Post by Marc Kaden Ridgeway on Feb 3, 2012 20:57:54 GMT -5
Ronin Dojo Elite Katana
This is a Factory Second?
Marc Kaden Ridgeway
3 Feb 2012
Atlanta , GA
This is the most important katana review I've ever written. It may well be the most important one I ever write. This review may not change the paradigm, but it should. This sword has forever changed my view on production...and even custom katana.
I have allowed my prejudice against the gaudy , mass produced , copper fittings on many Chinese katana to make me dismiss the Ronin Elite line for quite some time. In fact I saw someone reccomend a Ronin Elite in a thread about high-end katana and scoffed to myself . I thought," Ronin Katana makes great sub-$300 swords" as I reccomended Citadel myself. That was a mistake. I have owned a Citadel before, and it doesn't touch this blade.
Prejudice is an ugly thing.
I guess that post got in my head, because some short time later I clicked on the Ronin site and took my first real look at an elite. I then sent Chris a PM right away complimenting him on it...
So when Chris mentioned he had a reject Elite that I could destroy I was mildly excited to see it, as I liked the photos I saw. When it got here , it blew me away.
No freaking way I'm destroying this blade.
So , why did Chris reject this blade? I mean it isn't just a second... this is a sword he deemed unsuitable to even sell for a discounted price.
Huh?
Chris: There is polishing chip on the ha
Me: Ok check , I see that MICRO-chip if I hold it to the light.
Chris : This blades polish is in the bottom 10% of my elites
Me: Really ? The geometry is stunning
Chris : If you feel along the edge on both sides, you'll find a couple of places where the polish is a tad uneven. On 9 out of 10 elites, the edge profile is exactly the same on both sides.
Me : Ummmmm Ok ... yeah I feel it (Um no I don't , jeez , how anal IS this guy)
Anyway , for Chris this was a reject to poor to sell . For me it is a eureka katana.
The Chinese have associations for swords, and crafts , and they rank the craftsmen. The Chinese also have a bunch of factory workers. So who do you think runs the sword companies? Not the factory workers, the ranked smiths. So if you order a box of swords from a Chinese factory you get swords made by factory workers, with MAYBE some supervision from a good smith. When you order thousands of swords a year you earn a bit of the ranked smith's time... and if you pay enough, he'll actually pick up a hammer.
This isn't meant to be 100% accurate , but paints a pretty clear picture of the situation.
Ronin Katana buys enough to get the attention and time of Master Smiths. The Dojo Elite line is the result.
The smith that forged this particular blade is a ,Chinese arts and crafts master with rank of 2,registered swordsmith,high-ranking member of Chinese Sword Association who has gain golden award 5 times and silver award 7 times,brass award 4 times in the national folk arts show and arts and crafts show.
What's funny is this blade passed his inspection , hell it passes mine with 2 minutes worth of nick removal , but it failed Chris's inspection. That says a lot.
Historical Overview
The swordsmiths in Japan forged their blades from tamahagane, a steel smelted from iron bearing river sand. When tamahagane is smelted , the process results in a bloom of steel that is extremely high carbon in places and low in others. The Japanese folded this to make it uniform.
The ever innovative smiths used differential hardening to make the swords have very hard, sharp edges , but supple spines. Still swords failed and sworsmiths sought ways to minimize this , and make their swords sharper and more resilent.
One way they they did this was by laminating layers of higher and lower carbon steels together , to make soft cores and hard skins... etc. Many different lamination styles were used, including the most complex one, credited to the most legendary of all Japanese smiths, Masamune. That one is the soshu kitae tradition (seven panel steel). This school was developed by the Japanese smith Masamune, and combines panels of hard, medium, and soft
steels. The core of the blade is formed from softer, more malleable steel giving it exceptional flexibility. A layer of
slightly harder steel is bonded to each side of the core to add support. The last layers are a very hard steel bonded to
the top, bottom, and both sides of the core forming the ha (cutting edge) mune (back edge) and shinogi-ji (blade flats).
This form of laminar construction provided for a sword that could be sharpened to a razor edge due to the hardened
steed used for the ha, but was extremely resilient to battle damage due to its softer more flexible core.
This Ronin Dojo Elite is forged in the Soshu Kitae method. In the next photos you can see the lamination line.
Specifications
Nagasa : 28 in
Weight : 2lbs. 13 oz
Motohaba : 1.25 in
Sakihaba : .8 in
Motokasane : 8mm
Sakikasane : 5mm
POB : 5 in. from tsuba
Tsuka : 11 in. with fittings
Aesthetics : Fit & Finish
The 28 inch blade is forged and laminated from 1095/1060/1045 steels in the shinogi Zukuri sugata. The blade exhibits nice fumbari. The kissaki is the most crisply defined geometric ko kissaki on any production or custom katana I have ever had in hand. I know there are better , but I haven't personally seen better. In fact look at the the similarities it shares with this sketch of an ideal ko-kissaki. I'll call the hamon toran , but am open to correction.
The blade is stone polished , though this particular blade is done to a mid level polish at best. The shinogi ji are bright mirror polished while the ji are in a hazy satin. At this level of polish we don't get the whitening of the hamon (its not acid enhanced) instead it shows its hardness by the bright polish . Ronin reports the hardness at 62 on the ha and 40 on the spine. I have no proof of this, but also I have no reasom to doubt it.
On complex laminations like these , special attention has to be paid when heat treating the blade , or it will fail... thus the heat treat is damn good and specially done. I dare say no other production company pays to assure a superior heat treat like Ronin does on these complex laminates.
The lines on this blade are crisp... and makes the geometry really pop. I know guys like Chris Osbourne and Keith Larman could spot plenty of shortcomings , but to a guy of my experience (way less than theirs) and at this price this is a damn good looking blade.
The 11 inch tsuka is panelled in white samegawa , and wrapped with brown silk. The tsuka is pleasingly rikko shaped. While the diamonds in the ito-maki aren't perfectly shaped and uniform they are the best I've seen on a production katana , and far better than my custom Rawblade mounted by Fred Lohman.
The fittings are made of copper , and cast from hand carved originals. The tsuba has a dragon in water , and the fuchi-gashira have a lobster, maybe? IDK , I can't tell, they are kinda busy and there's a lot going on, I can't really see.
The seppa are brass , key fret and the habaki is brass , grooved and filed.
The piano-lacquered saya sports lustrous horn elements , and is dressed in silk sageo.
There is a lot of little attention to details... like hishigame ... oh and the saya is the same diameter as the fuchi ,,, one of thos details you see on customs , but not often on production blades.
Handling Characteristics
This is a beefy blade true, but the fumbari and the profile and distal taper help this sword handle with effortless precision. It goes where you tell it to , and stops when you tell it to.
The balance is at 5 inches from the tsuba.
The tight ito-maki and the rikko shaped tsuba feel great in hand .
Holding the sword one can feel its weight, it just feels powerful,like a dragster but once in motion it transforms into a Audi Quattro.
Hey, I know this is a cheesy handling section ... but it is what it is ... it handles like a katana, a good one... what else can I say?
Cutting
I haven't really got to do any cutting with this yet. I can tell it isa brutal cutter and will eat bamboo its got great niku. But I haven't had the time to do so . So you'll have to settle for this cheesy video for now... My son is cutting with his Dojo Pro #2 and I am using the Elite
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
I'm going to be especially nit-picky here, as I am singing this blades praises so loudly, I think it is important to be very critical. We also have to keep in mind that the sword is a reject for multiple reasons.
The good: The geometry is the best I've seen on any blade. I was going to post comparison photos with the kissaki juxtaposed against some other swords I've reviewed , but felt that was tacky... if you want to see how much better this one is you'll have to dig up my old reviews yourself. Also could is the handling and general fit and finish.
The Bad : On the tsuka where hishigame is used , you can see the tape line here and there... not glaring, but there. The seppa between the tsuba and habaki is loose. The habaki could fit better . And according to Chris the polish is sub-standard for this line , and uneven... remember this IS a reject.
The Ugly: The Damn Fittings... sorry , I just cant wrap my mind around them. They do the job though... and they can be changed out ;0
Conclusion
I'm going to keep it short and sweet here. This sword changed the way I think about the high-end production sword market. Period. Except at $800 its not really high end , but maybe high-mid. Except that this is a blade deemed not good enough to sell , but it still completely rewrote my evaluations of the market. And of customs.
Granted I've only had entry level custom kats... I havent owned a diCristifano polished by Osbourne , Tenolds or Larman, but this sword outclasses those customs I have had... such as my beloved James Raw blade.
The only let down here for me is the fittings... some silver fittings with a black iron tsuba would set this sword off ... and maybe nanbo blue ito
Here is a blade , forged by a ranked master smith I couldn't afford if I was a one blade buyer... good thing Ronin Katana isn't. We have complex lamination, superior heat treat, crisp geometry , good wrap, rikko shaped tsuka .
This is a blade that changed my perceptions. And its a blade I'm proud to own. And its a reject.
Thanks for reading.
This is a Factory Second?
Marc Kaden Ridgeway
3 Feb 2012
Atlanta , GA
This is the most important katana review I've ever written. It may well be the most important one I ever write. This review may not change the paradigm, but it should. This sword has forever changed my view on production...and even custom katana.
I have allowed my prejudice against the gaudy , mass produced , copper fittings on many Chinese katana to make me dismiss the Ronin Elite line for quite some time. In fact I saw someone reccomend a Ronin Elite in a thread about high-end katana and scoffed to myself . I thought," Ronin Katana makes great sub-$300 swords" as I reccomended Citadel myself. That was a mistake. I have owned a Citadel before, and it doesn't touch this blade.
Prejudice is an ugly thing.
I guess that post got in my head, because some short time later I clicked on the Ronin site and took my first real look at an elite. I then sent Chris a PM right away complimenting him on it...
So when Chris mentioned he had a reject Elite that I could destroy I was mildly excited to see it, as I liked the photos I saw. When it got here , it blew me away.
No freaking way I'm destroying this blade.
So , why did Chris reject this blade? I mean it isn't just a second... this is a sword he deemed unsuitable to even sell for a discounted price.
Huh?
Chris: There is polishing chip on the ha
Me: Ok check , I see that MICRO-chip if I hold it to the light.
Chris : This blades polish is in the bottom 10% of my elites
Me: Really ? The geometry is stunning
Chris : If you feel along the edge on both sides, you'll find a couple of places where the polish is a tad uneven. On 9 out of 10 elites, the edge profile is exactly the same on both sides.
Me : Ummmmm Ok ... yeah I feel it (Um no I don't , jeez , how anal IS this guy)
Anyway , for Chris this was a reject to poor to sell . For me it is a eureka katana.
The Chinese have associations for swords, and crafts , and they rank the craftsmen. The Chinese also have a bunch of factory workers. So who do you think runs the sword companies? Not the factory workers, the ranked smiths. So if you order a box of swords from a Chinese factory you get swords made by factory workers, with MAYBE some supervision from a good smith. When you order thousands of swords a year you earn a bit of the ranked smith's time... and if you pay enough, he'll actually pick up a hammer.
This isn't meant to be 100% accurate , but paints a pretty clear picture of the situation.
Ronin Katana buys enough to get the attention and time of Master Smiths. The Dojo Elite line is the result.
The smith that forged this particular blade is a ,Chinese arts and crafts master with rank of 2,registered swordsmith,high-ranking member of Chinese Sword Association who has gain golden award 5 times and silver award 7 times,brass award 4 times in the national folk arts show and arts and crafts show.
What's funny is this blade passed his inspection , hell it passes mine with 2 minutes worth of nick removal , but it failed Chris's inspection. That says a lot.
Historical Overview
The swordsmiths in Japan forged their blades from tamahagane, a steel smelted from iron bearing river sand. When tamahagane is smelted , the process results in a bloom of steel that is extremely high carbon in places and low in others. The Japanese folded this to make it uniform.
The ever innovative smiths used differential hardening to make the swords have very hard, sharp edges , but supple spines. Still swords failed and sworsmiths sought ways to minimize this , and make their swords sharper and more resilent.
One way they they did this was by laminating layers of higher and lower carbon steels together , to make soft cores and hard skins... etc. Many different lamination styles were used, including the most complex one, credited to the most legendary of all Japanese smiths, Masamune. That one is the soshu kitae tradition (seven panel steel). This school was developed by the Japanese smith Masamune, and combines panels of hard, medium, and soft
steels. The core of the blade is formed from softer, more malleable steel giving it exceptional flexibility. A layer of
slightly harder steel is bonded to each side of the core to add support. The last layers are a very hard steel bonded to
the top, bottom, and both sides of the core forming the ha (cutting edge) mune (back edge) and shinogi-ji (blade flats).
This form of laminar construction provided for a sword that could be sharpened to a razor edge due to the hardened
steed used for the ha, but was extremely resilient to battle damage due to its softer more flexible core.
This Ronin Dojo Elite is forged in the Soshu Kitae method. In the next photos you can see the lamination line.
Specifications
Nagasa : 28 in
Weight : 2lbs. 13 oz
Motohaba : 1.25 in
Sakihaba : .8 in
Motokasane : 8mm
Sakikasane : 5mm
POB : 5 in. from tsuba
Tsuka : 11 in. with fittings
Aesthetics : Fit & Finish
The 28 inch blade is forged and laminated from 1095/1060/1045 steels in the shinogi Zukuri sugata. The blade exhibits nice fumbari. The kissaki is the most crisply defined geometric ko kissaki on any production or custom katana I have ever had in hand. I know there are better , but I haven't personally seen better. In fact look at the the similarities it shares with this sketch of an ideal ko-kissaki. I'll call the hamon toran , but am open to correction.
The blade is stone polished , though this particular blade is done to a mid level polish at best. The shinogi ji are bright mirror polished while the ji are in a hazy satin. At this level of polish we don't get the whitening of the hamon (its not acid enhanced) instead it shows its hardness by the bright polish . Ronin reports the hardness at 62 on the ha and 40 on the spine. I have no proof of this, but also I have no reasom to doubt it.
On complex laminations like these , special attention has to be paid when heat treating the blade , or it will fail... thus the heat treat is damn good and specially done. I dare say no other production company pays to assure a superior heat treat like Ronin does on these complex laminates.
The lines on this blade are crisp... and makes the geometry really pop. I know guys like Chris Osbourne and Keith Larman could spot plenty of shortcomings , but to a guy of my experience (way less than theirs) and at this price this is a damn good looking blade.
The 11 inch tsuka is panelled in white samegawa , and wrapped with brown silk. The tsuka is pleasingly rikko shaped. While the diamonds in the ito-maki aren't perfectly shaped and uniform they are the best I've seen on a production katana , and far better than my custom Rawblade mounted by Fred Lohman.
The fittings are made of copper , and cast from hand carved originals. The tsuba has a dragon in water , and the fuchi-gashira have a lobster, maybe? IDK , I can't tell, they are kinda busy and there's a lot going on, I can't really see.
The seppa are brass , key fret and the habaki is brass , grooved and filed.
The piano-lacquered saya sports lustrous horn elements , and is dressed in silk sageo.
There is a lot of little attention to details... like hishigame ... oh and the saya is the same diameter as the fuchi ,,, one of thos details you see on customs , but not often on production blades.
Handling Characteristics
This is a beefy blade true, but the fumbari and the profile and distal taper help this sword handle with effortless precision. It goes where you tell it to , and stops when you tell it to.
The balance is at 5 inches from the tsuba.
The tight ito-maki and the rikko shaped tsuba feel great in hand .
Holding the sword one can feel its weight, it just feels powerful,like a dragster but once in motion it transforms into a Audi Quattro.
Hey, I know this is a cheesy handling section ... but it is what it is ... it handles like a katana, a good one... what else can I say?
Cutting
I haven't really got to do any cutting with this yet. I can tell it isa brutal cutter and will eat bamboo its got great niku. But I haven't had the time to do so . So you'll have to settle for this cheesy video for now... My son is cutting with his Dojo Pro #2 and I am using the Elite
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
I'm going to be especially nit-picky here, as I am singing this blades praises so loudly, I think it is important to be very critical. We also have to keep in mind that the sword is a reject for multiple reasons.
The good: The geometry is the best I've seen on any blade. I was going to post comparison photos with the kissaki juxtaposed against some other swords I've reviewed , but felt that was tacky... if you want to see how much better this one is you'll have to dig up my old reviews yourself. Also could is the handling and general fit and finish.
The Bad : On the tsuka where hishigame is used , you can see the tape line here and there... not glaring, but there. The seppa between the tsuba and habaki is loose. The habaki could fit better . And according to Chris the polish is sub-standard for this line , and uneven... remember this IS a reject.
The Ugly: The Damn Fittings... sorry , I just cant wrap my mind around them. They do the job though... and they can be changed out ;0
Conclusion
I'm going to keep it short and sweet here. This sword changed the way I think about the high-end production sword market. Period. Except at $800 its not really high end , but maybe high-mid. Except that this is a blade deemed not good enough to sell , but it still completely rewrote my evaluations of the market. And of customs.
Granted I've only had entry level custom kats... I havent owned a diCristifano polished by Osbourne , Tenolds or Larman, but this sword outclasses those customs I have had... such as my beloved James Raw blade.
The only let down here for me is the fittings... some silver fittings with a black iron tsuba would set this sword off ... and maybe nanbo blue ito
Here is a blade , forged by a ranked master smith I couldn't afford if I was a one blade buyer... good thing Ronin Katana isn't. We have complex lamination, superior heat treat, crisp geometry , good wrap, rikko shaped tsuka .
This is a blade that changed my perceptions. And its a blade I'm proud to own. And its a reject.
Thanks for reading.