Toyamadude
8th December 2000, 13:21
Last night I cut using the Tiger Wakizashi and Spirit of the Shogun Katana both of which I received as prizes from the Orlando Tai Kai and Seattle Tai Kai. This is my honest impression of how these swords appear and how functional they are as sold. There was no sharpening, cleaning etc performed to these blades.
Both of the blades had little sori to them . The waki had full length bo hi on both sides. Both blades when examined in light show ripples along their sides along their full length, evidence of a non-stone finsihing procedure. The edge on both blades was not extremely sharp, and looked like both rolled slightly to the edge. The groove in the waki was mostly straight, but had some wavering in it. Fittings on the waki were nice. Wrap was tight and the finish on the saya was nice. The wrap on the Katana was a little loose and probably would not stay in place under heavy use. The fittings were decent onthe katana, which also rattled significantly when fully seated in the saya. Both came with Sageo in the traditional wrap along the saya.
The waki was finished in a full polish showing clear hada and temper. The katana was not fully polished below the shinogi-ji which hid most of the hada from sight. I think they call this a "satin" finish.
Cutting targets were full single tatami, rolled and soaked in water for 48 hours. The wara was still dripping when cut.
The waki failed to fully cut through the single wara using a side horizontal cut. It went 3/4 of the way through and I used significant effort during the cut. Unfortunately I did not perform any Kesa giri's with the waki.
The katana did cut through the single wara with repeated kesa giri's from both sides. Effort to do this was significant. It also did cut through using a horizontal cut.
My impression is that these blades need additional sharpening in order to be used for tameshigiri. It is unclear how well they will hold an edge. Based on the narrow width of the blade and slight roll to the edge, I am not sure either would stand up to repeated sharpenings without soon affecting the strength of the blade.
I think as entry level swords both are reasonable. I believe that for long term study of tameshigiri however, these would soon not be able to meet the serious practioners needs.
I realize that there are people who may or may not appreciate these comments. Take them any way you want. This is my honest opinion of these swords as they are sold.
Sorry to those who might take offense to this.
Both of the blades had little sori to them . The waki had full length bo hi on both sides. Both blades when examined in light show ripples along their sides along their full length, evidence of a non-stone finsihing procedure. The edge on both blades was not extremely sharp, and looked like both rolled slightly to the edge. The groove in the waki was mostly straight, but had some wavering in it. Fittings on the waki were nice. Wrap was tight and the finish on the saya was nice. The wrap on the Katana was a little loose and probably would not stay in place under heavy use. The fittings were decent onthe katana, which also rattled significantly when fully seated in the saya. Both came with Sageo in the traditional wrap along the saya.
The waki was finished in a full polish showing clear hada and temper. The katana was not fully polished below the shinogi-ji which hid most of the hada from sight. I think they call this a "satin" finish.
Cutting targets were full single tatami, rolled and soaked in water for 48 hours. The wara was still dripping when cut.
The waki failed to fully cut through the single wara using a side horizontal cut. It went 3/4 of the way through and I used significant effort during the cut. Unfortunately I did not perform any Kesa giri's with the waki.
The katana did cut through the single wara with repeated kesa giri's from both sides. Effort to do this was significant. It also did cut through using a horizontal cut.
My impression is that these blades need additional sharpening in order to be used for tameshigiri. It is unclear how well they will hold an edge. Based on the narrow width of the blade and slight roll to the edge, I am not sure either would stand up to repeated sharpenings without soon affecting the strength of the blade.
I think as entry level swords both are reasonable. I believe that for long term study of tameshigiri however, these would soon not be able to meet the serious practioners needs.
I realize that there are people who may or may not appreciate these comments. Take them any way you want. This is my honest opinion of these swords as they are sold.
Sorry to those who might take offense to this.