This Balaur Arms Katana in Shirasaya settings answers the call for a high-quality, clay-tempered blade in the traditional Shirasaya mounting. Many other shirasaya on the market are fitted with lesser blades, which is unfortunate since the simple, clean lines of Shirasaya style mounting deliberately focus attention to the blade – with no other embellishment to distract from the essence of the blade, this is a showcase to the skill of the bladesmith’s art and the deep cultural gravitas of the Katana blade which altogether give the Shirasaya its deadly elegance. This Shirasaya sword has been deliberately left with plain, unfinished wood for the handle and saya scabbard to give you the option to stain, oil, paint or even carve it to your liking – or you can simply let it age naturally!
The blade is forged from tough T10 high carbon steel and its tempestuous Togari hamon clearly shows where the the differing thicknesses of clay were applied to the blade before quenching it to harden the steel edge. The blade edge has a Niku form to give it resilience from edge damage. A geometric Yokote tip shows where the tip is formed into separately angled planes which reinforce the tip with a wedge-shaped form to give it great durability for resisting damage when used to puncture or thrust – a detail often overlooked by many other Katana who use differential polishing to visually simulate this feature. The habaki is crafted from brass and the grip and saya scabbard are well-carved in plain wood, ready to be finished to your liking or allowed to age entirely naturally.
Please Note: Like many other production Katana, some small or light scuffs or scratches may be present on the blade
Romeo (verified owner) –
The Blade Is great! You can tell it actually has been clay tempered and it has been traditionally made! It also comes extremely sharp which is also great. Like it says in the description the wood is unfinished but that just gives you room for what you want to do with it so you can have it one of a kind. Overall the sword is great!
SirSleepsAlot (verified owner) –
4.5/5. The blade is superb. Everything is put together nice and tight with no rattles. So far I’ve only done light cutting with it, but it cut through everything like butter, and there’s no rattles to be heard after. DO NOT drop this blade if you enjoy having all your toes, it is deadly sharp. Now the scabbard. It could be better. It looks gorgeous, but there is no lining so be careful not to cut the inside to shreds, and KEEP IT CLEAN the unfinished wood stains extremely easy. Almost had mine ruined because I laid it in some grass. The blade however fits nice and tight so there in almost zero play inside. All in all it’s a great quality blade for the price. Shipping was fast and easy as well. Will order again.
Kevin Giang (verified owner) –
great blade, got a tad unlucky with mine as it had a little bit of rust at the spine of the sword (nothing a little bit of 2000 grit sandpaper couldn’t fix) the blade is phenomenal but i wished the edge was along the whole sword and not just a small section near the tip of the blade whereas the rest of the blade is blunt.
david kornbluth (verified owner) –
Ordered this sword after watching Schola Gladiatoria review. Most interested in having a good value- for- money blade. Didn’t expect high quality saya but was quite disappointed. Almost returned the item when I couldn’t draw it from the saya because the fit was so tight. When I did succeed in drawing the blade I found I couldn’t easily return it to the saya because the fit is so poor. Can’t really be corrected.
Blade is as generally as advertised but I notice that the forge shaped yokote Balaur boasts of has a point – literally – at the junction of the yokote with the blade. I also note that the yokote is not as crisp and distinct as I would expect for a forged shape yokote.
Overall, probably still worth the price but disappointing nevertheless.