Swordis ShadowDancer Lite Sword Builder and Sword Review

In this article I will be reviewing the remodeled ShadowDancer Lite sword builder app on the Swordis website, along with the custom katana I ordered with it.

I was asked by Swordis if I would like to give my thoughts on the ShadowDancer custom sword builder app and katana and I was happy to do so. The product I will review today was chosen by me and provided by Swordis.

The custom katana builder is a web app using a series of options with dropdown menu choices for the customizing of individual parts for your sword, allowing the final assembled sword to be more unique. So far, there are three builders available on the Swordis website, one for Hanbon Forge, one for ShadowDancer Lite and the last one for ShadowDancer Pro. I was asked to review the Lite, so that’s the builder I used.

This is some info from the website:

“Shadow Dancer brings a decade of craft rooted in traditional methods, aimed at collectors and dedicated practitioners. The Lite line uses quality materials and proven parts; customization focuses on components we can swap from stock. Blade-level changes like length or specialty geometry aren’t included, keeping price and lead time in check.”

I’m guessing the hope for this builder was to make it easier to order a semi-customized functional katana based on a limited number of options so that you can make it unique but for a fair price and fast turn around as well. Sounds good to me. Going in, I know there will obviously be limitations so I’m fully prepared for that but I’m also going in with what I would personally be focusing on if purchasing a katana, my personal preferences from more of a customizers point of view rather than a practitioner’s or collector’s.

1. Steel Type

The first step is choosing between six offered steel types. There are steels well suited for through-hardened blades as well as differentially hardened ones. Since I don’t actively cut with my swords I don’t really need the “toughest” blade options available but I still want the blade to be fully functional so I’m looking at one well suited for a clayed hamon. I’ve had plenty of 1095 steel blades before but only a few made from “crucible steel”, so this is what I chose. Will there be a noticeable visual difference from 1095 or T10 to crucible? We’ll see.

There wasn’t much to look at from the few pictures they provide, though you can see a little more detail if you click the magnifier. The crucible steel looks dark grey while the example of the 1095 looked almost a little purple. I personally would like to see better and larger pics, at least for the ones with hamon or grain patterns.

2. Blade style

Next I chose the shinogi-zukuri blade style, which was the only one available to me. The note on this page is:

“9260 spring steel is the only steel that allows for zukuri other than the standard one, shinogi-zukuri.”

Next step is choosing a hamon style. There are seven hamon style to choose from and to be honest, this was a difficult choice for me since I pretty much like them all. I wound up going with a gunome hamon because I feel it’s bold and flowing and it’s a good choice to show off the skills of the craftsman. Again, I’d like to see more of the blade when choosing something like hamon.

3. Sharpness

Next was sharpened or unsharpened, I went with sharpened.

4. Tsuka Ito

For the next step, I had to choose a tsuka ito material. Now as I mentioned above, there was purpose behind a couple of the options I went with for this sword, mostly from a customizing viewpoint. I knew before I began ordering that I was going to want to rewrap the tsuka on this sword so I didn’t see any point in ordering any expensive upgrades in this step. I chose the most basic option, which was black rayon ito. I personally don’t like synthetic ito but it’s not going to be on the tsuka for long anyway. You can see the rest of the choices below.

Some of the images provided in this step can be a bit confusing in my opinion. The images of the tsuka featured in the Japanese silk section seem to be mirrored and that could make it seem like they might wrap the tsuka backwards. The nubuck is also a little confusing since it looks like they used a couple of the examples and then photoshopped different colors onto them. I also can’t tell if this is real Japanese nubuck leather ito or raw edged flat nubuck strapping or possibly synthetic raw edge strapping. The regular leather ito also looks like it could be strapping since the “premium leather” is clearly correctly made leather ito with the edges folded over. Overall, this section could use some more clarity.

5. Tsukamaki Style

Next is to choose the maki style. It was literally a coin flip between hineri-maki and katate-maki, and hineri-maki won. Again, it didn’t really matter to me since it was coming off.

6. Hishigami

Next I had three options for hishigami, none, standard and pro. I went with none. I knew I wasn’t going to keep the ito it comes with anyway so I didn’t see a reason to add any more money here. Plus, I wanted to see how well their base level wrap is done.

7. Samegawa Color

Next I had three choices for samegawa color, white, black and red. From my experience, black samegawa from many manufacturers is the tanned version, leathery and highly polished. Other colors are typically either thinly dyed or painted and will show through or eventually begin to chip off. So I went with white.

8. Tsuba Metal

Next step is choosing the metal type for the tsuba. They offer either iron or brass and while both are fine functionally, I often just prefer the understated appearance of iron. I also like iron and steel fittings because I always have the option of applying a forced rust patina later on. In addition, while brass, bronze, copper and nickel are fine metals for sword fittings, nothing beats the strength of steel.

9. Tsuba Design

Out of the 66 tsuba designs they offer, MDT-10 is what I chose, which basically looks like a copy of the tsuba from Hanwei’s Momo No Saru katana that I always liked. I also went with this one because the picture showed nice detail and I wanted to see how close to this the actual piece would turn out. This is by far the most choices I’ve had so far and it would be hard to imagine someone not finding something they liked here.

10. Menuki

Next it’s on to menuki. There are 32 sets of menuki to choose from, not as many options as tsuba but still a decent amount. I thought the ox/cattle set in antique brass (MG-09) looked nicely detailed plus, I never had any menuki in this theme before so this is what I chose. I also went with this set because it was one of only a few sets that were a matched pair, meaning one was made for the omote side of the tsuka and the other one was made differently, but within the same theme, for the ura side. Matched menuki pairs are probably the most commonly seen configuration but they weren’t always matched historically, many sets had identical menuki, maybe most commonly seen on military swords. Although I’ve seen many of these types of designs before, these menuki look like they’re a bit more detailed and refined than average and I like that they offer two colors.

11. Fuchi & Kashira

Now we go to fuchi and kashira. This time I we have 48 sets to choose from, in the same two colors, black and antique brass. I thought the details on the flower petal (sakura?) and nanako set FK-26 looked crisp and I also wanted to see what the black finish looked like so I went with this f&k set.

This set reminds me a lot of the antique fuchigashira below

12. Habaki

I went with the brass habaki in the next step since I really had no idea yet how I was going to self customize the sword later on so I felt brass was pretty neutral since it’s so common. The other two choices were copper and nickel, both for a $15 upcharge.

13. Seppa

Same three choices of metal for the seppa and again I went with brass.

14. Saya Lacquer

For saya, there are two general lacquer categories they offer, lacquer and urushi imitation. I didn’t see any descriptions so I really don’t know what the difference is, other than price. I kept it simple and went with one of the lacquer models which featured a black on black paint spatter effect, BSY-06.

15. Sageo

Next a sageo must be chosen. The two categories are synthetic silk and Japanese rayon. Just to be clear, both options are synthetic or not natural. The main difference being the much higher quality of materials and craftsmanship with the Japanese kakucho weave version, which has been recognized over the years as the gold standard in Japanese synthetic silk sageo. Again, I was keeping things basic so I went with a synthetic silk sageo in “blanched almond”.

16. Saya Part Upgrade

Next I am given the option to upgrade saya parts. The description states that the koiguchi, kurikata and kojiri are usually made of plastic and that I can upgrade these to horn if wanted. So I guess I’m assuming that if I don’t upgrade, these parts will be plastic. I’m not choosing to upgrade.

17. Review of Customized Sword Options

In the next step I get to see all the options I’ve chosen so far and the cost for each, as well as the total. My total came out to $520. Okay, order placed 9/30, now I just wait.

I received a confirmation email from Swordis minutes after I placed the order and then 4 more emails with the last one received on 10-18, letting me know my sword had been delivered.

Overall, I felt that this builder was very easy to use and I think it would also be suitable for those without extensive knowledge, though some of the missing descriptions can make it a little confusing to some. I would like to see more and better pictures of the blades and perhaps some examples of the finished swords so I get a more vivid sense of how the whole sword will look when done. I’d also like to see descriptions for every option offered.

For those looking for a quick and easy way to put together a customized functional katana or blunt practice sword between the prices of $320 to $873, this is a good option. You don’t have to communicate with anyone if you don’t want to, customer service is there if you do have questions and you are notified of the progress every step of the way.

Sword Review

My customized ShadowDancer katana from Swordis arrived on 10/18, 18 days after placing the order, in a standard cardboard sword box half covered in stickers. A very familiar sight that always gets my blood going, so I wasted no time in getting it out of the box. Before I proceed with the review of the sword, let’s take a look at the stats.

Stats at a Glance

Steel Type: Crucible
Sugata: Shinogi-Zukuri, no hi
Nagasa: 27 3/4″
Motohaba: 32mm
Motokasane: 6.7mm
Sakihaba: 23.4mm
Sakikasane: 4.8mm
Sori: Tori, 5/8″
Kissaki: Chu, 37mm
Yokote: Geometric
Tsuka Length: 10 1/2″
Nakago Length: 8 3/4″
POB: 6″
Weight w/saya: 2.66 lbs. w/out saya: 2.24 lbs
Heat Treat: Differentially heat treated with genuine clayed hamon
Polish: “Premium Sashikomi”
Ito Material: Rayon
Habaki Material: Brass
Tsuba Material: Non magnetic metal
Price range for ShadowDancer Lite builder: Between $320 and $873
Price for my katana: $520
Shipping cost and potential fees: Shipping was free and as they stated they would, they took care of any extra fees and tariffs there may have been.

Aesthetic Overview and first impressions

Overall, it’s a good looking katana, even if it is a bit Clichéd. The conventional black and white exterior may be on the boring side but this was my doing and I was fully prepared for the lack of aesthetic impact. I picked it up, moved it around a bit and thought it felt solid and now I was ready to see more.

As I mentioned above, I was asked by a representative of Swordis to review the builder app and sword so all of the options were chosen by me but the tab was picked up by Swordis. Thank you. I have been aware of Swordis for a while now and with ShadowDancer for even longer. I’ve worked with several of ShadowDancer’s swords as well as some from their partner company Z-Sey and I’ve been impressed so far.

Tsuka

I have been very pleased with Shadow Dancer’s tsuka so far, the construction, materials, shaping and fitting are above average and one of the reasons I like working with them. This tsuka had the same haichi shaping, meaning it was flat on the ha edge and curved on the mune edge. Removing the fuchi, I could see right away that the top of the core was intact with no cracks or splits (see pics of the unwrapped tsuka core at the end). I could also see that the samegawa panels are inlaid, as they should be and that the wood looked clean and healthy. After removing the single mekugi I was able to remove the tsuka with a little resistance (more on that later) after a couple of taps with my tsuka removal kit.

Tsukamaki

I ordered the black rayon tsuka ito in hineri-maki style with no hishigami. The ito was flush with the rims of the fuchi and kashira, the crossovers alternated and the end knots were on the correct sides. Unfortunately, the maki is so loose and slippery that I actually feel it’s not safe to use. I understand I chose not to go with hishigami, which do play a part in keeping the ito tight, but if this is how loose their final product is without them, it shouldn’t be offered as an option on a potentially dangerous weapon, in my opinion.

I have handled many production katana that were wrapped with synthetic ito and without hishigami and while they weren’t the nicest looking or most comfortable, most of the tsukamaki was much tighter than this. I feel they should either work on tightening up the non-hishigami tsukamaki or drop it altogether and make the addition of at least the base level hishigami mandatory.

In my experience, there are generally two types of synthetic silk tsuka ito, one that feels fairly rough and the other feels slick. I don’t like either because the rough type irritates my skin after a while and the slick type makes it difficult for me to maintain a sure grip. Since I’m not trained in sword arts and the ito is both slippery and loose, I’m playing it safe and will not be cutting with the sword in it’s current state.

Samegawa

The samegawa panels are of higher than average quality and include an emperor’s node on the omote side. There is pretty heavy staining on both sides of the tsuka, which is a result of the adhesive showing through the translucent samegawa. The panels are also very narrow so you wind up seeing wood at the edges of the maki.

Fuchi

The fuchi I chose is nicely detailed and decorated with flowers on a nanako background. They’re obviously cast but not too tired or warped like many common cast f&k sets wind up looking. I can make out all the details and I don’t see any obvious casting lines or grind marks. The black finish seems stable enough but there’s no telling yet how long or well it will hold up. The Z-Sey stamp on the inside makes the above average cast quality not surprising.

It’s 40mm long, which from a customizer’s viewpoint at least, is right on the money for the most common repro fuchi length, making it easier to find a replacement if necessary. Many production saya koiguchi are also around 40-42mm long so this helps the two parts align better. I believe all of their fuchi and kashira sets are made of brass, like this one. In my opinion, the fuchi was represented very well on the website and looks just like the pictures I chose it from.

Kashira

The kashira in this set matches the theme and color of the fuchi. The fit is solid and there is no movement at all. The kashira is finished off with separate brass shitodome.

Menuki

The menuki are a pair of either oxen or cattle, I’m not sure which but I know they are a copy of an actual historical example I’ve seen before. Just as I saw in the online pictures, these menuki are nicely detailed and well proportioned and again, are just what I was expecting them to be. They’re finished in an antique brass/blackened brass color and they’re also mounted correctly.

Seppa

The seppa are standard stamped brass with a coin edge and a parts bin finish. They’re shaped appropriately for the fuchi and koiguchi. Both seppa are peened for a tight fit on the nakago.

Tsuba

The tsuba I chose was the monkeys and peaches theme from the iron category. I remember this design because it was featured on the Hanwei Momo No Saru “Peach Monkey” katana, which I like very much. The details are clear enough overall but there are a couple of spots where it gets a little muddy, such as the baby’s face. The peened fit on the nakago is very tight but I was able to remove it with little effort.

For the most part though the details are sharp and easy to identify and the color of the metal looks naturally aged, it almost looks like there’s some tiny specs of rust in the nooks and crannies. Except, I don’t think it is rust because the tsuba is not magnetic. Whether iron or steel, it should be fully magnetic, or in the case of some stainless steels, at least partially magnetic but I’m not picking up any action with my magnet. It’s obviously metal of some sort but I suppose it’s possible it may be an alloy with an iron looking plating or coating instead. Either way, it looks realistic and feels strong so I don’t see why it would be an issue, functionally speaking, but I would like to know what metal it actually is. I also wonder if any of the tsuba in the iron category are actually iron or steel.

Habaki

This is a standard solid brass cast habaki. Luckily, it doesn’t have a slit exposing the fragile ha machi like many other cast habaki do. It has typical surface scratches and a fairly uniform satin polish. The mune is well supported by the habaki notch but there is a little movement of the seated habaki, even when the sword is fully assembled. There is a slight gap on one side.

Saya

The saya for this sword is slim and very light. It has a dual tone, black on black paint scheme with a matte black base and a black semi gloss spatter effect. It looks nice enough and doesn’t show annoying fingerprints but it is very light and seems like it could possibly chip, dent and scratch easily.

The koiguchi is a black plastic ring instead of a more durable horn piece. Because I didn’t choose to upgrade these parts, I assume they’re all made of plastic or possibly wood. Honestly, the only part that I imagine would be safer if it was horn is the koiguchi, I have no problem with plastic or wood for the other parts, functionally speaking.

The kurikata comes with brass shitodome but they have large openings for the thicker sageo and they seem to be glued into place with no movement. The synthetic silk sageo is in a color they call blanched almond but looks like a pale gold to me and it’s soft and would be fine for tying around an obi. The koiguchi aligns well visually with the fuchi.

Blade

The blade of the custom built Shadow Dancer is listed as made of crucible steel. From what I understand, crucible steel is made by melting iron and carbon together in a crucible at high temperatures until completely homogeneous, basically a mixture made to meet their needs and not one of the standard available steel types. I won’t go into the metallurgy or ingredients since I don’t know this and I’m not sure how accurate the information would be anyway if it was provided by the manufacturer. I tend to go by reputation of performance and aesthetics rather than the technical specs.

The gunome style hamon is evenly executed and shows a bright and feathery habuchi. The waves are nicely controlled and the polish brightens them up, making the hamon easily visible. There are minor surface scratches here and there, as I have found on nearly every production blade I’ve ever seen but they could probably be removed with some polishing paste and buffing if it bothered anybody.

The blade flats are even and the thickness tapers slightly from habaki to monouchi without any obvious dips or lumps. The blade is straight and aligned well with the tsuka. There is a lot of blade presence even though the motokasane is slightly under the average of 7mm, perhaps the pob of 6″ adding to that.

The chu kissaki is shaped decently and polished so the o-maru boshi is visible. The yokote is geometric.

The overall “sashikomi” polish is pleasant and above what I would consider the average mid-range production blade polish. It shows details well and adds some textural interest with the burnishing. It makes the blade stand out on this sword and while it’s certainly not the top level of production katana polishes I’ve seen, I feel it’s a perfectly adequate option for this Lite builder.

It looks a lot like 1095 or t10 to me to be honest. There no real grain pattern to see, although there are tiny dots in the hira-ji. The shinogi-ji is average width and burnished to a mirror shine, as is the mune. It has a nice tone, not too dark and etched looking. I looked at the crucible steel blade next to a dh t10 blade for comparison and while there are a lot of similarities, there’s also some clear differences.

The edge doesn’t have much if any ha niku and is sharpened evenly up to about 4″ from the kissaki where it gets a little rough. It snags a tissue with some of the burrs there. This shouldn’t be a big problem, I can probably smooth this area out with a ceramic rod.

Nakago

The 8 3/4″ nakago is shaped well and ends in a rounded kurijiri shape. The edges aren’t perfectly smooth but they aren’t sharp enough to cut. There were burrs on the rim of the single mekugi-ana that not only scrape the inside of the tsuka core but they prevented me from being able to fully remove the habaki until I ground them off. Otherwise, the nakago is sturdy and fits into the tsuka core snugly.

Handling, Weight and Balance

This sword feels like it was built to cut and by that I mean there’s an obvious heft or blade presence as soon as you unsheathe and extend it. I think the forward weight would lend to the cutting ability and while it might not be the lightest katana of this length that I’ve handled, it’s not necessarily unwieldly either. It would be a great sword for cutting mats in dojo or backyard cutting sessions. That is unless you consider the very slippery and very loose ito.

Fit & Finish

Similar to the other Shadow Dancer katana I’ve handled and worked with before, this katana was put together from above average parts and materials with above average attention to detail. There are a few minor issues here and there but overall it makes a well crafted and put together package. One of the best parts about the experience for me was the fact that other than the tsuka ito, everything was as I expected it to be, which is good quality and good value. I think the product I received was very well represented in it’s individual parts on the website builder and there weren’t any major differences that came as a surprise.

Pros

• Quick and easy to use custom web based sword builder
• Large selection of parts
• Great communication throughout the entire process
• Fast assembly and ship speed
• Higher than average quality fittings
• Higher than average quality fit & finish
• Nice polish and hamon aesthetics
• Would make a great regular cutter

Cons

• Slippery ito
• Dangerously loose tsukamaki
• Badly stained samegawa
• Slight movement in habaki
• Rough area on blade edge

Final thoughts and opinions

I thought the ordering process was quick and easy and the instant confirmation and available support made it feel worry free. Some of the options could use better descriptions and may or may not be problematic for buyers newer to production katana.

The choices were plentiful and varied enough that there are 29,875 combo possibilities. Actually, I made that up and have no idea how many different combinations can be made but it’s got to be a LOT! I’ve seen thousands of cast fittings over the years ranging in quality from barely usable warped zinc alloy to extremely accurate and beautifully crafted and I think the choices they have available are definitely higher quality than the other brands offering similar customizing options.

What makes the Swordis ShadowDancer Lite builder stand out from the rest of the online custom sword sellers? I have seen many swords from sellers like Ryansword and Hanbon Forge as well as a dozen others and I think all of them can produce a unique katana that is suitable for collection and use but the one thing I feel really separates them from Swordis ShadowDancer Lite is the attention to fit & finish. I recently ordered a sword from Ryansword and the blade was beautifully made with a much higher end polish and it was also much less expensive than the Swordis katana but there is no comparison to the quality of the fittings and materials and construction of the entire ShadowDancer sword.

And perhaps the biggest question still unanswered is, is do I feel this sword is worth the $500 price tag? Back in the day, a five hundred dollar production katana would have been closer to the top end of the price chart before getting to something like a Bugei but these days I feel five hundred is only a couple of notches away from base level functional. For this amount I would expect the sword to be fully functional, able to be disassembled and reassembled without issues, look nice and feel comfortable. Other than the tsuka ito problem, this customized katana definitely hits those marks and then some. I think if they can get the ito/hishigami situation sorted out, there would be no question that you’re getting your money’s worth.

I’ll be back to make updates once I unwrap the tsuka and then again when I rewrap it.

Thanks for reading

I have fully unwrapped the tsuka and as I had hoped, the core is in good overall condition and is suitable to rewrap. You can really see the full extent of the samegawa staining here. Hopefully the manufacturers will see this and make adjustments accordingly.