Masahiro?

A

Azrael31

Joined
Jun 15, 2006
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Does anybody know anything about Masahiro katanas? I found them looking around on Ebay and I havent seen much on them anywhere else.
 
You should wander over to swordforum.com, there are a raft of people over there that talk about them.

Not being a katanaphile myself I can't comment on the subtle nuances of various production katanas from a personal perspective, however I can say that one generally gets what one pays for.
 
There have been smiths signing Masahiro since Koto times thru Showa and
maybe even today. What period are you talking about?

Rich
 
noo, this is modern production stuff.....They look reasonably well made for $100 and with 1065 blades, probably function a bit better than your average wall hanger...
 
Rich S said:
There have been smiths signing Masahiro since Koto times thru Showa and
maybe even today. What period are you talking about?

Rich
Click to expand...

Trust me, not to many smiths are going to be putting their signatures on these... :)
 
haha yeah....I went to swordforms and found too many pictures of them broken in half.....That, and there seems to be a little confusion as to who actually makes them.
 
Azrael31 said:
haha yeah....I went to swordforms and found too many pictures of them broken in half.....That, and there seems to be a little confusion as to who actually makes them.
Click to expand...

Good on you for doing your research.
 
I have a masahiro sword, put out by Master Cutlery. it's carbon steel, tempered ,sharpened correctly, has a real ray skin handle, comes w two tsubas. for the price- a great deal
 
Just my two cents here.....I have heard the Masahiro swords can be decent but its hit and miss......I would check out CHENESS CUTLERY They seem to be best bang for the buck swords...or maybe Kris cutlery...heard good things as well
 
I just bought two Masahiro swords and even though I don't know what to look for I am impressed...

For what I paid I had expected a lot less in quality, fit and finish and I got a surprise.

Both swords were great...Not like I am gonna slice and dice anything soon...but they were high polished and razor sharp.

I bought the O-Ren Ryumon Kill Bill sword and a Practical Katana that came with the full kit.

I figured I needed an all White one so I would look like a good guy if I ever used it so I bought one of those too.

Everything I have searched comes back to this place on the web.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZhandmadeswordQQhtZ-1

I figure not great but they would sure get the job done if you knew what you were doing.

Karsten
 
There are some demo cutting videos here: http://dragonsedge.biz/information.php/info_id/7

Using a variety of swords, including many of the Masahiro blades.

I have two myself, they are quite nice. You can't expect the sane quality as with a sword that is a thousand dollars or more, but its going to be a heck of a lot better then a 50 dollar stainless steel wallhanger that will break if you swing it too hard.
 
I might just buy one of them. I like the white shadow's tsuka ito, and cant seem to find anything else like it short of spending a couple hundred bucks...which I dont have :( .....
 
I have a bamboo Masahiro. The original one I purchased a year ago had a bent blade. I sent it back to the seller and recieved another. It was much better. The fittings, though cheap have been reliable. The saya fit was perfect. The blade itself has been a good cutter. For less than 100 bucks, it's a bargain. However, I wouldn't do any heavier cutting with it than pool noodles and the like. I wouldn't trust the Masahiro on tatami if I make a bad cut.
 
I am wondering if the reason swords in the $25-50.00 starting price range are seconds or blems. I read somewhere or maybe saw on the video that Masahiro (or the distributor here inspects) only passes about 70-80% of what is made/shipped quality wise.

I can't imagine them letting bad blades out do to legal issues. I wanted to see what the heck so I bid on a Red Ito gripped Katana for $25.00 and got it.

It came as a very basic box and light cotton case but it also has a Masahiro part #.

I went over the sword looking for an imperfections and other than a few spots on the fullers egde that need the be polished I couldn't see any difference. These polished out with a little Mother's Alum polish.

On close inspection Saya there are some spots where the finish or possibly the wood under the finish could have used some work/sanding before painting. But that is just a cosmetic blem and with a little black car wax is almost unnoticable now.

Karsten
 
KKHansen said:
I am wondering if the reason swords in the $25-50.00 starting price range are seconds or blems.

Karsten
Click to expand...

I think that Karsten is starting to go down the right track. Not in that these swords are necessarily seconds, but that one should wonder just exactly how a company can offer a 25-50.00 sword and it be a quality piece of work. Food for thought.
 
well, obviously, not much can be expected from them, though I dont think that, that means they should be completely dismissed. For 100 bucks there isnt anything around thats a real quality piece of work, but as a beginner piece id think they work just fine. I read in sword forums that some people bought them and ended up liking them better than their PC practical katanas, which although arent very tradtitional, work well for light beginners cutting and forms. I wouldnt recommend buying from Ebay, but there are other reputable places online to buy them that check the before they ship for major QC problems. If I do decide to buy one it'll end up looking nice on a stand with my other stuff anyways....I did see too many pictures of them broken in half just above the habaki...I think they're of decent value for the money and are a great alternative to cheap stainless wallhangers of a similar price.
 
Note, my above post was not meant in a Negative way towards the regular or even the $25-50.00 swords.

I have doen a lot of checking and it appears that there is 1 or 2 companies importing these to the states. Sunpointblvd.com aka Handmadeswords both list on ebay and Sunpoint.com has an online store as well. If you do a search for Furibushido, Masahiro, Ryumon on Yahoo it leads back to Handmadeswords.com with subcatagories going everywhere.

My thinking is that prefect blades are paired with the best Saya, Tsuba and grip with the best clothe case, box and carry the Masahiro or other such name.

Blade that have a few blems (cosmetic) are assembled with Saya's with the same, lower quality Tsuba and so on and marketed in generic boxes.

Blades that fail to past due to structurial defected are tossed in a pile and recycled in the next load of carbon steel.

I kind get the feeling that one large importer is bringing in a container and distributing these...Possibly Sunpointblvd in the importer, I don't really know.

I did see that even Oni Forge has a bunch of second and blems that is are listed with anything for poorly polished blades, loose tsuba, rattling grips, loose wrapping but nothing where safety would be a consern...Just cosmetics.

I did question Handmadesword on eBay quite intensely and was assured that "All His Swords" where considered safe for cutting and practise.

I also had another once over with the $25.00 Masahiro I bought and holding in up towards the light and looking the lenght of the blade the blood groove/fulller is a little wavy an irregular compared to others blades I have here.....Maybe that is why this blade is paired with a Saya that is not prefect and was packaged in a generic box even though it still had a Masahiro part #.

I doubt the wazy forging in the fuller would in any way weaken the blade to a point where is could be deemed Un Safe but would most likely not be suitable to be sold as a 1st grade Masahiro blade.

Karsten
 
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