Impressions of a cheap Huawei katana
Mar 17, 2009 20:47:15 GMT
Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2009 20:47:15 GMT
I bought a rather cheap sword from Huawei sword on Ebay, and the surprise was great when I wiped off the storage oil and found a very attractive hamon on the sword. This sword definetly deserves a review, as it is very hard to find this quality in this price range.
Make and type: Huawei sword 1060 monosteel katana
shop.ebay.com.au/merchant/huawei-sword
Price: I paid AU$130 including shipping, about US$ 86
Nagasa: Nearly 28'
Tsuka: 10'
Sori: 0,5'
Weight: 1300g, about 2 lb 14 oz, doesn't feel this heavy!
First impressions:
The sword came in a purposebuilt styrofoam wrap, and with a very nice sword bag.
Everything is dead tight. Not a rattle anywhere. The saya is maybe a bit too tight, but that takes about 10 seconds to fix with a file. No rattle there either. Balance is good, perhaps just a tad too much towards the tsuka too make a pure cutter. But it feels real light in the hand and handles really well, I'd say rather perfect by my taste.
Koshirae:
The tsuka is a standard production tsuka. The shape is OK, and it follows the curve of the saya and blade. It feels good in the hand, not too thick and not too thin. Real samekawa of middle quality with normal sized nodes. The panels are generous to not show wood.
Ito is the normal cotton shoelace, but I actually prefer it over fake silk as I think fake silk (rayon?) feels more like plastic. The ito is nice and tight with even diamonds. The fittings are cheapest of the cheap made of cast alloy, but they do their job and are well fitted. The tsuba is great, and the reason I bought the sword. ;D It's a steel tsuba, very well cast.
The saya is also a standard production, but it seems they have taken care to actually find one that fits. All four swords I have received from Huawei so far have have been fitted with sayas that actually fit without much rattle.
Blade:
The real surprise! The blade has an attractive, distinct hamon running the entire length of the blade from quenching. When I disassembled the sword and removed the habaki, I could see it running past the hamachi and an inch into the nagako. Very nice! I did a file test on the nagako and the hamon, and while the file bites the nagako, it bounces off the hamon. So it definetly seems this blade is a DH blade, and not through hardened as the ad said. The blade has a little niku, but is not beefy. It comes paper cutting sharp, but I would recommend honing the edge at a more acute angle for lasting sharpness when cutting.
The shape of the blade is nice and even, the polish is great and there is no hammermarks as there sometimes is on cheap blades. The kissaki has an OK shape, but as normal with production blades it leaves a little to be desired when it comes to polish. Polishing a hamon is time consuming and you have to be accurate, so it is understandable why this is not a focus point on cheap katanas. The boshi is correctly done, following the kissaki shape with a small swing inwards at the tip. The nagako is neither ugly nor nice, but a functional nagako as could be expected on a production sword.
Disassembled impression:
It seems the second mekugi is what keeps the blade from rattling, as there is a gap of 1 mm between nagako and tsuka at the mekugiana. A thin shim or a round or two of electrical tape at the bottom of the nagako will fix this easily. The tang seems to fit the tsuka very well exept from this. With the second mekugi in the blade is dead tight because they're angled correctly, but this construction puts much stress on the mekugis when in use.
All parts are put neatly together, better than I've seen in most swords in this price range. The tsuka had to be hammered off, but when I filed the mekugiana edges and took it on and off a few times, I was able to use my hands to disassemble and reassemble.
Total impression:
Though the koshirae are cheap, it seems care has been taken to fit the parts together correctly. In this price range there will always be something to pick on, but in this sword there was remarkably little. The blade alone is probably worth twice the price of the sword, and it makes it an exellent buy in this price range. If you plan to buy a blade for upgrade, this one seems like a good choice. And that is exactly what I'm gonna do. As this is written, the sword has already been fitted with a new tsuba, new seppa and fuchi, and the tsuka has been shortened to fit the new fittings.
I have bought three swords from Huawei earlier, and I've been very pleased with them all considering the price. This is the unokubi katana and the double groove shobu:
A bit on the light side with nearly no niku, but just as well built as the one reviewed.
A customized quenched katana from Huawei, it's become one of my favourites:
I see the seller now is increasing his price as his reputation grows, and this is in my opinion well deserved. Of all the Chinese sellers I've been in contact with on Ebay, Huawei is the most service minded.
Edit: Added a few measures.
Make and type: Huawei sword 1060 monosteel katana
shop.ebay.com.au/merchant/huawei-sword
Price: I paid AU$130 including shipping, about US$ 86
Nagasa: Nearly 28'
Tsuka: 10'
Sori: 0,5'
Weight: 1300g, about 2 lb 14 oz, doesn't feel this heavy!
First impressions:
The sword came in a purposebuilt styrofoam wrap, and with a very nice sword bag.
Everything is dead tight. Not a rattle anywhere. The saya is maybe a bit too tight, but that takes about 10 seconds to fix with a file. No rattle there either. Balance is good, perhaps just a tad too much towards the tsuka too make a pure cutter. But it feels real light in the hand and handles really well, I'd say rather perfect by my taste.
Koshirae:
The tsuka is a standard production tsuka. The shape is OK, and it follows the curve of the saya and blade. It feels good in the hand, not too thick and not too thin. Real samekawa of middle quality with normal sized nodes. The panels are generous to not show wood.
Ito is the normal cotton shoelace, but I actually prefer it over fake silk as I think fake silk (rayon?) feels more like plastic. The ito is nice and tight with even diamonds. The fittings are cheapest of the cheap made of cast alloy, but they do their job and are well fitted. The tsuba is great, and the reason I bought the sword. ;D It's a steel tsuba, very well cast.
The saya is also a standard production, but it seems they have taken care to actually find one that fits. All four swords I have received from Huawei so far have have been fitted with sayas that actually fit without much rattle.
Blade:
The real surprise! The blade has an attractive, distinct hamon running the entire length of the blade from quenching. When I disassembled the sword and removed the habaki, I could see it running past the hamachi and an inch into the nagako. Very nice! I did a file test on the nagako and the hamon, and while the file bites the nagako, it bounces off the hamon. So it definetly seems this blade is a DH blade, and not through hardened as the ad said. The blade has a little niku, but is not beefy. It comes paper cutting sharp, but I would recommend honing the edge at a more acute angle for lasting sharpness when cutting.
The shape of the blade is nice and even, the polish is great and there is no hammermarks as there sometimes is on cheap blades. The kissaki has an OK shape, but as normal with production blades it leaves a little to be desired when it comes to polish. Polishing a hamon is time consuming and you have to be accurate, so it is understandable why this is not a focus point on cheap katanas. The boshi is correctly done, following the kissaki shape with a small swing inwards at the tip. The nagako is neither ugly nor nice, but a functional nagako as could be expected on a production sword.
Disassembled impression:
It seems the second mekugi is what keeps the blade from rattling, as there is a gap of 1 mm between nagako and tsuka at the mekugiana. A thin shim or a round or two of electrical tape at the bottom of the nagako will fix this easily. The tang seems to fit the tsuka very well exept from this. With the second mekugi in the blade is dead tight because they're angled correctly, but this construction puts much stress on the mekugis when in use.
All parts are put neatly together, better than I've seen in most swords in this price range. The tsuka had to be hammered off, but when I filed the mekugiana edges and took it on and off a few times, I was able to use my hands to disassemble and reassemble.
Total impression:
Though the koshirae are cheap, it seems care has been taken to fit the parts together correctly. In this price range there will always be something to pick on, but in this sword there was remarkably little. The blade alone is probably worth twice the price of the sword, and it makes it an exellent buy in this price range. If you plan to buy a blade for upgrade, this one seems like a good choice. And that is exactly what I'm gonna do. As this is written, the sword has already been fitted with a new tsuba, new seppa and fuchi, and the tsuka has been shortened to fit the new fittings.
I have bought three swords from Huawei earlier, and I've been very pleased with them all considering the price. This is the unokubi katana and the double groove shobu:
A bit on the light side with nearly no niku, but just as well built as the one reviewed.
A customized quenched katana from Huawei, it's become one of my favourites:
I see the seller now is increasing his price as his reputation grows, and this is in my opinion well deserved. Of all the Chinese sellers I've been in contact with on Ebay, Huawei is the most service minded.
Edit: Added a few measures.