{OT} Buying Swords

[Dremen]

Other idea

There is another catergory you might not be aware of.

Stage combat. This is made for edge to edge combat (actual combat tended to avoid edge to edge).

This is good for sparing with the right protective gear.

Generally not sharpend and edges are much thicker than swords meant for real use (real combat). Thus they are heavier than a combat sword.

Make sure you know what you are getting. Most combat swords come sharp. Most stage combat do not. Some wall hangers do (but stainless in lengths over 12" tend to be brittle and can not be tempered in such a way that alows them to flex)

-D

 

[Dremen]

I wouldn't buy a Japanese sword from anybody in America . . . it's almost all 'kitchen steel', which is a Japanese pejorative for cruddy blades. I'm not saying there aren't hard-working, honest nihonto smiths here in the US, but it will take some doing to find a good one compared to the utter garbage at the knife & sword store in the mall, for instance. On the other hand, if you want a good wooden sword in the Japanese style, there are some excellent craftsmen right here in the US that I could recommend.

http://www.tozando.com/ is where I got my iaito (metal blade but not sharp and not steel, used for practice). They also sell live blades, I believe, and they have lots of information other gear besides swords as well. They're not too expensive, and they ship to the US, so it's all good. They've even got a yen-dollar converter right on their page.

-S

Actually there are a number of western smiths that can equal or surpas japanese smiths in quality and effectiveness. Note I did not say astetics as Japanese collectors who only collect Japanese blades look for certain characteristics due to the nature of the steel used.

Japanese smiths are required by law to only make so many swords per month, only use certain techniques, materials etc. They have a national contest that the smiths live or die financially by and rebels to tradition generaly don't get high marks. Many smiths will simulate a worn blade to appease judges, and make the sword seem older. I think this is important to preserve history but leaves function and inovation a few centuries behind.

Modern western sword smiths have made blades that can out perform historical and contemporary Japanese blades because they are not constrained in tools, materials, or technique.

Howard Clark, Randal Grahm, Don Fogg, Michael Bell and others are very competent smiths and can make katana that can flex WAY more than traditonal kats and are less prone to breakage. http://www.bugei.com/ has a BANANITE katana made by Howard Clark that can sustain a huge amount of abuse. Check out a review here. http://swordforum.com/summer99/howardclark.html

Just an FYI

-D

 

[Darklance]

Can anyone point out a good Roman Gladius? I basically want it to look nice and to be able to to withstand me swinging it aournd a little bit (without hitting anything). I've found this site

That has a large selection of roman armor and swords. Anyone have dealing with them before? Can anyone suggest some other dealer? Thanks.

 

[takyris]

Great advice here. Agree with just about everything.

Honesty is important, too -- figure out what you want, honestly. There is nothing wrong with wanting a wall-hanger. I have no need for a real sword, and if I had one, I'd be far too protective of it to do anything that involved contact with another sword. If my martial arts training ever results in me needing a real sword with the right balance and weight, I'll go for it. Until then, I'm great with nice-looking wall-hangers. (And now that I think about it, I've only bought one thing -- a knife. I got a claymore from friends, a katana from other friends, and a wakizashi from my dad -- all of whom weren't well-schooled in the wall-hanger versus blade-quality stuff.)

If all you want is something to carry while going to fairs or to pose with in full costume, paying $350 for a perfect replica of something ancient is kinda silly. So be honest about what you're looking for, and whether you're going to do anything with it that really necessitates it being really sharp or finely balanced.

-Tacky

 

[sword-dancer]

Go to

www.netsword.com

They have not only a forum for this but there are also links, and a page with swordtests.

 

[Tsyr]

The best "fall back" company for swords is Paul Chen, IMHO.

No, Paul Chen is not the BEST.

No, Paul Chen is not the CHEAPEST.

No, Paul Chen is not the most "sporty".

No, Paul Chen doesn't offer terribly exotic weapons.

What Paul Chen DOES do is offer a "functional" sword for a swallowable price for a "sword beginner" or a person on a tight budget. You can get into a Paul Chen make katana for just a bit over 100 dollars if you check e-bay, and the most expensive works go for just under 1K US. There is a fairly wide range of Paul Chen swords too... Katanas, Wakasashis, Jian, Dao... Plus european designs such as the so called "Viking sword", a "long sword", etc... in varrying levels of quality for just about anything. For a jian you can start at around 90 for the lowest quality one up to about 450 for the damascus steel one.

 

[Synicism]

If you want western blades, one name pretty much stands out as the top of the heap:

Fulvio Del Tin.

The man's blades are amazing. He does everything out of a forge in Italy and his stuff is not cheap, but it is very, very good. As far as I can tell, he doesn't sell direct from his site, which is in Italian anyway and not very informative, but if you search for "Del Tin Swords" you will find vendors that carry his blades.

I've had the privilege of handling some of his weapons in cutting and thrusting drills against slabs of meat.

Wow. Good stuff. And practically indestructible. I never knew a rapier could be used to deliver percussive chopping blows.

OK, perhaps most can't. But this one could.

Heh heh heh.

 

[Dremen]

Del Tin and Paul Chen (Hanwei) are both good real sword makers.

-D

 

[Synicism]

Originally posted by Dremen Del Tin and Paul Chen (Hanwei) are both good real sword makers.-D

We started using some of the Hanwei practice blades in SCA fencing combat. They were real popular for awhile but now we are apparently hearing reports of breakage whereas schlager and del tin blades have lasted forever.

I'm sort of leery about any steel products coming from China, especially after watching fencing sabers snap off at the tang and go sailing through the air in high school and college.

 

[Dremen]

Chen

Paul Chen is constantly improving quality and I have seen several instances where customer comments led directly to product changes.

If you spend some money on a Chen product and it did not preform to expectations I would let them know.

On a side note. His earlier products did leave a bit to be desired, but over the last few years quality has improved. If you had an older piece I'm not surprised.

Chen pieces are generally less expensive than Del Tin. Most chen pieces are in the $150-$250 range with some exceptions.

Most Del Tin pieces start in the $350 range and up. You do get what you pay for.

Another lower end shop that sells swords not wall hangers is Kris Cutlery. They make some western and eastern pieces. Most people report a hit or miss with them, like bend blades arriving or heavier than expected. The owner DOES work hard at rectifying these problems though if they happen. I have a couple pieces from them and have had very good experiences, and gotten very good blades. http://www.kriscutlery.com

-D