Ronin Katana Dojo Elite Review and Destruction

This is a review and failure test of a Ronin Katana Dojo Elite katana. The sword was a scratch and dent sword sold a few years ago. It was provided by sword friend Garland for review and destruction. The hope was to answer two questions, are these blades made with Soshu Kite as advertised and if so, what benefit does it have?
Each of these blades are unique and I did not take detailed measurements of this blade. I have some of other Ronin Elites. This one was similar.
Non-Destructive Review of Ronin Dojo Elite- • Ronin Katana Dojo Elit...
Link to Sword Friend Garland's sale page - sbg-sword-foru...
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Link to my eBay sales page - www.ebay.com/us...

[@RyanR-lw7fu]

Great review Matthew! Loved all the closeups of the grain & lamination! We appreciate all your hard work with breaking & etching. I hope the move is going/has gone well.

[@thatguynameddan2136]

Funny how that journey, or at least that part of it, has gone full circle. Fitting somehow. Very excited for content from your new spot as well, new beginnings in a sense are always fun.

[@GGolden219]

Thank you for this great review and all your efforts put into this particular video. It is really awesome how you began your sword review endeavor with a RK and 15 years later, ended with a RK before moving to a new location - super cool! In most of your reviews you mention, "feels good in the hands or easy to move around," and it is generally subjective. In this case, I have personally held and used this sword, and now I have something to compare with my own thoughts and opinions of it's maneuverability, which is rare. Things to note: - The ito was not altered and was tight from the first day I received it. No lacquer or wax, just my own hand oils. - The kurigata did break off over the years and I used whatever glue I had laying around at the time to fix it. I do not recall the exact adhesive used, but it was a rush job where I slapped on some glue and just let it rest until dry (no real pressure added). - The saya was never altered, other than kurigata issue, and it maintained tension at the koiguchi very well from day one, and almost zero rattle in the saya. - Yes, there are occasionally versions with a bohi, and I do have one available. I purchased this scratch and dent because I didn't want to abuse the prettier RK elites that I own. Because you never did a destruction test for an elite (until now), I had to beat one up myself. Although I never struck metal, I did battle trees and everything or anything I could find laying around the house or in the garage. For the amount of abuse I put it through, I'm glad to see that there was still more it could handle. Thank you again for everything you've done with this review and all the extra effort with the etching, so we could all finally see the inside of a RK elite blade. I knew this review would be special to me because the sword came from my personal collection, but hearing it will be the last review in your old house, after 15 years of reviewing, makes it that more special of a review, for both of us. I'm looking forward to the next chapter of sword reviews at your new location. Thank you again!

[@GGolden219]

@Cobra Kai I have 2 elites available and I just dropped the price to $450. They aren't doing anyone any good just sitting in the closet.

[@GGolden219]

@Cobra Kai No, they are listed on SBG forum. There is a link to my sale post in the video description.

[@bearmtn7]

Ferric chloride may show the different steels a bit better; that and a coffee bath helps a lot of knife makers make the different steels in their folded blades "pop", for lack of a better word. Kyle Royer has a couple videos on his techniques for that. Hopefully that helps. Good video 👍 Edit: spelling

[@JoeSteel1]

Great Job Matt, I would expect somewhat better from the Elite price...very good looking sword though

[@VeridianHerald]

Well done sir. This review required a not insignificant amount of time travel. Thanks for cracking this one open for us. Also, safe journey to your new home. Looking forward to seeing what you do there

[@JoeSteel1]

Great Momentous Last Video, Matt...so much meaning starting with Ronin and ending with Ronin. Looking forward to your next KZbin studio and many best wishes on the new home my friend

[@alexwilmes9496]

How can we provide you a sword for a destruction review? I have the Musashi Ume and Umigame from Amazon that claim to be kobuse and I’d like see one of them tested to the limit.

[@rvakatana]

I would love to see this, too!

[@JoeSteel1]

Wow, You put alot of work into The Breaks, very informative and great to be noted

[@serpnta1267]

I bought a Dojo Pro #21 a few months ago because I wanted a Dotanuki style blade. The ito is actually pretty tight; tighter than I expected it to be based off what others have said about it. The knot felt a little weak so I added a few drops of Gorilla Glue to it. Practiced Iai with it and it felt really nice. For me, it was well worth the price.

[@JCOwens-zq6fd]

Well done as always. About what ive come to expect from many Ronin sword models. Not horrible, not great, decent price etc.

[@TopLob]

I'm happy to see you wear some protection. Wouldn't like to see you hurt. Thanks for sanding and showing the cross section as well :) Very interesting to see. We wouldn't get this chance without you. To me it looks like they have a somewhat large, soft shingane core, sandwiched by two slats of kawagane, and they've inserted a hard steel edge. It honestly looks more like hon sanmai to me, as the core kinda looks like it extends into the mine, but it's not very clear. And we can't really tell if there are two slats of steel on each side of the core or just one on each side. But I can tell that the edge has been differentially hardened. The coloring is different a third into the blade. But this is only my analysis of what we see in the video though. Imo, 24 hours acid bath was better than a week. It corroded a bit too much at the end. Maybe 48 hours is better. Depending on how much work you want to put into it, it's also possible to etch it a bit more controlled, but that takes a bit of work. So it's up to you whether or not you want to put that much work into it. What I'd do after the sanding, would be to mix some vinegar and lemon juice and a drop of dish soap and just sit and rub it into the cross section. And stop every once in a while to clean it off, polish it a tiny bit with some brass polish. Rinse and repeat until desired result. Mind you that this could easily take an hour. I do this to bring out the hamon of swords if it fades. It really brings out the hada as well. I would assume it should have the same effect on a sanded cross section.

[@christopher7398]

laughed out loud thinking about your neighbor looking out their window and seeing Matt whacking away at a downed tree branch with a katana

[@rvakatana]

Great review! I'm a big fan of lamination, so I'd be interested in a soshukitae... albeit more for the novelty of it, and not for cutting

[@GGolden219]

Let me know John, before they're gone.

[@SUPERSONIC_ARCHERY]

Hi Matthew, great review there! Look, If you want so make laminations better visible the use ferric chloride Fe3Chlorid. As a customknifemaker myself, I use this method often just to control or make visible Hamon on my blades or other tools.

[@cleric670]

Muriatic acid (concrete cleaner) is readily available and will quickly show the various layers and differences in steel. A friend uses it for his Damascus and it works fantastic, soak for 15min in the acid then neutralize in a baking soda+water solution for 10min. If you need more contrast do it a second or third time.

[@SpaceGhost182]

Never heard this before but I might try it

[@bern1228]

Good luck on the move. Best wishes and happy blessings to the new place. Appreciate you and what you do.

[@darthvaper6745]

Love the cross section part of the broken blade at the end segment

[@samuraibyrd]

Great review Matt! I own a couple laminated blades and have learnt that im not a big fan,lol. All though i DO like that one. The fact that the spine still held while breaking proves durable. I just think the recipe is wrong,lol, ill buy one when they make it out of L6,T10,and 1095,or S5,S7,51crv4 even,lol

[@KF1]

Great way to close out the old abode. The way the blade cracked but barely held together looks just like a picture I saw in a book of a nihonto that failed. Had that same effect. Also, have you any experience with Goryeo sword the Korean manufacturer? They claim to use SK steel and their videos show a different tempering technique where the blades pass through a layer of oil into water beneath. Their website indicates a patent filed for the process, though not sure what to think

[@8thsinner]

Thank you for protecting the tree a bit more. I'm sure it's grateful. Thats the lamination muramasa came up with isn't it, would have been quite cool to see that showing up. It might be possible the certain polishing stones and techniques would reveal the differences but thats a whole ton of work I wouldn't expect anyone to be experimenting with really.

[@yotomuramasa]

Masamune of the Soshu school supposedly created Soshu lamination (Soshu Kitae). Many collectors believe Soshu Kitae never really existed (and most people in there right mind wouldn't snap an antique Masamune in half to find out)

[@8thsinner]

@@yotomuramasa Well, you make a compelling argument there. lmao

[@ShagShaggio]

Hope the move is going well. Here's to closing a great chapter and hopefully opening another. Cheers 💚

[@yotomuramasa]

Not the most durable, but very pretty. The blade seems above the fittings. I would probably buy one of the shirasaya ones without the copper hardware

[@samuraibyrd]

That’s a cool saga ending man!! Good luck with the new home. Will there be a Northern Division of Katanaland?? Lol

[@adamv2915]

Hello Matthew, i love watching your video's and seeing your honest reviews and watching you test the swords even to destruction. I bought a katana from a site called bladespro a few years ago for £260, I tried looking for reviews at the time but their wasn't any and theirs still next to none but I got one anyway and I love it as a show piece. I was wondering if you've ever came across them, because I would love to see your thoughts on what their like and watch you test them. Keep doing what your doing, I can't wait to see the results of your project katana's.

[@michaelrs8010]

I echo what Ryan R. said. 👍

[@maccurtis730]

Skallgram is right you are very extensive with your reviews.

[@Matthew_Jensen]

I blah blah a lot.

[@maccurtis730]

@@Matthew_Jensen Worth it just to see the end of the video.

[@daniellopezeverest]

Very cool thank you for sharing! :-)

[@Miggggy]

cool

[@erichusayn]

Looks like a typical Ronin katana to me. Just with a fancier blade. I would venture to guess the lack of price increase is due to their warehouse in country.

[@GGolden219]

These type of fittings are not used on dojo pro or RK series, so it's not a typical Ronin Katana.

[@cantremember6794]

I know you got a lemon of a dojo pro but if I could let you use mine you'd understand why there good lol. Mines fantastic.

[@erichusayn]

@@cantremember6794 blade on my dojo pro katana #19 (I think, clouds and moon tsuba) is well made, it's just the koshirae was so poorly done. Their Tanto #1 I own is ok, but nothing special. Their longsword model 2 totally redeemed themselves to me. Love that sword. I just wish they were stricter with their QC really, that's all

[@cantremember6794]

@@erichusayn I own the crusader longsword the only issues I have with it is weight but that seems to be an issue with most there euro line. I don't have any exspirence with there tantos

[@erichusayn]

@@cantremember6794 the longsword by them I own is surprisingly light and nimble. Anyone I've handed it top (especially katana people) is always surprised.

[@GynxGrimmMusik]

A few words for saya wax. Heat gun. Caution. Not too close to the koiguchi.

[@fettmaneiii4439]

weird its got like a reverse hamon. the edge portion of the hamon is supposed to be cloudy color, and the spine side of the hamon is supposed to be more mirror polished. Mad props to keep the video going weeks later displaying different etch's. If you want to speed up the etching you can get stuff at the hardware store muriatic acid.

[@fettmaneiii4439]

it might be because this blade is thru hardened and then a false hamon is applied. actually far more common than you think

[@pauly51]

How much did you save on a scratch and dent?

[@GGolden219]

It was $450 for the scratch and dent

[@mayoutoobid]

30:50 What's the name of the second sword? Which one of the four is the most durable and sharp?

[@faithwasted]

Does he have a can of dip in his gi???

[@beavisroadhog9629]

Any machine can be a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough.

[@sattercaster1]

Beautiful sword. I'd love to have that. Too bad to see it destroyed....

[@voltsoftruthBSbuster]

Is it me or is the grain structure of the steel at the break appears extremely coarse as if the steel was heat treated improperly which caused large carbon carbides to grow. But this also presents a problem since there are at least 3 different tyn) on: %g%apes of steels in the blade with carbon content that varies from .45% to0 .60% and finally to .95%. This should present a problem of developing a uniform carbide along 7 different pieces of steel which start to develop different properties at different temperatures during the heat treatment phase. So if anything they should be very sporadic in grain structure if heat treatment failed. Yet these apear to be very uniform just not the desired grain structure one would desire+ It could very well be that I'm misinterpreting the image. All the steels used in the sword areb low to medium to high simple carbon steels. With no addition of high number or complex alloy metals such as hard carbide metals like chromium, vanadium, tungsten, cobalt ect. So in theory they should have very fine grain structure if the heat treatment is done right. If done improperly it will cause carbon to form carbon carbides, which will produce coarse large grains that don't have a good bond to the matrix which results in brittleness. Full disclosure, I'm not an expert in metals, steels,, or a metallurgist, but simply an enthusiast, knife collector, and occasional knife maker. Its definitely a hobby and a passion more than anything else. I'm not a steel snob, infact never bought into the whole super particle steel hype, and actually prefer old school simple "super" steels such as 5160, 6150, 15n20, L6, A8, 1050, and few others which have demonstrated to still reign Supreme in the toughness department, with non of the modern super particle steels coming even close to outperforming them in that category. Edge retention, wear resistance, and achieving high hardness clearly goes to modern steels but again at great sacrifice in significant reduction in toughness. Non of the modern steels are suitable for sword making. Where pretty much any simple carbon steels 10 series and many tool steels could be used to make a decent sword, like O1, L6, 5160, 52100, A8, A6, even A2 (if properly heat treated, speaking from personal experience since I had a katana made from A2 air hardening tool steel) Rob Criswell, and Phill Hartfield few who make them right. Even seen few katanas made from D2 steel, although personally I could never recommend for someone to get a sword from a steel that has 1.5% carbon and 12% chromium and 1% vanadium. Full of hard carbide in record amounts. If anyone disagrees with anything I've said here let me know. Always open to learn something new or look at things from different perspective even if I disagree.

[@mayoutoobid]

Hanwei Practical XL is now over $300 but it has 1566 High Carbon Steel which is stronger than $300 Ronin Katana Dojo-Pro's 1060 High Carbon Steel I think. Am I right? For $400, you can get Hanwei Raptor Nanbokucho Katana which has 5160 High Carbon Steel. Does this mean Raptor is alot more durable than Practical XL and Dojo Pro ?? Which one is worth the money you think? Please let me know, thank you.

[@Matthew_Jensen]

I have not tested a blade from Hanwei the same as I have from Ronin. It is not really fair for me to answer. The 1060 blades from Ronin have shown to be very durable. I have not broken a Hanwei 5160 blade but I have broken others and it too is very durable. The raptor seriese is a little closer to the dojo pro, in that they are both through hardened. I like the fittings a little better on the raptor, I like the dojo pro saya and tsuka shape a bit better. Both are great cutters. The practical XL is still differentially hardened and will probably bend if you do bad cuts, it is forgiving but not like a through hardened blade. The shape is also better for tatami cutting, if that is your intended target, then it should be a good option.

[@strydyrhellzrydyr1345]

Wait... You said failure rate is higher... Therefore price is higher... That confuses me.. I would think if your failure rate is LOWER.. which means it fails at a lower rate. It fails less often... Less chances of it to fail... That seems like. If the failure rate is LOWER.. it should be more expensive... Not cheaper.???

[@Matthew_Jensen]

From what I understand it is common enough for japanese style blades to fail when quenched. I am speculating that amount of failed attempts at making blades with complex lamination is higher than with other styles and that cost is passed to the customer.

[@dustymichael3425]

what is your ultimate budgert katama

[@Matthew_Jensen]

That means different things to different people. I think the Mussha $50 was it for me. It is ultimate budget and held up OK to some of the testing I do. For that kind of money you can really try some things.

[@pauly51]

If you want a great size and simple taste, John lee practical katana. I bought mine online from Netherlands, Europe

[@robertjensen1438]

Just a comment for the algorithm

[@daveware4117]

Although destructive testing is extreamly valueble, i still pains me to watch

[@tengu190]

Wear chaps!

[@beepboop204]

🙃

[@FrejthKing]

💀

[@FatGuyWithAKatana]

If I didn't like mine so much I'd send you my Musashi gold series. They're apparently kobuse laminated. With the right light at the right angle i can make out some lines along the spine that suggest lamination.

[@mandyequalsmurderofficial9256]

Is that a can of dip in your keikogi?

[@Matthew_Jensen]

Lens cap.

[@mandyequalsmurderofficial9256]

@@Matthew_Jensen that makes sense. Lol sweet video as always! I hope i have more up on fattousai channel before you retire lol been stupid busy and running broke buying ammo lately. 🤦‍♂️