budo katana, being sort of the Muramasa of Sword Buyers Guide forum, due to past controversy. Tokagawa banned Muramasa and Sword Buyers Guide banned . Not for the sword quality, but for reasons such as personality conflicts. But both are good swords, no matter the sins of the makers.
pic: notice the difference in tsuka shape: Top is this Sanmai katana. Bottom is the standard JKOO/Sinosword katana tsuka shape.
pic: This 28" sanmai katana
pic: brown sageo, one of various sageo choices.
I have long wanted a Budo, but my bologna and cheese whiz budget could not come up with the bigger bucks for a Budo. So I sought a sword that had a Budo flavor and was cool to gaze upon, felt good in the hand, and cut well. JKOO did not make me a Budo. One reason is that they did not have an actual Budo to examine and use as a model. I did not have a Budo to send and some official(s) in the Chinese Government decided that China could send swords to other countries, but noone could send China a sword, even if just a return for repairs, refund or a customization request. We lost a $500 JKOO tamahagane (made from pig iron, not iron sands) katana due to some official in the Shanghai Customs neither allowing the shipper to continue it on to JKOO, nor reject acceptance and have it returned to sender (me). Who knows, maybe it looked nice and it would make a nice gift for his brother-in-law, or other reason. JKOO went beyond the call of duty and ate the cost of the theft and made me another, despite the theft not being their fault. Without me even asking. Such a kindness proved to me that JKOO's Mr. Van Yang, was not just a guy trying his best to produce and sell swords, but a very high quality person. Wow! He had no obligation to do that.
pic: The sanmai blade
pic: single bohi
True, there is now a Chinese rule that "weapons are not allowed" be sent to China. But if Shanghai Customs was staffed with honest officials, they would have rejected delivery and had the shipping company return the sword to the sender (me).
Was the USA any better? The USPS was happy to charge me for loss/theft/damage insurance and guaranteed delivery. But after taking my money, and upon my loss, I was not able to get the USPS to pay me even $1.
But back to the saga. JKOO’s first attempt to forge this sword was a DH mono T10 katana that suffered minor bending in testing. Something went wrong in the heat treatment. JKOO’s second try, in mono DH 1095 came out fine, but the blade was heavier than desired, and the habaki was not fitted properly. So, JKOO made this katana. I have to respect JKOO's efforts to strive for quality and workmanship at an attractive price, and willing to go that extra mile to please the customer.
Initially this 28 inch suguha 1095 katana was forged weighing 2.7 pounds, heavier than the requested 2.4 lbs. Not a bad weight, a decent compromise between power and agility. But 2.4 lbs was wanted, so JKOO then worked it down to 2.4 lbs, mainly by taking off steel from the back ridge and removing steel to create a bohi, and taking steel off the nakago. Ending up with a less powerful but faster, nimble cutter.
pic: another view of the single bohi.
The brass habaki was not a perfect fit. Probably due to the need to remove steel
to reduce the weight from 2.7 to 2.4 pounds, after the blade was made. I put a very small amount of JBWeld steel-impregnated, auto engine grade epoxy (strong enough to repair even auto engines), on the inside of the habaki which worked.
pic: brass habaki shimmed with JBWeld
Easy job: (a) degrease the habaki. (b) rub the nakago and first inch or two of the blade with grease....drug store Vasoline worked fine for me. (c) mix up a tiny bit of JBWeld and use a popsicle stick or similar to tamp in a bit of JBWeld where needed. (d) carefully slide the habaki back on and hold it so the habaki is positioned perfectly. This was 5 minute JBWeld so when it was firm but not final hardness, I slid the habaki off and let it cure overnight. Next day, I slid the habaki back on and thanks to the JBWeld, a perfect fit. I then told Mr. Van Lang what I did, and requested he have more attention given to habaki fit, which he said he would do.
pic: habaki fit without wobble when sword was together.
Custom spec blades can be hard to perfectly match up to factory-made, mass produced habaki's. Mass produced habaki's are what one is going to get on a $300 category sword.
My suggestion to JKOO for future custom spec blades, was that no matter what the customer asked for in a blade, ALWAYS make the nakago/blade area where the habaki will go, an unvarying standard size of being very, very slightly too big. Then use just a small amount of file work to size the nakago/blade down to be a perfect habaki fit. That is, custom make the nakago to fit the factory-made, mass-produced habaki.
pic: brass seppa fit well. Tsuka had two mekugi's.
This 1095 sword without saya, was now 2.4 pounds. In my hands, this sword felt fairly light and quick, yet with enough feeling of weight to give power to the cut. But not as powerful a cutter as my other JKOO katana of longer length and heavier weight. This 28 inch blade was lighter, quicker and felt great, but in cutting I felt I had to use more power than my 29 inch JKOO katanas. Even in swords, it seems there is no free lunch.
On to the sword specifications.
pic: blade sliced paper ok, both before and after backyard bottle cutting.
In my backyard cutting session, the sword performed well, despite my non-expert skill level. Targets were water-filled, one gallon plastic milk jugs as well as smaller bottled water bottles of about 16 ounces, plus a number of half gallon juice cartons made of what looked like waxed light, non-porous cardboard.
pic: fun targets
The sword cut well, needing a little more muscle power than my heavier and longer JKOO katanas. Good cuts, bad cuts, even a couple hits on the wood post and the sword finished the session, razor sharp and no bends or other damage. It felt good and did fine. I liked the feel of the slender tsuka. All the fittings stayed solid and tight.
pic: I did both good and some bad cuts. No damage to blade. Even when I hit the post a time or two.
JKOO / Sinosword 1050/1095/1050 Sanmai katana with suguha (straight) hamon Specifications:
The Sword:
Cost: Want one? $385usa + $51usa shipping (China to USA)
Weight: 2.4 pounds (sword only)
Weight: 3.0 pounds (sword + saya)
Total Length (sword + saya) = 43.5 inches
Total sword length = 41 1/2 inches
Sword Point of Balance: 5 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, with niku.
The Habaki:
Habaki: dulled brushed silver color brass
Habaki length = 1 inch
Habaki fit: slightly loose on the nakago. So I shimmed it with JBWeld.
The Tsuba:
pic: Iron tsuba
pic: tsuba was good fit to nakago. Tsuba edges were nicely rounded. Simple but well done.
Tsuba: darkened steel circular, rounded edges disk with random silver threads.
Tsuba thickness: 3/16”
Tsuba length (ha to mune direction): 3 1/4 inches
Tsuba width side to side): 3 inches
The Tsuka:
pic: Tsuka wrapped in Chinese brown cotton ito. Two mekugi's. Full rayskin wrap.
pic: another view of the hourglass-shaped, more slender tsuka.
Tsuka length: 11 1/8 inches
Tsuka: full wrap of black, small nodules ray skin
Tsuka ito: dark brown Chinese cotton
Tsuka ito wrap: traditional “criss-cross”. Very tight. Diamonds even.
Tsuka Mekugi: two bamboo mekugi
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at fuchi: 1 9/16 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (half way between fuchi & kashira): 1 4/16 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at kashira: 1 7/16” 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)
The Fuchi:
pic: Iron fuchi
pic: well-fitted fuchi
Fuchi: plain black iron with one small groove
Fuchi length: 1 ½ inches
Fuchi width:7/8 inches
The Kashira:
pic: iron kashira, simple design, rounded edges
pic: kashira, another view
Kashira: black iron with raised ridge
Kashira length: 1 3/8 inches
Kashira width: 6/8 inches
The Menuki:
pic: menuki
Menuki: darkened brass praying mantis
The Saya:
pic: saya
pic: Top saya was the sanmai katana...flat black paint with glossy speckles. Bottom saya of gloss black from one of my other JKOO's.
pic: koguichi of black (real) buffalo horn
pic: koguichi
pic: brown cotton sageo
pic: black buffalo horn kurigata
pic: saya flat black with gloss black speckles
pic: kojiri of black buffalo horn
Saya length: 30 3/4 inches
Saya width (sideways) at kojiri: 1 8/16 inches
Saya width (thickness) at kojiri: 7/8 inches
Saya width (sideways) at koguichi: 1 10/16 inches
Saya width (thickness) at koguichi: 14/16 inches
Saya furniture (kojiri, kurigata, koguichi): black buffalo horn
Saya color: flat black with tiny pebbling
Saya shito-done: brass (gold)
Saya sageo: brown cotton
Saya weight: 6/10 pound
The Blade:
pic: suguha (straight) hamon and boshi
pic: Sanmai blade's geometric kissaki.
pic: sughua hamon showing the borders between the inner 1095 and the outer 1050 steels.
pic: Sanmai blade's 1095 edge steel and 1050 outer steel
pic: JKOO's "cosmetic" polish is close in appearance to a finger stones polish.
pic: another view
Blade length: 28 inches without habaki
Blade construction: Sanmai (a slab of 1095 between two slabs of 1050)
Blade polish: JKOO's "cosmetic" which looks close to a hazuya fingerstone polish
Blade (with niku) sharpness: slices paper
Blade sori: 12/16 inches
Blade thickness at yokote: 3/16 inches
Blade thickness ½ way down blade: 3.5/16 inches
Blade thickness at habaki: 9/32 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at yokote: 15/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) ½ way down: 13/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at habaki: 17/16 inches
pic: single bohi, a little wider than usual to help meet the 2.4 lb weight target.
pic: View of ha-machi and muni-machi
Bohi width: 6/16 inch
Kissaki length: 1 8/16 inches (short chu (medium) kissaki)
Blade hamon: suguha (straight, 3/16 to 4/16 inches wide)
Blade boshi (hamon of kissaki): suguha (straight, narrow, 4/16 inches wide)
pic: top of nakago
pic: nakago
My Thoughts:
On tsuka length:
As a large guy (6 foot 2 inches) I have found any tuska under 11 inches to be too short for my hands. Shorter than 11 inches and my pinkie finger is gripping the kashira at the end of the tsuka, which is not as comfortable as gripping the tsuka's (cotton) ito. I think 11 1/2 or even 12 inches would be fine.
On kashira shapes:
When just leaning on the sword, like a walking stick, or just moving around with a hand resting on the end of the tsuka, a rounded kashira is more comfortable than a kashira with a flat top and edges. That said, some of my swords have kashira's with flat ends and so kind of sharp edges. I don't always choose a rounded kashira because I don't want all my swords to look the same. But still...JKOO has a pretty good selection of iron, brass and decorative copper furniture. I like the flowers and trees motifs.
Summary and nit picking:
Let’s see, of JKOO make, now I have a T10 wakizashi, a 1095 wakizashi, two 1095 katanas, a T10 katana and a tamahagane (from pig iron chunks) katana. All mono steel except for the tamahagane katana which is kobuse. I asked for Sanmai for this "Budo inspired" katana to let me see something different of JKOO's.
JKOO offers Maru(mono steel), Sanmai, Honsanmai(three types steel to forge), Kobuse(Wrapping with 2 types steel) and Soshu-kitae(seven layers construction - complex and expensive). The Soshu-kitae interests me, but I am not qualified to review something that complex, as much as it interests me from a traditionalist's point of view. For sure, I would hesitate to do backyard cutting with such a blade.
I do like the swords JKOO makes. For a $300USA category sword, they have been of higher level workmanship than my other Chinese-made swords of like or lesser cost. Their custom menu is fun to play with and offers a lot of choices. I liked this sword because JKOO was able to make a more slender tsuka than my other China-made Japanese swords, and even make it pleasingly hourglass shaped, which felt surprisingly good in the hand. A perfect sword? No. For $385 cost, one gets a good sword, but a perfect sword would cost more. On this sword, what was not perfect? The habaki fit was not perfect. And one other thing....which normally JKOO is good at doing really well.
The Good:
Good:
Nice, attractive katana with a good looking, single bohi, sanmai blade. Pleasing, comfortable hourglass tsuka. Fast and nimble sword. Well done tight tsukaito. Good fitting of saya and sword furniture. A blade made at JKOO’s own forge. The JKOO custom menu allows ordering a personally-designed sword, blade specifications and furniture choices, though already finished swords are also offered for sale for those who don't want to wait for a custom.
The Bad:
Bad:
Habaki was a little loose. While probably, because after the sword was done, JKOO had to go back and take off steel to drop weight from 2.7 to 2.4 lbs. And some steel was taken off the nakago as well as the blade, reducing the quality of habaki-to-nakago fit. Not very loose, but enough so to warrant shimming with JBWeld. Will the JBWeld hold up? Steel impregnated, auto engine repair grade JBWeld is likely stronger than the brass of the habaki, but still....if my $200 category Wang-katana2011 or Katana1980 katanas can have perfect nakago to habaki fit, with a mass produced, factory brass habaki, JKOO should be able to also do so. Van Lang of JKOO has promised to make good habaki fit a priority and I would like to order another sword to test his promise out. Thus far, I have found him an honest man who seeks continuing improvement in product quality, without making swords unaffordable. Not everyone has a $1,000 plus sword budget. For me, $300 is pushing it.
What specs would I change if I ordered another JKOO katana? I really liked this unusual sword. It was provided without cost by Van Lang, for review, and the specs were a mix of ideas. If ordering just for myself, I like how it turned out, but would increase the blade from 28 to 29 inches, change the full wrap from black-dyed, to natural white rayskin, and the saya finish to gloss black.
The other bad? I have grown used to JKOO swords with blade to saya fit so good that there is no blade-in-saya rattle. My Huawei's rattle. Other swords of mine rattle.
This katana had modest blade-in-saya rattle. Two cotton balls pushed down to the end of the saya eliminated the rattle. But since my other JKOO's have either no or just a tiny bit of rattle, I have come to expect JKOO to always get the fit so good that right out of the shipping box, no rattle at all.
All in all? I see JKOO swords as being good value for the money. I very much like the six I have.
R Hamilton, California May 2019
pic: Top sword is this sanmai katana. Bottom katana is a standard JKOO katana. Notice the difference in tsuka shapes.
This is a review of a JKOO (www.sinosword.com) sword. This one, a 28 inch, 1050/1095/1050 sanmai, sughua hamon katana. A $385 dollar sword, plus about $51 shipping from China to USA.
pic: The sword shipped in this package. Arrived fine.
This JKoo katana is different from the normal JKoo katana in that specifications different from normal expectations were requested. Some were beyond JKOO's ability and had to be changed. And for some JKOO was given artistic license to do tweaks of their own. I not being a sword expert, have never had problems listening to advice from those who are.
pic: The sanmai katana came with sword bag.
pic: attractive sword bag
I had the specification’s of a Budo katana, being sort of the Muramasa of Sword Buyers Guide forum, due to past controversy. Tokagawa banned Muramasa and Sword Buyers Guide banned . Not for the sword quality, but for reasons such as personality conflicts. But both are good swords, no matter the sins of the makers.
pic: notice the difference in tsuka shape: Top is this Sanmai katana. Bottom is the standard JKOO/Sinosword katana tsuka shape.
pic: This 28" sanmai katana
pic: brown sageo, one of various sageo choices.
I have long wanted a Budo, but my bologna and cheese whiz budget could not come up with the bigger bucks for a Budo. So I sought a sword that had a Budo flavor and was cool to gaze upon, felt good in the hand, and cut well. JKOO did not make me a Budo. One reason is that they did not have an actual Budo to examine and use as a model. I did not have a Budo to send and some official(s) in the Chinese Government decided that China could send swords to other countries, but noone could send China a sword, even if just a return for repairs, refund or a customization request. We lost a $500 JKOO tamahagane (made from pig iron, not iron sands) katana due to some official in the Shanghai Customs neither allowing the shipper to continue it on to JKOO, nor reject acceptance and have it returned to sender (me). Who knows, maybe it looked nice and it would make a nice gift for his brother-in-law, or other reason. JKOO went beyond the call of duty and ate the cost of the theft and made me another, despite the theft not being their fault. Without me even asking. Such a kindness proved to me that JKOO's Mr. Van Yang, was not just a guy trying his best to produce and sell swords, but a very high quality person. Wow! He had no obligation to do that.
pic: The sanmai blade
pic: single bohi
True, there is now a Chinese rule that "weapons are not allowed" be sent to China. But if Shanghai Customs was staffed with honest officials, they would have rejected delivery and had the shipping company return the sword to the sender (me).
Was the USA any better? The USPS was happy to charge me for loss/theft/damage insurance and guaranteed delivery. But after taking my money, and upon my loss, I was not able to get the USPS to pay me even $1.
But back to the saga. JKOO’s first attempt to forge this sword was a DH mono T10 katana that suffered minor bending in testing. Something went wrong in the heat treatment. JKOO’s second try, in mono DH 1095 came out fine, but the blade was heavier than desired, and the habaki was not fitted properly. So, JKOO made this katana. I have to respect JKOO's efforts to strive for quality and workmanship at an attractive price, and willing to go that extra mile to please the customer.
Initially this 28 inch suguha 1095 katana was forged weighing 2.7 pounds, heavier than the requested 2.4 lbs. Not a bad weight, a decent compromise between power and agility. But 2.4 lbs was wanted, so JKOO then worked it down to 2.4 lbs, mainly by taking off steel from the back ridge and removing steel to create a bohi, and taking steel off the nakago. Ending up with a less powerful but faster, nimble cutter.
pic: another view of the single bohi.
The brass habaki was not a perfect fit. Probably due to the need to remove steel
to reduce the weight from 2.7 to 2.4 pounds, after the blade was made. I put a very small amount of JBWeld steel-impregnated, auto engine grade epoxy (strong enough to repair even auto engines), on the inside of the habaki which worked.
pic: brass habaki shimmed with JBWeld
Easy job: (a) degrease the habaki. (b) rub the nakago and first inch or two of the blade with grease....drug store Vasoline worked fine for me. (c) mix up a tiny bit of JBWeld and use a popsicle stick or similar to tamp in a bit of JBWeld where needed. (d) carefully slide the habaki back on and hold it so the habaki is positioned perfectly. This was 5 minute JBWeld so when it was firm but not final hardness, I slid the habaki off and let it cure overnight. Next day, I slid the habaki back on and thanks to the JBWeld, a perfect fit. I then told Mr. Van Lang what I did, and requested he have more attention given to habaki fit, which he said he would do.
pic: habaki fit without wobble when sword was together.
Custom spec blades can be hard to perfectly match up to factory-made, mass produced habaki's. Mass produced habaki's are what one is going to get on a $300 category sword.
My suggestion to JKOO for future custom spec blades, was that no matter what the customer asked for in a blade, ALWAYS make the nakago/blade area where the habaki will go, an unvarying standard size of being very, very slightly too big. Then use just a small amount of file work to size the nakago/blade down to be a perfect habaki fit. That is, custom make the nakago to fit the factory-made, mass-produced habaki.
pic: brass seppa fit well. Tsuka had two mekugi's.
This 1095 sword without saya, was now 2.4 pounds. In my hands, this sword felt fairly light and quick, yet with enough feeling of weight to give power to the cut. But not as powerful a cutter as my other JKOO katana of longer length and heavier weight. This 28 inch blade was lighter, quicker and felt great, but in cutting I felt I had to use more power than my 29 inch JKOO katanas. Even in swords, it seems there is no free lunch.
On to the sword specifications.
pic: blade sliced paper ok, both before and after backyard bottle cutting.
In my backyard cutting session, the sword performed well, despite my non-expert skill level. Targets were water-filled, one gallon plastic milk jugs as well as smaller bottled water bottles of about 16 ounces, plus a number of half gallon juice cartons made of what looked like waxed light, non-porous cardboard.
pic: fun targets
The sword cut well, needing a little more muscle power than my heavier and longer JKOO katanas. Good cuts, bad cuts, even a couple hits on the wood post and the sword finished the session, razor sharp and no bends or other damage. It felt good and did fine. I liked the feel of the slender tsuka. All the fittings stayed solid and tight.
pic: I did both good and some bad cuts. No damage to blade. Even when I hit the post a time or two.
JKOO / Sinosword 1050/1095/1050 Sanmai katana with suguha (straight) hamon Specifications:
The Sword:
Cost: Want one? $385usa + $51usa shipping (China to USA)
Weight: 2.4 pounds (sword only)
Weight: 3.0 pounds (sword + saya)
Total Length (sword + saya) = 43.5 inches
Total sword length = 41 1/2 inches
Sword Point of Balance: 5 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, with niku.
The Habaki:
Habaki: dulled brushed silver color brass
Habaki length = 1 inch
Habaki fit: slightly loose on the nakago. So I shimmed it with JBWeld.
The Tsuba:
pic: Iron tsuba
pic: tsuba was good fit to nakago. Tsuba edges were nicely rounded. Simple but well done.
Tsuba: darkened steel circular, rounded edges disk with random silver threads.
Tsuba thickness: 3/16”
Tsuba length (ha to mune direction): 3 1/4 inches
Tsuba width side to side): 3 inches
The Tsuka:
pic: Tsuka wrapped in Chinese brown cotton ito. Two mekugi's. Full rayskin wrap.
pic: another view of the hourglass-shaped, more slender tsuka.
Tsuka length: 11 1/8 inches
Tsuka: full wrap of black, small nodules ray skin
Tsuka ito: dark brown Chinese cotton
Tsuka ito wrap: traditional “criss-cross”. Very tight. Diamonds even.
Tsuka Mekugi: two bamboo mekugi
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at fuchi: 1 9/16 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (half way between fuchi & kashira): 1 4/16 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at kashira: 1 7/16” 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)
The Fuchi:
pic: Iron fuchi
pic: well-fitted fuchi
Fuchi: plain black iron with one small groove
Fuchi length: 1 ½ inches
Fuchi width:7/8 inches
The Kashira:
pic: iron kashira, simple design, rounded edges
pic: kashira, another view
Kashira: black iron with raised ridge
Kashira length: 1 3/8 inches
Kashira width: 6/8 inches
The Menuki:
pic: menuki
Menuki: darkened brass praying mantis
The Saya:
pic: saya
pic: Top saya was the sanmai katana...flat black paint with glossy speckles. Bottom saya of gloss black from one of my other JKOO's.
pic: koguichi of black (real) buffalo horn
pic: koguichi
pic: brown cotton sageo
pic: black buffalo horn kurigata
pic: saya flat black with gloss black speckles
pic: kojiri of black buffalo horn
Saya length: 30 3/4 inches
Saya width (sideways) at kojiri: 1 8/16 inches
Saya width (thickness) at kojiri: 7/8 inches
Saya width (sideways) at koguichi: 1 10/16 inches
Saya width (thickness) at koguichi: 14/16 inches
Saya furniture (kojiri, kurigata, koguichi): black buffalo horn
Saya color: flat black with tiny pebbling
Saya shito-done: brass (gold)
Saya sageo: brown cotton
Saya weight: 6/10 pound
The Blade:
pic: suguha (straight) hamon and boshi
pic: Sanmai blade's geometric kissaki.
pic: sughua hamon showing the borders between the inner 1095 and the outer 1050 steels.
pic: Sanmai blade's 1095 edge steel and 1050 outer steel
pic: JKOO's "cosmetic" polish is close in appearance to a finger stones polish.
pic: another view
Blade length: 28 inches without habaki
Blade construction: Sanmai (a slab of 1095 between two slabs of 1050)
Blade polish: JKOO's "cosmetic" which looks close to a hazuya fingerstone polish
Blade (with niku) sharpness: slices paper
Blade sori: 12/16 inches
Blade thickness at yokote: 3/16 inches
Blade thickness ½ way down blade: 3.5/16 inches
Blade thickness at habaki: 9/32 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at yokote: 15/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) ½ way down: 13/16 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at habaki: 17/16 inches
pic: single bohi, a little wider than usual to help meet the 2.4 lb weight target.
pic: View of ha-machi and muni-machi
Bohi width: 6/16 inch
Kissaki length: 1 8/16 inches (short chu (medium) kissaki)
Blade hamon: suguha (straight, 3/16 to 4/16 inches wide)
Blade boshi (hamon of kissaki): suguha (straight, narrow, 4/16 inches wide)
pic: top of nakago
pic: nakago
My Thoughts:
On tsuka length:
As a large guy (6 foot 2 inches) I have found any tuska under 11 inches to be too short for my hands. Shorter than 11 inches and my pinkie finger is gripping the kashira at the end of the tsuka, which is not as comfortable as gripping the tsuka's (cotton) ito. I think 11 1/2 or even 12 inches would be fine.
On kashira shapes:
When just leaning on the sword, like a walking stick, or just moving around with a hand resting on the end of the tsuka, a rounded kashira is more comfortable than a kashira with a flat top and edges. That said, some of my swords have kashira's with flat ends and so kind of sharp edges. I don't always choose a rounded kashira because I don't want all my swords to look the same. But still...JKOO has a pretty good selection of iron, brass and decorative copper furniture. I like the flowers and trees motifs.
Summary and nit picking:
Let’s see, of JKOO make, now I have a T10 wakizashi, a 1095 wakizashi, two 1095 katanas, a T10 katana and a tamahagane (from pig iron chunks) katana. All mono steel except for the tamahagane katana which is kobuse. I asked for Sanmai for this "Budo inspired" katana to let me see something different of JKOO's.
JKOO offers Maru(mono steel), Sanmai, Honsanmai(three types steel to forge), Kobuse(Wrapping with 2 types steel) and Soshu-kitae(seven layers construction - complex and expensive). The Soshu-kitae interests me, but I am not qualified to review something that complex, as much as it interests me from a traditionalist's point of view. For sure, I would hesitate to do backyard cutting with such a blade.
I do like the swords JKOO makes. For a $300USA category sword, they have been of higher level workmanship than my other Chinese-made swords of like or lesser cost. Their custom menu is fun to play with and offers a lot of choices. I liked this sword because JKOO was able to make a more slender tsuka than my other China-made Japanese swords, and even make it pleasingly hourglass shaped, which felt surprisingly good in the hand. A perfect sword? No. For $385 cost, one gets a good sword, but a perfect sword would cost more. On this sword, what was not perfect? The habaki fit was not perfect. And one other thing....which normally JKOO is good at doing really well.
The Good:
Good:
Nice, attractive katana with a good looking, single bohi, sanmai blade. Pleasing, comfortable hourglass tsuka. Fast and nimble sword. Well done tight tsukaito. Good fitting of saya and sword furniture. A blade made at JKOO’s own forge. The JKOO custom menu allows ordering a personally-designed sword, blade specifications and furniture choices, though already finished swords are also offered for sale for those who don't want to wait for a custom.
The Bad:
Bad:
Habaki was a little loose. While probably, because after the sword was done, JKOO had to go back and take off steel to drop weight from 2.7 to 2.4 lbs. And some steel was taken off the nakago as well as the blade, reducing the quality of habaki-to-nakago fit. Not very loose, but enough so to warrant shimming with JBWeld. Will the JBWeld hold up? Steel impregnated, auto engine repair grade JBWeld is likely stronger than the brass of the habaki, but still....if my $200 category Wang-katana2011 or Katana1980 katanas can have perfect nakago to habaki fit, with a mass produced, factory brass habaki, JKOO should be able to also do so. Van Lang of JKOO has promised to make good habaki fit a priority and I would like to order another sword to test his promise out. Thus far, I have found him an honest man who seeks continuing improvement in product quality, without making swords unaffordable. Not everyone has a $1,000 plus sword budget. For me, $300 is pushing it.
What specs would I change if I ordered another JKOO katana? I really liked this unusual sword. It was provided without cost by Van Lang, for review, and the specs were a mix of ideas. If ordering just for myself, I like how it turned out, but would increase the blade from 28 to 29 inches, change the full wrap from black-dyed, to natural white rayskin, and the saya finish to gloss black.
The other bad? I have grown used to JKOO swords with blade to saya fit so good that there is no blade-in-saya rattle. My Huawei's rattle. Other swords of mine rattle.
This katana had modest blade-in-saya rattle. Two cotton balls pushed down to the end of the saya eliminated the rattle. But since my other JKOO's have either no or just a tiny bit of rattle, I have come to expect JKOO to always get the fit so good that right out of the shipping box, no rattle at all.
All in all? I see JKOO swords as being good value for the money. I very much like the six I have.
R Hamilton, California May 2019