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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2011 2:43:30 GMT
I've been wanting to buy a sword for a long time, and now that I have some extra money I'm looking to buy one. My first question would be what whether any of these swords are good/bad purchases and what other swords I'm not aware of might be better.
Windlass Steelcrafts - Long Sword - 500794 - $175 (Alloy?)
Windlass Steelcrafts - Great Ouse River Sword - 501158 - $200 (1095 Steel - 0.95% Carbon)
Hanwei Tinker Great Sword of War - SH2424 - $170 (5160 Spring Steel - 0.60% Carbon)
H/T Sharpened Bastard Sword - SH2400 - $165 (5160 Spring Steel - 0.60% Carbon)
I noticed some swords at Kult of Athena are very cheap, like $100 cheap. In particular I'm looking at the Hanwei Sword of War and the Mercenary Sword. Are they duds or something?
I guess the trend is I'm looking for a hand and a half to smaller great sword for less than $200. The length limit is about 48" because of my small car. I noticed the Windlass Steelcrafts swords are "unsharpened". Not to sound like an idiot, but how sharp is "unsharpened". Also I noticed most blades are a simple steel like 1050 or 1065 with the Hanwei blades being 5160 Spring Steel. However the Windlass longsword above are 1095 steel which is more firm (I don't want a overly-wobbly blade).
This is mainly to be a display item and I hope to take it out once in a while to cut cardboard and plastic bottles. I don't need a razor-sharp blade nor do I really want one.
A final question would be on the legality of keeping a sword in an apartment complex even as a display item. There is a "No Weapon" policy at my apartment, However; my apartment complex's rule book is very vague on what a "weapon" is besides the obvious firearm, and I know for a fact the policy isn't actively enforced (Not that I want to breaking the law).
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SeanF
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Post by SeanF on Jun 29, 2011 3:00:33 GMT
Un-sharpened means blunt. It is still a big piece of steel and will do damage to whatever it hits, but it is in no way capable of cutting anything. The Windlass blades are un-sharpened, but I would only call the blades on the Hanwei Tinker line 'sharpened'. They do have a sharp edge to them, but are very poorly sharpened and will produce unsatisfactory results when used on actual targets. (Unless you happen to luck out and get a good one.) Other than that they are extremely well made and balanced for the price, well worth it even considering the sharpness of the blade. If you are getting a Windlass you can also usually request the retailer sharpen it before shipping for an extra fee. I wouldn't worry about steel in the least, just quality of manufacture. I don't think I have ever hard of any problems with the steel in a Windlass or Hanwei sword, just let them chose whatever material they think is best and evaluate the sword as a whole. Also the type of steel doesn't have any bearing on it's flexibility, just on the maximum amount it will flex before it takes a permanent deformation. As for legalities in most countries it is perfectly legal to have as many sharpened swords as you want in your possession. In terms of your apartment rules, if you want to go by the l'etter of the law' you could probably argue an un-sharpened sword doesn't constitute a weapon. And as for other suggestions, well if it is primarily display then it is mainly based on your sense of asthetics. You have to let us know what you like in a sword before we can throw suggestions out there.  (Oh also, $200 sword, or $200 shipping and taxes all in?) |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jun 29, 2011 3:10:05 GMT
To answer your questions in order, the Hanwei War Sword and Mercenary Sword aren't duds; they're just older models. They're heavier and slightly overbuilt, if I remember what I've heard about them correctly. They'd be fine for display and occasional cutting, though. That much I do remember.
Unsharpened on Windlass swords means that they are false edged and relatively incapable of cutting as is; Kult of Athena offers a sharpening service that brings them up to at least a working edge. Everything I've heard about longer Windlass swords (such as the two you mentioned) is that they are very whippy and flexible; I think it was on account of the thin stock they start out with. However, by all accounts, the H/Ts are supreme swords for the price and the only complaint I've heard is that their edges are mostly hit and miss.
As for your apartment complex, the only thing I can really say is ask your manager/landlord. They would be the definite person to ask about that. I want to say that they'd be fine with it since it's to be almost purely for display, but they wrote the rules, so they probably have a different interpretation.
Lastly, welcome to SBG, Sully.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2011 22:54:40 GMT
I left out a major point lol, I ordered a Hanwei Practical Hand and Half from Amazon a couple weeks ago. I bought it mainly to get a feel for how a sword handles so I don't accidentally whack myself or do something stupid with a real one. On a side note, my sword is in pretty rough shape. The handle leather was skewed, the blade is scuffed, The POB is closer to the handle by about 1.5" than its supposed to be, and the model is actually I believe earlier than one Amazon posted.
I think I actually like that the handle is heavy, I'm right handed - but I bat, golf, and even play tennis left handed so I can hold the sword closer to the pommel one handed and then both without having to shift my grip. Anyhow you get what you pay for and I think overall I like the feel of it.
I'm a pretty strong guy, I was pretty surprised how heavy 3 lbs can be when half of it is several feet away from you.
Another thing was that I heard the Hanwei Pratical Hand and Half was "whippy" but I don't see that at all. Seems perfectly normal to me. So I guess to go back to the Windlass Steelcrafts Swords. Are they "whippier" than the one I have?
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Post by MuerteBlack on Jun 30, 2011 22:15:33 GMT
It all depends on the Windlass, unfortunately. I am of the personal opinion that there are a lot of misconceptions regarding what "whippy" actually is, and what makes a sword whippy.
Whippy has nothing to do with how flexible a sword is. I have read some reviews stating Windlass's excellent heat treatment makes their blades too flexible. That is not the problem. All the heat treat does is make it harder to make the blade take an actual set when it flexes.
The other common theory I see is that Windlass blades are simply too thin overall. Close, but not quite. A thin blade, if proper distal taper is applied, is light and flexible, but I wouldn't call it "whippy." When the term "whippy" is used to mean something is wrong with a sword, I would say that effective synonyms would be "floppy" or "saggy." A sword blade is too "whippy" if it can't hold its own weight, and when held outward, the tip of the sword wants to sag excessively. Now, on longer blades, this will always occur. On a 36-38" blade, you will notice that the tip on even a good sword will sag an inch or two downward if the blade is held laterally. But on a whippy blade, this sag will be much more extreme and noticable, and will therefore also mess up handling and possibly cutting and thrusting.
The main thing, though, as I said before, is distal taper, and in this lies Windlass' problem. Often, Windlass simply screws up their distal taper. Let's take a few stats from some swords as advertised by Kult of Athena, and without worrying about blade thickness in of itself, let's take a look at how different makers taper their blades.
(thickness measured from just below the crossguard to 1" from the tip)
Windlass 15th Century Longsword
Blade Length: 36 1/2"
Thickness: 4.6 mm - 3.1 mm
Windlass German Sword
Blade Length: 36 1/2"
Thickness: 4.7 mm - 4.1 mm
Windlass Long Sword
Blade Length: 38''
Thickness: 4.9 mm - 3.3 mm
Hanwei Tinker Pearce Bastard Sword
Blade Length: 33''
Thickness: 6.1 mm - 2.9 mm
Hanwei Tinker Longsword
Blade Length: 34 5/8''
Thickness: 6.6 mm - 2.4 mm
Valiant Armory Signature Edition Kriegschwert
Blade Length: 35''
Thickness: 5.2 mm - 2.8 mm
Valiant Armoury Signature Edition Malatesta
Blade Length: 32 3/8''
Thickness: 4.6 mm - 2.1 mm
Ok, so we have Windlass blades with a distal taper of 33%, 13% and 33%, respectively. The two Hanwei Tinker swords have tapers of 52% and 64%(!!) respectively. Finally, we have two Atrim blades with tapers of 46% and 54%. Do you see the difference in numbers, here? Of course, this isn't to say that the greater the distal taper, the better. Either direction too far for any given blade, and you will have handling and cutting problems, as blade harmonics (which are directly affected by mass distribution) are dependent on correctly tapering blades. Having too little taper, however, also has the added affect of making a sword blade "whippy" because the blade simply cannot support all that extra mass sitting out by the tip like that.
I do own a Windlass Sword of Roven, which is the exact same sword as the Long Sword, but I got a slightly different revision of it which, in addition to some minor cosmetic differences in the transition from the ricasso to the blade, also sports a different taper, which I measured as 4.9-1.9mm, which is a 61% taper. As a consequence, my sword is not whippy. The blade does not sag when held laterally, and it handles and cuts very well. But this was a testament to my luck, not to Windlass' (non) consistent quality.
And I guess that is the main thing about Windlass. They CAN make good swords, but you are simply taking a risk whenever you buy one. If you can find a good one, it will be a really, really good one. But if you find a bad one, it will be really, really bad. And the problem is, it's sometimes tricky to tell which it is that you will get.
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Post by Kilted Cossack on Jul 1, 2011 15:07:38 GMT
Muerte:
That is a very nice response, and kudos for actually calculating the various distal taper percentages. Karma!
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jul 1, 2011 15:59:09 GMT
I second that; and the karma.
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