Cheness 9260 Shirasaya: Traditionalists Beware!
Apr 19, 2010 21:10:31 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2010 21:10:31 GMT
I know you aren't supposed to criticize people on this website, however I'm sure what I have done to my sword will most likely get the attention of some traditionalists/obsessionists. So I hereby lift the criticism ban on myself and ENCOURAGE you to criticize what I've done to my sword. I rather like the chatter and hearing different opinions is fun. (hope Paul doesn't get mad)
WHY?
Cheness 9260 steel, magic steel if there ever was one. After spending most of my time at work (as it gets relatively slow around here) researching which sword I wanted to pick up after getting my tax returns back. I finally decided on the 9260 shirasaya. Partially because I was inspired by a nifty looking sword by RyanSword on Ebay but still wanted a blade that I knew wasn't a flop, and partially because my wife thought I was crazy for wanting to spend so much on a sword.
THE MAIL
This sword actually took quite a while to get to my house and worried me becuase I never recieved a verification e-mail or tracking number. I had contacted Paul and never recieved anything back. I really started to think twice about what SBG makes about their customer service. However, I did order this sword Close to Easter. And since alot of people celebrate this holiday, I decided that ANY sword sell I would have ordered from would have a little trouble during this time. No hard feelings to SBG at all.
APPOLOGY
I would take some pictures, but since I don't have a camera, nor the smarts to figure out how to get them on here even if I did, But I can't
FITTINGS
Shirasaya, Nuff Said.
REWORK
Like I said earlier, I was inspired by a sword on ebay. Particularly, RyanSword's red and black sanmai blade. Just to let you know, this is what I want you to get angry at. I decided I wanted to make my sword red and black. I painted (YES! PAINTED! MWAHAHAHAHA!) the tsuka red and went to the fabric store and seemed incredibly feminine while searching for something to substitute for ito. (That's right! Fake!) I finally found some syhthetic leather stuff that is incredibly strong and won't even budge after being wrapped. Worked incredibly well. So far so good. Looked better that I had expected. Especially without a fuchi or kashira. Wrapped the entire bottom a bunch with the leather to kind of look like one though. Shirasaya handle transformed. Done. Ok, on to the saya. I decided that since it's a temporary storage thingy anyway, why not use what I already have? Spraypaint time! (Spraypaint!? OH NOOOO! GWAHAHAHAHA! Thunder and lightning and stuff...) Hmm, ok, needs a little more red. Back to the fabric store! picked up some red decorative rope type stuff to make into Sageo. turned out pretty good. (though a little long) So I now have a black sword with red accents in a kind of Zetsurin style. Awesome!
BLADE
The blade is supposed to be differentially hardened since it's a no-hi version. However the hamon seems... Pinkishred. Most real hamons seem kind of milky. (to me anyway) It seemed really long and heavy, but the more I handle it, the more it seems like it fits in my hands. I'll put the habaki here, since it covers part of the blade. Kind of ugly. Plain and not really polished. Plus it came with a ding or two in it. No biggie, as I got this sword to use.
CHOPPING
I did alot of this before actually refinishing all of the outside. However to keep things organized I'll leave it all to this section. Soda bottles! Oh, the soda bottles! This being my first sword, I was amazed by all of the tests on the internet about slicing soda bottles in half. From what I had read you needed some pretty good form and a quick slice to get 'em good. However, this wasn't true. I have no sword training. Only my baseball swing. So I baseball swung at a bottle of what was once orange gatorade and to my surprise, it left the bottom of the bottle still standing on the cardboard box I was using for a cutting stand. Kewl! Cardboard isn't the sturdiest stand either. Super awesome cut. After that, it was my buddie's turn to defeat a Coke bottle. He did... And the whole corner of the box. Afterwards he said "I didn't even know I got the box" SZCHWIZEET! So we lined up quite a few, put them in a flower shape, got some empty shampoo bottles, milk jugs... Nothing was left in one piece. Even our giant box our bed frame came it which was about 5 feet wide. Went all the way through and sent the top blowing away in the wind. (sucks when you live in housing and actually have to chase that stuff down...) Decided to go after some vines in a treeline behind our appartment. Fell down like a curtain. Pool noodles with PVC insert? Nothing. No chips or anything. The most awesome thing we got to try was throwing soda bottles at each other while cutting them out of the air. Cross-ways, length-ways, and even through the cap, no problems at all. And after all of that, still cuts like a dream. (even after hitting a card table on a couple of bad swings )
CONCLUSION
Definately awesome. Super job Cheness!
Pros
-Can't break it. Card table should have done that.
-Customizeable
-Likes to eat everything
Cons
-Just found a fully mounted blade for $7USD cheaper on wiwingti
Hope this will help anyone looking to customize a good blade.
WHY?
Cheness 9260 steel, magic steel if there ever was one. After spending most of my time at work (as it gets relatively slow around here) researching which sword I wanted to pick up after getting my tax returns back. I finally decided on the 9260 shirasaya. Partially because I was inspired by a nifty looking sword by RyanSword on Ebay but still wanted a blade that I knew wasn't a flop, and partially because my wife thought I was crazy for wanting to spend so much on a sword.
THE MAIL
This sword actually took quite a while to get to my house and worried me becuase I never recieved a verification e-mail or tracking number. I had contacted Paul and never recieved anything back. I really started to think twice about what SBG makes about their customer service. However, I did order this sword Close to Easter. And since alot of people celebrate this holiday, I decided that ANY sword sell I would have ordered from would have a little trouble during this time. No hard feelings to SBG at all.
APPOLOGY
I would take some pictures, but since I don't have a camera, nor the smarts to figure out how to get them on here even if I did, But I can't
FITTINGS
Shirasaya, Nuff Said.
REWORK
Like I said earlier, I was inspired by a sword on ebay. Particularly, RyanSword's red and black sanmai blade. Just to let you know, this is what I want you to get angry at. I decided I wanted to make my sword red and black. I painted (YES! PAINTED! MWAHAHAHAHA!) the tsuka red and went to the fabric store and seemed incredibly feminine while searching for something to substitute for ito. (That's right! Fake!) I finally found some syhthetic leather stuff that is incredibly strong and won't even budge after being wrapped. Worked incredibly well. So far so good. Looked better that I had expected. Especially without a fuchi or kashira. Wrapped the entire bottom a bunch with the leather to kind of look like one though. Shirasaya handle transformed. Done. Ok, on to the saya. I decided that since it's a temporary storage thingy anyway, why not use what I already have? Spraypaint time! (Spraypaint!? OH NOOOO! GWAHAHAHAHA! Thunder and lightning and stuff...) Hmm, ok, needs a little more red. Back to the fabric store! picked up some red decorative rope type stuff to make into Sageo. turned out pretty good. (though a little long) So I now have a black sword with red accents in a kind of Zetsurin style. Awesome!
BLADE
The blade is supposed to be differentially hardened since it's a no-hi version. However the hamon seems... Pinkishred. Most real hamons seem kind of milky. (to me anyway) It seemed really long and heavy, but the more I handle it, the more it seems like it fits in my hands. I'll put the habaki here, since it covers part of the blade. Kind of ugly. Plain and not really polished. Plus it came with a ding or two in it. No biggie, as I got this sword to use.
CHOPPING
I did alot of this before actually refinishing all of the outside. However to keep things organized I'll leave it all to this section. Soda bottles! Oh, the soda bottles! This being my first sword, I was amazed by all of the tests on the internet about slicing soda bottles in half. From what I had read you needed some pretty good form and a quick slice to get 'em good. However, this wasn't true. I have no sword training. Only my baseball swing. So I baseball swung at a bottle of what was once orange gatorade and to my surprise, it left the bottom of the bottle still standing on the cardboard box I was using for a cutting stand. Kewl! Cardboard isn't the sturdiest stand either. Super awesome cut. After that, it was my buddie's turn to defeat a Coke bottle. He did... And the whole corner of the box. Afterwards he said "I didn't even know I got the box" SZCHWIZEET! So we lined up quite a few, put them in a flower shape, got some empty shampoo bottles, milk jugs... Nothing was left in one piece. Even our giant box our bed frame came it which was about 5 feet wide. Went all the way through and sent the top blowing away in the wind. (sucks when you live in housing and actually have to chase that stuff down...) Decided to go after some vines in a treeline behind our appartment. Fell down like a curtain. Pool noodles with PVC insert? Nothing. No chips or anything. The most awesome thing we got to try was throwing soda bottles at each other while cutting them out of the air. Cross-ways, length-ways, and even through the cap, no problems at all. And after all of that, still cuts like a dream. (even after hitting a card table on a couple of bad swings )
CONCLUSION
Definately awesome. Super job Cheness!
Pros
-Can't break it. Card table should have done that.
-Customizeable
-Likes to eat everything
Cons
-Just found a fully mounted blade for $7USD cheaper on wiwingti
Hope this will help anyone looking to customize a good blade.