willrichtor
October 29th, 2009, 06:56 PM
I got this piece along with my Musashi red lacquered bamboo katana, and they really match each other nicely, untill you look at the details of the koshirae and realize they have different themes. From a distance they look a matched set.
As with the Musashi Bamboo, I was expecting an opaque, cinnabar red lacquer over the saya, but was pleasantly surprised with a deep, translucent, dark cherry. The saya is perfectly finished.
The ito is less cottony feeling than the Musashi Bamboo, with a bit of a sheen to it instead of being flat black. I imagine a cotton/poly blend. The maki isn't very tight, and the ito is a bit frayed in one spot. The same has a nice texutre but is thin enough that the amber tone of the tsuka shows through. Overall the tsuka feels very sturdy.
The koshirae are of outstanding quality. The fuchi/kashira are of mitsutomoe over an oak bark texture. The menuki are finely detailed dragons. The tsuba is a coiled dragon with fish type tail, and brings to mind the ancient alchemical symbol of the Ourobouros, except that when you flip to the other side you see the tail is behind it's head, not in it's maw. All the fittings are beautifully cast, with a nice antique bronze patina. Any sprue marks and/or flashing has been meticulously removed.
The blade... I will preface this by pointing out that I think for the price, it's an amazing piece, especially after taking into account what I would have plunked down a few years ago for one of Cold Steel's traditionally outfitted tantos(before they got into making swords) The blade is very roughly finished. There are heavy scratch marks above(and surely running under) the habaki on the omote side. The polish is very uneven, mostly satin with a few spots buffed to a higher sheen. This transition between satin to higher polish makes the hada more difficult to see. The hi bears tool marks that were not polished out and the mune about an inch above the habaki has a dark scale - a carbon inclusion of some sort. The hada, where it can be seen, is very beautiful, with just the right contrast between the layers - no black to white, just subtle shades of grey. I would like to see it with a better polish, so that I could see the grain of the entire blade.
The tsuka is very firmly affixed to the nakago and I was unable to remove it. This is a shame because it could use another seppa between the tsuba and handle to shim things up better. I read somewhere that they may be epoxied on? If this is true, that, along with the very rough state of the blade's polish would lead me to wonder if these aren't created in the traditional manner - broken, flawed swords cut down to tanto size where a fatal flaw in a sword becomes little more than aesthetic quirks. I imagine a look at the nakago could shed some light there.
Overall, for the price, I'm thrilled. I see it as a test subject to try and polish into a beauty. It is a beautiful piece that is very rough around the edges in some areas, but well worth the asking price. I see no reason it would fail to perform it's functions, if it were ever needed.
3/5*
As with the Musashi Bamboo, I was expecting an opaque, cinnabar red lacquer over the saya, but was pleasantly surprised with a deep, translucent, dark cherry. The saya is perfectly finished.
The ito is less cottony feeling than the Musashi Bamboo, with a bit of a sheen to it instead of being flat black. I imagine a cotton/poly blend. The maki isn't very tight, and the ito is a bit frayed in one spot. The same has a nice texutre but is thin enough that the amber tone of the tsuka shows through. Overall the tsuka feels very sturdy.
The koshirae are of outstanding quality. The fuchi/kashira are of mitsutomoe over an oak bark texture. The menuki are finely detailed dragons. The tsuba is a coiled dragon with fish type tail, and brings to mind the ancient alchemical symbol of the Ourobouros, except that when you flip to the other side you see the tail is behind it's head, not in it's maw. All the fittings are beautifully cast, with a nice antique bronze patina. Any sprue marks and/or flashing has been meticulously removed.
The blade... I will preface this by pointing out that I think for the price, it's an amazing piece, especially after taking into account what I would have plunked down a few years ago for one of Cold Steel's traditionally outfitted tantos(before they got into making swords) The blade is very roughly finished. There are heavy scratch marks above(and surely running under) the habaki on the omote side. The polish is very uneven, mostly satin with a few spots buffed to a higher sheen. This transition between satin to higher polish makes the hada more difficult to see. The hi bears tool marks that were not polished out and the mune about an inch above the habaki has a dark scale - a carbon inclusion of some sort. The hada, where it can be seen, is very beautiful, with just the right contrast between the layers - no black to white, just subtle shades of grey. I would like to see it with a better polish, so that I could see the grain of the entire blade.
The tsuka is very firmly affixed to the nakago and I was unable to remove it. This is a shame because it could use another seppa between the tsuba and handle to shim things up better. I read somewhere that they may be epoxied on? If this is true, that, along with the very rough state of the blade's polish would lead me to wonder if these aren't created in the traditional manner - broken, flawed swords cut down to tanto size where a fatal flaw in a sword becomes little more than aesthetic quirks. I imagine a look at the nakago could shed some light there.
Overall, for the price, I'm thrilled. I see it as a test subject to try and polish into a beauty. It is a beautiful piece that is very rough around the edges in some areas, but well worth the asking price. I see no reason it would fail to perform it's functions, if it were ever needed.
3/5*