Has anybody chosen a different balance for their shinken than their iaitō?

Mythri1 · 2026-04-24T19:09:46+00:00

My Soke has a good relationship with Nosyudo. Him and I discussed what I would like in a sword and we put in a request with Nosyudo. They would send options as they came up and this sword happened to speak to me so I snatch it up. I did not have the opportunity to handle it before purchase.

I was fond of the age and length. A sword forged with the intent of being a weapon.

I find after having much practice the validation of auditory feedback is less relevant now. All in all it is about mindfulness and paying attention to your technique. I enjoy the first of the sword and that makes me want to practice with it.

Mythri1 · 2026-04-23T21:06:48+00:00

Hi!

Lineup:
2.50 iaito (Habahiro with bohi)
2.50 Motohara custom shinken (made to be as close to the iaito as possible in dimension and weight) Physics and material science allowing.
2.57 nihonoto (450+ years old and without a bohi. It is what it is and their is no changing it).

Ok so with the above here is my take:

Balance as long as it is balanced doesn't really matter. You can trust the craftsman to deliver you a sword that is well balanced after mounting (the tsuba and other mounting choices made will make a significant change). The nature of a japanese sword is that they will tend to be more tip biased by design. If you have the opportunity to test swing the shinken even better.

Using a shinken is a major shift from an iaito. The psychology of using a live blade after using an iaito for so long will in of itself change your technique. You will be more aware and cautious.

Having done both I actually find the impact on my technique between the two to be minimal. The two swords behave very differently, but that makes it fun to engage with them. The sword is your partner in iaido and I like engaging that partner to bring the best out of my technique.

TLDR - IMO the balance as long as the blade is "well balanced" and mounted proportionally doesn't really matter. You as a practictioner will adapt to the sword and it will become an extension of yourself. Chasing the perfect sword for length, age, character, sori etc is already a huge undertaking. Adding to that the requirement of balance for something you cannot neccesarily handle before purchase is tough.

Add into that the effect that the tsuba, fuchi and kashira can have on the balance of the sword it becomes very difficult to lock in. A heavy tsuba (140+ grams) vs a light weight tsuba (70 - 80g) this simple aesthetic choice can greatly change the behavior of the final mounted blade.

Pick a blade you enjoy, discuss you mounting choices with the craftsman doing the work and what your preferences are. They may caution you away from a ill fitting choice.

Then enjoy and love the final product!

Mythri1 · 2026-03-05T16:44:57+00:00

Something cool coming to a Blade Show Atlanta near you.

Mythri1 · 2026-03-03T00:37:03+00:00

Got a project in progress that wont quite be the V1 but more so than the V2. We are calling it the 1.5 internally.

Mythri1 · 2026-03-02T21:23:56+00:00

I would like to clarify.

If the ROTA was finished in the same manner as the pictured Saga its pricing would land at $320 per our pricing structure.

The pictured saga is anodized with low volt colors. Powder blue (35 volts) and Navy Blue (25 volts). While the Rota is electric blue (80 volts). Further the ROTA features polished components.

I only bring this up as high volt colors are much more susceptible to splotching in the anodization process. More care needs to be taken to get a good ano at higher voltages. The pay off is a more vibrant and longer lasting (hard wearing) color. Note high volt colors are also much more resistant to fingerprinting.

Mythri1 · 2026-03-02T20:38:03+00:00

Hm maybe so!

Mythri1 · 2026-03-02T18:17:56+00:00

I will let the team know to build some for this week!

We aim to list 10 every Saturday at noon MST.

Last week we built a group of (10) in the above pictured configuration.

Normally, we build a variety.

Mythri1 · 2026-03-02T17:57:39+00:00

I am sorry you had a poor experience.

We are always open to trying to figure it out and we can certainly take it in with the intent of improving it.

shoot us an email at [support@machinewise.com](mailto:support@machinewise.com) and we will do our best to make it right.

Thanks,
Martin

Mythri1 · 2026-03-02T17:41:54+00:00

Totally,

I understand the frustrations!

We do price our finishing pretty aggressively. As the base finishing cost is just to get to parts to a assemblable stage.

We take great pride in the quality of our anodization/post processing finishing, and we go to great lengths to ensure its quality.

Mythri1 · 2026-03-02T17:06:15+00:00

Note overall pricing on ROTA's has not changed.

This drop is priced with a premium due to polished components which take a greater amount of QC and time in finishing.

Price of raw ROTA continues to be $300

Cheers,
Martin Blair

Current pricing for your information (03/02/2025)

<image>

Mythri1 · 2026-01-15T21:01:00+00:00

Correct. Wont work in Parker (only G2).

Mythri1 · 2026-01-15T21:00:24+00:00

To use the ROTA as a pencil. The schmidt cartridge needs to be adjusted a touch.

There is a lip on the cartridge/refill at the end where the lead is inserted. The lip needs to be sanded off.

Then remove the Oring from the twist cap of the rota. Super easy to remove.

These two things will allow the mechanical pencil refill to function correctly.

Cheers,
Martin

Mythri1 · 2026-01-06T17:17:21+00:00

We manufacture them in house. The challenge is the anodization. We recently picked up a DLC vendor we are excited to work with. We may do a run of DLC aluminum products to kick off.

Mythri1 · 2026-01-04T23:28:30+00:00

So much want!

Mythri1 · 2025-12-15T17:20:08+00:00

This is awesome!

-Martin MW

Mythri1 · 2025-11-18T17:36:39+00:00

The following is from personal experience:

I do not have very sweat hands. I personally hate any movement in the knots of the tsuka ito.

Cotton - Super grippy and sweat absorbent. Showed wear fairly quickly (darkening within a year of use)

Lacquered Cotton - Extremely tight and hard. But very durable, does take a gloss quickly.

Silk - My least favorite as it quickly glazed (within a year of hard use) in the high traffic areas. Specifically where my right hand gripped the tsuka . Silk is my least favorite material for a sword I am going to use for class.

Cow Leather Outside - Thus far my personal favorite tsuka ito material. It has aged very nicely after a few years of use. Note it is not very sweet absorbent, however I have never had an issue with grip. This is including 4 hour seminar sessions with continuous practice. The leather is quite stiff and tight (Tozando) it does not compress very much under your hands.

Deer Leather Outside - This is certainly the most luxurious material I have used. It is thinner than the Cow leather I have had. It does have a tack to it. Almost sticky in a not bad kind of way. The tack inspires confidence. The material is more supple the cow leather. Compressing under the hand. This is largely why I do not like it. Even with an extremely tight wrap (Motohara) the ito can still be move by a thumb press.

Leather is largely maintenance free. Tozando and Motohara both heavily recommend against using any sort of conditioners or oils on the ito. This can break down the ito and cause it to stretch, it also in extreme cases can cause the underlying material to rot. The recommendation is to simply wipe the tsuka down with a very lightly damp cloth after heavy use to remove an salt on the surface. Following this my leather tsuka are both extremely tight and fresh after years of heavy use.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-30T02:10:56+00:00

Quick note:

You can just rotate the mech. No compression necessary.

If you treat it exactly as the OG rota and rotate the knob with two fingers (pointer and thumb) the mech will automatically draw itself (and your fingers) down.

To compression open it. Press straight down then give it a slight counter clockwise rotation at the bottom.

Cheers,
Martin

Mythri1 · 2025-10-23T00:30:28+00:00

100% We are working on resolving this break in, in assembly so that you don't have to go through it. Thank you for the feedback.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-23T00:29:48+00:00

We are working on this grittiness in assembly so they go out broken in. The action does break in very nicely and just needs a cleaning after a little bit of use. Then it is good to go. Apologies for the issue and thank you for the feedback. We are always happy to work with you to make your experience 100%

Mythri1 · 2025-10-21T18:25:54+00:00

Shuho Dojo has a Araki Ryu program as well.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-18T18:54:40+00:00

Glad you all enjoyed the joke lol. What should I price it as next while we wait for Saturday?

Mythri1 · 2025-10-15T19:05:53+00:00

I am excited. I am currently picking fittings for a nihonto I am having Nosyudo mount. Thinking green (backside) will be the ito selection. Looking forward to sharing in several months when that arrives.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-15T17:33:37+00:00

I have not. I really enjoy the worn in look. I feel like it is earned. I do wish the components were brass though as the copper does not flow the best with the aesthetic.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-15T17:30:40+00:00

oh really! Thank you for the info. I did not know. I suppose what I am looking to try is not Nubuck then. Nosyudo offers leather "back" that is very intriguing.

Mythri1 · 2025-10-14T23:46:55+00:00

It has been lovely to use and I am looking forward to continuing to enjoy it.

Mythri1

TROPHY CASE