I know it has been forever since I did a new blog. I am sorry for that. Life gets complicated. I am also a year or two behind on getting the second volume on F/S knives published. Its probably going to happen come early spring. My health issues seem to have slowed down (knock on wood). I was just getting back into form doing Iaido and sword practice when I did a real number on my left knee. So, once again, that has slowed me up in getting back to some sort of normalcy.
Enough excuses and whining. For something positive I just received a new katana, my wife is not so pleased with that. I had been looking at all of the websites where you can have a custom sword put together over in China. As appealing as that is, I wasn’t keen on dealing with any unknown company and supply chain issues. Once I had decided to make the plunge, I couldn’t get the company to respond to my emails. That’s never a good sign. SO, I decided to check out Bugei Trading Company’s offerings. I have bought several swords from them in the past. Three katana and two wakis to be exact. They are not the cheapest source for sure. But they offer exclusive swords of high quality that you won’t find on every other website or ebay store. A few months back they came out with a new one called the “Armourer’s Sword.” It is a copy of an Edo era makers work. Bugei says; “This katana is dedicated to the memory of the legendary sword maker Nagasone Kotetsu of the Edo period.” I think it is rather plain jane, understated would be a kinder way to put it, but that appealed to me. To make the deal sweeter it was on sale at 20% off. I ordered one with a 28.5 inch blade and 11 inch tsuka and it arrived in just three days, well packed and intact!
My first impression was that the saya was black not brown as advertised. Moving closer to a window the sun revealed it had a lovely dark brown, hi gloss lacquer finish. It has a medium brown, hi-quality sageo to compliment it, along with real horn fittings. Brilliant white real ray skin contrasts with the brown silk ito. The tsuka has two simple silver menuki. Tsuba and fittings are blackened copper, nicely formed and fitted. The tsuba is uniquely octagonal shaped. This certainly precludes the sword rolling around on the dojo floor. The blade has a bronze hibaki and silver looking seppa.
Enough excuses and whining. For something positive I just received a new katana, my wife is not so pleased with that. I had been looking at all of the websites where you can have a custom sword put together over in China. As appealing as that is, I wasn’t keen on dealing with any unknown company and supply chain issues. Once I had decided to make the plunge, I couldn’t get the company to respond to my emails. That’s never a good sign. SO, I decided to check out Bugei Trading Company’s offerings. I have bought several swords from them in the past. Three katana and two wakis to be exact. They are not the cheapest source for sure. But they offer exclusive swords of high quality that you won’t find on every other website or ebay store. A few months back they came out with a new one called the “Armourer’s Sword.” It is a copy of an Edo era makers work. Bugei says; “This katana is dedicated to the memory of the legendary sword maker Nagasone Kotetsu of the Edo period.” I think it is rather plain jane, understated would be a kinder way to put it, but that appealed to me. To make the deal sweeter it was on sale at 20% off. I ordered one with a 28.5 inch blade and 11 inch tsuka and it arrived in just three days, well packed and intact!
My first impression was that the saya was black not brown as advertised. Moving closer to a window the sun revealed it had a lovely dark brown, hi gloss lacquer finish. It has a medium brown, hi-quality sageo to compliment it, along with real horn fittings. Brilliant white real ray skin contrasts with the brown silk ito. The tsuka has two simple silver menuki. Tsuba and fittings are blackened copper, nicely formed and fitted. The tsuba is uniquely octagonal shaped. This certainly precludes the sword rolling around on the dojo floor. The blade has a bronze hibaki and silver looking seppa.
BUT what is most impressive about this sword is the blade’s hada and hamon! I have never seen a katana blade whose hada (grain) jumps right out at you like this one. Here is how Bugei describes it. “The blade is forged and folded from a mixture of T10 and 1055 steels. This allows the hada to be more discernable without losing strength. The hamon is the o-choji style throughout the blade.” Discernable is a gross understatement. Of course the blade is sharp, and it will slice paper without any difficulty. There is no hi (Groove) so the sword is a little heavier than some of my other katana. I think this sword would be an excellent choice for tameshigiri (cutting mats). All I know is I can’t wait to get down to my dojo and do some Iaido with it. Check out Bugei’s website and treat yourself to one of their many exclusive swords. If you love fine swords you won’t regret the expenditure. I want one of the ‘Old Pine swords” but it will have to wait, now that I am a pauper trying to live on social security in the age of Bidenomics.
https://bugei.com/collections/new/products/armourers-katana
https://bugei.com/collections/new/products/armourers-katana
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