Considering Buying Musashi Shirakawa Katana... advice needed

BePrepared said:
Well guys, i got the Musashi today... here are my first thoughts

It's VERY well put together. Absolutely zero play in the tsuba or the tsuka.

the seppa has a very small, barely noticable "china" on it. No China graffiti on the blade thankfully.

The Ha is VERY sharp... i'm surprised how sharp really.

The blade has a very nice Hamon... if this hamon is faked, they used one HELL of a convincing method to get it on this blade. There's not the slightest indication that it's anything but a real Hamon.

The Saya is well built and very light.

I haven't cut anything with it, so i haven't got a clue what the durability is like, but i will say that the balance is excellent. It's better than any of the cheap swords i've played with.

just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a musashi shikarawa. They are well built but the materials and the heat treat are poor.
 
I've owned the sword for several months, and I'm very happy with it. The sword is well put together and handsome enough, and it cuts pretty well too. Ive sliced water bottles, milk jugs, gatorade bottles, ect filled with water, cardboard boxes, and large fruit, such as pumpkins that weigh up to 40 pounds. The sword can cut all of those targets extremely well, and has held up well, and the edge has held fairly well too. There is no play or wobble in the blade. There are minor scratches on the blade where it has cut objects (to be expected) and there is a small section (maybe a quarter inch long) where the edge has rolled because I sliced downards on a pumpkin, and the blade went throught the pumpkin and hit the handle of a trashcan with a metal core.

If you want to use this sword for a display sword/ a light duty cutter (note I said light duty) than go for it! For 80 dollars, I wasnt sure what to expect, but I've been pleasantly surprised.

And sorry I havent responded way sooner, but I rarely log on.
 
Hi,

I'm a knifemaker from Virginia. Producing a long blade with a hamon is very labor intensive. It takes time to apply to clay correctly, then you have to nail the heat treatment/quench and tempering. Somewhere in that process the blade surely warped, and straightening it is also a process frought with risk. But, once you have accomplished all that, you have many, many hours of polishing ahead of you. Geniune hamon blades are expensive for a reason. Good one's are hard to make, and take many, many, many hours. So, my point, I just can't conceive that the sword in question could have a real hamon, not at that cost. Just my two cents worth and my intent here is certainly not to offend anyone. Just thought I would chime in with a maker's view. I am glad you are happy with it.
 
Last edited:
David Stifle said:
Hi,

I'm a knifemaker from Virginia. Producing a long blade with a hamon is very labor intensive. It takes time to apply to clay correctly, then you have to nail the heat treatment/quench and tempering. Somewhere in that process the blade surely warped, and straightening it is also a process frought with risk. But, once you have accomplished all that, you have many, many hours of polishing ahead of you. Geniune hamon blades are expensive for a reason. Good one's are hard to make, and take many, many, many hours. So, my point, I just can't conceive that the sword in question could have a real hamon, not at that cost. Just my two cents worth and my intent here is certainly not to offend anyone. Just thought I would chime in with a maker's view. I am glad you are happy with it.
Click to expand...

Either that or they massively cut down on the cost and quality of everything else. :eek:
 
I hear that CAS Hanwei make some nice stuff that's affordable.
The Paul Chen Banshee, and the Practical Katana come to mind.
They aren't 80 dollar swords though.
Anyone know if those are actually decent, or just decent for the price?
 
David Stifle said:
Hi,

I'm a knifemaker from Virginia. Producing a long blade with a hamon is very labor intensive. It takes time to apply to clay correctly, then you have to nail the heat treatment/quench and tempering. Somewhere in that process the blade surely warped, and straightening it is also a process frought with risk. But, once you have accomplished all that, you have many, many hours of polishing ahead of you. Geniune hamon blades are expensive for a reason. Good one's are hard to make, and take many, many, many hours. So, my point, I just can't conceive that the sword in question could have a real hamon, not at that cost. Just my two cents worth and my intent here is certainly not to offend anyone. Just thought I would chime in with a maker's view. I am glad you are happy with it.
Click to expand...

From my understanding these blades are rolled, not forged.
There are other ways to produce a hamon without the need for blade, including dipping half of the blade in water and leaving the spin to cool by it self.

How exactly musashi is putting hamons on these swords is an unknown, likely automated.
The heat treatment on these blades is crap, they are far too soft and can take a set easily.

You are right though in that making a well done deferentially hardened sword takes time, but imagine if:
You had the blade rolled manufactured
You didnt take your time to apply the clay if you slabbed it on, hell you could nozzle out a hose to spray the blade.
Didn't matter if the heat treat worked or not, the point was to get a hamon (heat treat only to a soft metal skip quenching).
Polished by a buffing machine.
Since the blade is rolled nakago is pretty much the same so tsuka's can be mass manufactured to the same spec.

Overall they are well constructed in the sense that the tsuka performs like a tsuka, the habaki performs like a habaki. The blade however is too soft, the heat treat is crap. Overall I wouldn't recommend using them unless it's for water bottles, or milk jugs. And even there inspect the sword.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top