Cheness Cutleries 'Tenchi' Katana Reviewed!
While it may not suit everyone, I have no reservations in saying that the Cheness Cutlery Tenchi is my favorite monosteel sub US$300 Japanese style sword. And as he revealed in his interview with SBG , it’s also the personal favorite of Cheness Cutlery owner and sword designer, Paul Chen.
And with good reason...
As any of you who have read my other reviews may know, I love a tough sword - a sword that can withstand levels of abuse far beyond what was historically possible. And that's exactly what the Tenchi 9260 Spring Steel Katana is - an incredibly tough sword designed for continual and unrelenting test cutting practice.
In this review, I am not going to spend too much time describing the fittings of these swords. Because the thing is - just looking at these swords would give you no indication as to what they are truly capable of...
Cheness Cutleries Tenchi Katana
The Tenchi is very much like all of the other swords in the Cheness Cutlery line up, that is to say plain fittings and an attractive, but ultimately utilitarian blade with a 'tameshigiri polish'.
The antiqued Miyamoto Musashi style solid brass double ‘c’ ring tsuba gives the Tenchi a somewhat ‘Ronin-like’ character – almost as if you might expect to see it in the hands of a tough, swaggering Ronin from a Kurosawa film. The rest of the handle has matching brass fittings with panels of real same (rayskin) bound by a cheap but tightly wound and practical cotton ito wrap and finally secured with two mekugi pegs (one winter harvested bamboo, and the lower one brass). Nothing flash, but nothing totally unattractive either. The fittings are functionality all the way.
Since this sword is through hardened monosteel, the hamon is obviously cosmetic and acid etched, but is quite attractive and real looking none-the-less. The overall polish is not a mirror finish, but if you are going to be doing justice to this sword, and using it frequently on a variety of targets, it won't matter much anyway - all 'user swords' get a little scuffed up and need the occasional polish with some abrasive paper, scotch brite pads and metal glow polish.
The secret of their durability is in the choice of steel. You see, 9260 Spring Steel contains a small amount of a Silicon alloying agent which significantly reduces fatigue and makes the sword 'super resilient' and was originally used in fencing foils, which as you know how the ability to return to center after a significant bend. Cheness Cutlery were the first sword manufacturers to try this with a Katana, and you'll soon see that the end result is truly spectacular...
PUTTING THE TENCHI TO THE TEST! If you've seen Martin 'Oz' Austwicks test to destruction of the (now discontinued) Cheness 9260 Shura Katana - which is, other than the appearance of the fittings, identical to the Tenchi, you'll have some idea of what it takes to destroy one of these swords. But destruction isn't the aim of the tests shown below - what I want to do is demonstrate what this sword can do at the very edge of its limits.
Now naturally enough, the Tenchi makes short work of targets such as water filled plastic bottles and cardboard boxes. That much is a given, so I am not going to bother much with the results of testing the Tenchi on these mediums other than to say they meet and exceed expectations!
And indeed, the same applies to test cuts against the traditional cutting target of choice, tatami omote. Whether half mats or full, the Tenchi sails on through these without so much as breaking a sweat, and I'd go so far as to say that even day in day out cutting sessions would barely even begin to blunt the hardened edge, and even the worst cuts could not damage or bend this sword out of shape.
"So let's step it up a notch or two...!"
Now normally, you wouldn't go much harder with a Katana than tatami and bamboo. After all, a Katana was essentially designed for cutting human flesh and bone, not plastic or tree trunks. But since the 9260 steel is so resilient, I decided to up the ante a little and try cutting some very thick and heavy plastic containers - in this case an impact resistant 10 gallon water filled chemical jug monstrosity.
They are simply too heavy and thick (these things are designed to be dropped from 6 feet when full without splitting!). But each slice from the Tenchi was merciless, ripping open a deep, long gash through the plastic and spilling water everywhere from the heavy target until at last it was knocked from the stand, depleted and mutilated beyond recognition. A quick check of the blade revealed no edge trauma whatsoever nor any structural damage to the sword, which with just about every other sword in this price range would see it bent out of shape and/or blunted beyond practical usage.
Impressed by the 'wounds' this blade inflicted on the heavy plastic containers, it was time to take on some tree limbs...
Of course, attacking a tree branch is a rather dubious thing to do and definitely not a recommended practice. But I was confident that the Tenchi could handle it. What surprised me though was just how easily it handled it...
With one effortless stroke, paying more attention to form than power, the Tenchi lopped a 2" sapling clean in half.
What shocked me the most was that cutting this 2" sapling was exceptionally easier than I thought. Essentially, the blade did all the work. And the best part - it was totally undamaged, in fact the cut was so clean it left not even a single mark (not to mention that it was considerably satisfying, I could cut these saplings all day - but alas, then I wouldn't have a garden - though as you can see from the video below, I have also previously tested it's cutting ability on a 3" tree branch)
To say I was impressed by the Tenchi's cutting power was an understatement. So now it was time to push it right to the edge - and do what I never in my wildest dreams thought I could do with a production katana in this price range...
I stood before my trusty woodblock, which has bore the full brunt of blows from several much heavier, beefier early model Generation 2 5160 Spring Steel medieval style swords. Just looking at the Tenchi, I thought that slamming a Katana into it was sword suicide. So throwing caution to the wind, and trusting that the flexible, forgiving blade would not shatter, I let out a controlled kiai and brought it down with a straight, overhead strike.
"I've never seen a blade bury itself so deeply in the woodblock before!"
I repeated the exercise once more, and then a few more times for good luck, and each time it bit so deeply that I was in awe of its damage potential. As you can clearly see from the videos, this is one very frightening sword!
With the steel buried deeply in the wood, I bent it from side to side, testing its extraordinary heat treatment and steel construction and while it certainly was not in any way 'floppy', you can see how it would forgive even the most clumsily executed cut.
Of course, such deep cuts into an unforgiving medium like a wood block is going to leave some scuff marks. But apart from that, the blade was steel as keen and as strong as ever.
A quick once over with some abrasive paper to polish out the scratches and a treatment of metal polish on a scotch brite pad soon had it back to a shiny tameshigiri polish - though the hamon, which is cosmetic anyway, was much fainter and harder to see. But that didn't worry me in the least. I didn't buy this sword for its appearance - I bought it for backyard cutting fun - and as you can see, it went far beyond my wildest expectations of a Japanese sword...
CONCLUSION The Tenchi suits me down to a 'T'.
Its built like a tank but handles like a fighter plane. Its cutting ability is supreme, and the heavier the target, the more it seems to shine. When I first showed its potential to my friends, their jaws literally dropped to the floor...
The US$279.99 price tag for these babies is an absolute bargain. But the only problem is, since they first came out and people have started learning about what they can do, Cheness Cutlery can't keep up with demand and they sell out very soon after they come back in...
It's pretty obvious why. I firmly believe that as a beater sword, the Tenchi and the Shura represent the very best value for money Katana out there.
I realize that such over the top test cutting isn't for everyone. And indeed, I can't really recommend it as going beyond the bounds of traditional targets like the woodblock test will leave a few scuffs and scratches on the blade its true. But as with my tests and Martin Austwicks destructive testing, it’s good to know exactly how much punishment these swords can take.
And as you have clearly seen, the answer is 'a hell of a lot!'
WHERE TO BUY
The Tenchi is available at Cheness Cutlery for US$279.99.
But you can pick it up right here for the guaranteed best deal on the internet at just US$249.99 in the 'Cheness 9260' section of my SBG Sword Store - plus you also get FREE SHIPPING in the US, a FREE Sword Stand, Display box and sword bag too!
I hope this review of the Tenchi was helpful. To return to A Beginners Guide to Buying Authentic Japanese Swords from Cheness Cutleries 'Tenchi' Katana Reviewed!, click here.
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What is perhaps most surprising of all is that unlike most other Japanese style beaters, the Tenchi's weight and balance is comparable and within to tolerances of a real Shinken. These swords aren't particularly thick and beefy like cold steel Katana. Weighing in at 2lbs 9oz (2lbs 5oz with fuller) with a point of balance at 6" above the tsuba (5" with fuller) they handle extremely well, and again - their weight and balance belie their amazing structural integrity...
Of course, cutting one of these clean in half is more or less an impossible task...
