Musashi Silver Series Katana: A Quick Overview 

Thanks! The tsuka cores on both of mine were fine, though I did receive a Ryujin Hatamoto (their equivalent range) with a badly split tsuka. On the silvers I did switch out the tsubas with better iron ones and I may replace the fuchi/kashira as they're cheap painted castings. The blades have been a pretty impressive value for the price.

@@michaelrizzo5523 I guess I must’ve just received a lemon for my tsuka then! Did yours require some hammering when disassembling, or did the tsuka slide off easily? And if you don’t mind me asking, how would you go about replacing the kashira? Would you attempt to re-tie the end knot, or would you be redoing the ito entirely?

@@axguo2k A lot of these lower-end Chinese made swords have the blade hammered into a generic tsuka, pin holes drilled through (which can leave metal flash that binds the tang to the wood). If it's too loose, they'll throw in some cheap shims and maybe some epoxy. It tends to come from variations in the tangs from the hand-forging that they don't spend much time (if any) hand-fitting. Often I have to at least do a little tapping on the tsuba with a soft mallet the first few times I disassemble. If it's bad, I may need to insert a screwdriver as a pry bar between the fuchi and the seppa. Then I can clean up rough spots on the tangs myself with files. I've taken my Silvers apart a number of times: They're tight, but not bad, though that's often luck. Unfortunately, when it comes to kashira replacement, I usually only manage to re-tie the existing ito if I've unwrapped the tsuka and reshaped the core (thinned it out or tapered it) which then gives me extra ito to work with for making the end knots. If I'm going to swap a kashira, I usually plan on new ito.

Thanks! Musashi makes some reliable "working" swords for very little money.

@@michaelrizzo5523 I have one on the way from the Silver series to add to my growing collection. Seems these days I spend my time cleaning firearms and oiling katanas. Lol.

@@michaelrizzo5523 Have you ever sharpened one of the Silver Series?

@@317consulting5 I've only had to lightly hone the edges before cutting with a very fine stone or steel to "refresh" the razor sharpness. The only sword like this I've had to seriously resharpen was that Ryujin Hatamoto that I beat the heck out of in my Blade-on-Blade Contact video, which is similar DH 1060.

@@michaelrizzo5523 thank you sir.

I really think I just got a lemon with that one in the production run. Most everyone else seems to have had much better experiences with the Fast Cutter, and my other Musashi swords are great.

@@michaelrizzo5523 sorry to hear it!

Musashi's clay tempered 1060 blades are great inexpensive cutters. Probably the best you can get for the money at Amazon. Great for soft to medium targets. 1060 can take a beating. Fittings on the Silvers may be cheap castings depending on the model. For really hard cutting, I'd look for a 5160 blade.

@@michaelrizzo5523 thank you

@@michaelrizzo5523do they make a 5160 blade?

@@highlanderNC-mr8feI've only seen 1060 and 1095/T10 in their higher end blades. They don't seem to use spring steel.