Damascus Katana

The Deacon · Oct 29, 2007

A few months back, after receiving the last Boker catalog in the mail and was intrigued by the pictures of their Damascus "Samurai Sword". I know very little about swords in general, and even less about Katanas, but I struck my fancy. I questioned my buddy Chad Los Baños about it and mentioned that I was thinking of getting one. Didn't get much in the way of an answer at the time, but a large box showed up in Friday's mail with a belated birthday card attached to it. Made my day, heck it made my month. Figured I'd share some photos, did Google search for the correct nomenclature first.

This is a good sized sword, just over 40" overall length with a blade a hair over 29". It weighs a bit over 43 oz. on my scale. The box underneath it in these pictures is the one it comes packed in...

The Saya (scabbard) is very glossy black laqueured wood, with no decoration save for a bit of gold trim on the Kurigata (cord fixture) to which the Sage-o (hanging cord) is attached (the gold blur to the immediate right of the Tsuba (handguard) is just a reflection of something)...

This shows the damascus pattern, and also the Kisaki (tip), Boshi (curved "tanto" section), and the forward portion of the blade...

A look at the blackened brass Kashiri (pommel) and the cord wrapping at the butt end of the Tsuka (handle)...

Full length view of the Tsuka...

Views of the Menuki on both sides, and the white rayskin under it. The Menuki on the left side is close to the Tsuba (handguard) and Fuchi (handle collar) which also is seen in that photo, while the right one is closer to the Kashiri. From what I understand, the Menuki act as both decorations and grip enhancers..

The Habaki (blade collar) is bright brass...

A view of the Tsuba, not sure if the design has any historical significance or not...

Me, with Katana in hand...

A flat black lacquered display stand, and a small wooden box containing a "traditional" cleaning kit accompany the Katana. The only "issue" was that the cork in the ceramic bottle containing the oil came loose in transit, probably due to pressure changes in the cargo bay.

Huge thank you to Chad for this!

Maarten · Oct 30, 2007

Wow Paul that looks awesome.
I did a search on boker it says it has a 80 layered damast Carbonsteel blade. I think it is a very nice reproduction of a katana. I don't know much about these swords. I recalled seeing a doc on NGC or Discovery Channel about a Japanese bladesmith making one. These original ones start at 15000 dollars and upward depending on the maker and age/ rarity .

Chad is a very generous man . Enjoy your katana. Burglars beware of the katana man

Greets Mat888

Bimmer1 · Oct 31, 2007

Are these for sale in the U.S.?? I can't seem to find any info. about the Boker katana.

jaislandboy · Nov 1, 2007

congrats on the sword Paul....very

Chad is quite the giftmeister....

Dr Heelhook · Nov 1, 2007

Beautiful.

Tomso · Nov 1, 2007

Uau, Deacon, that's one nice little "knife".

Chad is really a great friend or as he would say a brother

Daywalker · Nov 1, 2007

Aloha Deac',

Hey bro, it was the VERY least I could do for everything you have done for me and my family...and of course, I am also VERY sorry I missed your b-day...

Nice pics, and also that shirt is pretty cool!

BTW, what is that priest on your tsuba looking at?

Enjoy the sword, and have safe fun with it...
God bless ya Paul

The Deacon · Nov 2, 2007

Thanks everyone.

Daywalker said:
Aloha Deac',

Hey bro, it was the VERY least I could do for everything you have done for me and my family...and of course, I am also VERY sorry I missed your b-day...

Nice pics, and also that shirt is pretty cool! BTW, what is that priest on your tsuba looking at?

Enjoy the sword, and have safe fun with it...
God bless ya Paul

Thanks again bro! Your friendship means more to me than anything "material", but I do appreciate both the gift and the thought behind it. And it was definitely worth waiting a month for.

As for the priest, not really sure.

Is the round object the moon? Or perhaps the sun? Even less sure about what's below that. Water, with waves breaking? The earth with plants sprouting? Think the stuff to the left of the priest may be bamboo, but not even sure of that. My knowledge of Oriental cultural and religious symbolism is pretty weak.

Bimmer1 said:
Are these for sale in the U.S.?? I can't seem to find any info. about the Boker katana.

Can't say for sure, since I didn't buy mine. They do show, under Magnum on the menu, on the Boker USA site. Perhaps Terry could answer that if he reads this thread.

Took a couple more pictures too...

Some views of the damascus, these taken about midway along the blade. First a wide view, then a couple closer ones of the same section split in halves...

The little dark dots are wood particles from the inside of the sheath. Finally, an overall view of it, in the Saya, on the stand.

I wonder if there is some cultural reason for the flat black finish, since a lot of Katana stands seem to be finished that way. Perhaps to avoid it competing for attention with the sword?

hmartin1941 · Jul 27, 2014

My daughter bought one of these for me in 2011 from Boker, Germany. When it arrived, it wasn't very sharp! I asked for info about it on Sword Forums, but they told me it was a Chinese fake and worthless.

My wife then bought me a Cold Steel, Emperor Series Katana. Also a nice blade and this one was VERY sharp. Later, I decided to talk to someone that actually KNOWS something about Japanese and Chinese swords. He offered to help me polish it and after quite a few hours of work, it turned out even sharper than the Cold Steel one. I am assured that this is indeed genuine Damast Steel, folded (they say 200 times, but I have no proof of that). Personally I think the balance is better than the Emperor!

It might not have cost thousands of Dollars, it might not be as good as the Hittori Hanzo Katana in Kill Bill, but they both look good and I would trust either of them to do what they are supposed to do and that would be to defend home, self and family if the occasion ever arose. What else is a sword for?

As Bill Shakespeare said, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet", and whether it was made in Japan, China or in someones back garden in Germany, who cares? I certainly don't.

Lycosa · Jul 27, 2014

A wonderful story.
Thank you, Paul and Chad.
rolf