Four swords review. UPDATED, PICTURE HEAVY.
Aug 27, 2011 5:09:09 GMT
Post by Anuan on Aug 27, 2011 5:09:09 GMT
Finally, free time! I'm here to review a small group of swords, a couple of which I've had here for a while, and two of which I got my hands on yesterday. Unfortunately, a bit of a mini-review at the moment, proper cutting and pictures awaiting on A) a break in the weather and B) a new camera, as the current ones are kinda...bust. If you can get through the huge textwall without any pretty pictures, I applaud you .
First: A katana from Konron Forge, purchased from Vue. Pics to come, or if Vue has any from when he owned it, I'd more than appreciate if he popped in to share.
Stats:
- Overall Length: 40"
- Blade Length: 28"
- Handle: 10 1/2"
- Weight: 2.4 lbs
- Balance Point: 5"
Vue was unsure of the steel-type, but we narrowed it down to -most likely almost definitely- 9260.
It' came -very- securely wrapped in a cardboard box with -lots- of tape and packing. It took me about twenty minutes to get it open.
It's a pretty nice piece, too. It's polish is what I'll describe as 'streaky mirror.' It's perfectly reflective, but if you look closely you can see the marks. I cleaned it up a -tiny- bit with some superfine steel wool when I was getting off the old oil from packaging. The kissaki polish is a little duller. Vue told me it wasn't a geometric yokote but when I run my finger over it (behind silk, of course ) I can feel the change. Maybe it's my imagination. The kissaki itself is of regular size, (chu-kissaki? I'm not great with Japanese blade terminology, please forgive any errors) and pleasantly sharp and pointed. It does have one tiny flaw in it (just below the very tip, a very slight dimpling that may be a tiny chip or edge-roll that's been sharpened out, I can't really tell) but it doesn't affect the functionality or even the aesthetics unless closely examined. It's without hi, but still makes a nice little 'wsh!' through the air when swung at a decent speed.
The habaki fits nicely, and has a nice streaked pattern on it. Tsuba's got a nice 'air and mountain' motif (at least that's what I interpret it as - pictures will follow in the next few days, I promise) and is magnetic, but to me it feels a little...thin. Just slightly. It's fairly tight, but if I put a bit of pressure with my thumb I can make it wriggle back and forth a fraction of a millimeter. The tsuka follows the curve of the blade, which is pleasant, as I've seen a few entry-level katana with much straighter tsuka and it's...strange, to me. Twin-pegged, with cotton ito, plain black, and what seems to be real samegawa, in white. I can't quite make the menuki out under the ito, and I don't want to unwrap it as I don't have the skills to re-do it, but they're presumably some kind of dragon...I can see claws and fin-ish spines. Unfortunately, I've a feeling they may be plastic...
The only thing I actually dislike about the blade is the saya. Completely disposable. It's laying around my room somewhere, I don't even know where it is, that's how much I don't care about it. It didn't fit at all (wayyy too loose), and when I put the sword in, it came out covered in some strange, waxy substance and also pieces of sawdusty substance, which took some cleaning even with methylated spirits.
Cutting-wise, out of the two I've been using for cutting (I've also got a hanwei river witham here that I need to clean up and polish and attempt to sharpen a little before I start cutting with it, I recently-ish used it as a demonstrative item at our stall at a medieval festival. The masses were impressed )
To sum up, it's a great little entry-level, I love it to bits, and it was definitely worth the money I spent on it.
Pros:
-Good Polish
-Tight tsuka-ito
-Correctly curved (and slightly waisted) tsuka
-Sharp without being a chippable razor
-Presumably Iron tsuba
Cons:
-Slightest chip in kissaki
-Cotton ito (only a con to me. YMMV
-Bad saya
-Tsuba slightly too thin for personal aesthetics (YMMV), slightly movable.
-Unpleasant menuki.
I give it a solid four out of five, for the price I definitely don't regret it. May later customise!
Second sword:
This one's my baby.
I love it.
It is my favourite thing.
It makes me happy.
If it had a sheath I would sleep with it in my bed.
Piao Ci, by the one and only Brendan of Fable Blades. Brendan's pictures can be found at www.fableblades.com/RoseJian.html
This was an experiment, to me, in getting a custom. Working with Brendan was great. I had ideas, he had ideas, and though we occasionally had slightly different opinions, I kind of went "Hey, he knows what he's doing, and it's going to be excellent in any case." It was also kinda difficult because I was trying so hard not to fan-boy out loud. Shhh. All in all, it's a work of art. My ladyfriend also adores it. The only problem with going custom is that I had to make -choices-. Ahhhhhhh choices ahhhhh. The problem is, I love multiple styles and profiles for blades, so for every choice we made, there were a few we -werent- making. The sword was in a strange, quantum state. It could have ended up differently.
I need to say, I don't at all regret the way it turned out. I love it to pieces. I just -also- wish I could see and hold and handle and play with the other versions it -may- have been.
For instance, we decided to go with hollow-ground. I took some convincing, on this. Originally I wanted lenticular or flatenned diamond. It's a flatenned diamond along the ricasso area, where the engraving is. I'm glad we went with it, because it's made the blade muuuch lighter. It barely registers in my hand, except with a little tingle in my brain that says "Oh, yes. ...Now killify something." All the weight is in the (long, beautifully carved) grip.
Control is easy, perfectly so. As I believe is traditional for later period jian, the grip is long, enabling one or two handed use. It's swung around and easily manipulated with one hand, but I like using two for cutting. It feels like a piercing weapon in one hand, and a slicing weapon in two. This pleases me, greatly. Speaking of the piercing; I originally wanted a more jian-typical, shorter, tip. Brenno suggested otherwise. I believe I basically, again, said "Go with what you think will be best." I kind of wish I'd stuck to my guns on it a little bit, but it's mostly just the part of me that wants to see all the other versions of the blade it could have been. As it is, it's a wonderful side-sword-esque tip. It'd have no problem at all going clean through vitals.
Cutting's a littler harder with this one, for me. Partly because I'm a little nervous to risk it. Partly because it's a much lighter blade. I wouldn't take it up against ten-litre bottles, but it handles two-litre soft-drink bottles and milk bottles easily enough. My first cut with it was beautiful. It was my first actual cut with a full-sized, cutting-oriented sword. It split a twoliter perfectly, and I was about ecstatic. I've had a few flubbed cuts with it though, batting a few bottles away (my fault entirely, not the sword's) and the hollow-grind occasionally means it's a less than beautifully straight cut. It'll sail right through, but often there's a little bit of a wave to the path.
All in all, it's...amazing. Beautiful. The wood's beautiful, the blade is amazing.
Flaws? Oh. Oh, right. Those. Uhh...If you look really closely on one of the guard-flanges, there's slight discolouration in the steel from grinding? That...that counts, I guess?
I'd also like to give special thanks to Bloodwraith, who originally concieved of the blade. If you ever end up in my vicinity, mate, you're more than welcome to play with it. Also thanks to Zachary Luna, who did the original sketch.
TL;DR version:
Pros:
-Incredibly light. Just -barely- over a kg.
-Versatile usage.
-Very sharp
-Fantastic workmanship all around
-Beautiful wood carving
-Twin steel pegs through grip scales, hidden brass(?) pin in rose.
Cons
-Little grinding discolouration?
-Quantum sword: In ending up with this version, I didn't get to end up with other versions. (I hate making decisions for this reason )
-Had to try really hard not to look like a dorky fanboy whilst working with Brenno
-Have to try really hard to come up with Cons
-Have probably misused the term quantum several times in this review because of this sword
-Custom prices may not be for everybody.
Finally: My new acquisitions. Mini-review here, since I havn't had opportunity to try them out.
Darksword Armoury's Crecy and Claymore, purchased from the Stromlo Swords Shutdown Sale of Alliteration.
Again, pictures of everything will come when they can.
I recieved these in the mail several days ago, but was away working until yesterday. First thing I did was unwrap them. They are...magnificent. They also came with a free bottle of Hanwei Sword Oil! Yay! Thanks, Rob! I've been wanting to buy some of this recently, but the only place even close to being almost slightly nearby is Globalgear, and I couldn't justify the thirty or more dollars postage to get a ten dollar item. It's actually quite nice stuff, and the squirt-bottle makes it easy to use. But I'm not here to review that.
The first thing I'm going to say is this; I believe these are the newer models. Those of you who purchased DSA products in the past and found them to be too heavy and crowbarish and have since discounted them? Sell your old ones, save up and get the new ones. I love these.
Rob gave me a sharpening service. A nice one. Not a magnificent one, but he admitted at the start that it wouldnt be and it's better than I could apply, and he's done a decent job of blending the secondary bevel. It's there, and the edge is brighter than the main body from the work, but it feels nice. I havn't cut with them yet, but intend to when there's a break in the weather. They were wrapped solidly, and together. There was some surface rust on the furniture, but it was quickly and easily taken care of with some superfine steel wool. Mostly. There's some -very- slight pitting in the pommel of the claymore, but other than that, nothing. I actually kinda like it. Seems more...real, I suppose?
The guards on both are magnetic (I tested, having heard that they were previously potmetal) and very solid.
The Crecy feels lovely in my hand. It's agile enough, well balanced, and not heavy to me. Also, I love that it's got a nice thick guard and I love the shape of the (nicely peened) pommel. It's a beautiful transition-type blade from Viking to knightly Arming Sword, and I love just about everything about it. The simple cord risers under the leather grip are aestheticaly pleasing. It's comfortable to hold, and the ovaloid shape of the grip feels like it should keep edge alignment easy, something I've discovered I'm still not great with on single-handed swords.
The claymore is great, too. Again, I love the shape of the pommel (It's interesting, with the little block-pyramid kind of shape on the wheel pommel) and it's my first real two-hander. It's also light enough and well balanced enough that if I were a little stronger, I feel I could be decently effective with it in one hand. As it is, I can move it around easy enough in one hand. I feel I could defend decently with it in a one-on-one scenario, but not attack effectively. In two hands, however, this changes. It feels great in my hand, the sweetspot's fairly up nearish the tip (The tip, by the way is nice. Though I almost feel I'd prefer it slightly more spatulate) and it flows in loops from one movement to the next. The guard on it is just as nice. At first I didn't understand why people were saying they wished said guard was longer, but when I first openned it, I suddenly agreed with them. However, it's grown on me quite quickly. It's definitely suitable, and really, it seems more in-proportion. It looks more...real, rather than a charicature of itself, as many claymores on the market do. I also like that it's nice, silvery steel, not an ugly pretend-brass/bronze like many other claymores on the market. It has cord risers along the entirety of the grip, which gives a good grip, but I don't particularly care for aesthetically. YMMV.
I should mention, the Crecy has nicely stitched leather for its grip, wheras the Claymore is wrapped and glued. It's nice too, but in some parts has come away just slightly. Again, pictures will follow.
Full Pros-and-Cons to come with cut-tests and pictures.
Thanks for reading, it's a bit of a giant wall of text :lol:
First: A katana from Konron Forge, purchased from Vue. Pics to come, or if Vue has any from when he owned it, I'd more than appreciate if he popped in to share.
Stats:
- Overall Length: 40"
- Blade Length: 28"
- Handle: 10 1/2"
- Weight: 2.4 lbs
- Balance Point: 5"
Vue was unsure of the steel-type, but we narrowed it down to -most likely almost definitely- 9260.
It' came -very- securely wrapped in a cardboard box with -lots- of tape and packing. It took me about twenty minutes to get it open.
It's a pretty nice piece, too. It's polish is what I'll describe as 'streaky mirror.' It's perfectly reflective, but if you look closely you can see the marks. I cleaned it up a -tiny- bit with some superfine steel wool when I was getting off the old oil from packaging. The kissaki polish is a little duller. Vue told me it wasn't a geometric yokote but when I run my finger over it (behind silk, of course ) I can feel the change. Maybe it's my imagination. The kissaki itself is of regular size, (chu-kissaki? I'm not great with Japanese blade terminology, please forgive any errors) and pleasantly sharp and pointed. It does have one tiny flaw in it (just below the very tip, a very slight dimpling that may be a tiny chip or edge-roll that's been sharpened out, I can't really tell) but it doesn't affect the functionality or even the aesthetics unless closely examined. It's without hi, but still makes a nice little 'wsh!' through the air when swung at a decent speed.
The habaki fits nicely, and has a nice streaked pattern on it. Tsuba's got a nice 'air and mountain' motif (at least that's what I interpret it as - pictures will follow in the next few days, I promise) and is magnetic, but to me it feels a little...thin. Just slightly. It's fairly tight, but if I put a bit of pressure with my thumb I can make it wriggle back and forth a fraction of a millimeter. The tsuka follows the curve of the blade, which is pleasant, as I've seen a few entry-level katana with much straighter tsuka and it's...strange, to me. Twin-pegged, with cotton ito, plain black, and what seems to be real samegawa, in white. I can't quite make the menuki out under the ito, and I don't want to unwrap it as I don't have the skills to re-do it, but they're presumably some kind of dragon...I can see claws and fin-ish spines. Unfortunately, I've a feeling they may be plastic...
The only thing I actually dislike about the blade is the saya. Completely disposable. It's laying around my room somewhere, I don't even know where it is, that's how much I don't care about it. It didn't fit at all (wayyy too loose), and when I put the sword in, it came out covered in some strange, waxy substance and also pieces of sawdusty substance, which took some cleaning even with methylated spirits.
Cutting-wise, out of the two I've been using for cutting (I've also got a hanwei river witham here that I need to clean up and polish and attempt to sharpen a little before I start cutting with it, I recently-ish used it as a demonstrative item at our stall at a medieval festival. The masses were impressed )
To sum up, it's a great little entry-level, I love it to bits, and it was definitely worth the money I spent on it.
Pros:
-Good Polish
-Tight tsuka-ito
-Correctly curved (and slightly waisted) tsuka
-Sharp without being a chippable razor
-Presumably Iron tsuba
Cons:
-Slightest chip in kissaki
-Cotton ito (only a con to me. YMMV
-Bad saya
-Tsuba slightly too thin for personal aesthetics (YMMV), slightly movable.
-Unpleasant menuki.
I give it a solid four out of five, for the price I definitely don't regret it. May later customise!
Second sword:
This one's my baby.
I love it.
It is my favourite thing.
It makes me happy.
If it had a sheath I would sleep with it in my bed.
Piao Ci, by the one and only Brendan of Fable Blades. Brendan's pictures can be found at www.fableblades.com/RoseJian.html
This was an experiment, to me, in getting a custom. Working with Brendan was great. I had ideas, he had ideas, and though we occasionally had slightly different opinions, I kind of went "Hey, he knows what he's doing, and it's going to be excellent in any case." It was also kinda difficult because I was trying so hard not to fan-boy out loud. Shhh. All in all, it's a work of art. My ladyfriend also adores it. The only problem with going custom is that I had to make -choices-. Ahhhhhhh choices ahhhhh. The problem is, I love multiple styles and profiles for blades, so for every choice we made, there were a few we -werent- making. The sword was in a strange, quantum state. It could have ended up differently.
I need to say, I don't at all regret the way it turned out. I love it to pieces. I just -also- wish I could see and hold and handle and play with the other versions it -may- have been.
For instance, we decided to go with hollow-ground. I took some convincing, on this. Originally I wanted lenticular or flatenned diamond. It's a flatenned diamond along the ricasso area, where the engraving is. I'm glad we went with it, because it's made the blade muuuch lighter. It barely registers in my hand, except with a little tingle in my brain that says "Oh, yes. ...Now killify something." All the weight is in the (long, beautifully carved) grip.
Control is easy, perfectly so. As I believe is traditional for later period jian, the grip is long, enabling one or two handed use. It's swung around and easily manipulated with one hand, but I like using two for cutting. It feels like a piercing weapon in one hand, and a slicing weapon in two. This pleases me, greatly. Speaking of the piercing; I originally wanted a more jian-typical, shorter, tip. Brenno suggested otherwise. I believe I basically, again, said "Go with what you think will be best." I kind of wish I'd stuck to my guns on it a little bit, but it's mostly just the part of me that wants to see all the other versions of the blade it could have been. As it is, it's a wonderful side-sword-esque tip. It'd have no problem at all going clean through vitals.
Cutting's a littler harder with this one, for me. Partly because I'm a little nervous to risk it. Partly because it's a much lighter blade. I wouldn't take it up against ten-litre bottles, but it handles two-litre soft-drink bottles and milk bottles easily enough. My first cut with it was beautiful. It was my first actual cut with a full-sized, cutting-oriented sword. It split a twoliter perfectly, and I was about ecstatic. I've had a few flubbed cuts with it though, batting a few bottles away (my fault entirely, not the sword's) and the hollow-grind occasionally means it's a less than beautifully straight cut. It'll sail right through, but often there's a little bit of a wave to the path.
All in all, it's...amazing. Beautiful. The wood's beautiful, the blade is amazing.
Flaws? Oh. Oh, right. Those. Uhh...If you look really closely on one of the guard-flanges, there's slight discolouration in the steel from grinding? That...that counts, I guess?
I'd also like to give special thanks to Bloodwraith, who originally concieved of the blade. If you ever end up in my vicinity, mate, you're more than welcome to play with it. Also thanks to Zachary Luna, who did the original sketch.
TL;DR version:
Pros:
-Incredibly light. Just -barely- over a kg.
-Versatile usage.
-Very sharp
-Fantastic workmanship all around
-Beautiful wood carving
-Twin steel pegs through grip scales, hidden brass(?) pin in rose.
Cons
-Little grinding discolouration?
-Quantum sword: In ending up with this version, I didn't get to end up with other versions. (I hate making decisions for this reason )
-Had to try really hard not to look like a dorky fanboy whilst working with Brenno
-Have to try really hard to come up with Cons
-Have probably misused the term quantum several times in this review because of this sword
-Custom prices may not be for everybody.
Finally: My new acquisitions. Mini-review here, since I havn't had opportunity to try them out.
Darksword Armoury's Crecy and Claymore, purchased from the Stromlo Swords Shutdown Sale of Alliteration.
Again, pictures of everything will come when they can.
I recieved these in the mail several days ago, but was away working until yesterday. First thing I did was unwrap them. They are...magnificent. They also came with a free bottle of Hanwei Sword Oil! Yay! Thanks, Rob! I've been wanting to buy some of this recently, but the only place even close to being almost slightly nearby is Globalgear, and I couldn't justify the thirty or more dollars postage to get a ten dollar item. It's actually quite nice stuff, and the squirt-bottle makes it easy to use. But I'm not here to review that.
The first thing I'm going to say is this; I believe these are the newer models. Those of you who purchased DSA products in the past and found them to be too heavy and crowbarish and have since discounted them? Sell your old ones, save up and get the new ones. I love these.
Rob gave me a sharpening service. A nice one. Not a magnificent one, but he admitted at the start that it wouldnt be and it's better than I could apply, and he's done a decent job of blending the secondary bevel. It's there, and the edge is brighter than the main body from the work, but it feels nice. I havn't cut with them yet, but intend to when there's a break in the weather. They were wrapped solidly, and together. There was some surface rust on the furniture, but it was quickly and easily taken care of with some superfine steel wool. Mostly. There's some -very- slight pitting in the pommel of the claymore, but other than that, nothing. I actually kinda like it. Seems more...real, I suppose?
The guards on both are magnetic (I tested, having heard that they were previously potmetal) and very solid.
The Crecy feels lovely in my hand. It's agile enough, well balanced, and not heavy to me. Also, I love that it's got a nice thick guard and I love the shape of the (nicely peened) pommel. It's a beautiful transition-type blade from Viking to knightly Arming Sword, and I love just about everything about it. The simple cord risers under the leather grip are aestheticaly pleasing. It's comfortable to hold, and the ovaloid shape of the grip feels like it should keep edge alignment easy, something I've discovered I'm still not great with on single-handed swords.
The claymore is great, too. Again, I love the shape of the pommel (It's interesting, with the little block-pyramid kind of shape on the wheel pommel) and it's my first real two-hander. It's also light enough and well balanced enough that if I were a little stronger, I feel I could be decently effective with it in one hand. As it is, I can move it around easy enough in one hand. I feel I could defend decently with it in a one-on-one scenario, but not attack effectively. In two hands, however, this changes. It feels great in my hand, the sweetspot's fairly up nearish the tip (The tip, by the way is nice. Though I almost feel I'd prefer it slightly more spatulate) and it flows in loops from one movement to the next. The guard on it is just as nice. At first I didn't understand why people were saying they wished said guard was longer, but when I first openned it, I suddenly agreed with them. However, it's grown on me quite quickly. It's definitely suitable, and really, it seems more in-proportion. It looks more...real, rather than a charicature of itself, as many claymores on the market do. I also like that it's nice, silvery steel, not an ugly pretend-brass/bronze like many other claymores on the market. It has cord risers along the entirety of the grip, which gives a good grip, but I don't particularly care for aesthetically. YMMV.
I should mention, the Crecy has nicely stitched leather for its grip, wheras the Claymore is wrapped and glued. It's nice too, but in some parts has come away just slightly. Again, pictures will follow.
Full Pros-and-Cons to come with cut-tests and pictures.
Thanks for reading, it's a bit of a giant wall of text :lol: