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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2009 23:11:39 GMT
Hi, I really like the Paul Chen banshee cutting sword. Any comments? Is it a good sword? www.swordsofmight.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=69Also, how do you clean a sword like that? And how often do you clean it if its for display? (do you use a japanese katana maitenence kit or something else?) Thank you, Tom
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Post by sicheah on Sept 8, 2009 23:31:55 GMT
Here's a review: /index.cgi?board=swordreviews&action=display&thread=1893&page=1#32667Like any sword cleaning procedure: 1) wipe the blade clean with alcohol and paper towel 2) apply a thin layer of mineral/motor oil and wipe out the excess oil from the blade using clean cloth/paper towel. You can use a Japanese maintenance kit if you wish but personally the kit itself is pretty expensive and the uchiko powder "polishes the blade" somewhat. I am sticking to rubbing alcohol and machine oil.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2009 13:56:48 GMT
I have this sword and it's great for chopping wood. As sicheah said, you need to clean it. You don't need any kits for sword cleaning, the materials are very easy to buy (I got my mineral oil at a drug store).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2009 14:49:32 GMT
I bought one through Sam I am a while back.
Yup. Our fellow forumite is a Hanwei retailer. Good service. Good follow-through.
This sword is truly a cutter, but the blade is too light IMO. I'd like to see a bit more blade presence.
The handle is atrocious. It slopes in such a way that it's easy to lose your one-handed grip if you start to sweat. This bad design (IMO) is made worse by the addition of a synthetic leather wrap that feels oily. Also, the second hand part of the grip is round, so if you're looking to extend your reach by gripping the end of the grip, you lose edge orientation feedback.
I plan to replace my handle with scales and rivets. Might even cut down the tang to make it a one-hander -- it's certainly light enough.
The scabbard is wood with a gorilla truck bed coating. Seems to be very tough. (I might try this on some of my cheaper Kats' saya. Auto parts stores sell this stuff in aerosol form.) The throat is steel and had to be filed by hand to keep it from blunting the blade.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 13:25:58 GMT
BlackhawkFan,
Thanks for this valuable feedback. I know quite a few have praised this sword. It's good to hear a contrasting opinion.
How long is the tang? Would you shorten the handle to the length of the (shorter--my guess) tang?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 15:27:02 GMT
Someone took this apart on the SFI forums a long time ago and I saved the pic. It's a little small, but it's adequate. This is the reason why I want this dha as opposed to a traditional dha, which traditionally made, is of rat-tail construction. The Banshee, being a contemporary design, is full tang, which is BEAUTIFUL to me!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 16:48:53 GMT
...and the end cap (don't want to call it a pommel) is peened.
That tang looks great!
Larry,
I'm thinking of making a handle something along the lines of a Russian Kindjal. From the looks of the tang (I haven't taken mine apart yet), I should be able to use a hacksaw to cut to length and drill a second hole for the rivets.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 20:59:27 GMT
Reminds me of the elven swords seen in the LOTR movie, in all honesty.
M.
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Post by ShooterMike on Sept 17, 2009 21:05:58 GMT
...and the end cap (don't want to call it a pommel) is peened. That tang looks great! Larry, I'm thinking of making a handle something along the lines of a Russian Kindjal. From the looks of the tang (I haven't taken mine apart yet), I should be able to use a hacksaw to cut to length and drill a second hole for the rivets. Making a single-hand sword out of this one has been a desire for me for a long time too. I just can't ever seem to get a Round2It, so if anyone has an extra (Round2It that is) to loan me?... ;D I saw a post a long time ago on myArmoury or SFI where someone had made a really cool single hander (or two?... pair?) out of this sword(s). It really looked great.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2009 18:40:41 GMT
Making a single-hand sword out of this one has been a desire for me for a long time too. I just can't ever seem to get a Round2It, so if anyone has an extra (Round2It that is) to loan me?... ;D I saw a post a long time ago on myArmoury or SFI where someone had made a really cool single hander (or two?... pair?) out of this sword(s). It really looked great. LOL. How about this? You do yours and I'll do mine and we'll post pics in the same thread. You can showcase your skill, artistry, and expertise, and the gang can get a good laugh at mine.
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Post by ShooterMike on Sept 22, 2009 19:23:02 GMT
Heh, heh. Don't bet on it! So now I'm curious... what kind of guard should this blade, with its current scabbard left intact, have? What kind of guard and pommel would look cool with a 4 inch straight grip? To me, the blade is very "cutlass-like" as in naval cutlass. But I want something different for this project. Any suggestions?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2009 19:50:41 GMT
From what I can see, it already sports a tsuba-like guard. I'm thinking of trying to keep it and just add scales to back it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2009 19:56:22 GMT
...and the end cap (don't want to call it a pommel) is peened. That tang looks great! Larry, I'm thinking of making a handle something along the lines of a Russian Kindjal. From the looks of the tang (I haven't taken mine apart yet), I should be able to use a hacksaw to cut to length and drill a second hole for the rivets. Making a single-hand sword out of this one has been a desire for me for a long time too. I just can't ever seem to get a Round2It, so if anyone has an extra (Round2It that is) to loan me?... ;D I saw a post a long time ago on myArmoury or SFI where someone had made a really cool single hander (or two?... pair?) out of this sword(s). It really looked great. A girlfriend back in high school made me a round tuit. It's a circle of paper telling me I have no excuse to say "I never got around to it" because this circle is titled "Round tuit". It hangs on my wall to this day. M.
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Post by ShooterMike on Sept 22, 2009 21:46:19 GMT
Making a single-hand sword out of this one has been a desire for me for a long time too. I just can't ever seem to get a Round2It, so if anyone has an extra (Round2It that is) to loan me?... ;D I saw a post a long time ago on myArmoury or SFI where someone had made a really cool single hander (or two?... pair?) out of this sword(s). It really looked great. A girlfriend back in high school made me a round tuit. It's a circle of paper telling me I have no excuse to say "I never got around to it" because this circle is titled "Round tuit". It hangs on my wall to this day. M. Yeah, in all honesty... I have a round leather drink coaster with 2 IT engraved on the face. I really don't have an excuse... except laziness and being too distracted by other things. The guard isn't really very tsuba-like. It's more like a thick metal plug with the locking mechanism built-in. I was thinking of grinding it as thin as possible while retaining the lock, then add some sort of actual guard. A tsuba shape would work. But I really want something more "European" in nature. I even though about some sort of cup or shell guard. But it would be a pretty complex endeavor to make that work well. Maybe something like a messer guard?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2009 23:18:22 GMT
I noticed my sense of scale way way off; when I first saw this thing, I thought it was a two handed weapon at least 40 some inches from end to end...guess not M.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2009 0:51:43 GMT
The similarities between the banshee and fantasy swords are very peculiar, but in reality the banshee is a contemporarized version of the southeast Asian Dha: It looks almost exactly in shape to this Dha. Heh, heh. Don't bet on it! So now I'm curious... what kind of guard should this blade, with its current scabbard left intact, have? What kind of guard and pommel would look cool with a 4 inch straight grip? To me, the blade is very "cutlass-like" as in naval cutlass. But I want something different for this project. Any suggestions? You COULD cut the tang down and make it a 'Parang Nabur'; which is a one-handed indonesian sword, with about the same blade length of a PC Banshee. It's actually inspired in design by the Dutch Cutlass, but with malay design and decor, as well as length preference. This is what I plan on doing when I get a banshee. Here's a pic of a beautiful exmple of a Parang Nabur:
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Post by ShooterMike on Sept 23, 2009 1:26:18 GMT
That's nice! Almost a cross between a naval cutlass and a shamshir. ;D
I hope you do one like that, and post lots of detailed photos. I actually thought about heating and curving the tang. But I have doubts about my willingness and ability to make a good looking curved grip.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2009 1:52:42 GMT
Glad you like it It's really just the pommel that curves at the end if you look at it, so in reality if you wanted to peen the tang to the outside curve where the pommel begins, that would be a possiblity. Thaat's what I plan on doing... although traditionally in indonesia, the tang of a sword is simply epoxied on. Sometimes in later examples it is epoxied AND pinned. I plan on getting a handyman so epoxy, pin, and perhaps peen the tang to the end of the hilt. Overkill? probably, but at least it ensures It'll be safe to use. I've got a modern made Parang nabur from indonesia. it's sold by Valiant Co, an australia-based trading company dealing with Indonesian-made blades. The handle is Water Buffalo horn, and there's a lovely visible grain to it. the pommel is unusual as it's more of a shell than a rounded pommel, but I like it. I've been toying with re-hilting it, but I really like the grain visible in the horn, which is why I'm planning on getting a PC banshee for a second parang nabur. here's a pic of the Parang nabur I do have: If this had a D-guard it would definitely be a hell of a swashbuckler. the hilt is 6 inches with a 22.5-inch blade. perfect for me, as I practice Escima, and we fight with training swords and sticks similar to this length. I love Southeast Asian blade designs. The mix of cultures really lends itself to inventive and new, yet eerily familiar, styles of blades.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2009 14:00:58 GMT
I bought the Banshee a few years ago, and it is still one of my best swords.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2009 17:48:38 GMT
these redesign ideas make me want to get the banshee but i just bought like 3 swords in the last week
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