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Post by vidar on Dec 6, 2023 22:32:49 GMT
Hi all, About a month ago, Lk Chen added a katana to their catalogue. Did anyone buy one or stumbled on any reviews? I think it looks nice and I’m considering to order one. lkchensword.com/tatsu-katana
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Post by blairbob on Dec 7, 2023 12:56:08 GMT
someone on reddit mentioned they had ordered one but it's not in their hands yet. but they were gonna post pics and such when it does arrive
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Post by seventh on Dec 8, 2023 17:02:36 GMT
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Post by jester on Dec 8, 2023 18:44:28 GMT
From what I see (and what I know about LKChen) - the blade is surely good, sharp and 1:1 replica from an original blade. - almost sure the kissaki is geometric (good thing) - fittings are quite poor. I understand it was done to keep costs low but I see it as a missed opportunity since they are "home made" (look at dragon king for example) - ito looks not tight enough and surely not lacquered. Not good. - considering the price point I'm expecting saya rattle and/or needing shimming. - I'm quite positive this is an experiment and, if it goes well, LKChen will probably make an upgraded version with better fittings and parts.
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Dec 8, 2023 19:03:19 GMT
LK surely is testing the waters as they did with the european swords, now there are new ones every few months. They are constantly upgrading their swords, the NiuWei Dao just got version 3 (though I prefer the look of version 2). Also pretty sure the pictures aren't showing what you will get in the end, for better or for worse. They might even read the thread and listen to input.
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Post by curiomansion on Apr 15, 2024 21:18:54 GMT
Has anyone purchased this yet? I'm curious about it. LK Chen makes great blades, if the blade punches above the price class, I can put up with sub-par fittings.
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Post by larason2 on Apr 20, 2024 22:03:59 GMT
I agree this looks pretty good for the money! If I had seen this before I bought my Ronin, I might have gone for this instead. I recently ordered two Chinese Jian from them and the English sabre. I'll post here on the build quality of the ones I get, might help people make a decision on one. The fittings are all standard longquan, as is the synthetic ito. The fit and finish looks better than your average longquan sword though! They also use two mekugi.
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Post by Arlequin on Apr 20, 2024 22:43:39 GMT
I agree this looks pretty good for the money! If I had seen this before I bought my Ronin, I might have gone for this instead. I recently ordered two Chinese Jian from them and the English sabre. I'll post here on the build quality of the ones I get, might help people make a decision on one. The fittings are all standard longquan, as is the synthetic ito. The fit and finish looks better than your average longquan sword though! They also use two mekugi. What Jian did ya get? My eye is on the white serpent. Personally I think the katana is kinda meh. I think if they go for another katana they should do something more unique, like old tachi style blade or one of the larger heavy cutting style blades like Huawei became known for, hell id even settle for a decent Shobu Zukuri blade.
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Post by larason2 on Apr 21, 2024 6:12:11 GMT
I got the Magnificent Chu and the Gale Wind. My reasoning was that the Chu was sort of like the most iconic warring states period jian, and the Gale Wind the most decorative sort of Ming recreation of the warring states jian. Can't wait for them to be finished!
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Post by vidar on Apr 21, 2024 7:55:32 GMT
I agree this looks pretty good for the money! If I had seen this before I bought my Ronin, I might have gone for this instead. I recently ordered two Chinese Jian from them and the English sabre. I'll post here on the build quality of the ones I get, might help people make a decision on one. The fittings are all standard longquan, as is the synthetic ito. The fit and finish looks better than your average longquan sword though! They also use two mekugi. What Jian did ya get? My eye is on the white serpent. Personally I think the katana is kinda meh. I think if they go for another katana they should do something more unique, like old tachi style blade or one of the larger heavy cutting style blades like Huawei became known for, hell id even settle for a decent Shobu Zukuri blade. I agree that the design doesn’t look special. However I hope that the fit and finish is better than average Longquan forges.
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Apr 21, 2024 9:15:46 GMT
What Jian did ya get? My eye is on the white serpent. Personally I think the katana is kinda meh. I think if they go for another katana they should do something more unique, like old tachi style blade or one of the larger heavy cutting style blades like Huawei became known for, hell id even settle for a decent Shobu Zukuri blade. I agree that the design doesn’t look special. However I hope that the fit and finish is better than average Longquan forges. Even if there are problems with fit and finish, they will try to fix it any way they can. I hope their customer support stays as great as it is, although you might have to live with some small imperfections like scratches or small rust dots that occur during shipping, they will try to help you and answer very fast (within minutes sometimes!).
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Post by curiomansion on Apr 21, 2024 9:39:36 GMT
I have a first gen White Serpent and a US 1860 from them and love them both, which is why I'm curious about a katana that's a direct replica of an original. The Katana market isn't in the habit of doing direct replicas, which I think is odd. Now the only part being replicated from an original is the blade, so that's all I'm judging. The fittings are a clear afterthought and that's okay to me.
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Post by kk on Apr 25, 2024 3:21:10 GMT
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Post by Arlequin on Apr 25, 2024 5:42:47 GMT
Wow, thats pretty nice. I think they definitely need to send a review sample out to someone because the Site photos aren't doing it justice, the details of the Tsuba and Kissaki much crisper here than in the Retail photos. If they could make a proper Shobu Zukuri I will buy in a heartbeat with this level of polish, I might consider this one now.
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Apr 25, 2024 14:01:49 GMT
Wow, thats pretty nice. I think they definitely need to send a review sample out to someone because the Site photos aren't doing it justice, the details of the Tsuba and Kissaki much crisper here than in the Retail photos. If they could make a proper Shobu Zukuri I will buy in a heartbeat with this level of polish, I might consider this one now. I think LKs product photos are actually very early production - if not one of the first sucesses. It might have been refined more after the photos were taken.
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Post by curiomansion on Apr 26, 2024 6:40:45 GMT
Speak of the devil. I was waiting for that dude's review. After more staring at the sword, I find the fittings hideous. My gut tells me that LK Chen isn't super proud of it either. A lot of their best photos on the site are of the bare blade, which I find myself drawn to more than any other blade within $1000.
The fittings, however well constructed they may be, feel like an aesthetic afterthought. If I think of this product as a $400 blade with a $80 charge for cheap fittings and a scabbard to make the piece functional, I think it's worth it. The reviewer on KoA said it handles well, so there's that!
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Post by Arlequin on Apr 26, 2024 22:04:50 GMT
Speak of the devil. I was waiting for that dude's review. After more staring at the sword, I find the fittings hideous. My gut tells me that LK Chen isn't super proud of it either. A lot of their best photos on the site are of the bare blade, which I find myself drawn to more than any other blade within $1000. The fittings, however well constructed they may be, feel like an aesthetic afterthought. If I think of this product as a $400 blade with a $80 charge for cheap fittings and a scabbard to make the piece functional, I think it's worth it. The reviewer on KoA said it handles well, so there's that! I think the Fuchikashira look fine for the price, albeit could just a little more polish. Can't speak for the tsuba cause honestly we still don't get a good like at it, but the design is still less muddy than the intro pics. I think we have just a bias againy Dragons cause we see them so often on wall hanger tier blades lol
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Post by curiomansion on Apr 27, 2024 16:22:15 GMT
Speak of the devil. I was waiting for that dude's review. After more staring at the sword, I find the fittings hideous. My gut tells me that LK Chen isn't super proud of it either. A lot of their best photos on the site are of the bare blade, which I find myself drawn to more than any other blade within $1000. The fittings, however well constructed they may be, feel like an aesthetic afterthought. If I think of this product as a $400 blade with a $80 charge for cheap fittings and a scabbard to make the piece functional, I think it's worth it. The reviewer on KoA said it handles well, so there's that! I think the Fuchikashira look fine for the price, albeit could just a little more polish. Can't speak for the tsuba cause honestly we still don't get a good like at it, but the design is still less muddy than the intro pics. I think we have just a bias againy Dragons cause we see them so often on wall hanger tier blades lol I think the blade alone, if it's all that it's cracked up to be (all my LK's have been), is almost worth the whole price, so I agree with you. And you may be right about the anti dragon bias! For me I think the overall proportions don't seem to fit. I'll probably still get one...haha
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Post by izzy on Apr 27, 2024 18:03:24 GMT
I think the Fuchikashira look fine for the price, albeit could just a little more polish. Can't speak for the tsuba cause honestly we still don't get a good like at it, but the design is still less muddy than the intro pics. I think we have just a bias againy Dragons cause we see them so often on wall hanger tier blades lol I think the blade alone, if it's all that it's cracked up to be (all my LK's have been), is almost worth the whole price, so I agree with you. And you may be right about the anti dragon bias! For me I think the overall proportions don't seem to fit. I'll probably still get one...haha I went with the Corssbowman's Dao because I was not thrilled at T-10. LK Chen does a great sword in 60Si2MnA. When I could not get them to change the guard to something plain, I decided to order anyways, and give the dragons the Dremel treatment later.
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mrstabby
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Post by mrstabby on Apr 27, 2024 18:19:05 GMT
I think the blade alone, if it's all that it's cracked up to be (all my LK's have been), is almost worth the whole price, so I agree with you. And you may be right about the anti dragon bias! For me I think the overall proportions don't seem to fit. I'll probably still get one...haha I went with the Corssbowman's Dao because I was not thrilled at T-10. LK Chen does a great sword in 60Si2MnA. When I could not get them to change the guard to something plain, I decided to order anyways, and give the dragons the Dremel treatment later.
I very much like these more stylized version of dragons on the Dao, kinda remind me of viking style drawings of dragons.
The one on the Katana, yes, I have seen this on many a stainless "sword". Not a fan.
I also always opted for the 60Si2MnA over T10 or 1060/T10, it takes a lot more of a beating nad keeps sharp really well.
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