StudioGDT is proud to present you with an exclusive behind the scenes look at the production of a custom pattern welded Katana from RyanSword!
This video shows the pattern welding process, clay application, quenching, forming, polishing, furniture installation, quality control steps and final checking against order form.
My previous purchases with RyanSword and premade blades went well. It was through this that I experienced their exceptional communication and customer service. I decided I wanted to order a custom katana and see what that ended up looking like to compare with one from another manufacturer. During this time, a lot of questions about RyanSword came up in the comments of my other reviews and I thought to myself "what if I could get them to film the ENTIRE production process from start to finish?" That would at least address some of the elephants in the room when it comes to the Longquan mystique. Much to my excitement, they agreed and that is what we have to view today!
There are a lot of myths and mystery about Longquan products/companies. I wont pretend that this video answers them all but it will at least make it clear what one vendor actually does in house and what their process looks like so that you may order in confidence.
I have a lot of respect for any company willing to be transparent, especially when trying to restore an image or trust. No company is without a past or skeletons in the closet, but its about how you handle those issue and how you move forward that matters. Showing video like this also exposes your processes to your competitors, so it is not to be taken likely we have this access.
What you are seeing is a custom order request for a Shihozume pattern sword that is based off of images I provided of an antique. Not only did they need to recreate the profile of the antique but extend and enlarge it to fit my use.
I would like to thank Mr.Chenjiang and Mr.Young for taking the extra time and effort to record this entire process and share it with the world.
Please follow RyanSword on Facebook/KZhead/Instagram and let them know you liked getting an inside look at production!
Link to Manufacturers socials
Facebook: / ryanlongquan
Instagram: / ryansworddotcom
KZhead: / @jarismarvin
Link to my Instagram page...
/ studiogdt
Wow, massive respect to Ryansword for that. That blacksmith is quite skilled, and while I can’t speak to everything else, the forging process is solid.
Thank you for your feedback! It’s cool to see someone comment with forging knowledge
RyanSword feels the process and product are good enough for behinds the scenes work. Wow! Very nice of them and amazing video.
It’s definitely a risk putting yourself out there if you don’t have confidence in what you. Thank you for subscribing!
The fact they send pictures on completion prior to shipment is excellent. I have yet to be disappointed by Ryansword. Plus their swords deliver the best Tachikaze amongst various other brands around their pricepoint.
I agree, not only that but the pictures are of decent quality as well. Ive had others sent to me of my sword on the floor with a camera that took pictures like a 2000s flip phone! They will never claim to be perfect but their customer service and communication is amazing and for me-that means a lot. Thank you for checking it out and commenting!
I own a custom unokubi nodachi from them. I ordered it and received it just around February 2020. I was skeptical at first but man, it is a work of art and yes very functional. I almost want another.
@@Driftxcess1 I keep hearing about their nodachi! I might have to try one…people seem really pleased which is interesting because it’s not like they are easy to make.
@StudioGDT I have one from their sub-brand/related brand Legacy Blades, it's pretty nice for the price
Great video. Nicely done. That was really cool of RyanSword to do the footage of your sword. Great job!
Thanks! At least it answers a few questions in the world of Longquan vendors!
@@StudioGDT i have a couple laminated blades from Ryansword,so yeah,its very cool to see how they were made.
Now I love my Ryansword 1317 even more.Thanks for posting this!
My pleasure!
That was great thinking to ask them to video the process of your actual sword. Thank you.
It was worth an ask!
Christopher. What an outstanding video! I am loving your content on your channel. Keep up the great work, my friend! - Todd Ryotoshi Norcross - The Dojo Martial Arts
Mr.Norcross it is an honor and a shock to see you reply here! Thank you for the kind words and browsing this small insignificant channel lol. Some of your reviews were instrumental in getting me back in the game after 20 years and convincing me to pull the trigger! I hope to live up to your praise!
@@StudioGDT my pleasure! Best of luck on the channel. I am subscribed and will be watching! Take care!
Kudos to Ryan Sword for making this video for you to post for us to see. Thank you again for sharing. Yes it did answer some mysteries. I wonder if Dragon Sword/shadow dancer would agree to filming their process?
Thanks for watching it! I’m currently working on two Shadow Dancer reviews…maybe when I’m done I’ll ask. Worst they can say is no, but if I don’t ask, they can’t say yes!
I have a honsanmai sword that I purchased from them, and it has a better edge on it than a sword that I paid twice as much for. Very well-made sword. Love this video, thank you.
Thank you for watching and letting us know about your experience!
Fascinating stuff, man! Great job compiling the footage
Thank you KF!
very cool to see
I thought so as well! It’s not something we normally get to see all aspects off so I really appreciated it.
Iv never seen billets swirled or dowsed with muddy water before. Clay for a humong? Line before sure. Very interesting
As I understand it when they put the hot steel into it, any scale or crap on the surface will blast off of it from the water turning to steam, The clay will somewhat stick to the surface and provide a barrier for oxidation, the addition of carbon helps mitigate the reduction of carbon that happens during the process.
Excellent, now your thinking like a quality driven tuber...I did that a couple of years back with SON. and KHHI Nepal from order to shipping, this was great that they gave you so much footage,...gonna have to request my own, as I'm doing a colab with them...well done gonna share it..
Definitely appreciate your support and words. I hope to work with YOU some day soon!
Very cool video, and the sword came out really nice.
It definitely looks it in the photos. I should receive it in about two weeks. Stay tuned!
I've been interested in getting a folded steel nodachi from them at some point.
Hopefully this helped you make a decision! Thank you for watching!
@@StudioGDT It did get me to check out their channel and see the flex test video they have, and that's some impressive heat treat and tempering. Now I just need to reach out and see if I can get an estimate for a kogarasu-maru chokuto combination odachi, because I'm interested in something a bit more unique.
I look forward to seeing it!
HanBon Forge has posted snippets of various parts of their process on their channel as well. Although there is not a singular video following one sword from start to finish. But I am going to write to Yao at HBF to see if that is something he would be interested in doing. Regarding the Ryan video, that sword looks like it would be a $400 + offering. I wonder if the same care is taken along the way with their sub $200 offerings...or even that type of offering if the cameras are not rolling and/or the sword is not going to a reviewer but rather to a "regular Joe."
The price range as configured is in the $450 range with the polish adding a decent amount to that. Having owned two sub $300 dollar DH mono steel swords from them, I can say that the furniture and QC to what I received was equal to the video. Examples would be a clean nakago with no shavings inside, easy to remove, no blade blems etc. I know they do have a sub $200 range including iaito that I have yet to review so I can’t speak to that (hopefully in the future) but I do indeed from personal experience have a lot of confidence in the $250 and up price range. For what it’s worth my first two swords I purchased from them, I was not a reviewer at the time so they were “regular joe” items. But as always, grain of salt! Thanks for watching and if you get a production video out if HanBon I’d love to see it!
@@StudioGDT Thank you for your reply. As much as I would like one as well I'm not going to hold my breath about getting a video from HBF. Yao has a lot of irons in the fire (pun imtended) including making swords for other third-party retailers. But that would be nice.
@@michaelrs8010 bit by bit, piece by piece and we can get there :) Best of luck!
I'm new to katanas, so I'm not sure if i understood what i saw. Were they putting little triangular pieces of ray skin under the handle wrapping, rather than wrapping the entire handle in ray skin? I thought a katana was supposed to have ray skin all around the handle, or at least full side panels. Not just triangular pieces.
The triangles are actually pieces of paper called hishigami. It’s a traditional process to keep the wrapping (Ito) tight and remain in place.
@@StudioGDT Ahh. Ok. I understand. Thank you.
@@StudioGDT Ahh. I see. Thanks.
Beautiful sword. I want to buy a fairly nice katana and need advice. You know, something that is gorgeous and really well-made, but is functional. Can I get something like that in the $1,000 to $2,000 range? I could use some help in the matter. (I have 9 years experience in BJJ, but want to learn iaido now.)
$1000 would serve you well and give you a LOT of options. Nothing I have reviewed so far is close to $1000. As far is beauty is concerned, with swords beauty is often in the eye of the beholder so you would have to define what is beautiful to you first
@@StudioGDT Thank you for your reply. So do you recommend shopping around in, say, Cult of Athena, or some such and find one w good reviews online? I admit that I want one that is as close to "traditional" as possible, but I almost prefer not to have it out of tamahagane (?) steel. Modern steels are superior. I'm thinking if I pay for one out of tanahagane steel, most of the cost goes there, with inferior fittings everywhere else. Wdyt?
@@ThePreparedAdventistif you are looking at a modern reproduction company out of China, 90% of the time if they say “tamahagane” it’s a phrase they use to describe their method that is close to the original method-they aren’t actually using tamahagane from Japan, they are using Chinese Pig Iron. Before I say anything more I am a neophyte in this arena so I may be corrected or someone else may have better input. That being said, the Chinese “tamahagane” swords are an aesthetically affordable alternative to nihonto (in most cases) if you are looking for a sword that has interesting activity. If you are looking for a cutter and want it to LOOK as traditional as possible you can go with a 1095 or T10 differently hardened mono steel blade. There is less to go wrong with these in forging over folded or laminated swords. If you didn’t care about Hamon you could do spring steel or through hardened. If you would like to deal with vendors outside of China KoA and SoN are great options. If you don’t mind dealing with China you can also go direct in many cases. Let me know if I left anything unanswered I started to ramble.
@@StudioGDT Awesome. Thank you for your very helpful reply!
@@ThePreparedAdventist my pleasure