Dynasty Forge Nagamaki
Dec 18, 2019 18:59:24 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2019 18:59:24 GMT
Dynasty Forge "Bushi" Class Nagamaki
Photos up on imgur at imgur.com/a/B67Cd5R
I'll dispense with reposting the product listing. If interested, I'd direct you right over to Dynasty Forge for their info. Last check it's still discounted 50% so if you wanted one this looks like a great time to snag one up. I'd check below when I get into handling first though. You most likely won't have the opportunity to "Try before you Buy" so hopefully the review is helpful. The bottom line up front is it is a cool and interesting sword, but it may not handle the way you would assume.
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OK so we'll get some basic info out of the way first.
Blade length on mine clocks in at 33.125" / 84.1375 cm.
Tsuka 23.75" / 60.325 cm.
Blade is .25" / 1.9 mm thick and is 1.375" / 3.4925 cm wide at base.
This thickness is sustained up 11.5" / 29.21 cm, then sharply tapers down to a more slender .125" / 3.175 mm thickness
The width of the blade increases to 1.625" / 4.127 cm at the widest part
There is a slight flare at 27" mark, taking this out of kanmuri-otoshi and into unokubi zukuri.
---
I had been considering one of these monsters for a while but the price being over $2,000 USD was a real deterrent. When a helpful forum member pointed out the current (at time of review) sale on these, I figured the time was right to go for it. There are some areas I am going to identify below that would have me less than thrilled at the full price but when viewed through the lens of a 50% discount are things that can either be overlooked or addressed properly down the road.
The blade is decent. The only criticism I have on this one is the hamon etch, which obscures what is happening to the point where I'd need to see this thing repolished to be sure of whether it was differentially treated or not. There's areas that fight their way through the etch to hint so I think it could very well be, but the pattern I am seeing is absolutely artificial. Not a huge deterrent and although I prefer differential treatment I would not be devastated if it turns out to actually be through-hardened. The naginata-hi carving is done well, no blatant errors and the grooves are aligned on either side of the blade for which I am grateful.
The mounting is OK. I was worried that there'd be real issues, but there's nothing glaring to the point that I need it to be torn down and rebuilt. Starting with the saya - at a first glance it's fine. No glaring problems, it fits tightly and the finish is adequate. Looking at the inside, it looks like by the time the factory got to this one the tools were getting dull, because there's a lot of chipping. It also looks like the channel for the blade was inserted into the saya blanks, probably a cost and time saving measure. The chipped out insert isn't exciting, but it doesn't seem to be an impairment.
The tsuka is interesting. I was surprised that the itomaki is relatively tight. I don't envy whoever got this job, but it looks like they were consistent from the fuchi through to the kashira. The end knots are OK for production work. Not breath-taking, but a fine enough effort and certainly better than I could manage. Some of the closer shots of the tsuka show a little fraying of the material in a way which has me raising an eyebrow at the product listing's mention of silk. The fittings are again adequate. The tsuba is ok, there's a bit of missed finish that was ground off, some friction burn again marring the finish on the fuchi. The menuki are alright - I expected a lot more extra material but they are relatively decent castings with detail. Minor areas of smudging but better than I expected to see. The shitodome should have just been left off, they don't quite fit right and an embellishment like that only detracts if it isn't done right. The exposed wood from the rayskin panel not lining up with the itomaki would be offensive at the $2k mark but at half price I have no problem shrugging it off.
The habaki is actually pretty solid, and looks like it was shaped correctly for the most part. Horizontal patterning was a nice touch, and the efforts at a braided edge treatment on the seppa was a good surprise for unexpected attention.
---
This thing is an utter beast, as the size and thickness (at least at the base) of the blade suggest. The naginata-hi can only do so much against the mass of steel.
The handling is awkward. I really expected some foreward presence. I'm accustomed to katana with long tsuka, comfortable with anything 13-15" / 33-38 cm. I have had limited exposure to naginata, but this does not behave similarly. I expected this nagamaki to be different, but I hadn't expected it to be profoundly so. This isn't a different accent, it's an entirely different language.
It is going to take a good amount of acclimation to get familiar with this. It feels more suited for drawing / slicing motions and doesn't track similarly to any of my other swords in motion. It may very well be a tatami killer, but the feel of moving it is just really different. On paper, it's just a big sword - longer blade, longer handle, but in practice at least this specific example of a particular product line is not what you might expect. I suspect efforts to keep the balance from getting too far out is partly to blame for this. It's a design decision I can understand. The width and length of the blade, combined with narrowing the spine for most of it's length puts the point of balance approximately 5" / 12.7 cm up from the mune-machi which is making my initial efforts of handling the sword awkward. I'll see if this is the kind of thing I can work through, or if I'll have to see about reconfiguring this into something else.
Action shots are going to have to wait. As stated above, some acclimation time is required before I'll know if this is something I can work my way into
Photos up on imgur at imgur.com/a/B67Cd5R
I'll dispense with reposting the product listing. If interested, I'd direct you right over to Dynasty Forge for their info. Last check it's still discounted 50% so if you wanted one this looks like a great time to snag one up. I'd check below when I get into handling first though. You most likely won't have the opportunity to "Try before you Buy" so hopefully the review is helpful. The bottom line up front is it is a cool and interesting sword, but it may not handle the way you would assume.
---
OK so we'll get some basic info out of the way first.
Blade length on mine clocks in at 33.125" / 84.1375 cm.
Tsuka 23.75" / 60.325 cm.
Blade is .25" / 1.9 mm thick and is 1.375" / 3.4925 cm wide at base.
This thickness is sustained up 11.5" / 29.21 cm, then sharply tapers down to a more slender .125" / 3.175 mm thickness
The width of the blade increases to 1.625" / 4.127 cm at the widest part
There is a slight flare at 27" mark, taking this out of kanmuri-otoshi and into unokubi zukuri.
---
I had been considering one of these monsters for a while but the price being over $2,000 USD was a real deterrent. When a helpful forum member pointed out the current (at time of review) sale on these, I figured the time was right to go for it. There are some areas I am going to identify below that would have me less than thrilled at the full price but when viewed through the lens of a 50% discount are things that can either be overlooked or addressed properly down the road.
The blade is decent. The only criticism I have on this one is the hamon etch, which obscures what is happening to the point where I'd need to see this thing repolished to be sure of whether it was differentially treated or not. There's areas that fight their way through the etch to hint so I think it could very well be, but the pattern I am seeing is absolutely artificial. Not a huge deterrent and although I prefer differential treatment I would not be devastated if it turns out to actually be through-hardened. The naginata-hi carving is done well, no blatant errors and the grooves are aligned on either side of the blade for which I am grateful.
The mounting is OK. I was worried that there'd be real issues, but there's nothing glaring to the point that I need it to be torn down and rebuilt. Starting with the saya - at a first glance it's fine. No glaring problems, it fits tightly and the finish is adequate. Looking at the inside, it looks like by the time the factory got to this one the tools were getting dull, because there's a lot of chipping. It also looks like the channel for the blade was inserted into the saya blanks, probably a cost and time saving measure. The chipped out insert isn't exciting, but it doesn't seem to be an impairment.
The tsuka is interesting. I was surprised that the itomaki is relatively tight. I don't envy whoever got this job, but it looks like they were consistent from the fuchi through to the kashira. The end knots are OK for production work. Not breath-taking, but a fine enough effort and certainly better than I could manage. Some of the closer shots of the tsuka show a little fraying of the material in a way which has me raising an eyebrow at the product listing's mention of silk. The fittings are again adequate. The tsuba is ok, there's a bit of missed finish that was ground off, some friction burn again marring the finish on the fuchi. The menuki are alright - I expected a lot more extra material but they are relatively decent castings with detail. Minor areas of smudging but better than I expected to see. The shitodome should have just been left off, they don't quite fit right and an embellishment like that only detracts if it isn't done right. The exposed wood from the rayskin panel not lining up with the itomaki would be offensive at the $2k mark but at half price I have no problem shrugging it off.
The habaki is actually pretty solid, and looks like it was shaped correctly for the most part. Horizontal patterning was a nice touch, and the efforts at a braided edge treatment on the seppa was a good surprise for unexpected attention.
---
This thing is an utter beast, as the size and thickness (at least at the base) of the blade suggest. The naginata-hi can only do so much against the mass of steel.
The handling is awkward. I really expected some foreward presence. I'm accustomed to katana with long tsuka, comfortable with anything 13-15" / 33-38 cm. I have had limited exposure to naginata, but this does not behave similarly. I expected this nagamaki to be different, but I hadn't expected it to be profoundly so. This isn't a different accent, it's an entirely different language.
It is going to take a good amount of acclimation to get familiar with this. It feels more suited for drawing / slicing motions and doesn't track similarly to any of my other swords in motion. It may very well be a tatami killer, but the feel of moving it is just really different. On paper, it's just a big sword - longer blade, longer handle, but in practice at least this specific example of a particular product line is not what you might expect. I suspect efforts to keep the balance from getting too far out is partly to blame for this. It's a design decision I can understand. The width and length of the blade, combined with narrowing the spine for most of it's length puts the point of balance approximately 5" / 12.7 cm up from the mune-machi which is making my initial efforts of handling the sword awkward. I'll see if this is the kind of thing I can work through, or if I'll have to see about reconfiguring this into something else.
Action shots are going to have to wait. As stated above, some acclimation time is required before I'll know if this is something I can work my way into