Cheness SGC Series (Specialized Goza Cutter)
"Yamakami" Katana

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

NEW CUTTING VIDEO
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).

There are many pictures and may take some time to load - Please be patient

The Yamakami Katana shares the same blade as our Tsukikage Katana. Both swords uses the Cheness SGC blade design and is especially made for 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.

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 comparison of the Cheness SGC Series blade and a standard katana. 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.

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.

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.

Cheness SGC Series - "Yamakami" Katana (Mountain Guardian)

PROMOTIONAL PERIOD: $329.99
Regular Price: $799.99

The "Yamakami" Katana shares the same blade construction as the Cheness SGC Katana "Tsukikage". With the primary difference being in their fittings. This is a broad katana made especially for exercises cutting goza or tatami omote mats. Its construction is based on a specialized dojo cutter and is the result of over half a year in development. Click on the photo above to see more..

SGC Series - "Yamakami" Katana
Sold Out - Production halted due to Covid lockdown. No ETA.

 

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