Relative Cutting Ability
Feb 25, 2011 5:05:11 GMT
Post by SeanF on Feb 25, 2011 5:05:11 GMT
Yet another newbie asking for advice on a sword purchase 
I recently bought my first sword (Cheness Tenchi SGC) and I have to say I am loving it. I always assumed getting a functional Katana was going to be much more expensive.
Now that I have a super durable beater for me to abuse I'm looking to pick up another Katana, this time something differentially hardened with some more cutting ability. The reviews on this site are all excellent (one of the only reasons I ever decided to actually buy a sword in the first place) but when reading some of the reviews of higher rated Katanas it usually remarks on how well they cut, but there isn't much in relative ranking. What do you guys have to say about the following in terms of cutting ability and, being a beginner, will I notice an appreciable difference between any of these and my Tenchi? (As you can tell, I don't know much about any swords that aren't reviewed on the site)
Cheness Kaze - The review gushes over how well it cuts, is it appreciable more than other similarly priced production katanas?
Ryumon AISI 1060 Dragon - Remarks how well it handles, but it doesn't go into much detail about the cutting. It cuts well, but so does everything else. Will it be an noticeable improvement over my Tenchi? How about durability? Though I won't be reckless with it like my Tenchi I'm still an inexperienced cutter and quite strong as well.
SBG Custom - Though the wait may be hard to take this is an attractive option. Once again, how does it's cutting ability stack up.
SBG Kuramono - How much of a difference is this between the regular SBG custom? Is there a noticeable difference when going to the Kuramono Pro with 12 instead of 10 stage sharpening? (As I imagine getting sharper swords rapidly runs into diminishing returns)
Global Gear G-1000 Titanium infused Katana - Mainly interested in this because it looks cool. It is described as cutting well, but how does that stack up to these others?
Hanwei Bamboo Mat - I don't really like the look of it, but it came up numerous times in the other $400 katana thread. I could be persuaded to consider it if it's actual performance is worth it.
Or anything else you would recommend. My price is somewhat mobile, I'm mainly interested in buying something at a good price point. My limiting factors are that I don't want to dump a bunch of money in to something I will eventually mess up (I tend to be very hard on anything I own, just something I have to accept) and the more I spend on one the longer till I can justify getting my next one. As I only own two swords ATM it would be nice to build up the collection with some variety before splurging on something really expensive. (That I would be scared to use anyways)
Also, though I know Western style swords aren't quite as good as katanas in straight up cutting, is there a longsword-ish sword out there that would cut comparable to my Tenchi? I don't want to downgrade, but if I'm ever going to get one I would probably want to do it before I got used to an even better cutter.
Thanks for the help guys.
I recently bought my first sword (Cheness Tenchi SGC) and I have to say I am loving it. I always assumed getting a functional Katana was going to be much more expensive.
Now that I have a super durable beater for me to abuse I'm looking to pick up another Katana, this time something differentially hardened with some more cutting ability. The reviews on this site are all excellent (one of the only reasons I ever decided to actually buy a sword in the first place) but when reading some of the reviews of higher rated Katanas it usually remarks on how well they cut, but there isn't much in relative ranking. What do you guys have to say about the following in terms of cutting ability and, being a beginner, will I notice an appreciable difference between any of these and my Tenchi? (As you can tell, I don't know much about any swords that aren't reviewed on the site)
Cheness Kaze - The review gushes over how well it cuts, is it appreciable more than other similarly priced production katanas?
Ryumon AISI 1060 Dragon - Remarks how well it handles, but it doesn't go into much detail about the cutting. It cuts well, but so does everything else. Will it be an noticeable improvement over my Tenchi? How about durability? Though I won't be reckless with it like my Tenchi I'm still an inexperienced cutter and quite strong as well.
SBG Custom - Though the wait may be hard to take this is an attractive option. Once again, how does it's cutting ability stack up.
SBG Kuramono - How much of a difference is this between the regular SBG custom? Is there a noticeable difference when going to the Kuramono Pro with 12 instead of 10 stage sharpening? (As I imagine getting sharper swords rapidly runs into diminishing returns)
Global Gear G-1000 Titanium infused Katana - Mainly interested in this because it looks cool. It is described as cutting well, but how does that stack up to these others?
Hanwei Bamboo Mat - I don't really like the look of it, but it came up numerous times in the other $400 katana thread. I could be persuaded to consider it if it's actual performance is worth it.
Or anything else you would recommend. My price is somewhat mobile, I'm mainly interested in buying something at a good price point. My limiting factors are that I don't want to dump a bunch of money in to something I will eventually mess up (I tend to be very hard on anything I own, just something I have to accept) and the more I spend on one the longer till I can justify getting my next one. As I only own two swords ATM it would be nice to build up the collection with some variety before splurging on something really expensive. (That I would be scared to use anyways)
Also, though I know Western style swords aren't quite as good as katanas in straight up cutting, is there a longsword-ish sword out there that would cut comparable to my Tenchi? I don't want to downgrade, but if I'm ever going to get one I would probably want to do it before I got used to an even better cutter.
Thanks for the help guys.
I'm a katana guy myself with virtually 0 experience cutting with Euro swords so I can certainly understand where you're coming from. I tried to cut a somewhat thicker than average plastic water bottle with my longsword (VA Kriegschwert) at a recent meeting of West Coast forumites, and I just ended up batting it around a few times. One of the more experienced swordsmen in our midst gave it a try and cut it easily. 
Herron's Flight by Brendan of Fable Blades
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