Jkoo / Sinosword T10 wide&wild choji hamon wakizashi
May 12, 2022 22:43:37 GMT
Post by Robert in California on May 12, 2022 22:43:37 GMT
This is a tale of how to rush in (acid etching) and do something without doing needed research (how to screw up):
Robert in California
---------------------
above: Jkoo/Sinosword wakizashi
REVIEW: Jkoo/Sinosword mono T10 wide, fancy Choji Wakizashi (May 2022)
above: the other side.
This is a review of an interesting Jkoo (www.sinosword.com) sword. This one a 22” blade, mono T10 tool steel, wide choji hamon wakizashi.
above: the light colored hamon from the kissaki to about halfway down the blade is my polish. The rest is Jkoo "cosmetic" polish.
above: the full blade. Mono (not folded) T10 tool steel with wide choji hamon.
above: the other side of the blade. In this late afternoon light, my polish shows darker.
above: hamon shows more clear near the kissaki.
I used the www.sinosword.com custom ordering menu to tell Jkoo my desired specs. I asked for an extra wide choji hamon and a selection of fittings I liked. A wide and wild hamon but nothing unusual for all else. So far, to my knowledge, this kind of fancy choji hamon is only available on mono, differentially hardened (“DH”) T10 or perhaps also 1095 steel blades. Cost was about $350usd, plus about $50usd shipping from China to USA.
In a wakizashi, I like a 22 inch blade and a 9 inch tsuka. Which actually makes it closer to a ko-katana, allowing one or two hand use. The sword alone ended up at 2.0 pounds (without the ½ pound saya). Balance felt solid but still light and agile as one would expect from a long wakizashi or a ko-katana.
This wakizashi is typical of what I like to order from Jkoo/Sinosword (Jkoo is the forge and Sinosword is the website), not the lightest, not the heaviest, not the slowest, not the fastest. Good, solid “average” blades for the average, working class samurai.
In my view, JKOO swords are the sword to have for the swordsman who wants a multi-function sword, and who lacks the hobby funds for an upper tier sword. General purpose swords, be they katanas or wakizashi’s. Jkoo/Sinoswords are affordable, if you look at the Jkoo forge’s website (www.jkoo.com or you will notice ready-made swords in the $200 to $300usd range, with a few sub-$100usd and even a fancy $1,999 Chinese Dao.
Jkoo is a custom specs capable budget forge, who sells direct from the forge. These low to medium priced swords can have q.c. lapses such as “blade rattle in saya” that need to be fixed by the buyer. In some previous purchases, I found the habaki fit onto the blade to have been on the loose side. My more recent Jkoo sword purchases have had tight fitting habaki’s.
Along with “already made & ready to ship” Japanese and Chinese designs, Jkoo’s custom sword design menu allows for original customer-specified swords.
I messed up the kissaki and a couple inches of blade finish by experimenting with acid etching on this sword. I wanted to try acid etching the kissaki end of the blade. I had heard that nitric acid worked for that purpose. So I got some 70% nitric acid and applied some. But I got diverted away from the process for about an hour, came back and the acid had rusted and pitted the kissaki and darkened the blade to excess for inches beyond.
I should have left well enough alone, the Jkoo “cosmetic” polish was better than I can do. So after hours of rust removal, sandpaper, fingerstones, white vinegar darkening and nugui polishing, I had restored the kissaki+ to be only at most about 2/3’s as good as the original Jkoo “cosmetic” polish. In the photos, the “fixing my mistake” polishing are those blade pictures where the hamon shown, looks more light in color and lacks the attractive dark thin border between the hamon and the shinogi, that Jkoo creates with their “cosmetic” polish.
If wisdom comes from experience and experience comes from mistakes, then I am a wise man. What I did learn in the hours of restoration polishing, is that Jkoo blades are well heat treated and pretty tough. My Japanese fingerstones had a hard time getting a grip on the hard and tough Jkoo T10 steel.
My favored Jkoo “backyard cutter” (mono T10, suguha hamon 29 inch katana) has cut a lot of soft targets but has also multiple times, hit at various angles, the age-hardened, pressure-treated 4x4” post I put my targets on top of, without dulling, rolling nor bending. So far, I have not tried cutting anything very hard with this wakizashi.
On to specifications:
JKOO / Sinosword T10 wide choji wakizashi:
The sword:
Weight: 2.1 lbs (sword w/o saya)
Total Length (sword + saya) = 33.8 inches
Total sword length = 31.9 inches
Blade length (not including habaki) = 21.5 inches
Blade length with habaki = 22.5 inches
Habaki length = 1 inch
Tsuka length = 9.25 inches
The Saya:
Saya length: 24.5 inches
Saya width (long ways) at kojiri: 1.5 inches
Saya width (long ways) at koguichi: 1.6 inches
Saya width (side ways) at kojiri: .88 inches
Saya width (side ways) at koguichi: .88 inches
Saya furniture (kojiri, kurigata, koguichi): brown buffalo horn
Saya color: gloss black
Saya shito-done: gold colored metal (brass?)
Saya sageo: black & red cotton
Saya weight: 0.46 pounds
The Blade:
Blade polish: cosmetic grade (similar to standard, non-mirror Huawei polish)
Blade sharpness: slices paper, has niku
Blade sori: .75 inches
Blade thickness at yokote: .19 inches
Blade thickness ½ way down blade: .25 inches
Blade thickness at habaki: .31 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at yokote: .88 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) ½ way down: 1.1 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at habaki: 1.25 inches
Bohi width: 25 inch
Kissaki length: 1.5 inches (chu / medium length kissaki)
Blade hamon: wide choji
Blade boshi: hitasura (boshi is the hamon of the kissaki)
Sword Point of Balance: 3.8 inches ahead of the tsuba.
Sword sharpness: Not sharp for the first 2 inches ahead of habaki
Paper-slicing sharp elsewhere.
The Habaki:
Habaki: Dulled gold color brass with diagonal file marks.
The Tsuba:
Tsuba: darkened brass with waves and flying birds
Tsuba thickness: .13”
Tsuba length (ha to mune direction): 2.75 inches
Tsuba width side to side): 2.6 inches
The Tsuka:
Tsuka: full wrap of raw, white, small nodules ray skin
Tsuka ito: brown cotton
Tsuka ito wrap: traditional “criss-cross”. Very tight and even diamonds
Tsuka Mekugi: one bamboo Mekugi
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at fuchi: 1.5 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at kashira: 1.5” 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:
Fuchi: darkened brass with flowers and vines
Fuchi length: 1.5 inches
Fuchi width: .8 inches
The Kashira:
Kashira darkened brass with flowers and vines
Kashira length: 1.5 inches
Kashira width: .75 inches
The Menuki:
Menuki: darkened brass with leaves and vines
Thoughts:
On kashira shapes, a kashira with rounded edges is more comfortable than a kashira with a flat top and flat/”sharp” edges. The edges dig into the hand. This kashira I like for that reason...rounded, though Jkoo offers others.
Summary and nit picking:
Overall, this Jkoo wakizashi with a two handed capable tsuka and an almost 22 inch blade allows one or two handed use. It probably edges into the ko-katana category. It is a general usage, solidly built sword. A pretty good sword and value for the money.
The Good:
Good: Nice blade. Tool steel. Well heat treated. Good balance. Enough heft to cut well. Not enough heft to slow it noticeably. A good looking sword offering value for the money. A blade made at JKOO’s own forge, not a blade bought elsewhere and then mounted and sold. The JKOO custom menu allows a buyer to order personally-designed swords, via custom blade specifications and furniture choices.
The Bad:
Bad: There was some “blade-in-saya” rattle. I corrected that with oiled synthetic cotton balls pushed down to the bottom of the saya with a long, thin metal rod.
My bad: I messed up the Jkoo “cosmetic” polish for part of the blade by improperly nitric acid etching the kissaki to bring out the boshi better. I messed up the job and my restoration polishing was inferior to Jkoo’s work. I should have left well enough alone. I attempted the acid etch because the boshi (kissaki hamon) was so wide, and being like a really wide hitasura hamon, it was hard to see where the boshi was and wasn’t, since most of the kissaki was boshi. Well, wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from mistakes.
Overall:
Lessons learned: Don’t try to polish a Jkoo “cosmetic” polish blade. The Jkoo “cosmetic” polish is very likely a more attractive polish than anything most of us sword enthusiasts can do. Leave well enough alone. And that Jkoo heat treated the blade very well.
Robert Hamilton, California May 2022
Ok, on to the rest of the pics:
above: wild choji hamon
above: boshi was hard to photograph...this about as good a boshi pic as I could make.
above: not my best boshi pic...ok where is the boshi and where is it not. It's almost everywhere, wowser!
above: now some blade/choji hamon pics of various places on the blade.
above: another hamon pic, different spot.
above: hamon more towards the middle of the blade.
above: hamon near habaki
above: closer up pic.
above: hamon on other side of blade, by habaki.
above: moving towards the kissaki
above: interesting hamon, so I took extra pics.
above: another view.
above: more coming.
above: close up.
above: the saya, gloss black, brown buffalo horn fittings. Black and red sageo.
above: another view of saya
above: close up
above: close up of koguichi
above: The black buffalo horn is dyed. The brown is natural.
above: brass fuchi
above: brass kashira
above: tsuka ito tied off neatly
above: a more clear fuchi photo.
above: full rayskin wrap, makes the tsuka stronger than rayskin panels (costs extra too)
above: tsuba of antiqued brass, non-signature side
above: antiqued brass menuki, floral design.
above: a closeup view of the rayskin.
above: brass seppas of "one side fits all" mass produced.
above: inside of fuchi. It's a casting.
.
above: other side of tsuba. Looks like a signature there. And yes, it is a casting.
above: close up of factory brass habaki...one side fits all so Jkoo tried and succeeded in making the nakago a close fit.
above: yet closer, the brass habaki.
above: a good picture of the antiqued finish menuki of floral design, cotton ito softer than synthetic silk, tight wrap.
above: the Jkoo tsuka, about 9 inches long. Can use one or two handed as a result.
above: pic showing the one, bamboo mekugi pin and more of the rayskin.
above: tsuba edges are smooth and slightly rounded. Features are rounded and blurred giving an antique look.
above: tsuba, view of smooh and rounded edges.
above: ito is brown cotton, wrapped very tight (very tight!) This is Chinese cotton that is the softest and most comfortable of the Jkoo wraps that I have. Mekugi anas (mekugi holes) drilled at an angle, holes round, matching the round bamboo mekugi.
above: menuki closeup, other side...this one has a gloss look. I may dull it down later.
above: back of cast brass fuchi. Appears to be a two piece in construction.
above: wood of tsuka in good shape...no cracks. Full rayskin wrap stronger.
above: close up, side view of antiqued brass fuchi.
above: And there we go, a tsuka with only one mekugi pin but nakago2tsuka fit good enough that there was no looseness but the tsuka still could be removed and reassembled. Aside from my own screwing up of trying to do an acid etch of the kissaki area, really little to nit pic. And was the blade sharp? It had niku but still could slice students notebook paper. For a low to medium price forge, Jkoo offers good value. Jkoo is still more of a budget forge than not. It's higher priced offerings usually are closer to "perfection".
Robert in California
---------------------
above: Jkoo/Sinosword wakizashi
REVIEW: Jkoo/Sinosword mono T10 wide, fancy Choji Wakizashi (May 2022)
above: the other side.
This is a review of an interesting Jkoo (www.sinosword.com) sword. This one a 22” blade, mono T10 tool steel, wide choji hamon wakizashi.
above: the light colored hamon from the kissaki to about halfway down the blade is my polish. The rest is Jkoo "cosmetic" polish.
above: the full blade. Mono (not folded) T10 tool steel with wide choji hamon.
above: the other side of the blade. In this late afternoon light, my polish shows darker.
above: hamon shows more clear near the kissaki.
I used the www.sinosword.com custom ordering menu to tell Jkoo my desired specs. I asked for an extra wide choji hamon and a selection of fittings I liked. A wide and wild hamon but nothing unusual for all else. So far, to my knowledge, this kind of fancy choji hamon is only available on mono, differentially hardened (“DH”) T10 or perhaps also 1095 steel blades. Cost was about $350usd, plus about $50usd shipping from China to USA.
In a wakizashi, I like a 22 inch blade and a 9 inch tsuka. Which actually makes it closer to a ko-katana, allowing one or two hand use. The sword alone ended up at 2.0 pounds (without the ½ pound saya). Balance felt solid but still light and agile as one would expect from a long wakizashi or a ko-katana.
This wakizashi is typical of what I like to order from Jkoo/Sinosword (Jkoo is the forge and Sinosword is the website), not the lightest, not the heaviest, not the slowest, not the fastest. Good, solid “average” blades for the average, working class samurai.
In my view, JKOO swords are the sword to have for the swordsman who wants a multi-function sword, and who lacks the hobby funds for an upper tier sword. General purpose swords, be they katanas or wakizashi’s. Jkoo/Sinoswords are affordable, if you look at the Jkoo forge’s website (www.jkoo.com or you will notice ready-made swords in the $200 to $300usd range, with a few sub-$100usd and even a fancy $1,999 Chinese Dao.
Jkoo is a custom specs capable budget forge, who sells direct from the forge. These low to medium priced swords can have q.c. lapses such as “blade rattle in saya” that need to be fixed by the buyer. In some previous purchases, I found the habaki fit onto the blade to have been on the loose side. My more recent Jkoo sword purchases have had tight fitting habaki’s.
Along with “already made & ready to ship” Japanese and Chinese designs, Jkoo’s custom sword design menu allows for original customer-specified swords.
I messed up the kissaki and a couple inches of blade finish by experimenting with acid etching on this sword. I wanted to try acid etching the kissaki end of the blade. I had heard that nitric acid worked for that purpose. So I got some 70% nitric acid and applied some. But I got diverted away from the process for about an hour, came back and the acid had rusted and pitted the kissaki and darkened the blade to excess for inches beyond.
I should have left well enough alone, the Jkoo “cosmetic” polish was better than I can do. So after hours of rust removal, sandpaper, fingerstones, white vinegar darkening and nugui polishing, I had restored the kissaki+ to be only at most about 2/3’s as good as the original Jkoo “cosmetic” polish. In the photos, the “fixing my mistake” polishing are those blade pictures where the hamon shown, looks more light in color and lacks the attractive dark thin border between the hamon and the shinogi, that Jkoo creates with their “cosmetic” polish.
If wisdom comes from experience and experience comes from mistakes, then I am a wise man. What I did learn in the hours of restoration polishing, is that Jkoo blades are well heat treated and pretty tough. My Japanese fingerstones had a hard time getting a grip on the hard and tough Jkoo T10 steel.
My favored Jkoo “backyard cutter” (mono T10, suguha hamon 29 inch katana) has cut a lot of soft targets but has also multiple times, hit at various angles, the age-hardened, pressure-treated 4x4” post I put my targets on top of, without dulling, rolling nor bending. So far, I have not tried cutting anything very hard with this wakizashi.
On to specifications:
JKOO / Sinosword T10 wide choji wakizashi:
The sword:
Weight: 2.1 lbs (sword w/o saya)
Total Length (sword + saya) = 33.8 inches
Total sword length = 31.9 inches
Blade length (not including habaki) = 21.5 inches
Blade length with habaki = 22.5 inches
Habaki length = 1 inch
Tsuka length = 9.25 inches
The Saya:
Saya length: 24.5 inches
Saya width (long ways) at kojiri: 1.5 inches
Saya width (long ways) at koguichi: 1.6 inches
Saya width (side ways) at kojiri: .88 inches
Saya width (side ways) at koguichi: .88 inches
Saya furniture (kojiri, kurigata, koguichi): brown buffalo horn
Saya color: gloss black
Saya shito-done: gold colored metal (brass?)
Saya sageo: black & red cotton
Saya weight: 0.46 pounds
The Blade:
Blade polish: cosmetic grade (similar to standard, non-mirror Huawei polish)
Blade sharpness: slices paper, has niku
Blade sori: .75 inches
Blade thickness at yokote: .19 inches
Blade thickness ½ way down blade: .25 inches
Blade thickness at habaki: .31 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at yokote: .88 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) ½ way down: 1.1 inches
Blade width (ha to mune) at habaki: 1.25 inches
Bohi width: 25 inch
Kissaki length: 1.5 inches (chu / medium length kissaki)
Blade hamon: wide choji
Blade boshi: hitasura (boshi is the hamon of the kissaki)
Sword Point of Balance: 3.8 inches ahead of the tsuba.
Sword sharpness: Not sharp for the first 2 inches ahead of habaki
Paper-slicing sharp elsewhere.
The Habaki:
Habaki: Dulled gold color brass with diagonal file marks.
The Tsuba:
Tsuba: darkened brass with waves and flying birds
Tsuba thickness: .13”
Tsuba length (ha to mune direction): 2.75 inches
Tsuba width side to side): 2.6 inches
The Tsuka:
Tsuka: full wrap of raw, white, small nodules ray skin
Tsuka ito: brown cotton
Tsuka ito wrap: traditional “criss-cross”. Very tight and even diamonds
Tsuka Mekugi: one bamboo Mekugi
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at fuchi: 1.5 inches (with ito)
Tsuka width (ha to mune) at kashira: 1.5” 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:
Fuchi: darkened brass with flowers and vines
Fuchi length: 1.5 inches
Fuchi width: .8 inches
The Kashira:
Kashira darkened brass with flowers and vines
Kashira length: 1.5 inches
Kashira width: .75 inches
The Menuki:
Menuki: darkened brass with leaves and vines
Thoughts:
On kashira shapes, a kashira with rounded edges is more comfortable than a kashira with a flat top and flat/”sharp” edges. The edges dig into the hand. This kashira I like for that reason...rounded, though Jkoo offers others.
Summary and nit picking:
Overall, this Jkoo wakizashi with a two handed capable tsuka and an almost 22 inch blade allows one or two handed use. It probably edges into the ko-katana category. It is a general usage, solidly built sword. A pretty good sword and value for the money.
The Good:
Good: Nice blade. Tool steel. Well heat treated. Good balance. Enough heft to cut well. Not enough heft to slow it noticeably. A good looking sword offering value for the money. A blade made at JKOO’s own forge, not a blade bought elsewhere and then mounted and sold. The JKOO custom menu allows a buyer to order personally-designed swords, via custom blade specifications and furniture choices.
The Bad:
Bad: There was some “blade-in-saya” rattle. I corrected that with oiled synthetic cotton balls pushed down to the bottom of the saya with a long, thin metal rod.
My bad: I messed up the Jkoo “cosmetic” polish for part of the blade by improperly nitric acid etching the kissaki to bring out the boshi better. I messed up the job and my restoration polishing was inferior to Jkoo’s work. I should have left well enough alone. I attempted the acid etch because the boshi (kissaki hamon) was so wide, and being like a really wide hitasura hamon, it was hard to see where the boshi was and wasn’t, since most of the kissaki was boshi. Well, wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from mistakes.
Overall:
Lessons learned: Don’t try to polish a Jkoo “cosmetic” polish blade. The Jkoo “cosmetic” polish is very likely a more attractive polish than anything most of us sword enthusiasts can do. Leave well enough alone. And that Jkoo heat treated the blade very well.
Robert Hamilton, California May 2022
Ok, on to the rest of the pics:
above: wild choji hamon
above: boshi was hard to photograph...this about as good a boshi pic as I could make.
above: not my best boshi pic...ok where is the boshi and where is it not. It's almost everywhere, wowser!
above: now some blade/choji hamon pics of various places on the blade.
above: another hamon pic, different spot.
above: hamon more towards the middle of the blade.
above: hamon near habaki
above: closer up pic.
above: hamon on other side of blade, by habaki.
above: moving towards the kissaki
above: interesting hamon, so I took extra pics.
above: another view.
above: more coming.
above: close up.
above: the saya, gloss black, brown buffalo horn fittings. Black and red sageo.
above: another view of saya
above: close up
above: close up of koguichi
above: The black buffalo horn is dyed. The brown is natural.
above: brass fuchi
above: brass kashira
above: tsuka ito tied off neatly
above: a more clear fuchi photo.
above: full rayskin wrap, makes the tsuka stronger than rayskin panels (costs extra too)
above: tsuba of antiqued brass, non-signature side
above: antiqued brass menuki, floral design.
above: a closeup view of the rayskin.
above: brass seppas of "one side fits all" mass produced.
above: inside of fuchi. It's a casting.
.
above: other side of tsuba. Looks like a signature there. And yes, it is a casting.
above: close up of factory brass habaki...one side fits all so Jkoo tried and succeeded in making the nakago a close fit.
above: yet closer, the brass habaki.
above: a good picture of the antiqued finish menuki of floral design, cotton ito softer than synthetic silk, tight wrap.
above: the Jkoo tsuka, about 9 inches long. Can use one or two handed as a result.
above: pic showing the one, bamboo mekugi pin and more of the rayskin.
above: tsuba edges are smooth and slightly rounded. Features are rounded and blurred giving an antique look.
above: tsuba, view of smooh and rounded edges.
above: ito is brown cotton, wrapped very tight (very tight!) This is Chinese cotton that is the softest and most comfortable of the Jkoo wraps that I have. Mekugi anas (mekugi holes) drilled at an angle, holes round, matching the round bamboo mekugi.
above: menuki closeup, other side...this one has a gloss look. I may dull it down later.
above: back of cast brass fuchi. Appears to be a two piece in construction.
above: wood of tsuka in good shape...no cracks. Full rayskin wrap stronger.
above: close up, side view of antiqued brass fuchi.
above: And there we go, a tsuka with only one mekugi pin but nakago2tsuka fit good enough that there was no looseness but the tsuka still could be removed and reassembled. Aside from my own screwing up of trying to do an acid etch of the kissaki area, really little to nit pic. And was the blade sharp? It had niku but still could slice students notebook paper. For a low to medium price forge, Jkoo offers good value. Jkoo is still more of a budget forge than not. It's higher priced offerings usually are closer to "perfection".