James Raw custom mounted by Fred Lohman

Hello Everybody,

A while back I bought a James Raw blade, and sent it to Fred Lohman to have mounted.I was a bit leary, as I have read some bad reports about Lohman, and worried my experience may be bad.

First let me say a word about Lohman's customer service. I was indisposed for 9 months after this sword was completed.Fred was VERY patient, and held my sword for the 9 months. Upon my return to civilization, I sent him a check, and the sword arrived in RECORD time.

The sword came well packaged.I've never been one to include the pictures of the boxes in my threads, but since it seems popular I will in this one.



My sword came in a box within a box, wrapped in bubble wrap and a swordbag.

This was a works package... I sent in blade and habaki, Fred did the rest.



The overall package was quite pleasing to me. The swords aesthetics were exactly what I had hoped for.

I chose a water based mounting theme...


Perhaps a bit pretentious sounding, but a Zen concept which holds great meaning in my life.

Fred and company captured the theme perfectly.





The saya has a rounded end, and a BONUS . There are streaks that match the color of the silver blue ito done very subtly in the saya's finish. Thanks Fred!!!.

The ito-maki is tight and well formed. The tsuka is slim and tapered, and fit perfectly to the nakago.





All in all Fred's work was excellent, and my instructions were followed exactly.

"Well MK," you say, "get picky for us today, is there anything you are unhappy with?"

Alright then, yes. There are a couple of less than pleasing points.

The biggest one is the saya fit... the habaki is just barely too loose...I chalk it up to humidity, and will fix it myself.

Secondly, there is the barest of movement clockwise/counterclockwise in the tsuba.

Other than that, well the same could have been a better piece, but the unexpected extras (nutsodome and streaked saya) far outweigh this.





All in all I must say I am very pleased. Fred and company's work was nicely done, the customer service excellent, his patience inexhautable, and turnaround time superb. My instructions were followed exactly, down to the style seppa....

CONCLUSION: An experience I was leary of turned out to be quite satisfying. I must say fred Lohman did a very nice job for me, and did it with terrific customer service.

Thanks for reading.