Cheness SGC Specialized Goza Cutter Handmade Katana Y Start Price USD 269.99 Current Price USD 269.99 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, November 16, 2008 End Time Sunday, November 23, 2008 Location La Jolla, California See more about 'Cheness SGC Specialized Goza Cutter Handmade Katana Y' Description You are bidding on one: Cheness Specialized Goza Cutter (SGC) Katana "Yamakami" (The Mountain Guardian) NEW SWORD! Specialized blade geometry, Highly resilient metal. All new components. Complete new design. Made available for the first time. 100% Hand Forged, 100% Hand Polished Carbon Spring Steel katana. These blades have a brand new geometry (which took us more than half a year to prototype and develope) that optimizes cutting of goza mats (tatami omote). It is heavier than standard katanas with a narrower angle of entry for better cutting. Also handles bamboo well, but really performs brilliantly with mat cutting exercises. All components are new casts made to fit this particular blade. Coupled with the Through Hardened Cheness 9260 Spring Steel makes this blade our best cutter to date. NEW CUTTING VIDEO OF THE SGC SERIES Test Cutting (12/22/06) of the Cheness SGC Series (Specialized Goza Cutter) Katana and Wakizashi. Testing the newly completed Cheness SGC Series (Specialized Goza Cutter) katana and wakizashi. Using half, single, double, and triple rolled tatami omote. Both pegged and free standing. 3 minutes 17 seconds. Download Video (11.3 mb) - Streaming Windows Media Video (WMV). -- Comes with Free Display Box and Free Cotton Sword Bag. -- SPECIAL OFFER: Free sword stand and upgraded sageo   Name Yamakami Katana (Mountain Guardian) Blade Through Hardened 9260 Silicon Alloy Carbon Spring Steel. Overall Length (+ Saya) 42" Treatment Full Hand Forged, Through Hardened, Oil Quenched, Hand Polished Finish Tameshigiri Polish Blade Dimension 28" Length, 0.25" Width, 1.50" Height Sori (Curvature) 0.7" Weight 2 lbs 15 oz (no saya), 3 lbs 14 oz (with saya), 9 lb shipping weight. Tsuba/Fuchi/Kashira Blackened Steel "Mount Fuji" Tsuba Balance Point 6" above tsuba Tsuka/Ho 11" Wood Tsuka Ito Brown Cotton Mekugi 2 X Wood (Double Pinned) Same Real Ray Skin Panel Wrap Saya 30.5" Black Glossy Lacquered Medium Hardwood CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT THE STEEL TYPES(Ever wondered what the numbers mean in listing using 1045, 1060, 1095, 5290??) There are many pictures and may take some time to load - Please be patient The Yamakami Katana uses the Cheness 9260 Spring Steel and our SGC series blade design and is especially made to excel in goza (tatami omote) cutting exercises. The photos below shows the overall appearance of the blade in and out of the saya. This is a significantly broader sword with a narrower entry angle in its cutting edge. The reasoning for this will be described in the section below. Due to the nature of the geometry, the blade exhibits a hint of a pattern of how the quench affected different parts of the blade differently than the normal katana even though this is a through hardened blade. The Yamakami uses a brown cotton ito wrapping with a blackened steel tsuba and an image of snow cap of Mt. Fuji. The steel used on this blade is the through hardened version of the Cheness 9260 Spring Steel. The handle of this blade is slightly bigger than that of a standard katana. This is to compensate for the broader blade and nakago within the handle. Comparison of Cheness SGC Series Katana and Standard Katana The photos below are side-by-side comparison of the Cheness SGC Series blade and a standard katana. (Ignore the mountings as this same text box is used in all SGC series descriptions.) The SGC blades are thinner but broader than the standard blade for purposes of improving its cutting performances. The lateral strength of the SGC is just as strong if not stronger, even though it is thinner, because of the additional material in the height, providing support. Overall, the weight of the blades on the SGC is heavier, but well distributed and its center of gravity does not change from that of a standard katana at 6" above the tsuba (katana), 4.5" (wakizashi) 3.5" (Ko Katana). All components on the SGC had to be re-cast... Including new machined mold for the fuchi, kashira, habaki, etc. The Saya is also significantly more substantial. The purpose of changing the blade cross-section geometry in making the SGC is to significantly reduce the entry angle of the cutting edge without reducing weight or lateral strength of the blade. As illustrated in the diagram below, this change makes the SGC significantly better at cutting. It is especially well suited for exercises in cutting of goza mats or tatami omote. This blade also handles bamboo extremely well. Because of the Cheness 9260 Spring Steel employed in these blades, the cutting edge holds up to the rigors of cutting exercises where other steels would crumple or roll edge under this blade geometry. The overall geometry of the SGC katana is somewhat similar to the Korean style Gumdo blades but still with significant differences. This is a specialty katana. The concept of this new design is based off of a $5,000 custom wakizashi blade made especially for cutting exercises for some high ranking iaito sensei. It took more than half a year in planning, preparation, re-casting, machining of new molds to bring this blade into a production basis and effectively dropping the price down to less than a tenth of what it would have, otherwise, cost to produce a similar blade in the past. (Note... Tatami Omote mats are NOT the same as Beach Mats... They are tighter weave using fibers from a specific plant. They are soaked in water.  Each Tatami Omote (tatami covering) is equivalent to cutting 4 to 5 beach mats rolled together). It is designed to magnify any mistakes you make while cutting. This very unique specialized sword is our own newest design. Checkout the third party testing/review of the specialized steel by RSKnives ??? Want to see ??? What went into making you this sword ??? Click here to see our forge, workers, and the process by which we make your blades. NEW - More movies - ALL CUTTING VIDEO HOME PAGE Click HERE to go to my video page where you can see more of my live sword cutting videos. Due to its low price, there will be NO COMBINED SHIPPING DISCOUNTS for this item. I have cut all the margins for contingencies so item is sold as is and final.  Domestic Shipping (in USA) - Shipping will be a flat $29.99 to anywhere in the US. Shipment will be sent via USPS Priority Mail (no tracking) or via UPS (Tracking) at our discretion without additional charges. You may request UPS Shipment at $2 additional charge. We will not be liable for shipping damages so we suggest that you purchase shipping insurance. International orders - International shipping is available for countries which does not have restrictions on imports of katanas. Shipping will require removal of display box so box will not be included. In: International Shipping of re-packaged katana via USPS Global Priority will be a flat $49.99 USD (Unless it is otherwise noted in the shipping section of this option) If you are not certain that it is ok to import this item or if you have proper licenses and documentation to import, please contact me first before purchase. However, we will not be liable for any customs issues, duty charges, confiscation, or damages. If your item is returned by the shipper due to non-delivery, we will refund the purchase price only. Payment - PayPal Payments Preferred. Money Orders and Cashiers checks accepted. Business and personal checks not recommended.. (I will need to allow for 2 weeks after receipt of check for item mailing to make certain the check clears.)  SERIOUS BIDDERS ONLY PLEASE - (Listing fees and final valuation fees have gone up quite a bit on ebay. I cannot afford to have non-paying bidders so I will take all biddings seriously.) Happy Bidding See our other LIVE SHARPENED KATANAS AT OUR EBAY STORE HERE... Powered by eBay Turbo Lister The free listing tool. List your items fast and easy and manage your active items. Place a Bid!