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Post by LeFaust on Jul 6, 2024 3:10:12 GMT
Mine arrived. Overall it was actually looking quite nice, though the habaki wasn't the one I asked for, and the fuchi/kashira and tsuba were finished differently than in Jkoo's photos, despite being the correct model. Unfortunately mine arrived with some fairly deep rust putting on both sides of the kissaki, to the point where the edge itself is slightly serrated. The blade had a lot of oil on it, but not enough apparently. I would assume that the blade was not cleaned off enough after whatever acid etching was done to brighten the hamon, and thus the kissaski rusted even beneath the oil. Very disappointing to see. Did JKOO put a plastic sleeve on their blade while shipping?
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Post by noktorn on Jul 6, 2024 3:19:35 GMT
Oof, man i'm sorry you got a lemon. Hopefully JKOO will make it right. Now nervously awaiting mine. Should arrive between tomorrow or Monday. Hoping for the best on yours. I took the tsuka off mine and found that it has two cracks. Was full of sawdust and drill shavings, meaning it was drilled and pinned after assembly. Nothing unexpected for the price. The nakago is etched with the 19th anniversary design for Jkoo, mine is number 7 of 19. I think that the tsuka was mounted slightly off-center the nakago, although I may be mistaken. It could be an optical illusion caused by the habaki being slightly too small. The blade itself just seems to be not properly in-line with the tsuka; it seems much closer to the back of the tsuka than the front. I have swapped the habaki for one I already owned, but it is the same size as the one that came from Jkoo. I hope what I mean can be seen. EDIT: Apparently rainy season in China is causing the saya to retain moisture, which is causing many other blades to rust even through oil. I do remember seeing something similar happening with Hanbon forge a short while ago. I have replied to Mr. Kane, who both offered to repolish the blade if it is sent back to him (don't know if possible to send swords to China), or to find someone myself to repolish it and he will cover the cost. Very kind, but given how expensive US polishers can be I don't think I can take an offer like that in good consciousness. I will communicate with Mr. kane and see what can be worked out. No, I can see it, but maybe my eyes are being tricked too. Now that you mention it, I found the post on the other forum (not sure if I can mention it here) regarding the rainy season issues. FWIW, Hanbon said they were planning to remake any blades shipped with rust. The prospect of sending a blade back to China seems dubious at best, and could you even find someone who can polish blades that wouldn't have an excessive wait time or even bother to polish a sub-high end repro in the US (cost aside)?
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 6, 2024 3:24:08 GMT
Mine arrived. Overall it was actually looking quite nice, though the habaki wasn't the one I asked for, and the fuchi/kashira and tsuba were finished differently than in Jkoo's photos, despite being the correct model. Unfortunately mine arrived with some fairly deep rust putting on both sides of the kissaki, to the point where the edge itself is slightly serrated. The blade had a lot of oil on it, but not enough apparently. I would assume that the blade was not cleaned off enough after whatever acid etching was done to brighten the hamon, and thus the kissaski rusted even beneath the oil. Very disappointing to see. Did JKOO put a plastic sleeve on their blade while shipping? There was no plastic sleeve or wrap around the blade; only a generous application of oil. The saya apparently just maintained enough moisture to rust the kissaki anyways. I have since gone in with some polishing compound and removed most of the active rust, though it did leave a surface film of minor pits.Not as noticeable as before. ![kissaki2.jpg](//storage.forums.net/1694914/thumbnailer/NYZEdOMVIZWen0EXbBgd.png) I was offered a $50 refund after we went back and forth, as despite the offer to either send the sword back and risk customs snatching it, sending the fittings back and having them remake the blade, or to remake the blade entirely for half off I ultimately felt that the hassle and shipping cost of all that would just be too much work. So I will likely just accept the partial return, as for what it is the blade itself does seem well made. I could probably clean the tsuka up a bit, and eventually the saya that came with this will dry out.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 6, 2024 3:27:01 GMT
Hoping for the best on yours. I took the tsuka off mine and found that it has two cracks. Was full of sawdust and drill shavings, meaning it was drilled and pinned after assembly. Nothing unexpected for the price. The nakago is etched with the 19th anniversary design for Jkoo, mine is number 7 of 19. I think that the tsuka was mounted slightly off-center the nakago, although I may be mistaken. It could be an optical illusion caused by the habaki being slightly too small. The blade itself just seems to be not properly in-line with the tsuka; it seems much closer to the back of the tsuka than the front. I have swapped the habaki for one I already owned, but it is the same size as the one that came from Jkoo. I hope what I mean can be seen. EDIT: Apparently rainy season in China is causing the saya to retain moisture, which is causing many other blades to rust even through oil. I do remember seeing something similar happening with Hanbon forge a short while ago. I have replied to Mr. Kane, who both offered to repolish the blade if it is sent back to him (don't know if possible to send swords to China), or to find someone myself to repolish it and he will cover the cost. Very kind, but given how expensive US polishers can be I don't think I can take an offer like that in good consciousness. I will communicate with Mr. kane and see what can be worked out. No, I can see it, but maybe my eyes are being tricked too. Now that you mention it, I found the post on the other forum (not sure if I can mention it here) regarding the rainy season issues. FWIW, Hanbon said they were planning to remake any blades shipped with rust. The prospect of sending a blade back to China seems dubious at best, and could you even find someone who can polish blades that wouldn't have an excessive wait time or even bother to polish a sub-high end repro in the US (cost aside)? Both of these were points that I brought up to Mr. Kane. He acknowledged that there is about a ~30% chance that customs would take it, though seemed to think that it was at least possible to get it into China without it being confiscated. I also felt that the shipping costs incurred on everyone involved would largely make such a prospect worthwhile, especially if I would have to wait for an entirely new sword to eventually be forged. I also informed him that US based polishers are not only few and far between, but also expensive. I think this may be a cultural difference of sorts, as such labor is simply cheap and abundant in China. We eventually settled on a partial refund, which was an idea I brought up.
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Post by LeFaust on Jul 6, 2024 3:55:33 GMT
Very disappointing to see. Did JKOO put a plastic sleeve on their blade while shipping? There was no plastic sleeve or wrap around the blade; only a generous application of oil. The saya apparently just maintained enough moisture to rust the kissaki anyways. I have since gone in with some polishing compound and removed most of the active rust, though it did leave a surface film of minor pits.Not as noticeable as before. I was offered a $50 refund after we went back and forth, as despite the offer to either send the sword back and risk customs snatching it, sending the fittings back and having them remake the blade, or to remake the blade entirely for half off I ultimately felt that the hassle and shipping cost of all that would just be too much work. So I will likely just accept the partial return, as for what it is the blade itself does seem well made. I could probably clean the tsuka up a bit, and eventually the saya that came with this will dry out. I don't understand why JKOO doesn't use a protective plastic sleeve. Rust on kissaki seems to be a very common issue on their swords compared to other LQ swords. Mailing the sword back to China is a big risk that i wouldn't want to take, waiting for a remake can take months(unless they just let you have another one of the 19 blades), and a small partial refund doesn't feel right when you paid for a new sword and it comes with rust especially if you want it as a display piece. The pitting is an eyesore. But i guess there's no perfect solution when you gamble on cheap LQ swords.
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 6, 2024 4:05:35 GMT
There was no plastic sleeve or wrap around the blade; only a generous application of oil. The saya apparently just maintained enough moisture to rust the kissaki anyways. I have since gone in with some polishing compound and removed most of the active rust, though it did leave a surface film of minor pits.Not as noticeable as before. I was offered a $50 refund after we went back and forth, as despite the offer to either send the sword back and risk customs snatching it, sending the fittings back and having them remake the blade, or to remake the blade entirely for half off I ultimately felt that the hassle and shipping cost of all that would just be too much work. So I will likely just accept the partial return, as for what it is the blade itself does seem well made. I could probably clean the tsuka up a bit, and eventually the saya that came with this will dry out. I don't understand why JKOO doesn't use a protective plastic sleeve. Rust on kissaki seems to be a very common issue on their swords compared to other LQ swords. Mailing the sword back to China is a big risk that i wouldn't want to take, waiting for a remake can take months(unless they just let you have another one of the 19 blades), and a small partial refund doesn't feel right when you paid for a new sword and it comes with rust especially if you want it as a display piece. The pitting is an eyesore. But i guess there's no perfect solution when you gamble on cheap LQ swords. Perhaps so, but I do ultimately feel that is the most fair solution for everyone involved. The hypothetical price a sword like the one I now have, condition and all, Jkoo would sell for a discount; and the full retail price I paid for the sword I got are two different amounts, so I believe that refunding me the difference between those two numbers is the best solution. It definitely beats gambling against President Xi JinPooh and risking loosing the sword to customs. And I do also have some hazuya fingerstones that I have used several times before, and have gotten at least somewhat decent at using. So the sword more or less gives me the incentive to redo the kissaki finish myself at some point.
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Post by noktorn on Jul 8, 2024 23:35:46 GMT
![](https://imgur.com/LN3ulYL) ![](https://imgur.com/LN3ulYL) ![](https://imgur.com/LN3ulYL) Welp, mine arrived. Preliminary thoughts: The Good: Managed to avoid getting any rust on the blade! The blade looks nice, no complaints at all. The fittings I got are nicer than I expected, and what I ordered. The tsuka is nice, fits well in the hand. Ito wrap is extremely tight. The "antiqued" same panels don't look authentically antiqued, of course, but I think it still looks nice compared to basic bleach white. She's thicc--I haven't measured anything, but she looks pretty close to my Dojo Pro dotanuki, and kinda-sorta has that flared out "reinforced" kissaki. The okay: The saya is decent for not having any buffalo horn and being basic as you can get. I chose the "matte" black saya, and the finish is well done. Retention is a smidge on the too tight side. The inside is rough, the blade came out with a bunch of wood shavings on it. The bad/ugly: I have the same problem Messenger had, where either the nakago is off alignment, or the habaki is just too small. They also gave me a small brass habaki, which is not what I ordered. Disappointing, but considering everything else, it's more than liveable for the what I wound up getting. EDIT: Should clarify that i'm leaning towards it being the habaki being too small seeing it in person myself. Overall impressions so far, i'm pleased with what I received. For the price, there's very little to complain about. I'm terrible at figuring out how to upload photos to this place, but if I can figure it out, i'll post pics. EDIT II: Dunno why the insert image isn't working. Link to pictures of the sword: imgur.com/a/jkoo-19th-anniversary-blade-2RqT4qw
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tera
Moderator
Posts: 1,715
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Post by tera on Jul 9, 2024 2:08:37 GMT
Oof... that habaki fitment is rough. Does the steel drag in the saya on the draw?
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Post by LeFaust on Jul 9, 2024 2:19:26 GMT
Nice theme and great looking blade. Well worth the price. But ya.... i agree that habaki fitment is very rough.
Still waiting for my sword to ship. It's supposed to be ready but still no tracking number.
Is it just me or does JKOO's hazuya polish have some textured polish in the hiraji similar to Zsey/Shadow Dancer's sashikomi polish?
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Post by noktorn on Jul 9, 2024 3:15:40 GMT
Oof... that habali fitment is rough. Does the steel drag in the saya on the draw? The peak of the mune grabbed a very small shaving of wood the first couple of times. Since then I haven't noticed it taking any wood with it. At least it's not terribly noticeable unless you're close enough to hold the sword. Nice theme and great looking blade. Well worth the price. But ya.... i agree that habaki fitment is very rough. Still waiting for my sword to ship. It's supposed to be ready but still no tracking number. Is it just me or does JKOO's hazuya polish have some textured polish in the hiraji similar to Zsey/Shadow Dancer's sashikomi polish? Best of luck, I hope your habaki fit is better. I can't speak to the polish, as the only shadowdancer I currently own is one of their "trex" TH blades. I can say the polish on this is gorgeous though. I'm thinking I might look into buying some habaki and seeing if any fit better. Any guides anyone is aware of to tweaking habaki on repro swords?
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 9, 2024 20:36:27 GMT
Looks good! Sorry to hear about the habaki though; Jkoo seems to have issues with habaki fit considering how many swords of theirs I've seen require the habaki to be filled with JB weld to ensure a tight fit.
I was able to confirm that the tsuka alignment of my own blade is indeed off-center, so it is not simply the habaki that is throwing off the look. I'll probably try my own hand at carving a new tsuka core entirely, especially since the Jkoo one came with more than one crack in it anyways.
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Post by larason2 on Jul 9, 2024 22:14:13 GMT
Usually Habaki are hand made to fit a blade, and as a sword is polished down, it's not unusual to have to reshape it at some point. What I would do is saw it using a jewellery saw at the ha side, and file it so it is flat on the inside where the blade goes. Then, I would heat it to dull red with a torch, and quench it in water to anneal it. Then traditionally, the habaki is forged into shape, leaving an open triangle at the nakago part of the ha side. Then, a piece of brass or copper is filed to perfectly fit in the triangle, the edges are treated with jewellery flux, and a small piece of jewellery solder stuck in there, then it's soldered with the silver solder. Then, of course it needs to be repolished and repatinated as necessary. If you've got all the tools it's fast to do. You'll probably find none of the habaki's you ordered will fit!
That being said, a wooden shim is faster, cheaper and easier! I wouldn't JB weld it, you'll have to cut it to get it off. I use JB weld all the time, but if you use it right, it's never coming off! On the other hand though, it doesn't stick well to smooth surfaces, but it would be too potentially permanent for me to risk!
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Post by MessengerofDarkness on Jul 9, 2024 23:34:46 GMT
Usually Habaki are hand made to fit a blade, and as a sword is polished down, it's not unusual to have to reshape it at some point. What I would do is saw it using a jewellery saw at the ha side, and file it so it is flat on the inside where the blade goes. Then, I would heat it to dull red with a torch, and quench it in water to anneal it. Then traditionally, the habaki is forged into shape, leaving an open triangle at the nakago part of the ha side. Then, a piece of brass or copper is filed to perfectly fit in the triangle, the edges are treated with jewellery flux, and a small piece of jewellery solder stuck in there, then it's soldered with the silver solder. Then, of course it needs to be repolished and repatinated as necessary. If you've got all the tools it's fast to do. You'll probably find none of the habaki's you ordered will fit! That being said, a wooden shim is faster, cheaper and easier! I wouldn't JB weld it, you'll have to cut it to get it off. I use JB weld all the time, but if you use it right, it's never coming off! On the other hand though, it doesn't stick well to smooth surfaces, but it would be too potentially permanent for me to risk! All good, no worries. I doubt I'll ever be modifying a commercially available habaki like that myself. A while back I found a guy who sells production habaki with engravings that he does himself, so I stocked up on a few to be able to upgrade most of the production katana I would buy for a while. Just a little something to make the swords feel a bit less factory. ![habaki.jpg](//storage.forums.net/1694914/thumbnailer/uOPEpupehSHWEaFuwlzJ.png) I've also used JB weld plenty; before getting into swords I've done a lot of finicky stuff that's required it. Think I've been on theRPF for about 15 years now... EDIT: My Jkoo sanmai didn't have a flared/reinforced kissaki, which was a shame. That's a feature I always hope to see on production swords.
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Post by LeFaust on Jul 15, 2024 17:09:05 GMT
Mine arrived yesterday. It was a surprise as i didn't have the tracking number so it kind of just showed up. I ordered on Monday, June 24th. Got notified it was ready to be shipped and the initial photos on the 1st, a week after i ordered. It took an additional week to ship as they wanted to dry out the saya more. So not bad at all, timing wise. Initial impressions, I'm satisfied with my sword. The sword has fit and finish problems but for the discounted price, i think what i got was good value. At the full price(probably around $450-500?), i would be much less happy. I will probably not use this sword for tameshigiri as originally planned. ![](https://i.imgur.com/UL5GjPa.jpg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/BV1hFap.jpg) Initial Impressions - I could be wrong on some of the points below Good: -The blade is stunning, the hazuya polish makes the hamon pop out and the togari style hamon is becoming one of my favorites. -The tsukamaki is rock solid, Jkoo deserves their reputation of having some of the tighest ito wraping -Tsuka is hourglass shape as requested rather than the usual longquan shape, but i wish the kashira end was slightly smaller -Fittings have good details on them, i can make out what things are -Good and honest communication from Mr. Kane Yang Neutral: -The tsuka is THICK, making it uncomfortable to grip for me. It may be comfortable for other people's hands. The leather ito is thicker than cotton or silk, which contributes to this feeling. I have decided i don't like leather ito, lol. At least, Chinese leather ito. -Ura and Omote end knots are reversed(common for longquan swords) -A lot of gunk on the habaki, which i need to clean off -Jkoo painted one of the mekugi red which is interesting -Not the sharpest, tears copy paper Bad: -Rough finish for the Saya -Saya rattle(expected for mass production swords of this type) -I paid for horn fittings and i'm not fully convinced what i actually received is horn. It could be the finish but it feels like plastic -Bad casting finish for the Fuchi & Kashira -Fitment for the sword is off center -Polish on the kissaki looks unfinished, hard to see hamon -Minor rust on kissaki More detailed pictures here: imgur.com/a/FvhCnOG
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Post by noktorn on Jul 16, 2024 4:27:20 GMT
Looks nice man! I'm digging the black fittings and red saya. I will say, the common habaki and tsuka alingment issues are worrying. I have 16 swords now, and none of them had the habaki issue this JKOO had, including the JKOO I had bought a couple years ago. That being said, a couple taps with a rubber mallet at least fixed my habaki issue for the most part. I bought some copper habaki that i'll fiddle with once they come in and hopefully get it up to snuff.
All things considered, I bought this one for the looks, and for the money wasn't a bad gamble.
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