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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 9:33:06 GMT
Hey guys Well I got my Tinker Hanwei Longsword blade today and I thought I'd share my impressions. No pics at the moment but I'll add some later.
That thing is BIG. I had NO idea how long the blade actually is. I know there are many longswords with longer blades out there but this is the maximum I feel confident to swing.
The edge is in fact very well done. There is a hint of a secondary bevel but it looks more like an appleseed shape. The blade's pretty dull for the first 1/3 of the blade but when coming closer to the tip it becomes very sharp. With the front half of the blade I was able to slice paper easily. In my opinion the edge is absolutely fine. Looks like Hanwei finally got an edge right. I will however sharpen the bottom half of the blade too. There's not much metal to take away so it should go pretty fast.
The blade's shape is beautiful. Very nice distal and profile taper. The fuller tapers with the blade. Awesome! The sword is quite stiff but flexes beautifully, just how I like it. Temper is awesome as well. But I knew that before.
The tang is very healthy and thick. No problem there. It's also very long, I can fit 2 and a half hands there (without gripping the pommel). Very nice. Especially guys with bigger bear paws should like that.
Cutting: it cuts very nicely. I wrapped the tang in clothes to test the edge and was very satisfied with the results. It cut tetra packs without any problems and even thick walled soda bottles were cut cleanly. What impressed me the most was it's thrusting ability. With a moderatly strong thrust it penetrated tire sidewalls and thrusting through bottles was rediculously easy.
I think that's it. I hope this helps to answer some questions about the Tinker Hanwei line. Especially the edge problem is now put to rest. At least on the longswords. I am very impressed by this line of swords and recommend them to everybody looking for a cheap but high quality medieval sword. Im my opinion they are even better than the beloved VA practical line.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 11:02:32 GMT
It sounds like a nice sword. I still wish that they would sharpen the entire blade instead of leaving a third of it completely blunt.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 11:40:01 GMT
It sounds like a nice sword. I still wish that they would sharpen the entire blade instead of leaving a third of it completely blunt. You know, it's not completely blunt like on Tom's sword. The edge is about 0.5mm there and requires only a bit work to sharpen. Besides, you don't use that part of the blade for cutting so it matters little for performance. I will sharpen it though.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 11:43:04 GMT
I know, I doubt anyone would use that area to cut with, but it still dissapoints me. They could at least give that last part of the blade a secondary bevel using an accusharp.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 11:44:46 GMT
Why does it dissapoint you? What use would a secondary bevel be there? Besides I would never let an accusharp touch that sword.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 11:46:50 GMT
It isn't historical, from what I have learned on myarmoury.
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Sept 10, 2009 11:52:13 GMT
It isn't historical, from what I have learned on myarmoury. Hmmm... I dont know about that. It ios certainly historical on katana... and Id think longswords as well, considering the widespread use of halfswording ... I'll look into this... I'm interested...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 14:40:33 GMT
It is historical to leave lower half or even more of the blade unsharpened for armored fighting. Period masters recommended it. You can halfsword easier, you can use that part of the blade to stun someone in armor without the fear of damaging the edge... Btw, I read this on myarmoury...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 14:49:47 GMT
Good to hear that Hanwei is getting some of the edges right. If they can continue this trend across the entire line we'll have more choices and that is always a good thing.
I have no problem with the first 1/3 being unsharpened as I do not cut with that portion. I do insist that the rest of the blade be nice and sharp.
Get some pictures up, chenessfan! I wanna see this blade!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 22:31:14 GMT
Yeah even when learning sabres I learnt the lower half is blunt for parrying and half swording. I would think mostly with all euro's too.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2009 23:10:50 GMT
Btw, chenessfan, you say the blade seems very long to you. I handled that sword and got quite an opposite impression. Hanwei site says the blade is 34.75" long. I think that is actually quite short for a longsword. I'm not sure if I have even seen a real longsword with a shorter blade...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2009 1:17:54 GMT
Every authentic sword that I have seen pictures of had a blade shat was completely sharpened unless it had a ricasso. I could be wrong, but I never heard of a cutting sword with a blunt portion of the blade. Of course, since this is a longsword it does make sense to me now.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2009 2:03:58 GMT
yes, historically only half of the blade was sharpened on a European sword. Your strong part was used for parry's, blocks, half swording etc.
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Sept 11, 2009 2:08:12 GMT
Bill, I know that's true for long swords and such but what about Type X / XII / XIV arming swords? were they that way as well? I can see why they might want to be but I don't know for sure if they were.
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Post by shadowhowler on Sept 11, 2009 2:53:56 GMT
I have no problem with the first 1/3 being unsharpened as I do not cut with that portion. I do insist that the rest of the blade be nice and sharp. I agree. 1/2 the blade being dull would be too much for me... but if the first 1/3 of the blade is blunt but transitions to a nice clean sharp out of the box edge, I would be very happy with that.
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Sept 11, 2009 3:30:05 GMT
that's pretty much what the EMSHS is Sean, but there's about 4-6 inches you'd have to sharpen yourself to get the sharp part all the way up to the blunt part. mine hase a good sharp edge out of the box as I think I have demonstrated.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2009 3:41:56 GMT
Cheers for the info chenessfan. I was going to get one of these bad boys but I got the VA Kriegschwert instead Ah well, it's next on the list
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2009 7:02:32 GMT
Well, you're right it shouldn't feel that long but it does to me which is weird because I've handled several longswords so I should have expected that. I guess I just didn't think about the length of the blade when ordering and stuff. I thought more about the custom grip and the construction of the whole handle. Still the blade is impressive. Very broad for a thruster at the base and then tapering rapidly. I like it!! I'll post pictures later today.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2009 18:50:04 GMT
Jonathan, you should read up on half-swording; it is an actual technique that requires you to grip the blade in front of the guard while also gripping the hilt- makes for a more stable thrust among other things. Having that portion of the sword sharpened will only help your opponent.
I don't see it as a problem with the first 1/3 of the blade relatively unsharpened...you're just not gonna cut with that portion of the blade...it'd be hard to get up the necessary speed and torque that close to the guard; now you could hold a bottle down and probably saw thru it if you were so inclined, but in that sort of close quarters combat, you'd probably fall back to a shortsword, dagger or dirk for the infighting aspect...a sword would only get in the way. Just my take on it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2009 19:25:00 GMT
I know what half-swording is, but I am fairly certain that it was rarely (if ever) done with type X or XII swords. At least, I have never heard of anyone using it with single handed cutting swords. Since this is a longsword I will accept the blunt portion of the blade.
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