Hello. I am not sure where to post this since I have also become the distributor of Zheng Qi Ren's swords since the
beginning of 2015. Thus I do not think posting this in sword review section of the forum would be "objective"
enough.

Earlier today, I have received a sample sword from Zheng, which is 64 USD retail before shipping. I am positively
surprised by the quality of the whole package. There were features done so nice on this sword that they exceeded
even the custom jobs I have personally purchased, such as the straightness of the edge line. Anyway, I am not much a
writer so I am going to let the photos do the talking.

Here comes the spec. of the sword first.

Price: 64 USD
Overall length: 39.5"
Blade length: 29"
Base width: 1.25"
Tip width: 0.9"
Base thickness: 7.5mm
Tip thickness: 4.5mm
Weight: 2lb 2oz, 0.98 kg
POB: 6.5"
Blade Hardness: 50 to 55 HRC at blade, <40HRC at forte.

I will be testing the sword in cutting and lateral impacts in the following days, updating this thread along the
tests.

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Shown above is the box that came after I unpacked the cardboard box.

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The sword was well packed inside the box, with newspapers and bubble wrap to protect the item.

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With the wrapping removed, I took photos of the hilt, the sheath as well as the fittings. They are all nicely done
and fit very well. No looseness out of the box.

Hilt:
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Sheath:
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The blade features a hybrid polish. The edge bevel has a satin polish that is easy to maintain. One might scratch up
the blade in cutting practice and can easily fix the polish oneself by using scrotchbrite. The blade flat features a
higher polish that is almost mirror, which will resist humidity building up and resists rust better.

Blade:
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At this price level, it is understandably that the yokote is purely cosmetic.

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The edge bevel is a flat convex grind, which is a nice surprise where the majority out there were flat grind.

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The edge also came sharp enough to cut paper. I took photos of the edge to show that there were no light reflection
on different portion of the blade.

Edge:
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The base of the blade shown a blunt section, which is normal. Then from this point on, there was no light reflection
along the length.

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I used a spotlight to light up the area but still no light reflection.

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The blade came straight, and the edge line was done very straight too. This is the part that highly impressed me
because I have handled many swords, including custom made ones by master smiths in North America. The straightness
of the edge line surpassed some of those I owned.

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Straightness as seen from the spine.

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Straightness of the edge line.

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Symmetry of the sword tip from the spine.

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Symmetry of the sword tip from the edge.

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The weight of the sword is 980gram.
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The balance is 6.5" off the guard.
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The width at base is 1.25".
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The width at tip is 0.9".
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The base thickness is 7.5mm.
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The tip thickness is 4.5mm.
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Overall length is 39.5".
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Blade length is 29"
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http://youtu.be/Gm2wWyaE-ck

Sword test video. We had performed test cuts and multi-directional impact tests.

The official sale price for this model has been set at 92 USD before shipping. Anyone interested may PM me.

I have just ordered this katana from Lancelot. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a certain amount of customization is available upon request.

In my case I requested a real rayskin inner wrap as opposed to the faux rayskin* that comes standard on this sword. That presented no problem other than a little longer wait and a price markup.

Considering what was already a very good price, having read about the quality of the sword in the thread here, and having watched the demo by Lancelot, I consider the final cost to be an excellent deal.

This is my first venture into Japanese type swords, and knowing they can be very expensive I'm satisfied this one will give me a fair, low cost introduction. Just what I need now, another area for my collection to expand into. :\

Jon

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And BTW, I'll give you my appraisal when the piece is in hand.

Jon

Thanks a lot Jon! :D

Lancelot describes the 399 well ( also see: http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=31921 ) but here are some additional comments.
This is my very first Japanese styled sword so my observations are not as informed as perhaps they would be when discussing European styled swords.

I recently received the 399, albeit without the presentation box shown in Lancelot's post, not sure why, perhaps a cost control measure. Anyway, I have it now on a horizontal black stand, so very samurai.

It was enclosed in a cloth travel sack and shipped securely in a plastic wrap & tape covered styrofoam box. There were no marks or scratches on the scabbard or anywhere on the sword itself. I like that.

This piece goes well beyond a 'cheapie'. The build quality and aesthetics are marvelous for the price. Recall that I requested a real ray skin version which elevated the price to a whopping $103.00 + shipping. I'll take that all day long for a piece of this quality.

As for handling, the 399 generally doesn't disappoint, it wields with ease and invites broad strokes. Dry handling is a breeze and quite therapeutic, I haven't as of yet sliced & diced any objects. Well, my wife recently strung up some big plants outside, so ...

The blade, while definitely sharp, is not quite as razor-like as expected, but acceptable. As Lancelot mentions, it's as straight as can be, which apparently is not always the case, especially at this price level.

Bottom line, I'm very satisfied with my acquisition and recommend the 399 to anyone wants to wade into the katana waters, the 399 is a great place to start. I doubt you will regret it. This is coming someone who possesses a fair number of high end A & A and Albion weapons. Unfortunately and as we all know, once you get involved it can only get more costly.

I would have added some pictures, but Lancelot's are dead on the appearance of my example.

Thanks, Jon

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Thanks for your additional insight! They ship EMS to overseas without boxes to keep the weight down. :D

And I have asked Zheng to further sharpen all swords I ordered from that on too. So the future ones will be paper slicing out of the box.