I just recently ordered my second sword from jkoo, the first was their tamahagane shirasaya. About 3 weeks into waiting to receive it, I got an email advising that there was failure with the blade, so they were forging another one, and apologizing for any extended time for the re-forging. When I received, I was extremely pleased. I am looking forward to receiving the sword that is being forged now, the Dragon tamahagane katana, and I am quite sure that it will just as beautiful as my shirasaya is. I thoroughly enjoyed this honest review, thank you sir. I have done my level best to not tell anyone about their site, out of the fear that popularity would equal higher prices, but I will probably start bragging about their product after I receive my Dragon tamahagane katana.
One thing I like about JKOO is their honesty about failures. We could argue “well a sword shouldn’t fail in forging” and while that is the ideal, things happen. There is a myth every Japanese sword created in the past was a work of art. Failures and flaws existed. So there isn’t a historical precedent for us to demand perfection. Also-the price-what is fair to demand? I’d much rather a vendor proactively tell me “hey, we messed up” then to ship a subpar and possibly dangerous product. Does it cost us time? Yes. But ten years ago these swords would have cost 700-1000 dollars and took 7-12 months to get so we have to take that into account. I will say with my two JKOO that were supposed to be identical in structure in polish are very different. If they can figure out how to make them all like the second one I received-they would be hard to beat for blades.
Karl sent me. Nicely done review. Very professional. JKOO,I think,does the most affordable folded steel and tamahagane. They have plenty of options as well. Good job!
Thank you for giving it a watch! I haven’t handled many other repro folded examples but after studying hundreds of pictures of blades and reviews, I can say at least that this particular sword is one of the most realistic looking reproductions I’ve seen. Those who have plenty of nihonto experience agreed it was pretty impressive. If I wanted folded under $500, I think JKOO is the place to go.
You did a great job with this review! Personally, have had poor experience with Jkoo tempering, tho I think they have a lot of promise and easy to communicate with. Glad they sent you a nice one, looks great
@@KF1there was definitely a huge difference between the first and second blade…I’ll highlight it in the customer order experience follow up video but I would agree the sword in this video was quite nice. One think JKOO does have going from them is taking pretty elaborate blade requests a-la Mr.Jensen. I just placed a full custom order from RyanSword with a slightly elaborate request to compare notes! Thank you for stopping by and please do so again!
Liked the blade, would more than likely have to replace all the furniture, especially the saya...overall great review...and best wishes on your journey
@@StudioGDT Not on RUclips but I would be happy to talk about it. They ended up making a new one for me as it had issues but customer service has been good so far.
That does look more “Tamahagane-ish” rather than “pattern welding/Damascus-ish” that you see on most “budget” Katana. That would have more to do with the build process more than the polishing. It looks like what most Chinese made manufacturers would advertise as tamahagane/orashingane blade with a $800-1200 price point. I hope in your next video you are able to show pics of your first blade , to compare with your replacement. I don’t want to call myself a swordsmith , however I do make Japanese (style) swords blades, tsuka, saya and everything in between lol! Goodluck on your channel as I will hit the button on my way out!
Thank you for checking it out and giving your feedback! The two swords could not be more different in construction that’s for sure. My next video will be on the entire custom order experience-I will show the errored first sword along with special request Iaito I had them attempt. Now I was told that the second blade was exactly the same materials/build as the first, but I would agree with you that the build quality puts me in a higher price tier. Maybe they did that to make sure I was happy or maybe it truly was the same and just had a better smith at the helm. The world may never know!
I've been emailing them about going with a koshizori style of blade. I come from a equestrian background so I'm drawn to Calvary, I also have a relatives in the UK who flies a attack helicopter in the British military. They showed me in an email their tachi fittings. They said that if I send in the Tsuba they'll mount it, I'm not to really impressed of the "tachi style" of Tsuba they offer. It looks like it has gold foil, and it has tigers or dragons(can't remember) on it, I plan on going with a tree theme. I'll likely request two types of scabbards to be included, one with tachi fittings and the other as a standard Katana Saya as while I respect the tachi and it's historical role it would be nice to have options of what I could actually do with the sword.
You might want to look into RyanSword…they offer a variety of koshi zori blades (I have two) and are available with either katana or tachi koshirae. They also have a wider variety of options that are easier to view online.
@GDT I just looked at their site, I really like their range of tachi fittings, my problem with what commercial tachis are typically equipped with looks chintzy like some wall hanger purchased from a county fair. It's the gold paint that I HATE. It makes it look like a child's toy I also don't like traditional Tachi grip design. I actually think that the way the tachis are hung on your hip with blade down is the way to go due to ergonomics. A lot of people would want to shoot me for saying this but I feel that Iaijutsu is to compensate for the fact that having the sword's blade holstered upside down is not ergonomic. There's a thing called "Calvary draw", it was from the cowboy era. The idea is that the revolver is holstered grip forward, and you would holster the pistol on the weak arm side of you. So if you're right handed you would reach over to your left side, and in one motion pull the revolver out, pull back the hammer with a finger while beginning to point at your target. That style was phased out due to safety concerns of 100-200 year old old gun designs.
Hey brother, very cool review and beautiful piece of cutlery. New sub here, Karl sent me over and if karl says your cool then that’s good enough for me ⚔️👍🏻🇺🇸
Thank you for stopping by and giving the video a chance. Karl was instrumental in helping me choose the sword as well as help inspire the review. It’s so big footsteps to follow in!
I own both. The hardness of T10 and 1095 are close enough on the Rockwell scale that they have similar places in the world. In many cases it comes down to aesthetics based on polishing levels as they do have different appearances. But there is nothing wrong with high speed tool steel. Different strokes for different folks. Ford vs Chevy. Pepsi vs Coke.
I just recently ordered my second sword from jkoo, the first was their tamahagane shirasaya. About 3 weeks into waiting to receive it, I got an email advising that there was failure with the blade, so they were forging another one, and apologizing for any extended time for the re-forging. When I received, I was extremely pleased. I am looking forward to receiving the sword that is being forged now, the Dragon tamahagane katana, and I am quite sure that it will just as beautiful as my shirasaya is. I thoroughly enjoyed this honest review, thank you sir. I have done my level best to not tell anyone about their site, out of the fear that popularity would equal higher prices, but I will probably start bragging about their product after I receive my Dragon tamahagane katana.
One thing I like about JKOO is their honesty about failures. We could argue “well a sword shouldn’t fail in forging” and while that is the ideal, things happen. There is a myth every Japanese sword created in the past was a work of art. Failures and flaws existed. So there isn’t a historical precedent for us to demand perfection. Also-the price-what is fair to demand? I’d much rather a vendor proactively tell me “hey, we messed up” then to ship a subpar and possibly dangerous product. Does it cost us time? Yes. But ten years ago these swords would have cost 700-1000 dollars and took 7-12 months to get so we have to take that into account. I will say with my two JKOO that were supposed to be identical in structure in polish are very different. If they can figure out how to make them all like the second one I received-they would be hard to beat for blades.
Wow man I'm impressed! Very well spoken, clear and concise, great lighting and camera work. You covered all bases here. Well done
Os! Thank you sir! I had some pretty big footsteps to follow in! ;) Thank you for all your content and communication! In Budo we trust!
Thanks for making me aware karl.
@@erichusayn thanks for checking it out!
Well done!
Thank you for all the help and advice!!! Couldn’t have done it without it!
I thought the introduction seemed very familiar 😅😅
Karl sent me. Nicely done review. Very professional. JKOO,I think,does the most affordable folded steel and tamahagane. They have plenty of options as well. Good job!
Thank you for giving it a watch! I haven’t handled many other repro folded examples but after studying hundreds of pictures of blades and reviews, I can say at least that this particular sword is one of the most realistic looking reproductions I’ve seen. Those who have plenty of nihonto experience agreed it was pretty impressive. If I wanted folded under $500, I think JKOO is the place to go.
@@StudioGDT they do a wonderful job with T10 steel also,just my opinion,lol.
@@samuraibyrd I concur!
You did a great job with this review! Personally, have had poor experience with Jkoo tempering, tho I think they have a lot of promise and easy to communicate with. Glad they sent you a nice one, looks great
@@KF1there was definitely a huge difference between the first and second blade…I’ll highlight it in the customer order experience follow up video but I would agree the sword in this video was quite nice. One think JKOO does have going from them is taking pretty elaborate blade requests a-la Mr.Jensen. I just placed a full custom order from RyanSword with a slightly elaborate request to compare notes! Thank you for stopping by and please do so again!
Liked the blade, would more than likely have to replace all the furniture, especially the saya...overall great review...and best wishes on your journey
Thank you very much for watching and your feedback. The blade I do quite like and would agree the furniture is functional and Spartan at best.
Great work, sir! Very in-depth, I've learned a lot from you evaluation.
Glad it was helpful!
I enjoyed your review video, nicely done.
That is greatly appreciated coming from THE CottonTail Customs!
Nice video, looking forward to more! Best of luck in your re-entry into sword related martial arts
Just seeing this now! Thank you! My mind has more spirit to reenter martial arts than my knees do apparently!
Nice review great first video. I am in the process of receiving a sword from Jkoo as well so interested in how my experience will contrast.
Thank you very much! I look forward to seeing your sword! Do you plan on reviewing it?
@@StudioGDT Not on RUclips but I would be happy to talk about it. They ended up making a new one for me as it had issues but customer service has been good so far.
@@Hunterjensen7450 I’d love to hear about what went wrong/what went right…are you on the Sword Buyers Guide Forums?
That does look more “Tamahagane-ish” rather than “pattern welding/Damascus-ish” that you see on most “budget” Katana. That would have more to do with the build process more than the polishing. It looks like what most Chinese made manufacturers would advertise as tamahagane/orashingane blade with a $800-1200 price point. I hope in your next video you are able to show pics of your first blade , to compare with your replacement. I don’t want to call myself a swordsmith , however I do make Japanese (style) swords blades, tsuka, saya and everything in between lol! Goodluck on your channel as I will hit the button on my way out!
Thank you for checking it out and giving your feedback! The two swords could not be more different in construction that’s for sure. My next video will be on the entire custom order experience-I will show the errored first sword along with special request Iaito I had them attempt. Now I was told that the second blade was exactly the same materials/build as the first, but I would agree with you that the build quality puts me in a higher price tier. Maybe they did that to make sure I was happy or maybe it truly was the same and just had a better smith at the helm. The world may never know!
The video with the first blade is UP! I have the supposed “same construction” blades side by side.
@@StudioGDT sweet, thanks for letting me know. On my way to check it out right now
Great review! 👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍
Glad you liked it!
I've been emailing them about going with a koshizori style of blade. I come from a equestrian background so I'm drawn to Calvary, I also have a relatives in the UK who flies a attack helicopter in the British military.
They showed me in an email their tachi fittings. They said that if I send in the Tsuba they'll mount it, I'm not to really impressed of the "tachi style" of Tsuba they offer. It looks like it has gold foil, and it has tigers or dragons(can't remember) on it, I plan on going with a tree theme.
I'll likely request two types of scabbards to be included, one with tachi fittings and the other as a standard Katana Saya as while I respect the tachi and it's historical role it would be nice to have options of what I could actually do with the sword.
You might want to look into RyanSword…they offer a variety of koshi zori blades (I have two) and are available with either katana or tachi koshirae. They also have a wider variety of options that are easier to view online.
@GDT I just looked at their site, I really like their range of tachi fittings, my problem with what commercial tachis are typically equipped with looks chintzy like some wall hanger purchased from a county fair. It's the gold paint that I HATE. It makes it look like a child's toy
I also don't like traditional Tachi grip design.
I actually think that the way the tachis are hung on your hip with blade down is the way to go due to ergonomics.
A lot of people would want to shoot me for saying this but I feel that Iaijutsu is to compensate for the fact that having the sword's blade holstered upside down is not ergonomic.
There's a thing called "Calvary draw", it was from the cowboy era. The idea is that the revolver is holstered grip forward, and you would holster the pistol on the weak arm side of you.
So if you're right handed you would reach over to your left side, and in one motion pull the revolver out, pull back the hammer with a finger while beginning to point at your target.
That style was phased out due to safety concerns of 100-200 year old old gun designs.
Hey brother, very cool review and beautiful piece of cutlery. New sub here, Karl sent me over and if karl says your cool then that’s good enough for me ⚔️👍🏻🇺🇸
Thank you for stopping by and giving the video a chance. Karl was instrumental in helping me choose the sword as well as help inspire the review. It’s so big footsteps to follow in!
@@StudioGDT oh quit! Lol
T10 Kobuse haha never heared of that shit .............1095 Kobuse is much better ............i own those
I own both. The hardness of T10 and 1095 are close enough on the Rockwell scale that they have similar places in the world. In many cases it comes down to aesthetics based on polishing levels as they do have different appearances. But there is nothing wrong with high speed tool steel. Different strokes for different folks. Ford vs Chevy. Pepsi vs Coke.