United Cutlery Black 1045 Shikyo Katana Review

The United cutlery Black 1045 Shikyo Katana represented a new direction for this company..

Famous for their movie replicas swords, and other nonfunctional/decorative pieces - they decided to venture out into producing a Katana that was both unique in appearance, but also functional..

While 1045 carbon steel is considered to be the bare minimum for a functional blade, I personally watched this development with interest. While these swords are machine made and the MSRP extremely overpriced, if you know where to look (which of course will tell you where) you can pick them up at a much more reasonable price of just under hundred $140.

In this review, our friend Edward in California will be taking a very close look at this unique looking Katana from The United Cutlery Black line to see how it stacks up..

Shikyo 1045 Katana

"Shikyo" 1045 Katana

Steel	1045 Carbon Steel
Weight	2lbs
Point of Balance	6"
Price Range	US$127 to $259

Statistics

Overall: 43 1/8 inches
Blade: 29 1/2 inches
Guard/Tsuba: 3 inches by 3 inches
Grip: 11 inches
Weight: Aprox 2 lbs.
POB: 6 inches
COP: 14-19 inches

Introduction:

Well, I'll tell everyone interested in katanas right now that if you're looking for a traditional katana, stop right here-- this is not a review you'll be interested in. The United Cutlery Shikyo is definitely geared towards a different market.

After reading the bad rep that United Cutlery katana received here on SBG, SBG user Reisz and I PM'd each other and came up with a solution: seeing as how no one has actually *reviewed* a United Cutlery katana here on the board, we would put down the money and see for ourselves.

I purchased mine here at www.trueswords.com

The text in the ad reads (as of 5/28/09):

"The United Black collection delivers another superior example of the Japanese katana. This is the Shikyo (Japanese for “death”) katana. This sword measures 43 1/8” and features a mirror polished 29 1/2” blade of hand forged 1045 carbon steel with a heavy blood groove. The blade tang has an exclusive stamp that can only be found on a United Black sword blade. The hardwood handle offers black ray skin and custom leather wrap accented with brass menuki and a uniquely designed cast metal guard and pommel. This item includes a coordinating hardwood sheath and is placed in a traditional cloth sword bag with a collectible hanging medallion and packaged in a custom box.

43 1/8" overall, 29 1/2" blade."

Okay, we'll see if real life matches the text.

Historical Overview:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH . . . *Ahem*. Sorry about that. Historically speaking, I can only assume that a katana like this one was made when:

a) A Japanese swordmaker suddenly went insane, or

b) One of his students decided to piss off his instructor . The katana has all the necessary parts to qualify as a katana: tsuka, koshirae, mekugi, menuki, same', tsuka-ito, seppa, tsuba, habaki, and katana blade-- everything is where it should be, and the blade is a shobu-zukuri style. However, that is where any similarity between an historical Japanese blade and this one end. The fittings are modern-themed; this is shown on the blade, the tsuba, and the fuchi and kashira. More on these parts later in the review.

Initial Impressions:

Unpacking this blade was like a cardboard version of a matryoshka doll-- you know, those Russian dolls where one fits inside of another, that fits inside of another, and so on? Well, the blade came in a cardboard box, which in turn housed this:

A red piece of paper advertising "United Black Forged Swords" that covered the sword in *another* box:

Which in turn had the sword wrapped in the usual black cotton bag.

(I wonder: Did Howard Carter have this much trouble when he opened King Tut's sarcophagus? )

Eventually I found a sword in a bag! Looky:

The blade itself was covered in oily goo which helped preserve it during shipping; there was no rust to be seen:

. . . And it came with a True Swords poster and a plastic doodad:

Plastic doodad side one:

Plastic doodad side two:

The plastic doodad must be the "collectible medallion" that True Swords advertised. Frankly, I'm not that impressed.

Components:

The Blade/Nagasa:

Per the website, the blade is 29 and 1/2 inches long, shobu-zukuri style, and it has a 3/4 inch sori and a width of 1 and 1/8 inches. It has a matte-gray finish, and it also has "United Black hand-forged high carbon steel" stamped on one side just above the habaki (note here that I have not wiped off the preservative oil/goo yet in this photo-- it was taken literally moments after unpacking):

. . . on the other side, what appears to be an acid-etched horimono of kanji (edit: per the commentary, katakana) symbols (same goo):

At a guess, I think it says, "Stay away at least ten feet; I'm in the hands of a nerd who has a samurai fetish." (Edit: Per the commentary, it's a katakana spelling of "United Cutlery".) As for the habaki: it's the standard brass one you find on mass-produced blades. No severe gaps or bending; it fits snugly to the blade and against the seppa.

(I promise that there will be more pictures with the goo removed from the blade later in the review .)

Two things I like about this katana right off that bat are the fact that it doesn't have a cosmetic hamon or kissaki. Good. As a result, the blade has a uniform gray finish from habaki to tip that actually makes the blade look *good*, versus adding some tacky attempt at a fake hamon or kissaki-with-boshi. Consider these photos, minus goo, as promised:

Also something that I have not personally seen until this blade: the blade has *two* bo-hi on either side. I assume this is for stylistic purposes, as I'm pretty sure the same light weight could be achieved with just *one* bo-hi. If this is present on an historical blade, someone please show me a picture? Otherwise, from my limited experience I believe this to be a modern construction. (Edit: Per the commentary, the two grooves are 'double so-hi', and there is an historical precedent for this.)

. . . and for those who have clamored for it in my past reviews, I will present something *never* seen before in an ecovolo review: the tang of the blade. With SBG user Kortoso's help --and patience-- we disassembled the katana (or more precisely, he disassembled it, and I took photos ):

The whole shebang:

Close up of one side:

Close up of the other side:

. . . and the signature on the tang:

Is this the 'exclusive stamp' mentioned in the product description? To me, this looks more carved than stamped. After reading this, I think it says, "Good luck putting this thing back together, fool." (Edit: Per the commentary, it is a name: Zheng Li Xiang.)

The tang is in good shape: no cracks, bending, warping, or splitting, no discolorations or anything to show that the metal is weak or in danger of possible metal fatigue.

The Handle/Tsuka:

The tsuka is a hardwood, wrapped in a black same' that appears to be real:

The tsuka-ito is genuine leather, however, for the traditionalists who haven't turned away yet after reading the introduction, the weave-pattern only follows one direction, instead of the traditional alternating pattern. But then, something tells me that United Cutlery wasn't *exactly* focusing on tradition when they put this weapon together. Just guessing, here .

Both mekugi were *firmly* set into the mekugi-ana; taking them out required some real muscle. Even after resetting them, I can guarantee that the tsuka is not moving *anywhere* on the blade. I find this reassuring.

The menuki are gold-colored Asian-style dragons:

. . . the only relatively traditional-looking things on the entire weapon. The color actually accents the black and brown of the tsuka rather nicely; this color combination works.

I found the tsuka to be very firmly constructed; no complaints here.

The Guard/Tsuba:

The tsuba is a black metal that doesn't appear to be iron. Here's a picture of the other side:

As you've noticed, the tsuba has a late-1990's tribal-tattoo look to it. I can only guess that it was to accentuate that this katana is 'hip' and 'edgy'. There are two creatures worked into the pattern that vaguely remind me of the "Audrey Two" plant from "Little Shop of Horrors" . Closer inspection reveals no burrs, flaring from casting, or any flaws-- this tsuba was well constructed. There are holes for kogai and kozuka, but --big surprise-- the katana did not come with kogai or kozuka (and if it did, I'd love to see how they designed them to fit into the theme of *this* weapon ). Random picture of tsuba, in-hand:

One particular thing that I liked is that the seppa are not the low-end gear-tooth ones that I have seen on low-budget models; I've seen these on higher-end models and they are in good shape.

The Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira:

The fuchi and kashira appear to be made of a dark, copper-colored metal that fit the overall color scheme rather nicely. Like the tsuba, they also have that tribal-tattoo look, as shown in the above pictures. Looking at these designs harkens me back to my days haunting goth clubs and coffee houses in an attempt to mimic a disillusioned hipster with goth tendencies. Behold my ex-wannabe goth hipster 1990's CD collection!

Time to put on some Nine Inch Nails or Godsmack, I think . Anyway, back to the review: the fuchi and kashira have minor casting lines on them, but they don't stand out *ridiculously*, nor is anything misaligned. I find the casting seam lines to be a trivial flaw, and easily overlooked.

The Scabbard/Saya:

Hey, look! Something without a tribal tattoo design on it!

The saya is hardwood with black polished lacquer. The sageo is brown cotton:

The saya is in good shape and fits the overall color scheme of the weapon; no complaints here.

Handling Characteristics:

I'm a 5'8", swordsman; I found the sword to be nice and light; no problems controlling my swings with this thing at all. The blade was seated firmly in the tsuka; no tendencies to bend, warp, or rattle at all. Likewise, the blade does not rattle around in the saya, and can be drawn easily enough with one hand. No complaints about handling.

Test Cutting:

Yeah, I bet a bunch of you just skipped the rest of the review and went straight for this part, huh? Luckily, I have some video for you this time. Crappy video, but video nonetheless! We attempted the blade on plastic two-liter bottles, tatami half-mat targets, and full-tatami targets. I want to state right now that my form makes me cringe when I reviewed the video . Anyway, first up: Plastic bottles.

The Coca-Cola bottle, hanging here:

. . . wound up like this:

Yeesh. Bad form. It cut through well enough, but I botched the first part of that cut.

So, we move to the hanging plastic milk jug:

. . . truly Oscar-worthy talent, I tell you. Someone get me an agent! And the end result:

. . . well, this cut went a *little* better than the Coke bottle. This weapon had no problems going through plastic bottle targets, other than what my poor form produced. The weapon performed well here.

Next, tatami half-mat. What started out as this:

. . . ended up as this:

Again, this weapon had no problems going through this target. So far, plastic bottles and tatami half-mats were no match for the 1045 Shikyo.

Next a *full* tatami mat:

Eat your heart out, Mr. Tom "Last Samurai" Cruise .

"Form wasn't too hot". Indeed; if that target was any more jagged, it could be used for a Richter-scale print-out after a day at the San Andreas fault .

Full-tatami targets are where I encountered difficulty. I actually had to use some muscle to get the sword through the target, and several mats confirmed this.

. . . and at the end of it all, it still sliced through a piece of parchment paper cleanly; no rips or tears:

Conclusions:

Overall: Well, as you can tell, this sword is *not* your traditional mass-produced katana: the tribal designs, the double so-hi (Edit: Per the commentary, the double so-hi has an historical precedent.), the blocky kanji (Edit: katakana) horimono, and the lack of hamon and boshi/kissaki definitely set this blade apart. However, it is put together *quite* well: the tsuka is firmly put together, there is no rattling or play when the blade is seated in it, nor is there any rattling or play in the saya when the sword is sheathed. Also, the fittings are not really sloppy: There are casting lines on the fuchi and kashira, however, they are not misaligned-- plus, the design lines are clean and uniform. The blade is solidly constructed: no apparent flaws were visible in the tang or the blade itself when this review was written. When it came to cutting performance, it performed quite well cutting plastic bottles and tatami half-mats.

PROS

• Put together *quite* firmly

• Performed well on "light" targets

• Unusual, but not tasteless, designs

CONS

• Useless little plastic "medallion" came with it

• Could use better packaging, I think

• Crappy little particleboard stand

• Same' appears to be fake; hard to tell

• Full tatami mats seem to be a problem for this blade

BOTTOM LINE

I recommend this weapon to anyone who:

1) Is interested in a katana that doesn't have run-of-the-mill traditional Japanese themes that are found on so many mass-produced katana out there, and

2) Wants a blade for cutting 'light' targets: tatami half-mats, plastic jugs, pool noodles, etc.

Surprisingly enough, given the price I would have expected a low-grade katana made with low-grade materials . . .and this weapon pleasantly surprised me. If all of the other United Cutlery Black blades are constructed, and perform, like this one, I think we might just have found a diamond in the rough of "low-end" mass-produced katana.

Definitely worth the money paid for it at Trueswords.com.

WHERE TO BUY

Obviously from the content of the Review, Edward bought his sword Here at trueswords.com - which was definitely the best choice for both price, speed of delivery and customer service.

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I hope this comparative review of the United Cutlery "Shikyo' Sword was helpful. To return to A Beginners Guide to Authentic Japanese Swords from United Cutlery Black 1045 Shikyo Katana Review, click here