The Raptor Katana, Shobu Zukuri from Hanwei is a sword with elegant design and powerful cutting capacity. It is notable for its absence of a yokote transition, a blade design popular during the Nanboku-cho era and Muromachi period in Japan. This katana belongs to Hanwei's Raptor series, designed under the supervision of cutting master James Williams.
The Raptor series has been created with cutting practitioners in mind who want to perfect their technique without needing access to mats. The blades of these katanas are forged from 5160 high carbon steel and receive a special heat treatment to ensure exceptional resilience and greater tolerance to misdirected cuts compared to conventional differentially tempered blades.
The steel structure of these katanas also allows the blades to reproduce the weight and handling characteristics of the Japanese originals without the need for excessive thickness. Additionally, the edge geometry is configured to facilitate cutting soft and semi-hard materials without chipping, giving the cutter a wide variety of targets.
Each Raptor series katana features a unique blade style, inspired by the Japanese history of sword-making. This provides the cutting practitioner with options in both aesthetics and handling characteristics, allowing them to choose the katana that best suits their preferences and needs.
- Spike (Nakago): full length, with double prong.
- Ferrules (Habaki): brass
- Handles (Tsuka): Wood core, genuine rayon leather (Same), special non-elastic suede wrapper (Tsuka-ito) for firm grip and wear resistance. Handle decorations of raptor feathers (Menuki).
- Guards (Tsuba): traditional blackened iron, predatory motif.
- Hardware (Fuchi/Kashira): blackened steel, raptor motif.
- Pods (Saya): wood, textured anti-fingerprint lacquer finish.
The Katana Raptor, Shobu Zukuri from Hanwei has a blade hardness (Rockwell) of 57 HRC. Its blade length is 73.7 cm, while the length
