|
This
interview with ZANSHIN IRONWORKS was done during the Atlanta Bladeshow
2007 on a recorder and later transcribed. Dennis Pishock
DISCLAIMER:
BLADESIGN does not endorse this company, or any other that
it does not know about in depth, just hosts this interview as an
informational and educational approach under the
Atlanta Bladeshow context alone. |
|
 |
You guys are pretty new to the
scene to tell me about your company, Zanshin Ironworks folks.
Yea, my partner and I have been around for about a year now. My
partner Brian has been wrapping for years in the industry with Ronin
swords. We started designing and having blades made to our
specifications. We used Brian's expertise and both our martial arts
experience in terms of blade wrapping and historical blades. The
blades that we are using are hand made and made for actual cutting
practice. We are unique in that we have blades that have high
aesthetic quality and high historical accuracy.
What does the customer have choice wise when he places an order.
Unlike most sword companies, our swords are finished in the United
States. All the wrapping is done by Brian here in the states and we
use the highest quality Japanese and U.S. parts. When you buy a
sword from us, each blade is different b/c they are handmade and all
the parts are your choice too. You can choose all the koshirae and a
fully customized blade. Price ranges start at around $1200 and up to
$1600. We do have custom blades handcrafted in Japan that run in the
$10,000-$12,000 range.
This market is a tough market and there is a lot of junk out there.
There is a lot of reasonable stuff out there too and its our job as
a newcomer is to prove that we are actually better then them.
|
|
Tell me about your Sanmai Blade.
One of our blades is a full Kobuse laminate. Not just the correct
steel and the correct construction of the blade, and the correct
folding, but its actually a laminated structured blade. The other
blade is not a traditional structure but it is a three different
layers of carbon layered steels. They are 1060, 1070, and 1090
steel. We also over our blades in traditional tamahagane steel but
the price goes from $1500 to $3200.
Tell me more about the wrapping styles you offer.
With each sword you can choose your wrap color, four different
styles of wraps and pretty much pure customization. We offer tetsu
green which is a Japanese color and a beautiful color green. It's a
little different and not for everyone. We also only wrap in either
Japanese silk or leather. We do not do cotton. We have a real nice
website that is about two weeks from full completion. At that point
you can literally build your sword online and place |
 |
the order. (just checked and still in
construction mode at spots)
What is the turn around time right now after placing an order?
About two to four weeks. That's unique to us too b/c our fitting
process is done here in the states.
How many styles of blades do you offer?
We offer two styles of blades for the practitioner. One is designed
for the Iai practitioner like myself. I'm not a cutting fanatic but
I do cut and these blades are designed more for speed. The other
blade is slightly more robust but still incredibly well balanced. It
has a wider tip and a scant niku blade that just cuts really well.
(The cutting blade was not tip heavy and was very light in the
hand.)
|
 |
So why did you guys choose Atlanta?
It's the super bowl of blade shows! We are based out of Charleston,
S.C. and just did the Token Kai in Chicago. They called us up at the
last minute and offered us a booth here so we jumped on it. We put
together our product real quickly but it turned out pretty well in
the end. |
