Well done. The price on these now comes out closer to $10k when complete. Howard charges $5k for the bare blade out of polish, Figure that polish is $1k-$2kish, Habaki $300ish, and mount (ito carving the saya, lacquer work) is around $1k-$2k depending. Then you get fittings, Handachi stuff like that antique or modern could easily be another $3k if made to fit a modern blade. It all adds up and that money does not include the time to get it done, the stress of shipping, or the patience required to wait often years to complete.
no the 50k+ japanese swords youre paying for their reputation...that is it lol its 40k+ markup for reputation not that level of work/effort put in. the first 10k is their effort/work/materials/skill
A very detailed and objective review. An extraordinary katana for mat cutting purpose. The choices of the fitting speak for the owner's understanding of the sport of tameshigiri. The way it handles reflects perfectly what you need for a grass cutter, not a dueling sword or battlefield sidearm. He is also quite generous to lend it to a number of practitioners and to you. What you feel about the differences in handling between this sword and an European longsword--especially one by Tom Kinder isn't due to your inexperience or your familiarity with Euro style swords over nihonto, but based on facts. They are used in different ways, even when you factor in this sword's purpose of grass cutter. 25% distal taper, and 24% profile taper (both linear mostly) are great for this sport, but the mass distribution simply make it not as point nimble as the longsword TomKin made, with 62% distal taper and 55% profile taper. Of course longswords are a lot longer so they NEED that extra tapering to make the upper portion exponentially lighter than the lower portion. European swords and Japanese swords are used in different ways, and it's totally alright to notice the drastic differences of their handling characteristics. 👍
It's funny, I remember way back when I got a hold of the L6 Destruction video and was all indignant like "ha! If ye need a sword THAT durable then ye've got no business using one in the first place!" But then deep inside my heart, a loud voice rang out yelling "I WANT ONE!!!!" 20 years later, it's still the dream.
How would you feel if someone started a company making bainite bodied katana out of a different steel on a production level out of Canada? Don't think I do it the same way he does but I recently recreated this heat treatment process. Might start a company selling an Asian line to my specs(all based off originals differentially hardened but more traditional) and then same blade specs tighter tolerances different steel and martensite edge bainite body made in Canada. Thinking around the 2k price point maybe some closer to 1k depends on some operations costs and such. Plus what kinda deal I can work out in steel procurement.
@@mrstarfishh33 still working on talks with potential investors. Gonna need a decent bit of start up capital to hit production numbers that would even make sense. And I may have to start with my planned Asian made lower cost line first to help use the profits from that to help fund the factory for the other line. However have a factory plan kinda set up and some ideas that help reduce production costs and increase quality among other things. As well as a whole more environmentally friendly set up for production then would normally be the case. Just need to hope I find an investor who can actually see the potential revenue and profits as well as the legitimacy of the plan. Found a few rich sword nerds that were interested but they're all more into fantasy or video game bs and wanna start with that despite the fact it's hurt the public image of the brand if you start with useless wallhangers and reduce the profit margins and potential revenue especially if you go high end basically useless wallhangers because they balance like ass or could hurt you in usage. However got a few other things planned out. Along with a bunch of potential till suppliers and other little details needed. Have a sword dealer who specializes in Japanese antiques providing some measurements of originals at my request plus other interested in providing blue prints in exchange for money free reproductions or potential free mounts for the antique. So far the top end line is looking like 1700ish and up. And can potentially include mokumegane fittings especially tsuba. Full ray skin wrap or potentially wrap and a half for the tsuka. Likely the ito wrap is going to be done by aftermarket 3rd party artists so essential full custom mount level work. For European and other types of swords or arms depends. Some will be cheaper due to material costs and less time needed some might end up just as or more expensive. Idea is some of everything sword and arms wise and everything based off original antiques and exact examples. Meaning you might end up with lots of choices to select from. Asian line is aimed to be 500 to 1k ish. But might not have every blade geometry available, and likely won't have as many custom options. Also for katana gonna be a more traditional heat treatment procedure and have a normal spine vs bainite.
Howard Clark IMO is one of the most talented smith's but also an extremely talented metalurgist and extremely helpful with passing info onto new smith's. He essentially created his own custom modified version of 1086 called 1086M. He has created this heattreatment on 2 different forms of L6 alloy and potentially a 3rd L6 substitute. Also further more. Not all bainite is hard. It's often extremely soft. It requires time to create higher HRC bainite. I've actually recently recreated this process but on a different steel. But some details. Lower bainite is hard and strong. Stronger per hrc then tempered martensite in many steels but not all. Upper bainite formed at higher Temps and shorter time periods is weak and soft. For example. To get 60hrc in 5160 takes approximately 90 hours to create or more. Also. Could I ask you about how to get a Howard clark into Japan for competitions? The whole who you know may be helpful for my quest to replicate some originals to extremely high degree. Specifically for practictioners. Planning to try and find blades that'll fit western practitioners and taller people more properly. I do know one thing. Recreating his process is not a simple process. And my learning of bainite wasn't even originally in regards to swords. The amount of metallurgy is literally mind breaking. And even once you figure it out. You gotta tune things which is literally headache inducing. I will say an absolutely beautiful sword. If I manage to get my sword company going I'll have to send you one of my bainite katana to get your impressions. Nihonto also very often contain fast bainite. It's called utsuri. It also happens alot in hitatsura hamon katana. There's also a antique European sword with a crazy bainite heattreatment and a surprisingly pure blade steel that's unusually pattern welded. I like to think of Howard clark as our modern day version of that ancient Smith or the ulfbhert smith's or other famous smith's. He created something so unique and had the knowledge to create it. All of us who recreate it are just copies. And if Howard does it the way I think he does then he's truely a master Smith with no modern equal in terms of what he offers. The fact I recreated something a legend like him has created gives me hope for other research projects I have.
@@alientude Thanks for replying mate. I have two katana by Simon and they are very nice. I will be doing vidoes of them soon and a few other Japanese sword videos
During the Edo period you might find writing on the nakago with a mei from a sword tester, stating that the sword successfully made a specific cut through a body
I don't usually click on Katana reviews because most look just to similar. While this one looks quite standard too, it just looked like superior quality. I can't quite point my finger on it, but I was glad to be proven right...
Bainite is just steel grain between martensite and ferrite ... every Katana ever made differentially hardened has bainite in the spine . Bainite is just steel that was not brought all the way to martensitic heat before quench or steel that had clay blocking some of it from the hardening process ... it is not a super big huge deal . Sounds cool though .
Beautiful sword. I really like when they use a more tachi style koshirae,and im a sucker for rayskin,lol. I haven’t tried my L6’s yet,but it seems L6, and S7 is getting less expensive and more companies are dealing in it.
Relistically, The price of the amount of steel that went into this sword is negligible. It's all the processing and labour that make a sword expensive.
@@brunovandooren3762 yes,i am fully aware that steel has a rather standard economic pricetag,and its the work that goes into making the blade that can produce higher costs. My point was that more sword companies are selling L6 steel swords.
did you click the link in bio for destructive tests lol...this is not his sword its on loan, he isnt going to intentionally damage it. Plenty of people have damaged swords on water bottle necks.
It's not a nihonto. It likely has oil on it. And it's actually fine if you take care of your blades or handle them often. In fact it wasn't until the edo period samurai even oiled their swords or cared. During the waring periods swords got abused xD.
@@amazonit3214 either you are a complete idiot,or you are just ignorant..But he did mention in the video it is not his Katana ,it is on “loan “.# 2 By putting his hands on the blade tells me that dude has absolutely no knowledge of how to handle a Katana ,or carbon steel in general ..lol
@@bmxriderforlife1234 It does not matter whether it is an authentic Nihonto or not ,it is made of Carbon Steel ..And L6 in particular is more prone to rust then ordinary carbon steel..
Well done. The price on these now comes out closer to $10k when complete. Howard charges $5k for the bare blade out of polish, Figure that polish is $1k-$2kish, Habaki $300ish, and mount (ito carving the saya, lacquer work) is around $1k-$2k depending. Then you get fittings, Handachi stuff like that antique or modern could easily be another $3k if made to fit a modern blade. It all adds up and that money does not include the time to get it done, the stress of shipping, or the patience required to wait often years to complete.
That katana would cost +/- $15k to replace today.
@MrX XXX By a large margin.
^^Yes I have one
I now know the feeling ,shipping stress 😩 😊😅 llolol not
ハワードクラークの刀は、日本人から見ても興味深いです。
やや工業的に作られたせいか50000ドルというのは、伝統的な日本刀に比べると安いですね。伝統的な日本刀は新品で60000ドル〜80000ドル程度です。
複雑な熱処理や成型技術、実用的な装飾を施すため、仕方ない値段の高さだと思います。
73.66cmの刃長というのは2尺4寸という長さで、身長170cm〜175cmの人が振るのに適切だと言われています。
日本人の平均は170cmよりも少し小さいので、外国人が使うように想定された日本刀としては、適切な長さだと思います。
ロングソードの扱いに慣れているのですね！ (伝統的な扱い方とは異なるものの)日本刀の扱いも上手いと思います。綺麗な刃筋(cutting line)です。
no the 50k+ japanese swords youre paying for their reputation...that is it lol its 40k+ markup for reputation not that level of work/effort put in. the first 10k is their effort/work/materials/skill
Such a beautiful katana! Thank you Steve for being so generous!
Howard Clark is a legend!, I’m sure that sword is nothing less than awesome, great cutting and very cool review!
Another great review, Kyle. Gorgeous blade and tosogu!
Thank you kindly!
Great review, buddy! And beautiful sword. Looking forward to the review of the Sheng, as I've wondered about them recently.
A very detailed and objective review. An extraordinary katana for mat cutting purpose. The choices of the fitting speak for the owner's understanding of the sport of tameshigiri. The way it handles reflects perfectly what you need for a grass cutter, not a dueling sword or battlefield sidearm. He is also quite generous to lend it to a number of practitioners and to you.
What you feel about the differences in handling between this sword and an European longsword--especially one by Tom Kinder isn't due to your inexperience or your familiarity with Euro style swords over nihonto, but based on facts. They are used in different ways, even when you factor in this sword's purpose of grass cutter. 25% distal taper, and 24% profile taper (both linear mostly) are great for this sport, but the mass distribution simply make it not as point nimble as the longsword TomKin made, with 62% distal taper and 55% profile taper. Of course longswords are a lot longer so they NEED that extra tapering to make the upper portion exponentially lighter than the lower portion. European swords and Japanese swords are used in different ways, and it's totally alright to notice the drastic differences of their handling characteristics. 👍
You seem really impressed right off the bat , just like the ambience or something got you .
I don't get it. You're telling me its also a spring still and can bend past 90 degrees?
>120° it's incredible, from video I watched. I could not believe what I was seeing.
Alright I'm sold. Time to start saving up.
It's funny, I remember way back when I got a hold of the L6 Destruction video and was all indignant like "ha! If ye need a sword THAT durable then ye've got no business using one in the first place!" But then deep inside my heart, a loud voice rang out yelling "I WANT ONE!!!!"
20 years later, it's still the dream.
How would you feel if someone started a company making bainite bodied katana out of a different steel on a production level out of Canada?
Don't think I do it the same way he does but I recently recreated this heat treatment process. Might start a company selling an Asian line to my specs(all based off originals differentially hardened but more traditional) and then same blade specs tighter tolerances different steel and martensite edge bainite body made in Canada.
Thinking around the 2k price point maybe some closer to 1k depends on some operations costs and such. Plus what kinda deal I can work out in steel procurement.
@@bmxriderforlife1234 I'd feel pretty interested I think, hahahaha.
@@bmxriderforlife1234 i would be interested
@@bmxriderforlife1234 ooo very interesting, any further news?
@@mrstarfishh33 still working on talks with potential investors. Gonna need a decent bit of start up capital to hit production numbers that would even make sense.
And I may have to start with my planned Asian made lower cost line first to help use the profits from that to help fund the factory for the other line.
However have a factory plan kinda set up and some ideas that help reduce production costs and increase quality among other things. As well as a whole more environmentally friendly set up for production then would normally be the case.
Just need to hope I find an investor who can actually see the potential revenue and profits as well as the legitimacy of the plan.
Found a few rich sword nerds that were interested but they're all more into fantasy or video game bs and wanna start with that despite the fact it's hurt the public image of the brand if you start with useless wallhangers and reduce the profit margins and potential revenue especially if you go high end basically useless wallhangers because they balance like ass or could hurt you in usage.
However got a few other things planned out. Along with a bunch of potential till suppliers and other little details needed. Have a sword dealer who specializes in Japanese antiques providing some measurements of originals at my request plus other interested in providing blue prints in exchange for money free reproductions or potential free mounts for the antique.
So far the top end line is looking like 1700ish and up. And can potentially include mokumegane fittings especially tsuba. Full ray skin wrap or potentially wrap and a half for the tsuka. Likely the ito wrap is going to be done by aftermarket 3rd party artists so essential full custom mount level work.
For European and other types of swords or arms depends. Some will be cheaper due to material costs and less time needed some might end up just as or more expensive.
Idea is some of everything sword and arms wise and everything based off original antiques and exact examples. Meaning you might end up with lots of choices to select from.
Asian line is aimed to be 500 to 1k ish. But might not have every blade geometry available, and likely won't have as many custom options. Also for katana gonna be a more traditional heat treatment procedure and have a normal spine vs bainite.
Absolutely beautiful craftsmanship ❤🙏🤘
Howard Clark IMO is one of the most talented smith's but also an extremely talented metalurgist and extremely helpful with passing info onto new smith's.
He essentially created his own custom modified version of 1086 called 1086M. He has created this heattreatment on 2 different forms of L6 alloy and potentially a 3rd L6 substitute.
Also further more. Not all bainite is hard. It's often extremely soft. It requires time to create higher HRC bainite. I've actually recently recreated this process but on a different steel.
But some details. Lower bainite is hard and strong. Stronger per hrc then tempered martensite in many steels but not all.
Upper bainite formed at higher Temps and shorter time periods is weak and soft.
For example. To get 60hrc in 5160 takes approximately 90 hours to create or more.
Also. Could I ask you about how to get a Howard clark into Japan for competitions? The whole who you know may be helpful for my quest to replicate some originals to extremely high degree. Specifically for practictioners.
Planning to try and find blades that'll fit western practitioners and taller people more properly.
I do know one thing. Recreating his process is not a simple process. And my learning of bainite wasn't even originally in regards to swords. The amount of metallurgy is literally mind breaking.
And even once you figure it out. You gotta tune things which is literally headache inducing.
I will say an absolutely beautiful sword. If I manage to get my sword company going I'll have to send you one of my bainite katana to get your impressions.
Nihonto also very often contain fast bainite. It's called utsuri. It also happens alot in hitatsura hamon katana.
There's also a antique European sword with a crazy bainite heattreatment and a surprisingly pure blade steel that's unusually pattern welded.
I like to think of Howard clark as our modern day version of that ancient Smith or the ulfbhert smith's or other famous smith's. He created something so unique and had the knowledge to create it.
All of us who recreate it are just copies. And if Howard does it the way I think he does then he's truely a master Smith with no modern equal in terms of what he offers.
The fact I recreated something a legend like him has created gives me hope for other research projects I have.
Agreed, Howard Clark is a wizard at metallurgy!
I know it sounds life sacrilege, but I love to see one of these put through a heavy usage test, to compare to a S5 katana.
So this is basically a +6 katana at this point
Nice one. Have had any Simon Lee swords
I haven't had the pleasure of handling a Simon Lee sword, no.
@@alientude Thanks for replying mate. I have two katana by Simon and they are very nice. I will be doing vidoes of them soon and a few other Japanese sword videos
But, can it cut through the pilled dead bodies of seven bandits?
If you have the arm for it.... i believe the blade will deliver....this is a challenge where skill and technology should work together.
@@criscasbalbas7346 I believe you forgot to input the faith factor! :)
During the Edo period you might find writing on the nakago with a mei from a sword tester, stating that the sword successfully made a specific cut through a body
I don't usually click on Katana reviews because most look just to similar. While this one looks quite standard too, it just looked like superior quality. I can't quite point my finger on it, but I was glad to be proven right...
Thanks for watching!
Great video!
Thanks!
Bainite is just steel grain between martensite and ferrite ... every Katana ever made differentially hardened has bainite in the spine . Bainite is just steel that was not brought all the way to martensitic heat before quench or steel that had clay blocking some of it from the hardening process ... it is not a super big huge deal . Sounds cool though .
Thank you for the review. 👍 Inspires me to continue to save my nickels for one.
That sword has gotta be leaps and bounds above anything made from tamahagane
I have one in my collection
Beautiful sword. I really like when they use a more tachi style koshirae,and im a sucker for rayskin,lol. I haven’t tried my L6’s yet,but it seems L6, and S7 is getting less expensive and more companies are dealing in it.
Relistically, The price of the amount of steel that went into this sword is negligible. It's all the processing and labour that make a sword expensive.
@@brunovandooren3762 yes,i am fully aware that steel has a rather standard economic pricetag,and its the work that goes into making the blade that can produce higher costs. My point was that more sword companies are selling L6 steel swords.
Mighty.
Pardon me, but that background music make this review scarier
Hhhh, water bottles for test cutting. Come on now, not what I would exactly call rigorous.
did you click the link in bio for destructive tests lol...this is not his sword its on loan, he isnt going to intentionally damage it. Plenty of people have damaged swords on water bottle necks.
at that price I would just save up for an authentic Japanese katana
They are $USD 50-65k + more, for comparable from what I've read.
Price is alwAys a factor
Stunning
That dude touching the blade with his barehands makes me cringe .
Why? It's his sword so he can do whatever he wants
It's not a nihonto. It likely has oil on it. And it's actually fine if you take care of your blades or handle them often. In fact it wasn't until the edo period samurai even oiled their swords or cared.
During the waring periods swords got abused xD.
@@amazonit3214 either you are a complete idiot,or you are just ignorant..But he did mention in the video it is not his Katana ,it is on “loan “.# 2 By putting his hands on the blade tells me that dude has absolutely no knowledge of how to handle a Katana ,or carbon steel in general ..lol
@@bmxriderforlife1234 It does not matter whether it is an authentic Nihonto or not ,it is made of Carbon Steel ..And L6 in particular is more prone to rust then ordinary carbon steel..
@@nesking3115 bro if u r not an idiot you know that in fight u can hold any sword in halfsword. But if it's not his sword it's kinda cringe ngl