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Dynasty Forge Bushi Class Forge Folded Katana. |
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A
short while ago I was asked by Derrick Guo, owner
of www.DynastyForge.com to do a comprehensive review of his
newer generation Dynasty Forge tri steel forge folded blades. I have always
been a fan of the Dynasty Forge line up. Even though I have never ordered a
piece directly from Dynasty Forge, I have owned about 5 or 6 from either
second parties or companies that retail Dynasty Forge swords. Below is a
picture of a DF blade I had modified by Orochi Shinken, now www.OniForge.com. |
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The sword
pictured above is not the one I am reviewing, but a Dynasty Forge 1095
O-Katana I had customized a while back. The blade I am reviewing is not of
the 1095 stone polished series, but a regular polished folded steel blade
like this one.
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When I got the package it was “frustratingly” packed. Double
boxed, and two layers of bubble wrap, one going directly around the sword and
sword bag. It took me about 7 minutes to take the whole thing apart (which is
the “frustrating” part. I was anxious to see the sword.) When all was said and
done the sword I received beat my expectations.
First up an
overview of the blade. This blade is a machine polished blade made from forge
folding three different steels, 1060, 1080, and 1095. The layering doesn’t show
off the three different steels, it looks very much like any traditionally
folded blade. The appearance of the hada is subtle
enough that you need a fairly bright source to clearly view it, but not so
subtle as to be virtually invisible. This is in strict contrast to the folded
steel class of Paul Chen swords that have an almost “
The hamon pattern is a notare - midare mix in many areas, and has a few areas of toran that almost reach the shinogi-ji.
Previously the Bushi class of Dynasty Forge swords
was said to have a “templated” hamon
pattern, that is a strip of paper or cardboard was placed over the edge and the
clay applied, thus creating an exact hamon pattern
each time. I am not sure if this is true, and I am fairly certain Derrick Guo has mentioned the hamon
patterns are indeed not templated, but that the clayers at his forge pride themselves in making their hamon patterns as uniform as possible.
This blade
definitely does not have a templated hamon pattern as it is very un-uniform in design. Indeed I
think the majority of sword owners prefer a less uniform hamon
pattern as they often times show a better level of activity and more
originality. Since this hamon displays 3 different
styles on one blade I am very pleased with it.
The hamon also isn’t a harsh white like many Paul Chen blades.
I am still not 100% sure how Paul Chen manages to get such a solid white hamon, it is almost like a paint more than a shade of
steel. The newest generation of Bushi forge folded
blades have a lightly etched hamon, enough to appear
whitish and show off the activity in the steel, but not so much as to hide the hada like in many Paul Chen swords. The nioi
above the hamon is very bright and is a nice contrast
between the hardened edge to the softer body of steel.
The overall suguta of the blade is very appealing. The nagasa is 29 inches long, about 30 total with the habaki. It begins fairly wide at the habaki,
slightly over 1 1/4 of an inch wide. It then has a fairly progressive taper in
width to about 8/10ths of an inch wide at the yokote.
It is around 1/4 of an inch thick at the mune, but
the shinogi-ji is slightly wider than the mune making it close to 5/16ths of an inch thick. Despite
the blade thickness, the profile and distal taper makes a very well balanced
and light feeling blade. The blade remains about 3/16ths of an inch thick at
the thinnest part. At the most this blade weighs about 2 pounds, 8 ounces. The
balance point is about 4 3/4 inches from the tsuba.
It is far enough out to have a commanding cutting presence, but close enough to
feel very well balanced and light on the wrists.
Some
competition style cutting blades are wider at the yokote,
often times an inch or more. However I rarely see nihonto
anywhere near this wide except for some gendaito I
have handled. Interestingly enough after I watched the Hideo Gosha film “Three Outlaw Samurai” I was interested in
getting a longer katana with a slender blade which one of the main characters
uses. Although not quite as long as the blade in the movie,
this blade more closely follows the traditional dimensions of nihonto that have survived until today.
The final
thing I am pointing out about the blade is the kissaki
area. Like most production blades the kissaki polish
is a bit rougher than the rest of the blade. Most blades also have only a
counter polished kissaki, where the yokote is defined solely by a change in polish. However,
these new Dynasty Forge blades now have a true yokote,
a geometry change at the yokote as opposed to just a
change in the polish direction. I didn’t expect that at first, but felt it as
soon as I was wiping down the blade. This is a nice change in the product
seeing that a counter polished kissaki is often one
of the bigger complaints in the production world. It has now been corrected.
The fittings
on the blade are a horse themed tsuba, I believe it
is the same tsuba that Fred Lohman
sells. The fuchi and kashira
are in a flower motif, and the menuki seem to be a
floral design also. One actually might be a
The habaki is made from polished brass, and the seppa are copper. I would prefer the seppa
to be brass to better match the habaki, but then
again seppa are the cheapest and easiest thing to
replace on a Japanese sword. I plan to eventually, but for now it isn’t a
problem. In fact it makes me wonder if there is a place that will copper plate
the brass habaki seeing that I have never owned a
sword with a copper habaki before.
The tsuka core is a nice thickness, not as thick as the Kami katana I own which almost borders on too thick, but
thicker than many other tsukas that classify as “rod
like”. The tsuka is wrapped nicely in silk, and the rayskin quality is very good. There is no emperor node,
which is a nice aesthetic touch, but not necessary. However the rayskin is better than what you find on anything in the
Paul Chen series except for maybe the Tiger and Kami.
Surprisingly even the Orchid Katana I had recently had a fairly low quality of rayskin compared to the price range it is in.
The saya is also very well made. It fits the blade very well,
when sheathed the blade doesn’t rattle at all. That is usually the biggest
complaint of sayas in production swords. The job on
the lacquer is well done too, no blemishes like any cracks, chips, or areas
that have pooled during the lacquering process. The koiguchi,
kurikata, and kojiri are
lacquered over buffalo horn.
Dynasty Forge
does offers katanas that have a same wrapped saya. Rayskin on the saya prevents the wood from splitting during a bad draw.
The rayskin is sanded down to meet the saya, then clear lacquered over to make it smooth. This is
one of the many styles Dynasty Forge offers that very few, if any, other
production companies offer too.
For my own
personal tastes I have replaced one of the rayskin
panels with a skin I bought so that it could have an emperor node. I also
wrapped the tsuka in dark brown silk ito. The dark brown ito actually
plays off the dark grey koshirae very well. Also, and
this is not a permanent measure, I coated the floral design with a gold paint,
one of those scratch fixing lacquer pens you buy for vehicles. But even with
these three minor changes I feel it enhances the sword not only in a nice way,
but also in a very cheap and inexpensive way. Total, the cost of the materials
was less than $50 (factoring in only part of the skin was used for it, I have
quite a bit more left).
When I had the
tsuka dismantled I also inspected the tsuka core for any flaws. One of the more reoccurring flaws
in Chinese made katanas are small cracks or fractures
in the wood core tsuka. These come about for several
reasons, first the tsuka might not be carved for the
individual sword. Many companies make dozens of handles and then find which one
fits best. Often times a tsuka will fit very well
until the last inch or so, then it is tapped on. That may result in a fracture.
I can assure you by the tightness of the fit on this tsuka
that it was made for this sword.
Next, climate
changes (not Global Warming : ) from different locations can cause wood to
either shrink or grow. This would result in either a loose tsuka,
or one that will never come off unless forced off my some extreme method. If a
wood core shrinks too much, it will crack. I am glad to say that neither sword
I received, the 1060 or the Bushi forge folded blade,
had either of these problems.
All in all I
am very impressed by the quality of the blade and the mountings for this price
range. Compared to the Bushido Katana from Paul Chen, the closest sword in its
price range, I would gladly choose this blade over it. Not only with Dynasty
Forge do you get a choice of blade lengths, and a bo
hi, no bo hi option, I think nearly half of the
buyers of the Bushido katana want the saya to be relacquered, and the tsuba
replaced. However customizing is not the reason I would choose the Bushi forge folded blade over a Paul Chen Bushido, but for
the quality of the blade I would actually go as far as to compare it to a Bugei katana, and at it’s price range it is a very
affordable alternative.
I may be
purchasing a Forge Folded and Stone Polished blade from Dynasty Forge soon, so
be ready for my impressions compared to this blade.
Aaron Justice
3/10/07
