It’s the end of the year, we’re all very busy so won’t take much of your time .
Two things i want to talk about real quick:
- Christmas Sales on ZhuiFeng Swords
- Changing course in 2014
1. Christmas sales
Believe it’s the first time I’m doing this but you can get some pretty nice deals on the ZhuiFeng swords so if you had your eye one them for some time,this might be your moment of truth 🙂
By the way , if you happen to live in the US, you can still get them cheaper at feilongswords but we only have 3 models in stock there (higo-iwa-yashi)
2. Changing course
After a lot of thinking & pondering I decided to change a bit of course with the sword project in 2014.
First of all, I will get rid of the samurai-sword-shop.com name, it’s bothering me for many years now and time is come to say goodbye. The new name is already chosen and it has a bit of a funny story attached on how i got there but you will hear the whole thing once it has been launched 🙂
The last couple of years, i’ve got a very strong (almost freaky) interest in ‘real’ Japanese swords (not the chinakatana i’m actually selling)and it’s craft & craftsmen.
Thanks to the internet, forums and facebook i got in touch with some very nice (inspiring)artists which dragged me more into the whole customization thing and that’s exactly the path i’m willing to walk (more) in 2014.
Taking a basic blade/katana and make something unique of it whether or not with the input/requests of clients.
Tsukamaki, i keep doing myself and i might even make/offer some custom sukashi tsuba. I’m nowhere near a skilled cratfsmen but i figured out that while learning & experimenting, i might mount my attempts on swords (if they are somewhat presentable) rather than just having them lying around here 🙂
You can see 2 samples i’ve made here a while ago after a failed attempt to an owari tsuba which is on the bench again for a second try…
Somewhat ok to mount on a cheaper sword…
Close up
My failed owari attempt.. being too impatient messed it up 🙁
Besides that, there are a few truly skilled craftsmen where i will get my stuff from time to time.
There will be a variety of stuff going from basic and “affordable priced” to really high end stuff which will definitely be too expensive to mount on a 400 euro katana.
This was a tamahagane blade i’ve finished last week with custom (iron) fittings, new rayskin and tsukamaki.
A few custom tsuba (not made by me, don’t have those skills .. yet:) ) :
Iron pieces 4mm thick with a nice dark brown patina
I really like this one 🙂
Small tsuba but very nice…
This one came in few days ago with matching fuchi & kashira (see pic below)
Some custom made (iron) fuchi & kashira
‘Simple & clean’ but o so beautifull 🙂
The matching F&K i referred to few second ago..
Or how about our 4 customized habaki designs that are available (contact me if you need more info..) …
How sexy are these ?!!
As you can see a lot of stuff will change .
In the past i’ve been getting responses / comments from folks who where thinking that items in the shop were ‘too expensive’ or they could get a cheaper similar model with another vendor, blabla
The thing is that i’ve never wanted to be the cheapest around for these 2 reasons:
- It’s not because an ebay (or other) vendor sells a through hardened monosteel katana for €150 that our through hardened monosteel yashi – €295 (actually €275 now :)) – is way overpriced.There’s more on a sword than just the blade to look at but most people fail to see that.Most of the times apples are being compared with pears…I don’t want and never wanted to go for the real cheap stuff on the market, just not my cup of tea.
- This is not some kind of ‘hobby’ of mine to bring in some extra cash:) This is a real (fulltime)biz with real stock and real fixed & variable costs :)I can’t keep this thing running with a 10-15% profit margin.Remember i’m not just ‘moving boxes’, i’ve set up an own swordline with ZhuiFeng for years now and you don’t want to know how much money i’ve invested there (not to mention the many headaches & frustrations..) and how much $$$ i’ve lost along the way… I don’t see any dropshipper or ‘hobbyist’ take that initiative & risk.Back in 2012 i’ve wrote a little aventure with one of the forges who screwd me…
Besides the selling part, i also want to invest more on the informative part of the site by doing more interviews, how to’s, in depth articles and launch a major overhaul of the buying guide. Ow and continue with the weekly Hojo Comic.. not to forget..
By the way if you have anything question or thing you like to see answered in the guide or here on the site, let me know by commenting at the bottom of this post.
As you can see, lot of plans & lot of changes to come pretty soon..
Have a nice holiday and keep it safe !!
PS : By the way, did you already see these 2 tameshigiri vids , done with the Iwa katana ?
