jin-shi sword arrived today
May 18, 2009 18:46:24 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 18, 2009 18:46:24 GMT
my sword from jin-shi has finally arrived, and though I have to go to work in a little bt, I'll put some pictures and do a review as soon as possible.
intro:
I bought this sword cause I've always wanted a hand-made, from scratch sword, and because being a history major who's fallen in love with ancient chinese history, I wanted something at least close to what they had maybe 1600 years ago. jin-shi came up and garrett worked with me to decide what kind and how my sword would be made. he was very helpful
historical overview:
none really, supposed to be modeled after a tang era sword.
initial impressions:
I'm going to be brutally honest in my review, hopefully the negative and positive will help garrett grow his business and increase his following by having useful customer feedback.
when I opened the box, and removed the sword from the nice bag it came in, I noticed the two fittings on the scabbard were loose, possibly occurring during shipping. the glue was left on the scabbard and it looks like not enough was used, causing them to break loose. the wood is very nice looking and the fittings around the handle are nice as well, looking somewhat antiqued.
when I took the sword out of the scabbard, it was well oiled I assume to protect it during shipping. the grain of the steel (I ordered mine folded and differentially hardened) shows clearly and the hamon (is it a hamon in chinese?) is visible on both sides of the blade, VERY nice.
towards the end of the blade there are some shiny spots where it looks like the sword is rubbing the scabbard or defects of the sharpening/polishing process. I have emailed garrett and hopefully he can instruct me on fixing these.
overall though, my initial impression was good, the blade makes a nice sound when swung and the handle does not rattle at all.
statistics:
these are rounded, not exact values
blade length: 30"
handle length: 11"
total: 42"
weight: not available to me at this time, maybe garrett can chime in with this.
balance point: 5.5 inches from guard
these are precise measurements
blade width, widest: 1.404 in
blade thickness, widest: .337 in
components:
wood and steel? brass fittings
handling characteristics:
I'm not sure I can elaborate here much, however it does make a VERY nice sound when swung with some wrist action.
where the business begins... the hamon is way more visible in actuality, I tried without the camera flash to capture it.
the spots are minor scratches and don't show all that much. the sword is either hitting the scabbard inside and rubbing, or it's a minor polishing/sharpening defect. garrett has since e-mailed me with tips on polishing these out.
I will try again later to see if I can use diff. lighting to really bring out the grain and hamon. it is a work of art and deserves to be seen to garrett's credit.
conclusions:
the sword is worth the price of admission. there are minor flaws, which I'm sure will improve with time. the blade itself is a thing to behold, straight as can be and the whole thing has a nice, heavy feel. it's most likely a 2 handed sword, though I was able to wield it with 1, just not as fast.
I might try to cut something later, and I'll put pictures up when I do. garrett will probably someday see return business, having something made just for you the way you want is a great feeling, especially when it comes out looking as nice as this sword does.
intro:
I bought this sword cause I've always wanted a hand-made, from scratch sword, and because being a history major who's fallen in love with ancient chinese history, I wanted something at least close to what they had maybe 1600 years ago. jin-shi came up and garrett worked with me to decide what kind and how my sword would be made. he was very helpful
historical overview:
none really, supposed to be modeled after a tang era sword.
initial impressions:
I'm going to be brutally honest in my review, hopefully the negative and positive will help garrett grow his business and increase his following by having useful customer feedback.
when I opened the box, and removed the sword from the nice bag it came in, I noticed the two fittings on the scabbard were loose, possibly occurring during shipping. the glue was left on the scabbard and it looks like not enough was used, causing them to break loose. the wood is very nice looking and the fittings around the handle are nice as well, looking somewhat antiqued.
when I took the sword out of the scabbard, it was well oiled I assume to protect it during shipping. the grain of the steel (I ordered mine folded and differentially hardened) shows clearly and the hamon (is it a hamon in chinese?) is visible on both sides of the blade, VERY nice.
towards the end of the blade there are some shiny spots where it looks like the sword is rubbing the scabbard or defects of the sharpening/polishing process. I have emailed garrett and hopefully he can instruct me on fixing these.
overall though, my initial impression was good, the blade makes a nice sound when swung and the handle does not rattle at all.
statistics:
these are rounded, not exact values
blade length: 30"
handle length: 11"
total: 42"
weight: not available to me at this time, maybe garrett can chime in with this.
balance point: 5.5 inches from guard
these are precise measurements
blade width, widest: 1.404 in
blade thickness, widest: .337 in
components:
wood and steel? brass fittings
handling characteristics:
I'm not sure I can elaborate here much, however it does make a VERY nice sound when swung with some wrist action.
where the business begins... the hamon is way more visible in actuality, I tried without the camera flash to capture it.
the spots are minor scratches and don't show all that much. the sword is either hitting the scabbard inside and rubbing, or it's a minor polishing/sharpening defect. garrett has since e-mailed me with tips on polishing these out.
I will try again later to see if I can use diff. lighting to really bring out the grain and hamon. it is a work of art and deserves to be seen to garrett's credit.
conclusions:
the sword is worth the price of admission. there are minor flaws, which I'm sure will improve with time. the blade itself is a thing to behold, straight as can be and the whole thing has a nice, heavy feel. it's most likely a 2 handed sword, though I was able to wield it with 1, just not as fast.
I might try to cut something later, and I'll put pictures up when I do. garrett will probably someday see return business, having something made just for you the way you want is a great feeling, especially when it comes out looking as nice as this sword does.
The wait is excruciating. 
