MURASAMEKatana Sword 41" T10 Steel Clay Tempered Razor Sharp Blade Full Tang Handmade

I ordered the Katana on May 4 - the projected delivery date was June 4 to the 24th. I got a pleasant surprise when it was delivered at my door on May 21.FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The first thing I noticed was that the Sageo is thick, wide and tightly woven, making it the perfect Sageo for the presentation knot. The Tsuka's Ito is very tight, I could barely move it when applying force - excellent! The size of the diamond pattern is symmetrical from the Kashira to the Fuchi - well done! The Same nodules are uniform, but not large. I know that the large nodules are usually preferred, but it's not a big issue for me, not on a $169.00 katana. The Tsuka feels good in my hands, and the tight wrap gives me a sure grip. The very nice Oda Nobunaga Mon on the Hibachi adds an upscale look to the usual plain ones on Katanas of this price. The Bo-Hi is perfectly smooth with no ripples or marks. The blade is well polished and sharp, it passes the paper slicing test with ease. The Hamon is real and absolutely beautiful, kudos to the man who applied the clay and forged it. This whole blade is flawless! The burl-wood pattern on the Saya gives it a classy natural look, but the Saya appears to be "one size fits all," even though there is no blade rattle when shaken, it's sloppy when reinserting the blade and will hang up if not inserted just right, it's also not tight and the sword will fall out of the Saya when the Kashira is facing downward, so I need to do some adjustment to fix the problem. The Koiguchi is reinforced and the opening is clean and flat. The Tsuba, Fuchi and Kashira have a Dragon in the waves pattern and all have nice raised details. The Kurigata and Shito-Dome are also well done. Usually in lower cost Katanas this is the part that will show imperfections, but non exist here.Overall, I'm impressed with how well this Murasame Katana is made and assembled. For anyone who has been looking at this Katana for purchase and wondered about the quality, don't hesitate, the quality is there, and as far as I'm concerned, it's an exceptional value!!!

I bought this sword mostly for self defense, quality, and to pass it on to my son. Hopefully it never will see action. I was looking for a quality sword that didn't hurt my pocket too much. At $165.00, this sword did not disappoint at all, and I highly recommend this sword. This sword looks and feels like a much more expensive sword, because the quality is truly of a more expensive sword.It is a full tang sword with a genuine hamon across the blade, and all the traditional wrappings on the handle. The handles are held together by wooden dowels, which is correct. The blade has been hardened, and it is very clear that the blade was given 100% attention. I would not dare to use this sword for practice, as I do not want to damage it. But, I did a simple paper cut test, and the blade is razor sharp! It cut paper effortlessly. It is not on the level of cutting silk as it flies in the air, but this is definitely sharp enough, and it impressed me. Handling this sword kept me very aware that I was holding a true weapon.My grade for the blade: A+ (Blade was flawless, made very well, great balance, sharp, and has a genuine hamon. The Yakiba, the hard part of the blade is just wide enough to have an efficient cutting edge, and has great coverage throughout the entire length of the blade. The blade is not polished to a mirror, but that was expected. For this reason, this genuine full tang blade gets a perfect score.)My grade for the handle itself: A+ (Genuine high quality ray skin, and is so high quality that I initially mistook it to be a high quality faux ray skin. I thought "this is too good to be real". To ensure the accuracy of my review, I decided to take a chance and I did the red-hot needle test to poke the ray scales, and the ray skin did not at all react. It was firm and hard, as genuine ray skin should be.) The lacing on the handle is tight & well done. Nice Menuki ornament that was tightly held in place by the wrapping as it should be.)My grade for the Tsuba/Guard: A- (Has nice details, good quality, but the edge all around the guard has some light sign of machining and is not as finished as it could be. If you took super fine sand paper to it, you can smooth off the grind marks, and it'll be amazing. Expect to spend a couple of minutes doing this if you are fussy.)My grade for the Habaki/Ferrule: B+ (Solid, but could tell it was somewhat hastily sanded, as all sides are not 100% equal. Quick shaping work from a mass production scenario. If the workers slowed down a little bit and took more care, it would be A+ Honestly, this is not a big mark against the sword. Just nitpicking here.) I suppose you could take the Habaki off and sand it off so it's equal then polish it and put it back on if you're bent on absolute perfection.My grade for the Kashira/Pommel: A+ (I was pleased to see the nice detail of the handle cap. It is tied very tightly against the butt of the handle, as it should be. In a situation of an emergency, I would be confident to use the Kashira as a head butting weapon.)My grade for the Saya/scabbard: B- (Solid, wooden, nice laces. But, the mouth of the saya was not 100% finished. No brass protection. If you looked down the hole, you could see glue and imperfections. On the surface, there was one small area where the veneer was somewhat rough from a knot in the veneer sticking out somewhat. I was a little bit disappointed that they overlooked this. This is the biggest mark against this set. But, personally, I bought the set mostly for the sword itself.My grade for the weight, feel and handling: B+ (I am a big man and am stronger than most men. This sword feels just perfect for me, but might be slightly on the heavy side for a small person. The balance is there, and very close to a $1,000 Samurai sword. I am honestly impressed.)It is my observation of the particular sword that I received-- All the parts were made of good quality material. The blade itself really is what is the most impressive thing about this entire sword/scabbard combo. It is my gut instinct that the person that makes the blade is a skilled metallurgist, but the person that shaped the ferrule was unskilled labor, and probably shaped as many as 10 ferrules per minute or something like that, on an assembly line. And that's why the ferrule isn't as perfect as it could be. The sword was assembled by somebody that has good skill. The ferrule is my only true complaint about the whole sword.Overall grade for the sword for the price: A+ (If it was priced at $300, I still would give it A+. It will drop to A- once the price reaches $500.)Based on Amazon Shipping Quote, the shipping was quoted to take 4-5 weeks, a quote which disappointed me initially. But, they surprised me and I got it within 3 weeks! Fast shipping direct from China! Thank you!!!