Product Description: The blade of the sword is constructed from carbon steel and features a visible temper line. The blade is full tang. The saya is wooden with a dark stained finish. The saya has been crafted to contour the shape of the blade. And fits seamlessly into the handle.
Review by Eric Johnson:
Very strong. For swords in this price range, it is extremely well built. Sturdy, no cheap rattle, and excellent finish. Don't believe the other people on here and other places about the lack of Ito-Maki (hand wrapping) and smooth finish making this difficult to get a good grip on. It is pretty well balanced for a sword in this price range, the center weight being about 5 1/2 inches from the base of the blade. It weighs very little, and is very strong. You cannot beat this price, it is sold for around $100 on other sites. I did a bit of messing around with it, hacking up bamboo (~3" thick) and after 10-15 whacks I couldn't see or feel any degradation in the edge at all (good ol' carbon steel). It is gorgeous too, so it looks great as a piece in the living room, keep it oiled! Keep in mind, the "matte" finish along the edge of the blade is machined; this look is *normally* caused by the way it is manufactured by differentially hardening the steel, and is sometimes acid-enhanced. The presence of this doesn't mean its a better sword, the acid-enhancing of it is only done as a sort of decoration, and technically weakens the blade. However, there was no acid involved on this particular blade, the edge was just taken to a grinder after they put the mirror finish on the blade. I think "hand made", for them, really just means their hands touched it while they were machining it; whereas normally "hand made" means it was actually folded steel, which I HIGHLY doubt. If you want a "real" katana made by a master blacksmith, expect to be paying anywhere from 5-15k. Sometimes you can find them as "cheap" as 1-2k, but they are usually "cheap" for a reason. That being said, you wont find a better sword for the price. You can get katana that are manufactured the correct way, although not made of proper Tamahagane, for $300-$1000, that are much more suited for combat. Then again, if I was going to fight someone to the death I would just bring a gun. This katana is a "Hagane Maru", meaning its made of homogeneous hard carbon steel, this type of sword would be used either as decoration, or if in a bind, in combat. However, being made entirely of hard carbon steel, it is more brittle and thus more likely to break if you strike surfaces with it that don't give much under pressure (ie. another sword). So to sum up this paragraph, don't expect to go toe-to-toe with someone of skill with a $1k+ sword and live. Note: Something to buy with this is a sharpening stone, and some mineral oil, especially if you plan on using it at all, or have people come over who can't keep their hands off of anything. The sword does come pre-oiled, which isn't bad, but carbon steel rusts like crazy. So if your friend comes over and rubs their nasty-dirty fingers all over it, be prepared to re-coat it before putting it away, or have a big rusty spot on your otherwise perfect finish.Sounds pretty awesome!
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