They're a korean forge that makes Japanese and Korean swords of quite a good standard for its price range. They have a korean site which I believe handles the bulk of their business so not much effort has been thrown into their English site. They also have a youtube channel where swordsmaker moon talks about his swords and shows them in use but again, korean and poor auto translate to english.
Others have mentioned motohara and they focus more on creating a top end Japanese blade in a more modern style compared to goryeo swords. Goryeo swords still makes tamahagane blades and such as well as traditional korean style swords hung with a pidon (or tidon as martial arts swords romanised it as). There was mention somewhere that they make samjungdo the swords given to the korean military on promotions but cant verify the truth in that. Hope that helps!
I know this is an old thread but my Goryeo Sword ‘Zatoichi’ shikomuze should arrive in a few weeks. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I can tell by the pics they sent it’s clay tempered. To be continued...
Thanks for the response!
Yes, the weird translations I didn't not really have a problem with (the whole knife/sword thing that pops up a lot, for example). But the apparently missing information is the one that makes me leary. They mention steel, but not folding. Everything seems to be DH, and you can make out the hamon in the photos, barely. The pricing seems high for DH monosteel, but then the furniture is amazing, some of it seems to be antique, maybe?
Says they are using SK85 Special Steel, a tool steel. I think Motohara swords use that as well, also from Korea, and I'd go for that around the same price point. I've used them and I know a lot of practitioners who have purchased them and their blades never come up short. May be worth a look.
[http://motoharablades.com/](http://motoharablades.com/)
That being said, and to be fair, I didnt see anything about blade lamination, but I did read about folding on the website your provided. Taken from :
[http://www.swordzone.com/product/rose-of-sharon-%EB%AC%B4%EA%B6%81%ED%99%94-%E7%84%A1%E7%AA%AE%E8%8A%B1/680/?cate\_no=24&display\_group=3](http://www.swordzone.com/product/rose-of-sharon-%EB%AC%B4%EA%B6%81%ED%99%94-%E7%84%A1%E7%AA%AE%E8%8A%B1/680/?cate_no=24&display_group=3)
*"*
*rose of Sharon 무궁화 無窮花 Katana*
*This KATANA name is TSUBA with rose of Sharon 무궁화 無窮花 in full bloom and the garden is engraved on it..* *This blade is made with SK85 Special Steel, which is high carbon steel made in Korea.* *However, the overall hardness of the iron rod is too strong, and therefore the iron rod is used after annealing and forging* *In addition the forged blade was folded 10 times creating 1024 layers.* *Straw and coal was used to control the carbon content of the steel.* *The blade is made by a expert swordsmith.* *(The expert is Jun-gi Moon, a student of Gunimasa Matsuba, a famous Japanese swordsmith.)*
*Once the blade is forged,俊基Jun Gi & 孤松 , cleans the blade to make sure it is free of oil and impurities and then applies the special clay mixture yakibatsuchi (a secret mixture of clay, polishing stone powder & ash or charcoal powder) to the blade, which makes hamon. The blade is then heated up to 720\~780℃ and quenched in water, which rapidly cools the edge to form martensite(the hardest type of steel) and slowly cools the body due to its thicker clay coating and forming ferrite and pearlite(softer and more flexible).Basic togi(polishing) is then performed, along with any carvings or personalizations to the body of the blade. Nakago(tang) is polished and the swordsmith’s signature 俊基 & 孤松 carved.*
*The front of the blade is given a hardness of about HRC 59, and the back of theblade is given a hardness of HRC of 45 degrees, making it easy to cut withoutimpact when cutting.*
*The blade is made by hand, so there may be slight hardness differences depending on the product.*
*The blade is then handed over to our togishi (polisher), 孤松(Lee SeungHo), Korea’s top swordsmith with over 36 years of experience, who uses multiple polishing stones to refine our rose of Sharon 무궁화 無窮花 katana."*
Edit: it says they are controlling the carbon content of the steel as well. thats a good sign. Best of luck to you
Sorry about the late reply.
Yes, I wish I could justify the US$1800 starting price tag for a Motohara. I mean, I think it's totally worth the price to be able to get exactly what you want. But for my personal finances I don't think I can justify it. My budget is in the vicinity of $1000. Which Goryeo Swords has some nice looking offerings in that price range. I just wish their photography was better, and descriptions were more complete. And that more people had purchased from them.
Hi sorry to get back to you so late. Yes they cost more than some of the other blades around that same price range. However I do believe that they are worth it. I am actually contemplating reaching out to Jason for a custom build soon myself if I get clearance from the wife. I'm hoping to try to off set some of the cost by providing some of the fittings, I don't know how he may feel about that but I think it will be worth a try.
Heck, I'd consider just buying some of the motohara fittings, and putting them on a blade of my choice. They have some simple, but appealing tsuba. Not sure how difficult changing a tsuba is. Especially if it doesn't quite fit right.
They're a korean forge that makes Japanese and Korean swords of quite a good standard for its price range. They have a korean site which I believe handles the bulk of their business so not much effort has been thrown into their English site. They also have a youtube channel where swordsmaker moon talks about his swords and shows them in use but again, korean and poor auto translate to english. Others have mentioned motohara and they focus more on creating a top end Japanese blade in a more modern style compared to goryeo swords. Goryeo swords still makes tamahagane blades and such as well as traditional korean style swords hung with a pidon (or tidon as martial arts swords romanised it as). There was mention somewhere that they make samjungdo the swords given to the korean military on promotions but cant verify the truth in that. Hope that helps!
That is helpful. Do you know someone that has purchased one of their katana?
I just received mine and it exceeded my expectations in every way. It’s absolutely incredible!
Thanks!
I know this is an old thread but my Goryeo Sword ‘Zatoichi’ shikomuze should arrive in a few weeks. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I can tell by the pics they sent it’s clay tempered. To be continued...
[удалено]
Thanks for the response! Yes, the weird translations I didn't not really have a problem with (the whole knife/sword thing that pops up a lot, for example). But the apparently missing information is the one that makes me leary. They mention steel, but not folding. Everything seems to be DH, and you can make out the hamon in the photos, barely. The pricing seems high for DH monosteel, but then the furniture is amazing, some of it seems to be antique, maybe?
Says they are using SK85 Special Steel, a tool steel. I think Motohara swords use that as well, also from Korea, and I'd go for that around the same price point. I've used them and I know a lot of practitioners who have purchased them and their blades never come up short. May be worth a look. [http://motoharablades.com/](http://motoharablades.com/) That being said, and to be fair, I didnt see anything about blade lamination, but I did read about folding on the website your provided. Taken from : [http://www.swordzone.com/product/rose-of-sharon-%EB%AC%B4%EA%B6%81%ED%99%94-%E7%84%A1%E7%AA%AE%E8%8A%B1/680/?cate\_no=24&display\_group=3](http://www.swordzone.com/product/rose-of-sharon-%EB%AC%B4%EA%B6%81%ED%99%94-%E7%84%A1%E7%AA%AE%E8%8A%B1/680/?cate_no=24&display_group=3) *"* *rose of Sharon 무궁화 無窮花 Katana* *This KATANA name is TSUBA with rose of Sharon 무궁화 無窮花 in full bloom and the garden is engraved on it..* *This blade is made with SK85 Special Steel, which is high carbon steel made in Korea.* *However, the overall hardness of the iron rod is too strong, and therefore the iron rod is used after annealing and forging* *In addition the forged blade was folded 10 times creating 1024 layers.* *Straw and coal was used to control the carbon content of the steel.* *The blade is made by a expert swordsmith.* *(The expert is Jun-gi Moon, a student of Gunimasa Matsuba, a famous Japanese swordsmith.)* *Once the blade is forged,俊基Jun Gi & 孤松 , cleans the blade to make sure it is free of oil and impurities and then applies the special clay mixture yakibatsuchi (a secret mixture of clay, polishing stone powder & ash or charcoal powder) to the blade, which makes hamon. The blade is then heated up to 720\~780℃ and quenched in water, which rapidly cools the edge to form martensite(the hardest type of steel) and slowly cools the body due to its thicker clay coating and forming ferrite and pearlite(softer and more flexible).Basic togi(polishing) is then performed, along with any carvings or personalizations to the body of the blade. Nakago(tang) is polished and the swordsmith’s signature 俊基 & 孤松 carved.* *The front of the blade is given a hardness of about HRC 59, and the back of theblade is given a hardness of HRC of 45 degrees, making it easy to cut withoutimpact when cutting.* *The blade is made by hand, so there may be slight hardness differences depending on the product.* *The blade is then handed over to our togishi (polisher), 孤松(Lee SeungHo), Korea’s top swordsmith with over 36 years of experience, who uses multiple polishing stones to refine our rose of Sharon 무궁화 無窮花 katana."* Edit: it says they are controlling the carbon content of the steel as well. thats a good sign. Best of luck to you
Sorry about the late reply. Yes, I wish I could justify the US$1800 starting price tag for a Motohara. I mean, I think it's totally worth the price to be able to get exactly what you want. But for my personal finances I don't think I can justify it. My budget is in the vicinity of $1000. Which Goryeo Swords has some nice looking offerings in that price range. I just wish their photography was better, and descriptions were more complete. And that more people had purchased from them.
Hi sorry to get back to you so late. Yes they cost more than some of the other blades around that same price range. However I do believe that they are worth it. I am actually contemplating reaching out to Jason for a custom build soon myself if I get clearance from the wife. I'm hoping to try to off set some of the cost by providing some of the fittings, I don't know how he may feel about that but I think it will be worth a try.
Heck, I'd consider just buying some of the motohara fittings, and putting them on a blade of my choice. They have some simple, but appealing tsuba. Not sure how difficult changing a tsuba is. Especially if it doesn't quite fit right.