|
Post by anj4de on Apr 26, 2024 10:40:09 GMT
Hi everybody
Uwe here from Bavaria...
A while ago I placed an order with HanBan for a replacment of my Cherry Blossom Katana that I got 2nd hand some years ago, that shows wear and a low class Tuska/Ito. This one will later serve as a test bed for a project on my own...
Here is what I requested: Blade: 28inches
-Shobu Zukuri -Choji Hamon -no Bo Hi -T10 or 1095 (whatever gives the nicer hamon) -Hazuja polishing -Razor sharp Tuska: 11 inches slightly tapered or hour glass style -full wrap black rayskin with emporer nob if possible -Ito Silk, Gold C-18 -Hishigami - Ito - alternating knots as tight as humanly possible TSUBA - HT-035 set Habaki and Sepas -Copper Saya - Dark reddish brown or maroon, glossy - Kurigata, Koiguchi and Kojiri in light brown. Top part in Rattan would also be nice Sageo -G-07 Yellow w. brown dots
I was qoted 450$ incl. shipping and accepted
3 days ago I got the first pictures of the sword
I inspected them and sent the following reply: 1. Is the saya tip also horn? Not quite visible in the pics...
2. Blade is not ratteling in the saya? I hope not
3. The tsuka, is it really a samegawa full wrap as requested? In the pictures it looks like samegawa strips only that are also not inletted in the wood which gives this clear demarcation line visible.
4. Can you confirm the hishigami?
5. The ito towards the end of the tsuka looks very bunched up. To me it looks like the tsuka wood was not measured exactly to the number of ito wraps.
6. I would love to see pictures of the nakago, especially the area under the habaki!
The blade looks spectacular, I really love it.
Other then that the overal composition is exactly what I was looking for.
|
|
|
Post by anj4de on Apr 26, 2024 10:44:00 GMT
...The answers from HanBon came quickly: 1. Is the saya tip also horn? Not quite visible in the pics... yes, it is 2. Blade is not ratteling in the saya? I hope not no ratte 3. The tsuka, is it really a samegawa full wrap as requested? In the pictures it looks like samegawa strips only that are also not inletted in the wood which gives this clear demarcation line visible. yes, full wrapped 4. Can you confirm the hishigami? yes, we can 5. The ito towards the end of the tsuka looks very bunched up. To me it looks like the tsuka wood was not measured exactly to the number of ito wraps. we will ask my blacksmith to adjust the ito 6. I would love to see pictures of the nakago, especially the area under the habaki! ok, we will disassemble it and show your picture The pictures then showed an improved Ito and the Nakago. Both I liked and hence accepted the order. I would welcome any replies to my 1st attempt on a custom sword order, what went well, what was wrong? thanks a lot Uwe
|
|
|
Post by Cottontail Customs on Apr 26, 2024 11:46:04 GMT
You can tell the boxy look is because of the hishigami since you can see the base of some of them is crooked. If it were the samegawa panels not being inlaid, it would be straighter, or at least more consistent on the sides down the length. The base of the hishigami show like that because they did not prep the ha and mune of the tsuka properly to blend the transition and support the hishigami. Also because of that, the hishigami could possibly shift later on as the adhesive(assuming they used any) wears out and the ito loosens.
Good thing you asked them to correct the overlapped ito on the kashira since that’s another spot that becomes problematic with use.
It also looks like the tsuba is on backwards. They get this wrong at least 90% of the time. Should be easy enough to fix yourself if you want to.
Blacksmith? Not so sure they have one of those, more like assembler, from what I was told.
|
|
|
Post by Arlequin on Apr 26, 2024 12:25:21 GMT
>Shobu You sure about that? I see a yokote, or at least what they pass for a yokote up there.
|
|
|
Post by anj4de on Apr 26, 2024 12:45:55 GMT
>Shobu You sure about that? I see a yokote, or at least what they pass for a yokote up there. That was the 1st thing I noticed but since I like the general apperance of the blade I swallowed this. I will send them feedback on this though... I simply was not in the mood to reject the whole piece...and wait again.
cheers Uwe
|
|
|
Post by larason2 on Apr 27, 2024 5:09:42 GMT
Interesting sword, thanks for posting! I think it's really hard to get everything right on a blade in this price range. There's some hits but also quite a few misses, and I think that's typical for the longquan forges.
I could be wrong, but I think it does have hishigami, on some of the pictures it looks fuller under the wrap than I think it would if it didn't have them. The wrap is pretty messy though, that's why it looks "bunched up" near the end. I don't think they timed it wrong, they just didn't take the time with the Kujiri to make it look perfect. However, in the second set of photos it's much improved, they must have rewrapped it to make it look better. I think the "boxy" look is because of how they carved the wood, neither the samegawa nor the hishigami. You get wooden tsukas out of Longquan like this sometimes. It looks weird to me, and I don't think it would feel right in the hand, but I'd swing it a few times before I gave up on it!
As for the aesthetics, I like the look of everything except the copper habaki and seppas! Just because traditionally they'd never leave them as unfinished copper, so to me they don't look like they fit (whereas everything else fits together quite harmoniously). Do you plan to polish them and patinate them? If you did, then it would look perfect in my opinion. That being said though, I wouldn't expect them to be able to do them properly patinated and polished, and it's not that easy to do it yourself! The blade isn't bad at all (aside from not being shobu). It's not a traditional sashikomi polish, but it was still tastefully done, and I like the hamon a lot. I really like that tsuba design. I think the kojiri (saya tip) is horn from the pictures, but it looks like they applied some laquer to the end of it! Still, you can see the black where the join is. A bit strange, but looks nice.
So overall, I think they did pretty well, aside from the concerns you identified. I hope you don't get blade rattle in the saya, but that's very common on blades in this price range!
|
|
|
Post by Cottontail Customs on Apr 27, 2024 14:29:19 GMT
The wrap is pretty messy though, that's why it looks "bunched up" near the end. I don't think they timed it wrong, they just didn't take the time with the Kujiri to make it look perfect. I think the "boxy" look is because of how they carved the wood, neither the samegawa nor the hishigami. You get wooden tsukas out of Longquan like this sometimes. It looks weird to me, and I don't think it would feel right in the hand, but I'd swing it a few times before I gave up on it! They overlap the kashira because they don't make the tsuka length according to the ito they use and they don't mark the tsuka shitaji for tsukamaki. it's just a matter of measuring, calculating, marking and then following the guidelines. this causes the bunched up hishi, especially seen towards the end of the maki on many examples of production tsuka. when you squeeze in hishi where there's too little space for them, a kujiri won't help, it's about spacing and space management. the boxy look in this case is because they don't properly line the ha and mune with kyogi or paper when doing full wrap samegawa. they also don't hand feed the washi paper or use tapered pre-formed hishigami so the base of their hishigami is too thick and has nothing to butt against or ease the transition visually, so the ends stand out and created the "edge" along the length. You can tell it's the hishigami because you can clearly see some of the ends/bases are not aligned and look crooked. when tsuka with overlaid panels and no hishigami look boxy, it's because you're seeing the edges of the samegawa panels, which is a different but also a common cause of the boxy look. Most of these types of tsuka don't have a proper oval/egg shape that causes the omote and ura to look flat but the boxy edges can still be avoided by properly lining the ha and mune before wrapping. you can clearly see what I've described in the pic from their website.
|
|
|
Post by pellius on Apr 27, 2024 14:36:33 GMT
I like the idea of showing the nakago, especially when next to the completed tsuka.
Perhaps that will help ensure it can be disassembled without harming the tsuka (in case they assembled, drilled, pinned, and left the bur to essentially lock the tsuka in place).
I like your chosen color combo. Looks nice. Thanks for sharing.
I’m only a casual tourist to the world of katana, so I also really appreciate the considered responses.
|
|
|
Post by miraculix101 on Apr 27, 2024 14:51:39 GMT
I find it looks very good. You have to see the price point of it. A perfectly done tsuka with hishigami wrap from a japanese worker costs more than the price of your sword. So in the end it is always, you get what you pay for. If i see some other Lonquan forges like the here prominent Dojo pro series from Ronin, well they look much much cheaper. And their blade is only a TH 1060 which is cheapest of the steels(i didnt mention 1045 because well no good sword manufacturer uses this steel).
An expert tsuka wrapper/artist like Cottontail Customs can do better, but he doesnt do any new contracts at the moment (from his website)
I think HBF or Hanbon Forge does really good work for the money, i bought quite some swords there and will do in the future. Only my swords there are mostly custom ones concerning nagasa, motohaba, sakihaba, motokasane and sakikasane and sori. And HBF does them nearly 99% to the specs i said them to do.
|
|
|
Post by Cottontail Customs on Apr 27, 2024 15:00:54 GMT
Just to be clear, I’m not criticizing the value for price of the sword, just clarifying why it looks the way it does. Also, doesn’t hbf and ronin both sell 1045 steel swords?
|
|
|
Post by miraculix101 on Apr 27, 2024 15:21:52 GMT
Just to be clear, I’m not criticizing the value for price of the sword, just clarifying why it looks the way it does. Also, doesn’t hbf and ronin both sell 1045 steel swords? Dont know with ronin, but HBF doesnt do or sell 1045, that i know of.
|
|
|
Post by larason2 on Apr 27, 2024 15:58:47 GMT
Yes, Ronin's entry level line are 1045. The Dojo Pros are 1060 though.
|
|
|
Post by Cottontail Customs on Apr 27, 2024 16:19:35 GMT
(i didnt mention 1045 because well no good sword manufacturer uses this steel). I was responding to this and wasn't being specific about the particular model of sword. anyway, Ronin does sell 1045 functional katana and so does hbf, although it is an anime sword but claims it's hand forged and fully sharpened.
|
|