Ronin Katana Model 12 (picture heavy)
Jul 13, 2022 22:56:37 GMT
Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 13, 2022 22:56:37 GMT
Hello,
The usual disclaimers out of the way; I am not employed by Ronin Katana, nor do I have any affiliation with them (either official or unofficial). This sword was purchased by myself with my own money for realsies.This review is also based on nothing but my own opinion; so if you don't like it... Don't read it?
I am also not a very good martial artist, not am I pretending to be one.
I recently had a little extra money to spend on a cheap katana, although I am also currently saving for a higher end piece. I ended up purchasing this blade after shopping around on Kult of Athena for a little while, and it was not bought as a "blemished" model. I would thus consider what I received to be fairly representative of what ordering this same blade directly from Ronin Katana to be like.
www.kultofathena.com/product/ronin-katana-model-12/
The package arrived in Kult of Athena's typical brown box with brown paper wrapping inside. Nothing appears to have been damaged in transit or improperly packaged.
At first glance the blade appears to be your fairly typical budget katana; cast fittings, cotton ito, and a simple lacquered saya. The deep red colour of the saya is actually quite a breath of fresh air, after getting used to so many black gloss saya a simple colour change can be somewhat refreshing.
As expected, the sageo is the same shoelacey cotton, although it seems that the shitodome did not manage to stay intact. The glue on one of them failed, though surprisingly the other one is still tight.
After getting the blade I almost immediately gave it a quick etch in some ferric chloride, as the hamon was quite hard to see with the original polish. Surprisingly enough there is quite a bit more activity than I expected; with many high peaks and low valleys that give it an interesting flow.
The kissaki is quite rough and not geometric, and even with the etch I struggle to make out and discernible boshi beneath the course sanding marks.
The tsuba is muddy and lacking in details, though I actually quite like the look of the fuchi kashira. Though somewhat tall they have a reasonable amount of detail, and would be quite nice...
If it were not for the deep sanding marks along the edges. I would guess the cast was poor and/or misaligned, so the fittings were sanded to remove any casting lips. This was unfortunate.
The kashira's shitodome were also loose, and it appears that whatever glue was used to hold them in was insufficient. Still, I am surprised that they even have separate shitodome at this price point.
The sword is quite light in the hand and feels like it would be a nimble light cutter, were it not for a few... issues.
The usual disclaimers out of the way; I am not employed by Ronin Katana, nor do I have any affiliation with them (either official or unofficial). This sword was purchased by myself with my own money for realsies.This review is also based on nothing but my own opinion; so if you don't like it... Don't read it?
I am also not a very good martial artist, not am I pretending to be one.
I recently had a little extra money to spend on a cheap katana, although I am also currently saving for a higher end piece. I ended up purchasing this blade after shopping around on Kult of Athena for a little while, and it was not bought as a "blemished" model. I would thus consider what I received to be fairly representative of what ordering this same blade directly from Ronin Katana to be like.
www.kultofathena.com/product/ronin-katana-model-12/
The package arrived in Kult of Athena's typical brown box with brown paper wrapping inside. Nothing appears to have been damaged in transit or improperly packaged.
At first glance the blade appears to be your fairly typical budget katana; cast fittings, cotton ito, and a simple lacquered saya. The deep red colour of the saya is actually quite a breath of fresh air, after getting used to so many black gloss saya a simple colour change can be somewhat refreshing.
As expected, the sageo is the same shoelacey cotton, although it seems that the shitodome did not manage to stay intact. The glue on one of them failed, though surprisingly the other one is still tight.
After getting the blade I almost immediately gave it a quick etch in some ferric chloride, as the hamon was quite hard to see with the original polish. Surprisingly enough there is quite a bit more activity than I expected; with many high peaks and low valleys that give it an interesting flow.
The kissaki is quite rough and not geometric, and even with the etch I struggle to make out and discernible boshi beneath the course sanding marks.
The tsuba is muddy and lacking in details, though I actually quite like the look of the fuchi kashira. Though somewhat tall they have a reasonable amount of detail, and would be quite nice...
If it were not for the deep sanding marks along the edges. I would guess the cast was poor and/or misaligned, so the fittings were sanded to remove any casting lips. This was unfortunate.
The kashira's shitodome were also loose, and it appears that whatever glue was used to hold them in was insufficient. Still, I am surprised that they even have separate shitodome at this price point.
The sword is quite light in the hand and feels like it would be a nimble light cutter, were it not for a few... issues.
The tsuka is more than a little large in the hand; more reminiscent of something from Hanwei than Ronin Katana. My hands can barely fit around the tsuka, and the somewhat loose cotton ito does not help this problem much. Thought tighter in some places than others, the tsuka wrap is loose enough that I would suspect it would be quite uncomfortable to use for extended periods of time.
The ito is also quite bunched just before the kashira.
What I do not much like is the fit of the entire tsuka; from the habaki down everything seems somewhat misaligned. The habaki sits crooked on the blade, and while everything is tight (too tight; the tsuka came cracked), it is also readily apparent that the entire tsuka is off center from the blade itself. You can see just how off it is from looking at it in profile. This leads me to believe the entire tsuka was was likely hammered on.
Sadly, this also results in the saya being rather noticeably misaligned to the fuchi.
The blade seems sharp enough, but struggles to cut paper without being drawn quite heavily. There is also some minor rolling on the kissaki, which most likely happened during the ground-in counterpolish. Overall I think the edge could have been sharper out of the box.
For a $140 blade I think it is fair not to expect very much, and many would likely overlook some of these flaws simply because they did not pay very much money for it. Were this sword's problems limited to the sharpness and loose ito then I think it would have been more than acceptable, though in accumulation with the off-kilter tsuka I would personally disagree.
I have yet to do anything else with this sword.
PROS
•Affordable replica of a Japanese sword
•Very interesting and dynamic real hamon
•Kashira has separate shitodome
•Very light and easy to control blade
CONS
•Fittings on the tsuka are sadly a letdown
•Blade was not as sharp as it could have been
•Rough kissaki
•Cracked, uncomfortable axe handle tsuka
•Loose ito
•Misaligned tsuka, habaki and saya
•Bo-hi feels slightly deeper on one side than the other
For $140 I think that there are better options one could buy, although I do think the sword has its perks. Some better QC from Ronin Katana would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.
The ito is also quite bunched just before the kashira.
What I do not much like is the fit of the entire tsuka; from the habaki down everything seems somewhat misaligned. The habaki sits crooked on the blade, and while everything is tight (too tight; the tsuka came cracked), it is also readily apparent that the entire tsuka is off center from the blade itself. You can see just how off it is from looking at it in profile. This leads me to believe the entire tsuka was was likely hammered on.
Sadly, this also results in the saya being rather noticeably misaligned to the fuchi.
The blade seems sharp enough, but struggles to cut paper without being drawn quite heavily. There is also some minor rolling on the kissaki, which most likely happened during the ground-in counterpolish. Overall I think the edge could have been sharper out of the box.
For a $140 blade I think it is fair not to expect very much, and many would likely overlook some of these flaws simply because they did not pay very much money for it. Were this sword's problems limited to the sharpness and loose ito then I think it would have been more than acceptable, though in accumulation with the off-kilter tsuka I would personally disagree.
I have yet to do anything else with this sword.
PROS
•Affordable replica of a Japanese sword
•Very interesting and dynamic real hamon
•Kashira has separate shitodome
•Very light and easy to control blade
CONS
•Fittings on the tsuka are sadly a letdown
•Blade was not as sharp as it could have been
•Rough kissaki
•Cracked, uncomfortable axe handle tsuka
•Loose ito
•Misaligned tsuka, habaki and saya
•Bo-hi feels slightly deeper on one side than the other
For $140 I think that there are better options one could buy, although I do think the sword has its perks. Some better QC from Ronin Katana would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.
Things have changed!