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Marc Ridgeway




Location: Atlanta , Gawga
Joined: 24 May 2006
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Posts: 133

PostPosted: Sat 29 Sep, 2012 7:03 am    Post subject: Huawei Kanmuri Otoshi Folded T-10 Katana         Reply with quote

Huawei Kanmuri Otoshi Folded T-10 Katana

Marc Kaden Ridgeway
Atlanta , GA
28 Sept 2012




Lately I've reviewed a lot of very nice , and very expensive swords. It is nice to be able to review a sword which is still nice, but not expensive.

I got this sword for Father's Day. The total cost with shipping was $299. This makes the actual cost of the sword in the $260ish range.

I have always had a soft spot for unokubi and kanmuri otoshi blades... and so was happy when my wife and kids pitched in to get me this one for Father's Day.

Kanmuri Otoshi zukuri is a blade sugata which starts off as a shinogi zukuri blade at the mune-machi and transitions to a shobu zukuri blade partway down. The shobu zukuri is marked by its strongly diamond shaped cross section. Kanmuri Otoshi may or may not have a koshi-hi , and unlike U-no kubi Zukuri which transitions bach to a shinogi shape at the kissaki , kanmuri has a shobu style kissaki.



Kanmuri



Unokubi


Pictures borrowed from http://members.inode.at/steinhauser/index.html












Specifications

Nagasa : 28 in
Tsuka : 10.75 in w/ fittings
Weight : 2 lbs 7 oz
Motohaba : 1.2 in
Motokasane : 7.5mm
POB : 5.5 in







Aesthetics ; Fit & Finish

Sugata is kanmuri otoshi zukuri . The 28 in folded steel blade is differentially hardened , and sports a koshi hi. The blade has an elegant sori of about .7 in and ends in a shobu kissaki. The blade is advertised as being made from folded T-10 tool steel. The hada is very nice and subdued, none of the high contrast that comes from an acid bath. The , hamon, while real, is acid enhanced , as one can tell by the hada appearance in the hadori.








Marc Kaden Ridgeway
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Marc Ridgeway




Location: Atlanta , Gawga
Joined: 24 May 2006
Likes: 3 pages

Posts: 133

PostPosted: Sat 29 Sep, 2012 7:04 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

The 10.5 in tsuka is wrapped in black synthetic silk ito over black same panels. The fuchigashira is black and in a fern frond theme , as is the tsuba. The fittings are claimed to be iron, however only the tsuba is magnetic. The tsuba is also painted black rather than darkened.
The menuki are gold colored in a floral theme . The saya is laquered dark red with black horn koiguchi, kurigata and kojiri. The saya is nicely fit , with no rattle. The black sageo is of the shoelace variety.
The habaki is brass , and decently fit as well.In fact , the entire fir and finish is rather nice, with a surprisingly good flow to it. Everything is tight and well put together , with no rattles or loose bits.
There are a few shortcomings which will be covered in the critical section.


















Handling Characteristics

This katana is quick, and agile in the hand, but feels(to me) to be a tad floatier than the 5.5 in COG would suggest. I am usually fairly accurate with my swings, but found I have a number of swings with poor tosen(tachisuji) and misplaced strikes. I attribute some of this with my increasingly out of practice state , and some to my familiarity with katana with a bit more blade prescense ... but I'm gonna say that maybe the sword is a tad floaty as well. I ascribe this to the mass-distribution , which isn't horrible , but not quite as I'd like it.

The tsuka is tightly wrapped and well shaped , and pleasantly curved, something very rarely seen at this pricepoint.









Cutting


Over the last few years I have done less and less cutting. Life is just too hectic. As a result, I am more and more out of practice. At any rate , the Huawei is not a bad little cutter.

The blade is pretty sharp. Sharp enough to cut paper under its own weight. It cuts empty bottle pretty well and full ones even better . I haven't cut bamboo yet... and I'll have to owe you a video . Will try to get one up this weekend.










The Good , The Bad & The Ugly


Ah.. the critical section... it is often very hard to fill out this section , with all the reviews I do of awesome swords. Today though we have a few things to discuss.

Number 1 , everything is unfortunately not as advertised. The fuchi and kashira were advertised as iron, and are not, they are non magnetic , thus non- ferrous.

There is a small area on the private side of the sword that shows a gap between the same and the fuchi... not a big deal.

The ito is synthetic.

To get really nit picky , I feel the transition from shinogi zukuri to shobu zukuri is not quite smooth enough, the kissaki hooks a bit much and the diamond crossection is too pronounced leading to a too-thin "false edge" and less than stellar mass distribution.

To be fair here , though, all of these things are easily explained at the price-point... this is a folded, clayed blade for $260. The fittings have a nice flow with the tsuka and everything is tight and solid... so things kinda even out.

My biggest issue with the sword is the lack of fumbari, and that the fittings were advertised as iron and were not.


Marc Kaden Ridgeway
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Marc Ridgeway




Location: Atlanta , Gawga
Joined: 24 May 2006
Likes: 3 pages

Posts: 133

PostPosted: Sat 29 Sep, 2012 7:05 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Conclusion

This was not my custom from Huawei , but one of the copies of someone elses custom . When one orders a custom from Huawei , they make (order?) a run of them to keep costs down. This one was in-stock. My wife ordered it and within two weeks it came to the door well packed.

This is a tight and attractive little sword. It is sharp and servicable and a good replica of a less usual sugata.

While for dedicated cutting a low price point competitor like the Ronin Dojo Elite is still better in my opinion, this is a fine casual cutter and great for a collector.

Bottom line is, for the money that you have to put in , Huawei turns out a pretty darn good sword.

If you got yoyur eye on one , I would reccomend you give em a try.

Thanks for reading.










Marc Kaden Ridgeway
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William Swiger




Location: Reston, VA
Joined: 23 Feb 2011
Likes: 50 pages
Reading list: 9 books

Posts: 443

PostPosted: Sat 29 Sep, 2012 9:35 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Great Review Marc - thanks for posting.
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